Anyone has experience with a gluten-free diet? - Page 2

sarah42 · 02-01-2012, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by subbrock

Sarah- how long did you have to pack alternative snacks/meals for your son? Was it for the week that you tried the elimination diet or longer? Did you eliminate foods with gluten altogether or did you use gluten free substitutes (ex: no more mac and cheese or use a gluten free mac and cheese)? Specifically what did you find to be expensive and inconvenient?

I should mention, the allergy test was positive for wheat, not specifically gluten. I'm not sure if you can have gluten-free foods with wheat ingredients, but we eliminated anything of that nature.

I just sent food to preschool for the one week. The inconvenience/expense was also because we were eliminating eggs and peanuts (and fish, though that's easier to avoid). A lot of gluten free crackers/cookies/snacks have egg ingredients, so we couldn't have those. If I was going to the trouble of doing it, I wanted to be really strict. I made sure we avoided anything that said "May contain traces of ...." on the label, which a lot of generic foods tend to have, so we bought more expensive name brands. We did buy gluten/wheat free versions of cookies, granola bars, and pretzels, which were quite a bit pricier than the regular versions. If we'd done it longer term, I would have to find alternative foods, because I can't afford $8 bags of pretzels and cookies all the time.

mad scientist · 02-01-2012, 09:34 PM

Thanks everyone for sharing their experiences/opinions!

While I do agree that gluten is somewhat of a bogeyman these days, I do think it makes sense to look at what we eat, and what we eat *most*. Wheat is right up there.

After having managed DD's life-threatening allergies for all this time, there is simply no way that my brain will ever treat this gluten business as seriously as her actual allergies. I'm willing to treat this as a lifestyle choice that leaves some room for accidents and the occasional treat. That is of course assuming that I see a change. Its heartening to me that some of you have seen improvements in your own health just from reducing gluten rather than strictly eliminating it outright.

Since DD has so many allergies, we've always packed her food for preschool and she doesn't participate in group snacks or birthday treats unless its fruits or veggies. She never has and doesn't seem to care, as long as she likes her own snack lol. I did buy some gluten-free snacks, but she isn't too keen on them. We are limited because she is allergic to soy, and soy flour is a gluten-free alternative.

We eat low carb at home anyways, so it actually hasn't been to bad this week. So we'll see how this goes.

Keep the comments coming!

Jess the Mess · 02-01-2012, 11:52 PM

I have seen improvement in DS's ADD since watching (even closer) what he eats. We haven't cut out gluten completely but I watch his intake of processed foods. I will also try to find an interesting article I read yesterday about the link between over processed foods (bread and pasta) and obesity since it has been brought up. It was an interesting read.

My fat thumb will make mistakes.

Libra_Moon · 04-24-2012, 06:05 PM

I was recently diagnosed (January) with Celiac disease so a gluten free diet is what I have to do, testing the kids come summer break.

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thosecurls · 04-24-2012, 07:24 PM

The reason so many children and adults today benefit from a gluten free eating plan is that so many store bought foods are now overly gluten processed.

And for those with serious gluten sensitivities keep in mind gluten is also commonly found in makeup, lotions, shampoos, vitamins and other things.

It's a learning process but the benefit is worth it for those who are intolerant.

sleepymeko · 04-24-2012, 10:35 PM

Going gluten-free isn't necessarily good for you unless you have an intolerance or allergy. Please speak to a nutritionist first before you make a drastic change such as that, especially to a child. Gluten is in a lot of foods so I don't think subtracting it from her or anyone's diet would be necessarily a good idea unless it is necessary.

I feel as though this is a new diet trend. Don't fall for it and get a professional opinion. Going gluten-free eliminates whole grain foods which is rich with vitamins. If you keep cutting off important sources of nutrients and vitamins, your child may suffer from stunting or undernutrition, it's important for human development to get the rich amount of nutrients. The vast amount of Americans are ALREADY suffering from mass amounts undernutrition because of too much access to man-made/processed foods which lack significant amounts of vitamins and nutrients that people need.

I would think about it.

Libra_Moon · 04-25-2012, 04:23 AM

I have celiac so going gluten free is a necessity there are still whole grains allowed with the diet, and yes a gluten free diet can be healthy for anyone if done right...humans don't digest wheat properly...celiac or not!!

