queenofhearts

Wonderful, Karen! Thanks for sharing the good news!

Guhlia, my heart goes out to you-- it must be so hard to see your mom suffering so. I wish I had some real help for you. If your mom isn't willing to try the diet without a diagnosis, would an endoscopy be an option? I know they are expensive... but they might also show other problems, even if she isn't Celiac. My doctor did the endoscopy without a Celiac panel at all, because at the time there were other possible diagnoses. If you put it to her that they are looking to eliminate other problems... & then there are flattened villi & positive biopsies... well, you'd have your answer.

I certainly hope you can find a way to help her heal. The smoking worries me too, but I know how resistant smokers are to any suggestion that they cut back. I have heard that smoking can be a form of self-medication for undiagnosed Celiacs... you might mention that to her.

Hoping you both find some answers,

Leah

Steve, I think you are far too sensitive about your syntax. In fact, if I were you, I'd leave out the second paragraph-- no need to apologize. My only other suggestion is that I might move the last section (beginning "By far the most common problem") up as more of an introduction, & follow with the point-by-point, historical & scientific data-- it's important info but I think you might lose some readers without the personal connection to set it up.

Sorry you have to wait so long-- I fully sympathize with the raging mommy anxiety, & everything is always so much worse in the imagination than it turns out in reality!

Hang in there,

Leah

THANKS

Now to find an asian store in a small town in central Florida. Do you know what I would look for in the phone book ?

In my yellow pages they are listed under "Grocers" & "Grocers- Ethnic"-- just look for Asian, East or Oriental in the name. Hope you find one, they are a great resource.

What are the chances these are safe for people with egg, soy, dairy and corn allergies too ?

Or am I dreaming

The rice pasta & wrappers I've seen contain just rice, water & sometimes salt. You should be safe!

Wow, what a fantastic idea to use rice wrappers as a filo substitute! Can't wait to try it-- I have some in my pantry right now. I'm a big fan of Asian markets for gluten-free everything, too. Has anyone tried sweet potato flour? I just picked some up on a whim...

Leah

"I've been thinking about this, and I'm wondering if those micrwavable Indian flatbreads, pappadum or something like that, would be better for baklava? The only problem is that they are usually spicy, but if you could find them unspicy, they might be crispy enough to make nice baklava."

Wouldn't think these would work so well, myself. I love them but the flavor is pretty assertive even in the plain variety, & the texture is too heavy...

Also, you really need to look out for asafetida. Most papadams have it, & it's not gluten-free. It's also called Hing. There are a couple of brands that are okay, but check ingredients.

Liver enzymes were the "last straw" that finally got me checked for Celiac after years of anemia & chronic D. (The anemia was supposedly due to my heavy periods, the D was IBS of course... & I was tested for liver tumors before they thought of Celiac!) After 3 months gluten-free I was just retested, & what do you know, my iron is up & my liver enzymes down-- so I'm pretty sure it was all Celiac related.

I love the taste of vinegar, too, and find it really refreshing as a beverage.

Queen - do you put it on your cooked greens, too? (spinach, kale, etc.) My mother always did this and added (real) bacon bits. Yummy!

Yes, yes, yes! I love greens with vinegar! And I love all greens-- collards, mustard, kale, chard-- this is making me hungry! Raw arugula is probably my all-time fave though. I grow it in my garden year-round. Balsamic is my favorite "splash", but I like cider vinegar too.

I've always had a sort of craving for vinegar-- I tend to add a splash to lots of foods, to me it just makes them taste better. Always mixed my salad dressings very heavy on the vinegar by classical standards! I've never taken it medicinally, but I just have lots of it in my diet. So I'm delighted to know it's good for me!

Chlorophyll in itself should not be a problem (unless derived from gluten sources)-- all greens & herbs are rich in chlorophyll so unless you are taking a huge quantity, it's probably not much harder on the body than say, eating a lot of spinach. That said, I would prefer to eat the spinach! I just think we should try to get our nutrients from the whole food whenever possible.

And despite the gluten-free label, I do think it would be worth eliminating the supplement, since you had an unpleasant reaction of some sort when you first took it. It just sounds as though it doesn't agree with you, gluten or no. Possibly it contains something else you are allergic to-- does it list the source?

Again, if I were you, I'd be inclined to do my "detox" by eating lots of greens & other "superfoods" & just keep alcohol & other empty calories out of the diet for a while.

An interesting site with info on chlorophyll & other aspects of nutrition:

Open Original Shared Link

Congratulations & Welcome to Celiac World!

Yikes, not even hidden gluten, but wheat right on the label? That's pretty irresponsible of the store manager. Good thing you caught it & spoke up.

Wow, Jess, you've been through such a lot! I understand completely about the puppy-- we adopted 3 stray kittens, about 9 years ago, & one of them died of a mysterious illness 3 days later. (The vets thought at the time it was rabies, but the tests came up negative.) I cried so much over that little one. But the other two have been with us ever since & are absolutely wonderful pets. I think you should adopt another puppy right away. You will cherish it all the more.

