JennyC

The antibodies do not blunt the villi, the T-cells do when they release cytokines when exposed to gluten. This is an autoimmune reaction. Food allergies and intolerances are different, but they do cause symptoms.

Bob's Red Mill also makes buckwheat flour in their gluten free facility.

The 2007 ROCK list is out. Someone posted a link on another thread. It's on the Yahoo and delphi forums. If you cannot find it PM me and I'll send it to you, and whoever else needs it. It will be tonight though.

I don't remember if anyone mentioned this, but you will also need new cutting boards and basically anything that can get scratched, like plastic.

This is a major source of CC that took me while to realize. Chips or anything that you reach into to grab food can get contaminated. For example, someone in your home is eating a gluten sandwich and reaches into the chips and grabs some. They left behind gluten! This is also a big problem at parties. At parties I try to set some food aside for my son before the party gets started. This is the same for restaurants, like when an employee touches a flour tortilla and then reaches his hand in the lettuce.

I would try substituting normal gluten free recipes with sorghum or amaranth flour for the rice flour. Rice flour is not that good for you anyway. Both flours have a good taste, but sorghum will be a little lighter in texture.

Here's the deal: MFS in the US is always corn or wheat. If it is wheat, which is a top 8 allergen, it will be clearly labeled. In the things we even consider buying it is corn. That being said, theoretically MFS could be other things, but practically it is always corn. Some people assume it's corn unless the label says the product contains wheat. Other people call the company or don't buy the product. It's a personal decision. I assume it's corn unless otherwise stated. However, I mostly buy from companies that will not hide any gluten. Someone posted this list and it has been the single most helpful list I have ever received. (Thanks so much to whom ever originally posted it!) I called these companies myself, and I encourage you to do the same.

Malt is made from barely, and is not safe. When a label reads: malt (barley), they are clearly disclosing the gluten in their ingredients, which is a good thing. So malt and malt flavoring is off limits. However, in the US maltodextrin is also corn based.

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I live in the NW and have not seen the labels yet. I would be thrilled if the new labeling makes it here. Right now I don't buy their brand products on general principle. If there's a company that makes you call for every product, I refuse to buy from them. That being said I go to Fred Meyers/Krogers everyday since it is right down the street from my house.

Soft Gluten Free Sugar Cookies

INGREDIENTS

4 cups gluten free flour (I use this mix: 1 cup cornstarch, 1 cup tapioca flour, 1 cup rice flour, 1 TBSP potato flour)

3 teaspoons guar/xanthan gum

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup sour cream

DIRECTIONS

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg; set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg, vanilla and sour cream until well blended. Stir in the sifted ingredients. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch in thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 1/2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

I got this recipe from allrecipes.com years ago, and it became "my" sugar cookie recipe. I modified it to take it gluten free. The cookies are incredibly soft, so much so that they even take a little longer to dry out than most gluten free cookies. I hope it works well for you.

Mamaw, yes that was the recipe. Thank you very much! I love to make sweets...a bit too much.

They reformulated them, but did not add any gluten. They just test random products for cross contamination. If there is no gluten in the ingredients, whether it has been tested or not, I consider them to be fine.

My son likes the Kinnikinnick crusts. I rub a generous amount of olive oil on a cookie sheet and prebake the crust at 375 degrees for 5-10 min. Then I add toppings and bake for another couple minutes. This should help with any premade crusts.

The above recipe sounds great. I think I'll try it.

Does anyone else find homemade gluten free pizza crusts...bland? I even add garlic and pizza seasoning. I think it's the rice flour. Next time I try to make pizza I will replace a significant part of the rice flour with corn and sweet rice flour. Anyone else have ideas?

There is also the possibility that the brand of flu shot they are using contains MSG, if that causes a problem for you.

I have had it before and got sick as well. I have decided not to take it this year because of that.

That's interesting. My son is not allergic to eggs, but when he got a flu shot when he was six months old he broke out in hives exactly 24 hours later. We could never figure out why, but he is definitely never getting one again. I've began to suspect that he has a reaction to MSG or another food additive. Ever since going gluten free, and hence eating much healthier, he seems to react to mainstream junk food. Thank you for posting!

Hmm. My son has gets really dry flaky skin behind his ears and skin build up in his arm pits. The only thing that clears it up is Elidel, so I assume it's eczema. A month ago, five months gluten free, I tried to take him off Elidel but his symptoms returned. He was tested for other allergies and all came back negative. I concerned that I'm missing something...