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thosecurls · 04-25-2012, 05:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sleepymeko

Going gluten-free isn't necessarily good for you unless you have an intolerance or allergy. Please speak to a nutritionist first before you make a drastic change such as that, especially to a child. Gluten is in a lot of foods so I don't think subtracting it from her or anyone's diet would be necessarily a good idea unless it is necessary.

I feel as though this is a new diet trend. Don't fall for it and get a professional opinion. Going gluten-free eliminates whole grain foods which is rich with vitamins. If you keep cutting off important sources of nutrients and vitamins, your child may suffer from stunting or undernutrition, it's important for human development to get the rich amount of nutrients. The vast amount of Americans are ALREADY suffering from mass amounts undernutrition because of too much access to man-made/processed foods which lack significant amounts of vitamins and nutrients that people need.

I would think about it.

I do agree Gluten is in almost everything - sadly this is true and it doesn't have to be as there are alternatives.

But anyone thinking it's a new diet trend is very far from realizing the truth. There is no celebrity blasted on TV promoting being gluten free eating like Jenny Craig or Weight Watches - it's a food intolerance disease.

Eating Gluten Free is not easy and very frustrating at times.

iroc · 04-25-2012, 06:05 AM

I think its possible just as many people are lactose intolerant, many people can be gluten intolerant.

It may not be an allergy, or a 'disease', but like dairy, it can cause things like bloating, gas, behavioral differences, and skin issues.

I don't think I'd personally go completely gluten free, but I'd like to limit it. I've been thinking of doing this lately because I think it may be causing me stomach problems.

I think anything that has to be processed in some way before it's eaten is not completely natural, and therefore should probably be limited, or at least watched.

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sarah42 · 04-25-2012, 09:53 AM

Mad Scientist--I was curious if you did try the gluten-free diet, and with what results, if you'd like to share.

SaraNoH · 04-25-2012, 09:56 AM

I belong to a cystic fibrosis support forum and I've heard from MANY people there that going gluten-free helped with digestion tremendously. I've decided that once I'm completely on my own I'll go gluten free, perhaps dairy free to deal with the digestion issues of CF. Seriously, I can't even eat a freaking cracker without bloating and feeling like crap, and sometimes it's so painful.

I don't think going GF (or any "free") is necessarily hard as long as you stick to whole foods (NOT the store). That way you dont have to read labels and memorize hundreds of no-no ingredients.

Munchy · 04-25-2012, 10:14 AM

I came across this blog a few weeks ago and the food looks awesome.

Recipes | The Gluten Free Vegan

mad scientist · 04-25-2012, 10:25 AM

Thanks for bumping up this thread! I completely forgot to post an update.

So we decided to go Gluten-free for DD in early February. The big changes to her diet that we made was replacing regular bread and crackers with gf alternatives for day to day eating. We didn't take it right down to the no trace of gluten anywhere level. In a pinch I've peeled off the cheese and toppings off a pizza and let her eat that, icing off a cake or sliced breading of breaded fish and let her eat the fish etc...

So the verdict: within 2.5 weeks of starting this diet, we noticed a difference. Not only us, but her preschool and her speech therapist. The difference is an increased desire to talk! My DD has always been social but used the fact that she was cute and sweet-natured to manipulate situations so people would do things for her. All of a sudden she was trying to communicate verbally *first* before pointing and taking you by the hand. She started joining conversations. DS and I would be talking about going skating and she would pop in "I go skating too!". She will come running upstairs to tell me "Mommy, your phone ringing!". She will tell us things that happened during the day "Noah kicked me!".

So as with all things developmental, it could just be that she's reached the next level on her own, but the change occurred in such a short period of time, and it was noticed by people who didn't know that we had made any changes to her diet. But whatever it is, I'm not messing with it! She's staying on the diet.

mad scientist · 04-25-2012, 10:31 AM

A few more details, in case anyone is interested:

My DD appears to have multiple speech related issues: the first was the unwillingness to speak, which seems to have been lessened considerably recently either due to the gf diet or not. Her second issue is that she is completely unintelligible when she does speak. She is too young to be diagnosed with apraxia of speech which is a condition where the brain doesn't seem to be able to organize the mouth to make the sounds it wants to. Or she may have a low muscle tone issue.

