Gluten Intolerant

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Hanlonx
Hanlonx Posts: 53 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi! :)

I am looking for a bit of advice/recommendations from my fellow GF chums. On Friday I was told that I have an intolerance to gluten and to cut it completely out of my diet.

Can anyone recommend brands avail in the UK that offer good subsitutues? I'm still finding my feet with the 'new and improved me' diet plan and struggling to find subsitutes for things I previously loved (Morrisons spicy bean burgers for one).


Also, if anyone also eats a similar diet could I have quick look at your diary for inspiration? Currently feel isolated from everyone in regards to diet etc. (Thankfully couldnt have a mince pie that was offered at 10am and a chocco biscuit offered just there - office environments eh?!)

Thanks in advance!

Replies

  • ladyhusker39
    ladyhusker39 Posts: 1,406 Member
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    Who told you that you're gluten intolerant? Have you been tested to confirm?
  • Hanlonx
    Hanlonx Posts: 53 Member
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    My consultant told me, this is after three years of countless tests for various things.

    The intolerance to gluten has been confirmed.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Morrisons do a pretty good range of gluten free bread/pasts/cereal/biscuits and cakes.

    My husband is gluten intolerant, we tend to eat potato/sweet potato/ rice more with our evening meals.

    he has gluten free granola, greek yoghurt & berries or oatibix cereal for breakfast.
  • Hanlonx
    Hanlonx Posts: 53 Member
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    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Morrisons do a pretty good range of gluten free bread/pasts/cereal/biscuits and cakes.

    My husband is gluten intolerant, we tend to eat potato/sweet potato/ rice more with our evening meals.

    he has gluten free granola, greek yoghurt & berries or oatibix cereal for breakfast.

    I tried the Whole Earth Corn Flakes this morning, not sure if its all in my head but wasn't thrilled by the flavor! I am very particular when it comes to prepping/eating meat - my main downfall! Feel as though everything is off limits atm haha. I LOVE potato/sweet potato!

    Thank you :)
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Hanlonx wrote: »
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Morrisons do a pretty good range of gluten free bread/pasts/cereal/biscuits and cakes.

    My husband is gluten intolerant, we tend to eat potato/sweet potato/ rice more with our evening meals.

    he has gluten free granola, greek yoghurt & berries or oatibix cereal for breakfast.

    I tried the Whole Earth Corn Flakes this morning, not sure if its all in my head but wasn't thrilled by the flavor! I am very particular when it comes to prepping/eating meat - my main downfall! Feel as though everything is off limits atm haha. I LOVE potato/sweet potato!

    Thank you :)

    you'll soon get used to it.

    Costa do a small range of gluten free cakes and biscuits as well. the Christmas cake slice went down well!
  • trishfit2014
    trishfit2014 Posts: 304 Member
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    You will adjust over time. I do not eat many gluten free products as they do not taste the same. I have found gluten free pasta that is okay (barilla not sure if you have it in the UK). I eat rice and potatoes for carbs. I also have grown to like quinoa. I am a huge fan of glutino yogurt covered pretzels but they are very high calorie. Not sure if you have Vans but I used to eat their frozen g/f waffles. There are lots of websites that are helpful. Soy sauce is processed in wheat so that caught me in the beginning. I cook from scratch a lot. Where I live lots of restaurants have gluten free menus or a manager can tell you what you can eat. It is an adjustment but you will figure it out.
  • ladyhusker39
    ladyhusker39 Posts: 1,406 Member
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    thecharon wrote: »
    What is a consultant in the UK? Is that what doctors are called? Get a second opinion by a doctor just to make sure it's not a serious gastro-intestinal issue.

