How To Go Gluten Free!

Digestive Discomfort After Going Gluten Free

Initially my body felt better when I went gluten-free, and I wasn’t even 100% gluten free initially.  But going gluten-free doesn’t mean the end of digestive discomfort, sometimes it means that it is beginning a new phase in understanding our bodies and helping to repair the damage that has been done by all that gluten.

If someone is gluten-free or has Celiac and they are exposed to gluten, they will likely experience some discomfort, sometimes pretty severe discomfort.  That isn’t what I am talking about in this post.  Certainly if a person has gone gluten-free and they have discomfort, the first thing they should look for is if gluten slipped into their diet somehow.  After a thorough investigation, there remain several possibilities.  I will focus on three today:

Sugar.  Most people who have been diagnosed with a gluten-intolerance and all people who have Celiac have damage in their intestines.  Sugar seems to really cause problems with an already-sensitive digestive system.  I have noticed for myself that I can no longer tolerate eating sweets by themselves.  If they are part of a meal or have some more substantial food incorporated into them I am usually okay.

This varies from person to person with some people finding they are fine with honey and agave but not with regular sugar or corn syrup in any form.  Other people find that honey affects them as well.  I am not going to get into the science behind how sugar is produced and how it interacts in our bodies.  Just consider that if you are still having digestive discomfort that it may be related to sugar consumption.  Experiment, keep a food journal, and see if you see a link.

Besides, our bodies do not need the level of sugar consumption that is encouraged in these modern days.  You will likely be healthier overall if you reduce your sugar consumption, whether you are having digestive problems or not.

Artificial Sweeteners.  Even before I went gluten-free I noticed that if I had a diet pop (soda for you outside the midwest) I would get stomach cramping within an hour or two.  I didn’t drink diet pop very often and after I noticed the link I stopped drinking it completely. 

I am not comfortable with all the processing and chemical modification that takes place to create artificial sweeteners, it just doesn’t seem like a good idea for our bodies.  That being said, each person needs to make their own choice and I certainly have enough of my own quirks that I am not going to judge you for drinking aspartame or splenda.  Just consider that if you are having digestive problems and you are consuming artificial sweeteners they may be a cause.

Another Food Intolerance.  Some folks have challenges with lactose, corn, soy, or eggs, to name a few.  There is always the possibility that your body is reacting to another ingredient.  See your medical professional to determine if this might be the case.

There are many other causes of digestive discomfort including food poisoning, gallbladder issues, and viruses.  Always listen to your body, look for patterns, and seek medical attention, especially if the symptoms are severe or last for an extended period of time.  When you aren’t feeling well it is difficult to be at your best.  Take care of yourself so you can participate in life the way you would like to!

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Gluten-Free Diagnosis

One of the most common questions I get is, “How did you know you were gluten-free?” or a variation, “Are you gluten-free by choice or necessity?” There are a few different ways to discover if you are gluten-intolerant.  Many people do a self-diagnosis by simply eliminating gluten from their diets for a couple weeks to see if they notice a difference.  You can do that but I also suggest that before you go off gluten completely that you get tested for Celiac, an autoimmune disease that needs more serious treatment than “gluten-intolerance” (which you can listen to your own body and decide how much gluten to consume based on your comfort level).

I do not have Celiac, for which I am profoundly grateful. People with Celiac have a much higher incidence of digestive cancers and need to be EXTREMELY careful about not allowing ANY gluten to get into their diets. If I had Celiac, I would rarely eat out or eat foods that I was “pretty sure” are okay.

Celiac can be tested with a blood test as long as you are still consuming gluten (there is also an endoscopy test and a genetic test, all of which have their advantages and drawbacks – consult with your doctor). My Celiac test was negative. The way we discovered my gluten-intolerance was through an elimination diet which was monitored by my doctor, Dr. Ed Linkner, in Ann Arbor.

