How careful are you?
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NotSoPerfectPam
Posts: 114 Member
Hi all, i'm doing an elimination diet to see if gluten might be the culprit to all kinds of issues that I've just kind of lived with. I cook at home and am focusing on lean proteins, cheese, veggies and fruits. Tonight I made a delicious cauliflower pizza. My question is how strict are you? Do you not eat nuts because they were processed in a factory that processes food with gluten? If I have what I'm guessing is perhaps a mild intolerance (is there such a thing?) do you really have to watch for things like that? I'm reading labels and have successfully avoided food that have gluten ingredients and additives -- is that enough? Thanks
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How careful you need to be depends on if you have Celiac disease. I always recommend that no one go gluten free without getting a blood test for celiac disease markers first.
Personally, I have to be extremely careful.0 -
blankiefinder wrote: »How careful you need to be depends on if you have Celiac disease. I always recommend that no one go gluten free without getting a blood test for celiac disease markers first.
Personally, I have to be extremely careful.
I agree- I did the Celiac blood test long before I gave up gluten. Best thing ever. If you don't and you find that gluten is causing you issues, you have to go back on it for 6 weeks before being able to take it. I don't have Celiac disease. I do have Hashimotos thyroiditis which causes some fun reactions with gluten but the main reason I'm gluten free is I'm allergic to wheat. Now because I already did the blood testing, my dr said no point in doing it again. She also figured my eczema & dermititis was definitive of an allergy so why waste money, time, and pain when I already know that something makes me feel like ****? And honestly, I couldn't bare to go back on gluten/wheat for 6 weeks when it makes me feel so awful.
Although I don't have to be extremely careful, I am. I like the me that has energy, that doesn't have joint pain, that doesn't have sores on my scalp, eczema on every inch of my skin, and that has so so so much less digestion issues. So, I look for the tick, I often double check online, and unless I've verified with the manufacturers I don't touch anything that could have wheat in it.
Now if you have a LOT of digestion issues I really suggest you look into the FODMAP diet en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FODMAP and maybe ask your gp for some help with it if you need it. My dietitian put me on to it and it's just helped me so much. Like 90% of my issue was wheat, but the other 10% isn't. I'm still figuring out other issues but I've found that onions, possibly garlic, inulin, and possibly high fructose foods may cause me IBS symptoms. I'm not sure what kind of "issues" you're dealing with but if they're similar to IBS, it could be worth it.0 -
Well, it's up to you but if you are still having issues, you'd better be very picky. Kinda like quitting smoking, except you like to stand next to a friend who's smoking a ciggy, lol.
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Risking cross contamination while going out to eat is as far as I go. I used to never even risk that, but now my work involves a fair amount of vendor wining and dining and out of town training so it gets old eating salad and fruit when they're trying to buy you something more substantive. I never cheat (as in eating something that contains gluten) though.
I greatly prefer eating at home where my bride and I can control everything in the kitchen.0 -
For the purpose of an elimination diet I would say to be very, very strict because even very small amounts can cause reactions so you might think you are being 100% gluten free when you actually are not.
As for myself I've been gluten free over 5 years and I have select items I eat that may have been processed with gluten that I personally have never reacted to (various flavors of Zone bars for instance). Also I risk cross contamination going out to eat on occasion. My reactions are typically very swift so if I have an issue I cross that item or restaurant off the list in the future!0 -
I have a rare opportunity to see how compliant I have been: because of increasing non-cardiac chest pain, I had an EGD yesterday. They even biopsied the esophagus and the small bowel. Everything was normal in appearance, so the biopsy results are something I am nervously anticipating. If those come back normal, then I will know I really am as careful as I should be when I go out to eat.
If they show damage, then I will have to return to the days of salads only when I go out.
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dalansteiner wrote: »I have a rare opportunity to see how compliant I have been: because of increasing non-cardiac chest pain, I had an EGD yesterday. They even biopsied the esophagus and the small bowel. Everything was normal in appearance, so the biopsy results are something I am nervously anticipating. If those come back normal, then I will know I really am as careful as I should be when I go out to eat.
If they show damage, then I will have to return to the days of salads only when I go out.
I had a follow-up EGD in December and everything came back great so for right now it looks like I'm doing ok w/ my occasional restaurant meals! I hope you have good biopsy results as well!