    I kind of picked up on the oddly vague response to my questions. She didn't say doctor and she said her conditions has been confirmed which may or may not mean she had the test done. I let it go because she clearly doesn't want to discuss it, which is perfectly ok.
  • nikkit321
    nikkit321 Posts: 1,485 Member
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    I found it difficult to adjust in the beginning, but now it's not difficult. At a restaurant, I order grilled meat and a baked potato or plain veg. A lot of salad dressings have gluten so a salad isn't a good choice. I find most wait staff are helpful and willing to talk to the kitchen for me. At home I tend to eat the same - protein and veg. It's not exciting, but it's safe and fairly simple. I haven't experimented with the alternative flours for baking. The hard part is changing your mindset as to what's "normal" to eat.
  • lporter229
    lporter229 Posts: 4,907 Member
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    I agree with @trishfit2014 that most gluten free substitute products are not worth the money. The few that she mentioned are the ones I use too, but mostly I just cook using ingredients that are naturally gluten free 9rice, potatoes, quinoa, cornmeal, etc). I am in the US, so it's difficult to offer advice sine I do not fully know your options. I avoid eating out very much or I go to restaurants that offer gluten free options. As mentioned above, soy sauce contains gluten, so that can trip you up in restaurants, but you can by tamari soy sauce which is gluten free for cooking at home. My diary is open if you are looking for ideas. Most of my meals are logged as recipes, but I get many of them from various websites, particularly Skinnytatse.com and budgetbytes.com, but feel free to PM me if there are any that you would like a link to.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    thecharon wrote: »
    What is a consultant in the UK? Is that what doctors are called? Get a second opinion by a doctor just to make sure it's not a serious gastro-intestinal issue.

    yes a consultant is a doctor.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    nikkit321 wrote: »
    I found it difficult to adjust in the beginning, but now it's not difficult. At a restaurant, I order grilled meat and a baked potato or plain veg. A lot of salad dressings have gluten so a salad isn't a good choice. I find most wait staff are helpful and willing to talk to the kitchen for me. At home I tend to eat the same - protein and veg. It's not exciting, but it's safe and fairly simple. I haven't experimented with the alternative flours for baking. The hard part is changing your mindset as to what's "normal" to eat.

    in the UK pretty much all restaurants these days have a gluten free menu, so its really not hard to have a GF meal out.
  • Hamsibian
    Hamsibian Posts: 1,388 Member
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    One of the worst things I did when I first went gluten free was just go for the substitutes: bread, treats, bagels, etc. They're expensive, not very good, and stripped me from needed nutrients. So while I felt better in some ways, I was worse in others. so here's my advice.

    1) Replace gluten with whole foods. Anything that is naturally gluten free is cheaper and tastes better.
    2) Make meals simple: Protein, fats, and vegetables (fiber).
    3) Grains are fine: rice, quinoa, oats, millet, etc. Just be careful of cross contamination.
    4) Watch out for sauces and storebought seasonings, as many of them contain gluten.
    5) If you want the gluten free pizza or cupcake, go for it! Just know they are not always healthier than their gluten counterparts, so make sure they fit in with a decent diet full of variety.
  • minstine
    minstine Posts: 38 Member
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    I'm the same way. I'm not celiac but still get sick and cramps if I eat wheat. I've been gluten free going on 2 years. And now I really can't have it or I'll be more sick than before. Feel free to look at my diet. The staples that saved me were oats, tortilla chips, rice and potatoes. Everything made gluten free, is horrible tasting to me! I literallu gagged when i tried Udis bread. The gluten free bisquick is the only thing that tastes the same. (but smells awful while cooking) And I only tried the waffles and drowned them in butter and syrup. But it has a chicken tender recipe i want to try when i get the courage.
  • fittocycle
    fittocycle Posts: 827 Member
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    I agree with the others advice on GF substitutes. They generally have less nutritional value and usually have an odd texture too. I stick with grilled or baked meats, vegetables, potatoes, salads, fruits, eggs, and oatmeal. Be cautious of oatmeal. I'm fine with it but some people can't tolerate it due to cross contamination. There are GF varieties though. In in the US but you are welcome to check out my food diary.
  • shaumom
    shaumom Posts: 1,003 Member
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    So first - I would contact your doctor's office and confirm what they MEAN when they say you are gluten intolerant. Did they mean you have celiac disease, or just gluten intolerance? Because some doctors still use the term gluten intolerant when it is actually celiac disease, and that is the one that has most of the testing available to confirm it. And I don't know of any actually approved tests that can confirm gluten intolerance, to date. There are some that MAY show gluten intolerance, but...they haven't been actually verified by reputable scientific tests, to my understanding.

