cornbread

Seems like we all have this same problem... I've even had friends ask me about the gluten issue and then say "woah, that sounds like me..." but then they *still* don't look into it. What gives?! I mean, we all miss beer, but I felt so bad that I would've given up anything just to feel better.

Pretty cool approach!

I was in NYC last week. Eating out every day is obviously a challenge when you're gluten/casein free. I did reeeeeally well at most places. However on the second to last day, we breakfasted at a slightly fancy place (NoHo Star, downtown) that had been recommended as gluten-safe online. I ordered bacon and eggs. I explained to the waiter that I had some SERIOUS food allergies (I always say allergies because that usually pricks their ears up)... I explained no gluten, ie: no grains, and no dairy. I asked how the bacon was cooked, requested that it wasn't cooked on a grill where toast etc. had been. Eggs - what are they fried in? Was assured olive oil. Food arrives, I take a small forkful of egg and I can taste the butter. I sniff the eggs - yup, butter for sure. Call the waiter over, he checks back with the kitchen and returns, "I'm sorry, let me get you some cooked in olive oil..." "I already ATE SOME!!!" The manager comes over, sorry sorry sorry. She asks "what will happen?" (like it matters - I strictly said NO DAIRY...) but anyway, I say "in the short term, I will be very ill for the next week. In the long-term, maybe intestinal cancer, MS...." She looks a little shocked. Then she says - get this - "Well it's good that you only ate a little..." I flipped!! "It's enough! A microscopic amount is enough to trigger a reaction..." blah blah. I wouldn't usually freak at the staff, but we were SO thorough with the waiter, I double-checked everything - this was just sloppy. No one wrote anything down. The guy just clearly didn't give a $hit. So then it gets better... she asks if I'd like to choose something else from the menu. I tell her it's too late - plus there's no way I'm eating anything else here. Then she says "some fruit? some YOGURT?" I'm like "Yogurt??!! That's DAIRY!" She gets all defensive and says "it's goat's milk yogurt!" Sheesh - what is the point? So of course, within 10 minutes the 'tranquilizer effect' has kicked in - the room starts spinning, my legs go weak, etc.

Anyway, apart from wanting to vent ... it made me decide that we really need some good, SERIOUS sounding dining cards. Something that, if needed, scares them into taking this seriously - whatever it takes to get us safe food. Chances are if they think we will die in the restaurant or sue them, they will be careful!

When I first got diagnosed I used a dining card once or twice, but I never felt they really helped. One waiter just slipped it in his pocket without looking, like he thought I'd handed him my phone number! Another one laughed... I have been searching since then for one that is worded both simply (people don't like to read too much), but also serious sounding enough to make them realise that not a single spec of gluten can be anywhere near your food. Also, I personally need a card that has gluten, casein, soy and eggs.

So I was thinking, between us, maybe we could write our own. I would be happy to lay out a design for us that you can all download (work in graphic design). A lot of us have multiple allergies on top of gluten intolerance, so a few different versions of the card would be cool.

I was thinking something along the lines of...

"I have a serious medical condition that makes certain foods toxic to me. Please make sure my meal does not contain or come into contact with... blah blah..." It needs to explain the cross-contamination issue (I've found that's the biggest problem and even so-called gluten trained staff don't fully understand this part).

Other ideas welcome - I couldn't really get past the first part without it getting too long-winded.

On the back we could maybe have, in smaller type, a list of 'safe' and 'not safe/toxic' foods, just as a guide. This should include the common hidden sources. The front of the card should be very clear and easy to understand, but strike a serious enough tone. I think the problem with the ones I've used before is that they are too wordy but also too cartoony. If something sounded and looked more medically official, it might work better.

That is messed up! If I lived in NYC I would take a trip to them and explain to them that spelt is 'wheat-free' but NOT gluten-free. They are being incredibly irresponsible listing it as such.

bluelotus, I hear you. Thankfully my mother was cool about testing (thankfully because her test was positive), and my dad was eventually talked into it (just to get me off his back I think!), but my other relatives (who actually have LOADS of symptoms... more than my parents) are totally in denial. They are "too busy" to get tested. Hello? Enterolab tests from stool samples - you're too busy to poop into a box?! I think it's denial. But, like you, I find their disinterest disrespectful. It's like they're not taking my condition seriously. People are always "I didn't know you were ill before?" Yeah, well maybe it's because I'm not a whiner, or because problems like depression, brain fog, chronic fatigue and nausea are invisible. People ask how you're feeling, you usually say "fine, thanks", you know? Gluten had been effecting my health, mood and personality for 13 years - it pretty much *was* my personality. It kicked in when I was 17, so all my adult life people have just thought I was short-tempered and weak-stomached (which wasn't considered an illness since it "runs in the family...")