Thanks for sharing. I'll look for it at the store tonight. Could you also share your recipe? It sounds delicious!

My son had all the symptoms and had extremely positive blood work, the highest his pediatrician had ever seen. As a result, she told me to start him on the gluten free diet and see a pediatric gastroenterologist. I absolutely refused the biopsy since he was doing so much better. It's six moths later and he's doing great. So my son was diagnosed by his pediatrician and myself, but I'm not sure many other doctors would agree without the biopsy.

You could also have fruit and veggie trays. Hidden Valley Ranch dip mix is gluten free. I often make a 7 layer dip, but a taco bar would be better! I agree Pamela's mix make good cupcakes. You could also get a variety of icecream and have an icecream bar. Edy's/Dryers icecream is gluten free unless it has an obvious ingredient like cookie dough in it.

Just to mention when I talked with the manuf. of colgate company , they told me they can not guar. that the toothpaste were gluten-free. They issued a check to me for the 2 tubes I had just purchased becasue of the no guar.

When was this? I talked to them about 3 months ago and they said all their toothpastes are gluten free. Conflicting information is SO frustrating.

Please don't feel guilty. It sounds like you're a great mom, who never stopped looking for answers for her son. That's so much more than many parents would do. I too know the feeling of guilt, I think many parents experience it, at least in the beginning. I felt guilty about not pushing harder for answers for my son. Those are feelings we must all learn to move past.

My son always had symptoms as well. As a breastfed baby he constantly had gas and would spit up. He would alternate between diarrhea and constipation as a young infant, but diarrhea ended up predominating. His soiled diapers would stink up the house and clear rooms. The doctors informed me that breastfed babies' bowl movements should not stink, am I sure I'm exclusively breastfeeding? His growth began to slow dramatically after 6 months. (Keep in mind this is shortly after cereals were introduced.) He also had horrible sleep patterns. For the first two years of his life he would wake up from 1-3:00 am and stay awake for HOURS. As he grew his diarrhea continued. He had about 3 explosive stinky bowl movements that he could not possibly control everyday. Many foods appeared to never get digested. He also had a horrible appetite. He only ate carbs, dairy, bananas and poultry. By his third birthday he had completely fallen off of the growth charts.

After I had been dismissed by so many doctors, I was hesitant when my mom told me to take him to the doctor at 3.5 years old. I said that they will tell me nothing is wrong and I even put off making the appointment. (This is where the guilt comes in.) I could not get in to see his doctor, so I reluctantly booked an appointment with a new doctor at the office. That day she ordered tests for celiac disease and an array of allergies. (With all his symptoms no other doctor had even tested him for food allergies!) His tTG levels were 3 times greater than the normal range for people over the age of 2 years old. The new doctor instructed me to start the gluten free diet right away and make a gastro appointment. In the month it took up to get in to see the gastro, my son's dietary response had been amazing. All negative symptoms reversed and he gained over a pound!!! The gastro spent his entire time with me trying to push me into a biopsy, which I adimately refused. I am an educated woman, and I can find no reason why they should not treat him for celiac disease. It is so obvious to me that it is a 100% accurate diagnosis.

So, I kept the new pediatrician as his doctor, vowed to never go back to that gastro again, and continued him on his gluten free diet. I will never give my son so much as a crumb of gluten to satisfy any doctor's curiosity. Six months later, my son is doing great. He had gained 4.5 lbs! He's 4 and a quarter years old and he's nearly reached the weight and height suggestions for 4T clothes! (The celebrations only parents of children with celiac disease know! )

My main point to all my ramblings is that as parents, you know when something is not right with your child. Don't be afraid to advocate for your child and do whatever helps them--even if it is not under the guidance of a doctor.

I can't believe it. You definitely did not over react. Why don't they smear the school with peanut butter or shell fish next time! Write your letter!

Some of our specialty food staples are:

K-Too's (oreos) by Kinnikinnick

Bell & Evans chicken nuggets/strips

Erwehorn (sp?) Twice Rice cereal

"Ritz"-looking crackers by Glutino

bagels by Kinnikinnick--I've never tried them, but my son likes them.