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I was never tested for Celiac's. I had such a marked improvement upon going GF it seemed unnecessary to do more testing. I am very careful. I get quite sick if I eat things made on shared equipment. I also try to make all my baked goods as I've found they don't make me feel bloat-y the way the items with xantham gum do.
When you're doing the elimination diet you won't get an accurate answer if you aren't incredibly strict. Just FYI0 -
The testing may be important for US residents who need it to get medical insurance money for groceries. Some grocery stores in Canada have a separate listing on the bottom of your till tape for certified gluten free products. This is so you can use the money difference that you pay between 'regular' food and GF food back on your taxes for medical expenses. ie: If a regular 12 grain loaf of bread costs $3.00 and your GF bread costs $6.50 you can use $3.50 on your medical expenses when you do your income taxes. Unfortunately this is only for prepared foods and you can't count fresh fruits & veggies, meats, eggs, cheeses, etc. as they are naturally gluten free.
I did not get tested until I had already been GF (strictly) for quite a while so it was inconclusive, but as I noticed a huge difference in my body (similar to 50ShadesOf...) there was no reason for me to reintroduce it and go through the symptoms just to get a confirmed diagnosis. Since I rarely use 'prepared foods' and use naturally GF foods at most of my meals, it wouldn't be worth it just for the tax savings for me. I just use the regular basic write off for incidental medical expenses on my income taxes.0 -
I don't have Celiac's but my aunt does. She is meticulous and must to be to maintain her health. I'm only gluten intolerant, so shared facilities isn't a big deal for me. However, if I have a whole piece of regular bread everything *ahem* rushes out the other end for the next 24 hours after it hits my stomach.
If you're doing an elimination diet to see if gluten is bugging your stomach, be meticulous. If it helps you after those 4 weeks of elimination, get yourself to a doctor to get checked out to ensure it's not Celiac's or some other issue. For me, my body just doesn't like gluten anymore for some unknown reason which sucks because I used to love baking my own bread and pastries. SIGH.0 -
The only problem @mercurialrunner is that after being on an elimination diet for gluten, you MUST re-ingest fairly large size amounts of gluten or the test is inconclusive. That's what happened to me - my tests were inconclusive because I had not been eating gluten for quite a while. I decided that the pain and illness from eating gluten again would not be worth getting the conclusive positive. Either way the 'treatment' would be the same for me; to avoid gluten.0
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Canadjineh I concur. Screw the elimination diet, just get tested. Or just decide to cut it out and keep it out. Going back on is murder if you are intolerant.
On another note, my biopsy results came back negative in the small bowel, meaning I am eating a compliant GF diet (yay!). On the other hand, my esophagus biopsy showed tissue eosephinols, which may mean a food allergy. Guess which foods are the primary cause of eosephinols in esophogeal tissue? Dairy, eggs, soy, and wheat. For years I avoided all of those but recently started eating eggs soy and dairy again. Looks like I may have to eliminate one or all of them permanently.
Celiac causes so many other conditions to manifest themselves. Makes me sick (pun intended).0 -
@dalansteiner I'd try ditching the soy first as it is almost all GMO (obviously except certified organic) and try switching to organic eggs/grass fed dairy before eliminating them. Not cheap, but you may find that you can still eat some of these things.0
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So I tested positive for most markers... one was negative. I've found that over time I can be less careful than before... however, recently found that I gain with "cheating", even a small amount causes bloating, actual weight gain and fluid retention, although less violent pain than before. I have also noticed a couple of other problems, including soy, and bananas causing abdominal distress and severe itching in mouth more like a true allergy... so alas, I'm back to square one, trying over again to be much more cautious, and considering further allergy testing - although common sense says if I eat and it hurts me, I should avoid it...0
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@littlesingersmom : try organic bananas before ditching them completely. I couldn't eat celery due to swelling and itchiness in my mouth, and then I tried organic and no problem. The pesticide residue was the cause in my case. I've done double blind tests for the celery and confirmed it. Same thing happened with my husband - he can't have grapes from the grocery stores but can eat non-sprayed local grapes (& probably organic ones in the stores if we could find them, but they aren't available around here).0
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Canadjineh you're probably right about trying organic dairy and eggs..0