Also with the eggs...you may feel fine after you eat them but IgG reactions are delayed so you may not get symptoms till a day or 2 later.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hmmm, you're right... Good point - thanks. I'm really hoping that my allergies (hayfever, sinusitis, etc.) are egg-related, or at least egg-exasperated! Having cut out ALL grains, casein and soy, I felt pretty terrific. However, I was still getting breakouts and still suffering from constant environmental allergies. This is what led me to think there was maybe another food issue at work. I wasn't surprised the results showed eggs because I had started to rely heavily on them - usually 3 for breakfast every day... I kinda knew this was playing with fire but when you're totally grain free, eggs are very useful. Are IgG reactions accumalitive? My allergies have become worse over time.

Since my reactions to corn and soy (and rice/potatoes) are immediate - stomach issues - I guess then they are IgA, like gluten/casein?

I got my casein test (IgA) result back from Enterolab - postive. This is good as it confirms how I was feeling when I ate dairy. I understand that a positive IgA result means no casein for life.

I also got my York labs 96 food panel results back. This test is for IgG mediated allergies, which I understand are often reversible. Luckily I only had one problem food - eggs. (sucks cos I rely on them quite heabily these days - or did!)

My confusion lies in that I felt no ill effects from eating eggs, and yet I have noticed a problem with other foods - namely corn and soy, but to a lesser degree also rice and potatoes - but the York test said I was negative to these. I guess this is the same as it coming back negative for wheat and milk, although I know I have gluten and casein intolerance? Should I assume then that I would have positive IgA responses to those foods instead? This is all really confusing!

I'm starting to think that maybe I just have a permeable gut. Some days *everything* I eat hurts as soon as I eat it. The pain is at the bottom of my rib cage (small intestine I guess) and I get bloated.

Thanks for any light you can shed.

I gain weight easily with carb-loaded foods, esp. since being gluten-free - I think it's partly because the gluten-free versions of wheat foods are carb heavy, but also because I'm actually absorbing them now. I keep weight off and feel my best when following a paleolithic style diet, ie: just meat, veggies, eggs and a little fruit and a small amount of nuts/seeds. After the first few days of carb/sugar cravings are over with, I reach a mental 'high' (ketosis?) and my appetite self-limits and I just feel great! I'm 5 4 and currently 115lbs - I drop to 112 when I'm strict about my diet and bloat to 120 when I'm not. I feel that I'm *incredbly* carb senstivie. I can shoot up or down 5lbs a week, depending on the amount of fruit I eat!

I went out to eat yesterday and was glutened. I feel really weird after being glutened. My speach gets a little slured and I feel buzzed. Yesterday I was even stumbling as I walked into my house.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is exactly the kind of feeling I get after getting even the *tiniest* amount of gluten or casein. By tiny, I mean I could lick a stamp, or give a beer drinker a quick peck on the lips, and I'd be glutened. I don't even have to eat the stuff. The 'brain fog' is accompanied by severe exhaustion (too tired to even talk) and major irritability/depression. It lasts at 100% for about 5 days, and then slowly begins to fade, but I don't feel 'right' again for weeks. Anyone who thinks you can try just a "little bit" of ANYTHING with gluten in needs to understand they are POISONING you. No matter how expensive their bread is!

Hi Stef,

I'm fortunate that I live near a Whole Foods, so I get mine there. They haven't got the blueberry or cranberry flavours in yet though so I was considering ordering those online. They have Whole Foods in Canada... Where are you going? They have stores in Ontario and BC.

That could be it Nikki - the gluten-free bread contains yeast. I too get excema from gluten.

Rachel - sorry to hear you're in the same boat, but at the same time I'm glad to hear it's not just me! I started taking a probiotic complex and essential enzymes a few days ago. What I'd read on the board made me suspicious of a leaky gut and adding something good back into my system seemed like a good place to start. I just can't see any other reason that a person would become intolerant of so many foods, one after another. I even considered the SC diet, but there is a lot of dairy, and I do so great on a paleolithic style diet which is not so restricitve, so I think I will just stick to that. If I can't ever eat grains/starches ever again, it's ok. I'm starting to understand not only do I not need that stuff to be healthy, but I positively thrive without it. If I just eat meat, fish, veggies, eggs, good fats and fruit, my energy goes through the roof and my mood is fantastic. I just feel so focused and ready for anything. I have to stop 'testing' all these other foods, because I clearly don't need them... I guess old habits die hard. For years we are told that we need wholegrains to be healthy, but I need to trust my body.