    This matters because celiacs need a MUCH more restrictive diet to be safe than gluten intolerants do. They need to be more careful about gluten cross contamination during cooking and processing in the home, for example. And they may have higher levels of nutritional deficiencies and other issues that should be addressed (but sadly aren't always) by the doctor, or at least tested for.

    So you'll want to know for sure which one you have, and which specific tests were done, honestly.


    That said - I would look first at familiar meals that you could make from scratch (even if you usually make NOT from scratch) WITHOUT substitutions, or that are naturally gluten free anyway and the GF versions just leave out some of the filler crap to get rid of the gluten. They usually still taste the same, or as good, and can make you feel less like you are losing something. So, like, ice cream, roasted chicken, steak, plain potato crisps, chips, and so forth. Just something nice.

    Second, as long as you have GF soy sauce - which is actually BETTER soy sauce as it's made the old fashioned way, before wheat was used as the main filler - asian dishes are often almost all gluten free, and very tasty too. Many Indian dishes are GF, if made from scratch, too.

    Look at Bento boxes for lunches - they have some amazing awesome ones that you can imitate, or just make your own that are nice, but not as time consuming. They tend to be so cool people will be envious of your food, honestly. :-)

    Some examples:
    good place for recipes, that are GF or you can make gf -
    [url="http://"]http://justbento.com/recipes[/url]

    A some amazing ideas for super involved bentos
    https://www.hongkiat.com/blog/creative-and-interesting-bento-boxes/
  • maybe1pe
    maybe1pe Posts: 529 Member
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    I'm not gluten intolerant but my SO is so I end up being GF since we eat the same things.

    With dinners instead of bread I make rice, beans, potato, sweet potato.

    We use oat flour instead of regular flour. SO is also allergic to nuts so I don't use it but I know there's almond flour and the like out there.

    Instead of pasta we use spaghetti squash, cheap, easy to make, loowwww calories. I make twice baked spaghetti with it and it's filling and delicious and I don't miss noodles at all.

    Also shirataki noodles aren't bad. Just make sure you rinse them thoroughly otherwise they can have a weird taste or smell depending on brand.

    I have tried making homemade GF bread but with SO also having egg allergies I've struggled to get it right. However, I made a banana bread with oat flour and used baby food instead of egg and it actually turned out delicious so it can be done.

    It takes some adjusting but I don't miss eat gluten at all. Just make sure you check labels and stuff on everything prepackaged because weird things have flour/gluten in them.
  • lporter229
    lporter229 Posts: 4,907 Member
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    shaumom wrote: »

    Second, as long as you have GF soy sauce - which is actually BETTER soy sauce as it's made the old fashioned way, before wheat was used as the main filler - asian dishes are often almost all gluten free, and very tasty too. Many Indian dishes are GF, if made from scratch, too.

    [/url]

    Great post @shaumom. As far as I know, most, if not all Thai Kitchen products are gluten free. Check the labels to be sure because they always say that they are gluten free, but I have not encountered any that are not. I use their rice noodles, coconut milk, fish sauce and red curry paste a lot. A favorite dish of mine is vegetable and shrimp, tofu or chicken red curry. I saute my protein along with a heap of assorted veggies, then add some red curry paste to taste, a can of coconut milk, fish sauce and maple syrup. Serve over rice. Super easy and delicious.
  • Hanlonx
    Hanlonx Posts: 53 Member
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    thecharon wrote: »
    What is a consultant in the UK? Is that what doctors are called? Get a second opinion by a doctor just to make sure it's not a serious gastro-intestinal issue.

    Consultant is another term for DR in the UK.

    My speciliaist consultant took the test and confirmed it is an intolerant
    ladyhusker39 wrote: »
    thecharon wrote: »
    What is a consultant in the UK? Is that what doctors are called? Get a second opinion by a doctor just to make sure it's not a serious gastro-intestinal issue.

    I kind of picked up on the oddly vague response to my questions. She didn't say doctor and she said her conditions has been confirmed which may or may not mean she had the test done. I let it go because she clearly doesn't want to discuss it, which is perfectly ok.

    It was my DR that confirmed, non celiac gluten intolerance x

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