Your colleague is surely trying to cover her behind-- her response when you first confronted her was completely different. The child may have exaggerated her part in it somewhat, sometimes kids do like to stir up trouble-- but given her first response, he's not making the story up.

I hope you can have a group meeting to work this issue out. It sounds like work is a pretty tense place right now! But at least your colleague does realize how wrong she was to do what she did...

Bette Hagman has a recipe for them in TGFG Makes Dessert. Haven't tried it myself though.

I still have quite a bit of light sensitivity, along with mild night-blindness. I would LOVE it if these symptoms would go away once I've been gluten-free for longer!

Bright light has also always been my number one migraine trigger... I'm absolutely phobic about road glare ever since getting a blinding aura while driving on the highway with my then-3-year-old kids in the back seat. That terrifying incident was 16 years ago-- ever since, I refuse to get behind the wheel of a car without polarized sunglasses.

Really good, crusty artisanal bread... oh how I miss it. All the other stuff I can fake-- not REAL bread, at least so far. I used to live on tomato-basil bruschetta in the summer....

The most lifestyle-cramping thing, though, is not being able to eat out without fear.

One of my favorite restaurants pre-dx was a Lebanese deli... but I'm afraid to eat there now because of the possibility of cross contamination. They bake their own pitas (so there may be flour in the air or on the cooks' hands) & serve most things with them (so their hands or utensils might transfer crumbs). Also the serving containers of baba ganouj (my favorite) are in a refrigerated case right next to tabouli, so I'm afraid bits might migrate. I don't know about the lamb, since I never eat it, but the grape leaves & rice SHOULD be gluten-free-- if not cc.

Made at home these foods could be perfectly safe, but there's always a risk in a restaurant or another home. If you are very sensitive, traces of wheat on cutting boards or wooden spoons could be the culprit.

I do hope you feel better soon!

Leah

I think you can do it if you can tolerate beans (other than soy) & nuts, but since eggs & dairy are off your list, you will need B12 supplements to avoid pernicious anemia.

My anemia is the main reason I eat any meat... I'm sort of "veggie by nature." I was lacto-ovo for many years (& no, you can't eat fish & be lacto-ovo-- that's just dairy & eggs).

Leah--Deep fried Coke--really?

Would I lie to you?

Open Original Shared Link

Sad but true.

Now, I do have to admit, I love fried jalapenos! They're not exactly healthy either.

There was a thread on this very subject recently:

Open Original Shared Link

Apparently some are safe & some aren't.

Sounds extremely fishy to me. What medical journal did that study?

Possibly this may be along the lines of spelt-- better for those with just a mild intolerance, but not safe for Celiacs.

Besides, don't lactobacilli act on lactose, not gluten? Scientists, what exactly does "hydrolyzed" mean? I thought hydrolyzed wheat protein was a no-no for us anyway-- am I wrong?

I tried to post to this thread yesterday, but my computer went bonkers... just had to share this tidbit:

Looking to emulate the success of Chicken McNuggets and fried mozzarella sticks, the group is hoping to inject some red meat into the American snack food diet with cheeseburger fries. The fries, which look like a squat version of standard French fries, are made of a meat-and-cheese compound that tastes ? as the name suggests ? like a cheeseburger.

Breaded, then deep-fried and served with ketchup or barbecue sauce, cheeseburger fries have found their way onto menus in several states including Nebraska, Minnesota and Texas since June. There is also a version being made available to public school cafeterias.

"The challenge is getting people to think of other ways to eat beef," said Betty Hogan, director of new product development for the [National Cattlemen's Beef Association].

Regular cheeseburgers aren't fatty enough!!???

Also there's somebody at the Texas State Fair that makes "Fried Coke"...

In my opinion, your diet sounds about as healthy as they come! So long as you are not having trouble keeping your weight stable, & are buying high-quality meats, & getting a good balance of protein & complex carbs, you are way ahead of the game. I would try to include some vegetable sources of oils, like avocado, & nuts if tolerable, & eat fish as well as red meat.

It certainly sounds to me as if a gluten-free diet might be just what you need. I think that before diagnosis many of us were "searchers" who tried various different diets & supplements, always feeling that we weren't properly nourished but not knowing why. I was a vegetarian for many years too, & meanwhile ate more wheat than I care to think of now! What you & many others have discovered is that it is not enough to give up obvious forms of wheat. I did try that at one point, before I really understood what gluten was, but at the time I didn't even know about soy sauce, so I was still getting plenty of wheat, let alone gluten. And if you truly want to give the gluten-free diet a fair try, you have to look at cross contamination, cosmetics, & so on, to really eliminate any chance of gluten. Also many of us really must keep it up for several months to see results.

Nini's newbie kit is on her website & has lots of sneaky things to look out for:

Open Original Shared Link

Good luck! I have a feeling you've come to the right place.

Leah