It's agave nectar - an all natural sweet syrup from a Mexican plant. It's low glycermic and really sweet, so you need less than you would sugar. I use it in all my sweet baking, and also to sweeten hot chocolate. It avoids the sugar rush/crash, but tastes great. I can't stand the bitterness of fake sugar substitutes.

Fermented agave has another name - tequila.

Having had to cut soy and corn from my diet on top of casein and gluten, I've been 'testing' myself with small amounts of other grains, just to basically see what I can eat. I've found that a half slice of gluten-free bread made my stomach bloat (just like corn does). Last night I made a cup of brown rice pasta to accompany my chicken and brocolli, and after a couple of forkfuls my stomach was tight and bloated.

Do you think I'm reacting like this to all grains just because my body is so anti-gluten right now it's freaking out at anything slightly resembling it? Or do I have a problem with lectins as a whole? I don't have any other symptoms from these foods - don't get serious 'glutened' symptoms, just instant bloating and a hard, tight stomach. It's uncomfortable and unsightly, and doesn't go away for a few days. Perhaps I've developed a leaky gut?

I also got bloated the other day from a baked potato. It's all fitting in with the Paleolithic diet theory that we're not supposed to eat anything that would be toxic to us in it's raw state... Hmmm...

Btw, still waiting for my York allergy test results... 4+ weeks and counting...

I just wanted to reopen this post and say that since having problems with the chocolate active greens version of this bar, I've found out I'm soy intolerant - and the choc active greens has soy... I've bought a regular 'active greens' version and will check it out sometime next week.

I've had the same thing. Well-meaning friends have asked me "oh, are you still on that gluten free diet?" Like it's a choice! Even though I explained in detail WHY I can't have gluten, they just hear the word "diet" and figure it's something I just decided to 'try' for fun.

Neurological disorders are now being recognized as being connected to celiac and gluten intolerance, the boy on the show didn't have any digestive symptoms, only neurological ones.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is great that they chose to showcase smoeone with neurological symptoms. I find it hard for people to comprehend (believe) how much gluten effects my brain. I think you say food intolerance and people just figure if you eat too much of that food you'll have to run to the bathroom. FOr me it's nothing like that. It's good that they are shattereing the celiac myth of it just being a GI problem.

sashimi is the fish with the white rice on top, correct?  now thats ok, isn;t it

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No, sashimi is just sliced fish, no rice or anything. Nigiri is fish on top of rice. A lot of places nigiri is just called 'sushi'.

I'm in Austin too. Been gluten-free for 6 months. PM me if you want some restaurant tips, etc.

My vote goes for Giovanni too.

I got the idea for this on a low-carb forum but I've altered it a little to make it dairy-free, a little tastier and less fake sugary. It's still low carb and low glycemic, as well as being gluten/dairy free.

1/4 cup almond flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon agave nectar (use sugar if you aren't bothered about the low glyceminc part)

2 tablespoons almond butter (or peanut butter I guess, or regular melted butter if you can have dairy)

1 teaspoon coffee granules dissolved in 1 tablespoon water

1 egg

I also through in 1 tablespoon flax meal cos it's good for you

and optionally, a sprinkling of dark chocolate chips

In a small microwave-proof bowl, mix dry ingredients. In a separate bowl/cup mix the almond butter, dissolved coffee/water and egg.

Mix the wet ingredients into the dry, then mix in the agave nectar really well, then choc chips if desired.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and cut a small slit in the top. Microwave on high for 1 min 10 secs.

Serves 2, or 1 if you're hungry.

I don't have a bread machine so I make my bread in the oven. The mix I like best is Breads From Anna: Open Original Shared Link. Simply amazing. Texture just like gluten wholewheat bread!

My 'gluten' stomach aches are always in a very specific place, in the middle upper stomach, presumably where the small intestine is. If I get heavily glutened then I get stomach bloat and ache all over my stomach and back and feel like I'm being squeezed by a giant vice grip and can't get a full lungful of air. Fun!

So did I.

Dayquil and Nyquil rock. Plus Zicam to shorten the cold.

I don't remember corn on the cob bothering me either, just corn when it's ground into a grain... I am determined to find out now though!

Are they maybe just from different parts of the plant?