Ener-G wheat free crackers

Tinkyada or Bi-aglut pasta

Kinnikinnick pizza crusts

Kettle chips

My son is very sensitive, but I buy him food from shared facilities all the time. You must know the manufacturers, and decide if their manufacturing processes are of high quality. For example, 2 cereals both made in shared facilities: Safeway brand cocoa astros and Whole Food's cocoa comets. My son reacts to the Safeway brand, but not the Whole Foods' brand. In the future I will likely stay away from Safeway private label products, but continue to buy from Whole Foods. Buying from shared facilities is always a gamble, but if you're familiar with the company then it can be a small one. Most mainstream foods are likely made in shared facilities, they are just not honest and thorough enough to state it on the box. I'm sure gluten free Kraft and General Mills cereals are made along side the rest of their lines that are not gluten free. Gluten free varieties of icecream are likely made in the same facility as gluten filled cookie dough icecream. The bottom line is that I experiment with manufacturers and products. I also pay close attention to this message board to see what other people react to. Based off of information I learned here when my son was having periodic reactions while eating Frito-Lay products I knew I should remove them from his diet. I've also been way too scared to try Amy's products based off of what I've read here. Yes, there is a risk that comes with eating foods from shared facilities, but I my personal opinion it is worth experimenting with unless you can afford to live in an only specialty gluten free food bubble!

I hope this helps...

Allergy-a foreign substance that your body mounts a reaction to, like pollen. It can be an anaphylactic reaction or not. This process is largely dependent upon antibody secretion and mast cells.

Intolerance-the inability to digest food. For example, people with lactose intolerance do not produce the enzyme (lactase) to digest lactose. Subsequent effects of this can cause stomach upset.

Celiac disease-an insanely complicated autoimmune reaction that takes place when susceptible individuals consume gluten. It does not involve mast cells, and different antibodies are involved. It is mainly the result of T-cells and cytokine release.

For anyone who is interested here is a great article that explains celiac disease in an extremely in depth way:

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Congratulations on the early success with gluten free food. The first two dinners after my little boy started the gluten free diet were absolutely horrible. I felt so bad I cried and gave him french fries for dinner--but he didn't mind!

The ingredients are tricky. There's a good list of ingredients to avoid on this site.

Acesulfame Potassium sounds very artificial so I personally would not worry about it. Sucralose is an artificial sweetener. My son reacted to it, but I think it was because it upset his tummy for other reasons. Monosodium Glutamate is MSG. It is not good for anyone and it can irritate your stomach. Maltdextrin is corn based in the US and Canada.

In my opinion, the most dangerous ingredient is natural flavoring, or other types of flavors. Modified food starch almost inevitably corn or wheat based. If it is wheat based, it must be disclosed on the label since wheat is one of the top eight allergens (barley, rye and oats are not).

I try to buy from manufacturers that will disclose all gluten (not just wheat) in the ingredient label. I will post a link to the list below. I recommend that you call the manufacturers yourself. A couple on the list are "iffy" in my mind. I like to stick with General Mills and Kraft as much as possible.

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With the exception of some blue cheeses, cheese is gluten free. If in doubt, Kraft will clearly list gluten.

Dear Jenny

this is very odd because i have called triaminic 2 times now. The Purple bottle- NIGHT TIME COUGH AND COLD- IS NOT GLUTEN FREE.

I WENT WAS TOLD THAT THE TYLENOL GRAPES SUSPENSION - ACTUALLY ALL HAVE BEEN REFORMULTATED- THAT THEY HAVEN'T BEEN TESTED YET.. ON THE GLUTEN FREE.COM SITE- THE DRUG LIST PAGE- IT IS LISTED- AND I SENT A LETTER AND WHAT I WROTE ABOVE IS WHAT THE DR. WAS TOLD..

I SWEAR, IT DEPENDS WITH SOME COMPANIES WHO YOU SPEAK WITH - I WAS TOLD ROBITUSSEN WAS SAFE.. SEE? THIS REALLY STINKS WHEN 2 PPL CAN CALL AND GET 2 DIFFERENT ANSWERS.. GLGL AND HAPPY HALLOWEEN

LYNN

Yes, it is frustrating! If I'm unsure I call companies multiple times to talk to multiple people. Like I said, I plan on calling Triaminic again--I don't believe them! On the gluten-free list from Tylenol there was a blurb about how some grape and very very berry strawberry flavors have been reformulated and have not yet been tested. Even with these reformulations, they do not expect to find gluten in them. All their ingredients are gluten free. What they're really testing against is any possible cross contamination. Out of all the brands I trust Tylenol the most. I will likely stick to their products. On top of not using gluten ingredients, they test random products for cross contamination.

I think I'll call Walmart and get a list of their medications as well. They sell their brand of Robitussin like products. Tylenol does not have products containing expectorants, and sometimes those medications are very helpful.