Either way, we weren't able to address the issue because she just didn't really seem interested in speaking. We actually stopped regular speech therapy back in September because we were seeing no progress. Now that she is interested, we are attempting more intensive speech therapy (2x week) with more drill type exercises. She seems to be making some progress. In any case, the more she speaks the more practice she gets at forming words and the more feedback she gets from others so its going to help.

mad scientist · 04-25-2012, 10:40 AM

More details about the gf diet, in case anyone wants to try it:

so far I haven't attempted to bake any gf items at home. It didn't seem worth it since there is enough commercial items to get us through. But they are expensive and limited so if this is a long term thing I will investigate further.

As staples I buy gf bread (Udi's brand) and crackers (Glutino) and animal crackers and rice pasta (Tinkyada). There are other gf cookies but she's not that keen on them. I keep a stash of Amy's brand gf cheese frozen pizzas in the freezer. I also found frozen gf donuts that I keep for special treats.

Betty Crocker has gf cake mixes! I've made up a couple dozen cupcakes and stashed them in the freezer. One of those and a little pizza is what I pack for her to take to a birthday party.

Otherwise, she eats a lot of rice, meat, veggies and fruit and dairy. And seems perfectly happy.

iroc · 04-25-2012, 11:22 AM

Thats fantastic, ms! Finding out a solution to a problem is as simple as diet changes is a relief.

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Saria · 04-25-2012, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Libra_Moon

I have celiac so going gluten free is a necessity there are still whole grains allowed with the diet, and yes a gluten free diet can be healthy for anyone if done right...humans don't digest wheat properly...celiac or not!!

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Scientific data for this blanket statement?
This is why certain posters feel gluten-free is basically just the newest fad. Most people don't even know what gluten actually is but they're convinced it's bad for them. If you have a gluten intolerance or allergy, by all means do you, but this spreading around of how gluten is basically the source of all problems is absurd.
People will also shudder in fear about how terrible MSG is for you and that's another one that nobody actually knows what it is or that the number of people who genuinely have an intolerance to it is incredibly small.

mad scientist · 04-25-2012, 01:01 PM

I'm not sure what digest "properly" means. If we are talking about digesting food "completely", then that pretty much means we are limited to consuming breastmilk. Everything else is only somewhat digested.

Iroc - thanks! I'm happy about this development.

Saria - I know you are a skeptic, but I was hoping you had some gluten-free experience lol. The only thing my baby clearly misses is roti and paronthas. I would really like to develop a wheat-free alternative that resembles the real thing. So far she has eschewed any of my offerings (and I don't blame her).

If I can't find one, we are going to have to go turn a blind eye on Sunday mornings for our weekly parontha breakfast and let her some.

spiderlashes5000 · 04-25-2012, 01:03 PM

I totally missed this thread when it first came out. But when my daughter was 4 yrs old (she's 7.5 now), I put her on a wheat-free, lower carb diet to address undiagnosed ADHD-like symptoms. And her improvement was immediate and pronounced!

I've long since weaned her completely off the diet but I'm considering removing wheat products and added sugar again...now bc of GI issues. But I will be discussing that w/ a GI specialist tomorrow.

So glad you're seeing an improvement.

Saria · 04-25-2012, 01:59 PM

I don't have much experience with gluten-free baking because it's something I don't have to do, so I haven't.
Serious Eats has a great gluten-free column. I also like Cannelle Vanille's gluten-free desserts. Dan Lepard has a white bread recipe that actually looks like bread and people who've made it say it's the best gluten-free bread they have tasted. It has a lot of raves. I'm sure if you sent him an email he would come up with something great.
I actually think it should be fairly easy to come up with a gluten free flatbread compared to a raised bread. They don't rely on gluten for rise, after all, and they're pretty basic in terms of ingredients. The main thing about missing gluten would be elasticity. I would imagine that a mix containing sweet rice flour would give you the bit of chew that might otherwise be missing, since it provides a somewhat gelatinous texture.
Basically, it helps to know how different flours act:

http://glutenfreegirl.com/a-guide-to...n-free-flours/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandsty...ng-bread-cakes

http://www.theglutenfreelifestyle.co...flour-mix.html