If you are going to do an elimination diet I strongly suggest that you be monitored by a professional.  You are eliminating many necessary nutritients from your diet and it is important that you not be putting your body through unnecessary harm from the process, it is supposed to be healing, not hurting your body.

Let me back up to look at how we even started looking at gluten. Keith and I went on a vacation/conference to California and I experienced some discomfort in my stomach area. I would move toward bland foods hoping they would help the tightness to go away (you know, things like potatoes or crackers or bread). The feeling persisted and one night the pain became so bad we went to the ER where they kept me for observation. They thought my gallbladder was acting up (I have a strong family history of gallbladder disease). My pain subsided and after an ultrasound they said I should see my doctor as soon as I get back into town.

I saw Dr. Linkner and described my symptoms to him and he also looked over the records from California. He said he suspected it was my stomach, not my gallbladder that was giving me trouble and set out to determine if there was something going on there.

We went through several tests looking at everything from stomach acid, blood work, and how my food was digesting (by looking at the remains…not overly pleasant!). The results came back that I had an infestation of candida (a yeast) and inflammation in my digestive tract. The inflammation was a concern because that means my nutrients are not being absorbed properly plus over time that inflammation can turn into chronic disease (and discomfort).

Dr. Linkner put me on an “elimination” diet that removed all common allergens from my diet for six weeks. We also wanted to finish off the candida so I removed all fruits and any other form of sugar (because that is what they live on) and I took an herbal supplement to assist in restoring balance. Because my diet was so restrictive, I also took a rice-based shake supplement two or three times per day. NOT tasty. Here is what I removed: caffeine, sugar, eggs, milk, wheat, soy, alcohol, fruit, and more that I can’t remember. Oh yeah…corn too.

My wonderful husband went on the diet with me. What a guy! It was a tough six weeks. We ate a lot of rice, chicken (not a vegetarian at that time), beans, veggies, and potatoes. It was VERY hard with the sugar cravings to get rid of those candida. As they are in their death throes they get very demanding for their sugar. It took a lot of will power and I was grateful I had cleaned out my cupboards ahead of time to get tempting foods out of the house.

After the six weeks I was able to start adding back in foods, one at a time, three days apart. I was to add in a large quantity of the food and look for any reaction (headache, joint aches, runny nose or congestion, stomach upset, cramping, anything out of the ordinary). We were very strategic in adding back foods. I went with the foods first that are commonly found in other foods. I half-feared a milk reaction and was very pleased when I didn’t have one. Corn was early too and it sailed right through.

Wheat though gave me a runny nose almost immediately and a headache shortly after. I tried a couple times in the same day with the same results and had some achy joints the following day.

I let it clear from my system then added back another food then tried wheat again. Same results. Then I knew…life would not be the same in my kitchen.

It has been an interesting trip, learning which foods I can consume and how to find substitutes for my favs. Let me know if this post has been helpful to you. If you would like more information or recipes, just ask and I’ll be happy to include more.

Gluten in Home Cooked Meals

My sister-in-law is a wonderful woman and I am fortunate to have such a loving and caring woman in my life.  I know whenever we get together for dinner at her house we are throwing her a curveball because of my gluten intolerance and both my husband and I are vegetarians as well. 

The biggest challenge I find in my sister-in-law’s home cooked meals is she loves casseroles (and I do too!).  Many casseroles call for creamed or other canned soups.  In fact, I recently heard that when Campbells first came out with their creamed soups they weren’t designed to be soups at all but sauces.  That has certainly become the case in many casserole recipes.   Casseroles often add breadcrumbs or may have a main ingredient of noodles and some people may not realize that “egg noodles” are actually wheat.

