Gluten-free Diet

[cschin4]

Is anyone on a gluten-free diet? We just found out our son has celiac disease. He is only 9 so I think we will just pretty much try to have the whole family eat this way. Unfortunately he can no longer eat the things he really loves - pop tarts! He also loves pizza and pancakes. I see there are mixes and flour available. But, since I live in a rural area, I will have to go out of town for products or order via the internet. Looks like it will cost more to eat this way. Any tips?

[baking23]

Is anyone on a gluten-free diet? Any tips?

My mom's a dietician so I'll see what she knows.

You live a few states away but I know in Royal Oak, Mich there is a bakery that sells all gluten free products. They ship all over, and they might have links to some places closer to you.

Sugar Kisses Bakery - A Natural Pastry Shop - Royal Oak, Michigan

Here's another:

About Us -- Celiac Specialties, LLC, 100% Wheat Free and Gluten Free Bakery and Coffee House, Chesterfield Township (metro Detroit), Michigan

[cschin4]

It seems like the diet won't be overly difficult once we find a suitable bread and pancake substitute. And, at his age he is young enough to develop a taste for this. Of course, the hardest thing will be the pizza parties and fast food.

[Daylily]

Hi cschin4,
I have celiac disease and I follow a gluten-free diet. It can be expensive depending on what you buy. When I have more time, I'll either PM you or post more info here.
If you have any specific questions let me know.

[scfr]

Here is a link that Kimmie posted a while back with some free gluten-free recipes:
Free Sample Recipes: Gluten-Free Comfort Foods Cookbook

[Daylily]

Cschin4,

I respectfully disagree that the diet will not be overly difficult. Gluten is everywhere. After a while you will find that it is not difficult, but starting out you have to know that gluten lurks everywhere. This will be more than just dealing with the bread and poptarts and pizza that you mentioned.

Here are a couple examples:

Tortilla chips: You think they are made from corn only? Think again, some brands mix in oat flour.
Doritos: Some of the flavored varieties have wheat in them.
Potato chips: Read the labels. Some, like Pringles, have wheat.
Frozen potato products: Again, read the labels. Some use wheat as an anti-caking agent.
Soy Sauce: Fermented with wheat. No Chinese food in restaurants. You can make your own at home with wheat-free soy sauce. Don’t pay $5 a bottle for brands that specifically claim to be wheat free. I find that La Choy and my local store brand are okay for me. They are chemically fermented rather than aged hence they don’t need the wheat.
Candy Bars: Avoid anything with a crispy bar or crispy rice. Also, read all labels. Milky Way has either wheat or barley malt.
Cereals: Most have barley malt as a sweetener.
Creamed Soups: thickened with wheat flour most often. You can no longer just throw any can of cream of mushroom or cream of chicken or cream of celery or tomato soup into a casserole. You’ll either have to make your own or find the couple of expensive brands that use rice flour as a thickener.
Beef Broth, Canned. They put wheat in here?? Yep. You’ll have to read the labels. Some do, some don’t. I have found this with beef broth but not with chicken broth.
Dairy Veggie Dips: If you ever buy those sour cream based dips that can be used for veggies or potato chips, you’ll have to read the label. Some use wheat.
Imitation crab meat. Avoid it. It has either wheat or wheat starch. Some people say wheat starch is okay on a GF diet but I don’t take any chances.
Premade pudding. Read the labels. Some of those lunch-type 4-packs have wheat.

I have no idea what kinds of food you eat in your house, but my advice is that you need to look at everything that goes into your son’s mouth. You also need to look at some GF/Celiac boards online for more info. WHEAT has at least 50 names, you need to know all of them. Fortunately, product labeling is getting better and now the products in the US are being labeled with the seven common allergens: wheat, soy, eggs, milk, ??. However, there is a difference between a wheat allergy and a gluten intolerance. Just because something is wheat-free does not mean it is gluten-free. Be vigilant.

I’ll post more later.

[Daylily]

Just thought of one other thing:

Licorice. Made with wheat flour.

[Daylily]

And another:

Salad dressings. Read the label. Some have wheat flour. Some have malt flavoring (barley).
This goes for all condiments and sauces.

[cschin4]

I know I need to learn all the names for gluten/wheat products when reading the ingredients. So far, I look for wheat and modified food starch. What other ingredients should I avoid?

[Daylily]

Here is a link to a 'safe' list and 'forbidden' list. This what I used when I was first starting out. Modified food starch may or may not be okay. You'll see it listed on this website:

Safe & Forbidden Gluten-Free Foods and Ingredients

[Daylily]

I recommend the following book:
The Gluten Free Gourmet Bakes Bread by Bette Hagman.

There is a decent pizza dough recipe in there. I have had great luck with it. If you're not up to making pizza dough, you can order prebaked crusts from Ener-g.
As for pasta, I would only buy the Tinkyada brand. I tried a variety of pastas for years only to find that it was mushy and terrible. Tinkyada is the best thing out there period.