Questions

[Rach219]

I was just diagnosed with celiac disease a little over a week ago and am still trying to sort things out, in terms of what I can and can NOT eat. I have not been able to see a dietician yet b/c of having to get back to college. So I was wondering if anyone could answer the following questions for me or have any ideas of where I can get the needed information.

- What do I do about taking the Lord's supper on Sunday morning? Is taking a small, small piece of communion bread okay?

- Is maltodextrin an okay thing to consume or do I need to stay away from it?

- On a gluten free diet can you have artificial flavoring and/or natural flavoring?

- Can you have artificial and/or natural coloring?

- Does anyone know of a site that has a list of ingredients to look out for on labels?

Thanks So Much!

Have a great day!

~Rach219

[tarnalberry]

- What do I do about taking the Lord's supper on Sunday morning? Is taking a small, small piece of communion bread okay?

- Is maltodextrin an okay thing to consume or do I need to stay away from it?

- On a gluten free diet can you have artificial flavoring and/or natural flavoring?

- Can you have artificial and/or natural coloring?

- Does anyone know of a site that has a list of ingredients to look out for on labels?

1. communion: it's a personal call. the official church stance is that transubstantiation means that it is no longer wheat, but the body and blood of Christ and hence contains no gluten. I personally don't believe in transubstantiation that can turn grain into human flesh, literally. (symbolically, fine; literally, no.) some people decide to "trust in God", figuring that if his church would require it, he'll make sure it doesn't hurt people. others choose to recieve the wafer in their hands, and pocket it and dispose of it. others choose to just drink the wine (a sufficient replacement according to church doctrine), but there is a small risk of contamination from the others who drink from the cup. others choose to forgo it entirely and believe that God will understand their choice.

2. Maltodextrin - I believe you have to call and check on that one.

3. Natural/artificial flavoring - I've never heard of an artificial flavoring with gluten, but I don't assume, and I always call on natural flavorings for companies who don't explicitly announce they will label all gluten containing items (like Kraft).

4. Natural/artificial coloring - ditto above.

5. Website for safe/unsafe - the Celiac.com main site has a list of safe and unsafe foods and things to watch for in ingredient labels. it's one of the best lists I've seen around.

[Guest barbara3675]

Hello Rachel-----Welcome to the message board, you will find answers to all your questions here if you stick around long enough. I don't have answers to all your questions, but I do have two things to offer.

1. I took some almond crackers (Blu-Daimond Nut-Thins available at the grocery store) to church with me, broken in half, and the pastor (ELCA Lutheran) put one in the dish that he hands them out from so mine was blessed with all the rest. It worked beautifully. As the cracker is kind of tan color, and it ends up being different shaped by being broken in half, he can tell mine from the rest of what he has in his dish. We had already discussed ordering rice wafers, but this is a better solution as I think the rice wafers would have looked just like the wheat ones that everyone else was taking. Both the pastor and I are satisfied with this solution.....now, if you are Catholic, you will run into something very different and this is being discussed at this time in your church. Otherwise, any other denomination should be open to accomodating your needs.

2. Here is a site you can go to for printing off a 49 page printout of the foods that you CAN buy at the grocery store that are gluten free. I got this from my son as my granddaughter who is six now has celiac disease---diagnosed when she was one, a very sick little girl, who is now very healthy. The site is: www.napervillegi.com/celiac/GFfoodlist.pdf

I sure hope this will help you some. I found out just recently (at age 59) that I am gluten intolerant so now we know who gave the gene to my granddaughter, Ana!!!! I have to eat gluten-free/cf (also found out in the testing process that I am casein intolerant) so that I don't develop celiac disease. I am feeling so much better since going gluten-free. You will too. Give it time and have patience. Stick with foods that you know for sure until you get gluten-free savy (and you will). I had a leap up on the whole thing as I have been cooking and baking for Ana for five years now. If you just look at it as a new adventure in your life, then maybe it won't be so daunting. Find a health food store that handles gluten-free foods and use the mixes, they really are quite good. Also they have a bread made from almonds and rice that I love----real heavy and you really have to toast it, but it does the job---makes great garlic toast!!! Sometimes they are also knowledgable about celiac, I got lucky because the owner of my health food store is a celiac patient.

Best wishes to you.......Barbara

[Tutahl75]

Hi Rachel,

I lucked out and found a book that was later recommended by my nutritionist. It's called "Gluten Free Diet - A Comprehensive Resource Guide" and the author is Shelley Case. It's very helpfull in breaking down the good and the bad things in our diet.

[Rach219]

Hello All,

Thank you so much for your responses and your help. It's getting easier for me to identify the ingredients that are off limits, when on a gluten-free diet. I was wondering if anyone else had problems with weight loss once going on the gluten-free diet. I've been on the gluten-free diet for 2 weeks now since being diagnosed with Celiac disease and I've lost a total of 7lbs. I'm still eating as much as I used to, it's just that the foods are now gluten-free instead of having gluten in them. Any suggestions on how to stop the weight loss or get back to my regular weight?

Thanks Again,

Rachel

[celiac3270]

I think everything's been answered except for your question about maltodextrin. In the United States, maltodextrin almost never contains gluten. It is usually made from corn in US products, though it is sometimes made with gluten-containing ingredients in other countries. You do need to be wary of maltodextrin in prescriptions, though, even in the US

[mommida]

I've been losing weight too. I think the first weight that comes off is water weight gain from your body's defense system. Muscles are starting to develop and gain strength. From what long term gluten-free dieter's say the weight gain will come soon enough. I've been making sure I eat a Tablespoon of peanut butter a day.

Laura

[strack2004]

I've been losing weight also. It goes down slowly, increasingly so, but every so often it's down another pound. My scale is not very accurate. Need to get a new one soon. At the doctor's my last weight was 130 lbs. Of course, that counts clothes and they account for more weight now in a chilly fall. Last year at this time I weighed 160 lbs. However, I had already modified my diet considerably before starting on the SCD diet in July. I was using bread and oatmeal and pasta before July 26, but did not eat desserts or sugar things. Cheers, Ruth