In addition to casseroles, and of course any bread, rolls, or pasta, there are other places where gluten may show up in a home cooked meal that otherwise looks safe:

• Marinades are a trouble spot because of the frequent addition of soy sauce or other wheat or malt flavorings.  This includes some pre-cooked chicken and some lunchmeats.
• Breading is something to be avoided since 99% of the time it is wheat (this includes panko which is the Asian-style breading and “beer battered” which has beer in the batter but is wheat-based).
• Any sauce should be investigated for ingredients, especially if it is thick (such as alfredo).  This includes creamed vegetables.  Vegetables can still be creamed using milk and cornstarch or substitute arrowroot or tapioca but if the person cooking is familiar or comfortable with these applications they have likely used flour.  Sauces that are not thick have the possibility of having soy sauce in them, another common source of gluten.
• Soups, especially creamed or thick soups, will often have wheat in them.  Or they may have noodles or orzo (which looks like rice but is wheat).
• Desserts are especially problematic, including some ice cream.  Many special flavors of ice cream (like cookies and cream) have wheat in them.  Always read the label to be sure.
• Prepared salad dressings are another source of gluten although if you make your own, the likelihood of gluten being in there is very small (unless you include soy sauce).

There are many modifications that can be made when you are cooking for yourself or if you have family or friends who are open and interested in learning new cooking techniques.  Home cooked meals can be gluten-free and tasty, it just takes a little more education and effort.

Where gluten hides on food labels

Thanks to the labeling laws getting more and more clear there are fewer places where gluten can hide in the list of ingredients.  For example, food starch is a common ambiguous term that may or may not mean wheat.  In addition, sometimes a company will use a strain of wheat that isn’t as common or that makes it sound fancy and may cause you to question if it is wheat or not (such as “Einkorn” or “Semolina” or “Triticale”).  Of course you also want to avoid any barley, rye, or oat products.

Watch out for Aisan dishes as they often contain a lot of ingredients and the soy sauce may be hidden in the middle of the list.  I have found that in general Thai and Indian food are less likely than Chinese to have wheat in them.  You still want to read the labels or check with the kitchen every time.

The longer the list of ingredients, the more processing that probably happened to produce that “food” product and the less healthy it probably is for you.  That is a good general rule around label-reading. 

For people with gluten-intolerance they can be a little more lax on label reading, if they choose to and are willing to accept the consequences.  For those with Celiac, they really need to be clear about the safety of a food before they purchase it.  For example:

¨     Vitamin E is sometimes processed with wheat germ oil.  This is a concern not only for Vitamin E supplements but also shortenings which may contain Vitamin E.

¨     Shortening: See the Vitamin E explanation above.

¨     Spices: Straight spices are pretty much always gluten-free because it is just the spice as the only ingredient.  For spice blends you may run into gluten as an additive. 

¨     Pudding: May contain barley malt for flavoring and/or wheat starch.

¨     Cereal: May contain any number of wheat grains and/or non-gluten-free oats; may contain malt flavoring.

¨     Rice Syrup: May contain barley enzymes.

¨     Brewer’s Yeast: often processed with wort, a fermented barley.

¨     MSG: May contain wheat, especially if produced outside the United States.

¨     HVP/TVP Hydrogenated Vegetable Protein or Textured Vegetable Protein*

¨     Natural Flavor*

¨     Stabilizers*

¨     Fillers*

¨     Vegetable Gums*

¨     Monoglycerides*

¨     Diglycerides*

¨     Modified Food Starch*

* By “ingredient” alone you cannot tell what the raw materials are so you cannot determine if gluten is or is not an ingredient.  Contact the company, especially if you are highly sensitive or have Celiac.

Cross contamination is also a concern since the same equipment may be used to process both gluten and non-gluten products.  If you contact the company they will be able to tell you if a product is produced in a dedicated gluten-free facility or what kind of cleaning the equipment goes through.

It is important to stay on top of labels and any concerns you may have.  Food manufacturers can change their ingredients with every batch if they choose to so you always need to read labels.  Manufacturers are recognizing the purchasing power of those with gluten-intolerance and Celiac Disease and they are getting much better about voluntary labeling.

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