Archive for the 'living without wheat' Category
December 10th, 2009 -- Posted in friend and family support, gluten free, living without wheat, wheat alternatives |
When those of us who are gluten-free find ourselves in social situations that can be awkward. For example, you are newly gluten-free and you are invited over to a friend’s home for dinner. Or you have a company function to go to that involves food. Or the holidays are coming and the highlight of the meal contains gluten. It can get tricky to navigate while not starving or “gluten-ing” yourself.
When I was initially diagnosed as gluten-free I was told by my doctor to see how much gluten I could tolerate. Initially I could tolerate small quantities of bread or soy sauce, but the longer I went without wheat in my diet, the more it affected me when I did have it. So now I am almost 100% gluten-free. The times I get gluten are purely accidental and I can tell by my body’s reaction within 24 hours.
Let me clarify that for those with Celiac they need to be 100% gluten-free (not “almost” as I said I am). The places I am the most likely to get exposed to gluten are from cross-contamination (the restaurant uses the same prep space for a sandwich as for my lettuce wrap; a fellow guest puts the humus directly on their pita pieces and some bread crumbs end up back in the humus) or from small quantities of gluten in a dish that you wouldn’t think would have wheat in it (enchilada sauce frequently contains wheat; a little granola mixed in a yogurt parfait; nutritional yeast in vitamins or food). For people with Celiac, they must be extremely careful l to not allow even the smallest amount of gluten into their diets so they need to be extra careful when eating at someone’s home.
When you have a dinner invitation to someone’s home, I suggest the following:
- Tell them right up front, “I have a serious food allergy, would you mind if we connected on the menu to make sure I know ahead of time what I will and won’t be able to eat?” I have never had a host turn me down on this request, they always ask for more information.
- Try not to overwhelm them. You are giving the “Cliff’s Notes” for ONE meal, not so they can cook gluten-free for the rest of their lives. I never ask a person to have an entirely gluten-free meal (some friends choose to out of love, interest, and empathy, but I never ask). I just try to make sure that there will be enough food there that I can eat without drawing attention to myself.
- Give simple suggestions and focus on the menu the host is planning on: Have all the ingredients for the salad separate so each person can put what they want on their serving and the croutons won’t contaminate the rest of the salad; Prepare my non-marinated chicken in the pan first (or on a separate dish) so it doesn’t get cross contaminated; Let me give you a bottle of some gluten-free soy sauce that you can use; Do you mind saving the packaging from prepared foods that I can look at before the dinner to check ingredients?; Could you put the cheese and crackers on separate plates? On a side note, just because someone says, “I know all about gluten-free cooking because…”, still clarify your own gluten-free needs. A friend once glutened me with spelt noodles because she thought gluten-free people can tolerate spelt.
- Offer to bring a dish, especially one that usually has gluten. If you have a bread recipe you enjoy, offer to bring bread. I often bring dessert too because so much dessert has gluten in it.
- Eat before the dinner party. Even the most considerate hosts make mistakes and I find it better to arrive to a dinner party with a semi-full belly and eat less there than to be starving and get there to find croutons ON the salad and that all the meat got marinated in regular soy sauce.
It is important to be proactive and gracious. We don’t want the host to go through a bunch of extra trouble for us but hosts want all of their guests to have a great time. So speak up and help out the next time you are invited to someone’s home for dinner.
Technorati Tags: avoiding gluten, gluten free dinner invitation
December 3rd, 2009 -- Posted in living without wheat, shopping |
I often am asked “so what can you eat”? or “what does it mean to be gluten-free”? I admit that I was a bit intimidated when I was first diagnosed. My doctor’s instructions were to “experiment” and when I asked him what would happen if I ate gluten, he said “you will probably feel uncomfortable. If you choose to have gluten from time to time you may end up feeling the consequences.”
By this time I had already learned that I was negative for Celiac. If I had been diagnosed with Celiac I would not have had such an option. From what I understand about what is understood for people with Celiac is that they are at a much higher risk of developing digestive cancers. Because gluten actually stays in our bodies for at least two weeks once it is consumed, if you cheat a couple times a month you are never fully ridding your body of the gluten response.
One of the gluten responses is inflammation. Not like the swelling of the neck that some people get when they eat peanuts or are stung by a bee. It causes inflammation of the digestive track and joints. My fingers used to ache pretty frequently and because arthritis runs in my family I thought that was what the problem was. When I went gluten-free my achy joints went away.
It was quite a learning process to figure out all the things I needed to avoid. There are still some that sneak up and surprise me. It is the most concerning eating out or at someone’s house. The more gluten has been removed from my diet, the stronger my bodies response has become. Gluten is not welcome here anymore.
For example, initially I continued to eat at Chinese restaurants. You may not know it but gluten is in soy sauce. I always had that “not quite full, odd feeling in my stomach” when I ate Chinese food but I didn’t think anything of it. When I eliminated breads and other obvious gluten foods I found that my response to Chinese food became stronger. I would feel like maybe I was getting a stomach bug with some cramping and discomfort and then usually diarrhea within 12-24 hours and then my joints would be achy again. When you make the association like that, you find the cravings become easier and easier to resist.
So what do I avoid? ALL wheat products including breads, flour tortillas, pastas (Semolina and Durum are types of wheat). Other grains I avoid are: barley, rye, graham, oats (they are cross-contaminated with wheat unless specifically listed as “gluten-free” and I found over time I developed a reaction to them as I got other gluten foods out of diet), spelt (some gluten-free people eat this but it gives me a reaction and it is a type of wheat). Standard foods I avoid: noodles, cornbread (because it is almost always cooked with a portion of wheat flour), breaded foods (like deep-fried veggies), soy sauce (unless wheat is not an ingredient), and licorice (yes, it has wheat in it about 98% of the time), gravies, sauces that are thickened, beer (Red Bridge is my favorite gluten-free beer).
What do I read the labels on or ask the person who cooked it? Soups, salad dressings, casseroles, cheese spreads, sauces, vegetarian meat substitutes, supplements, protein or meal bars, snack chips (Doritoes have wheat in them as do Pringles), pretty much any processed food. You would be surprised where wheat shows up.
That said, there are lots of things I eat. I will cover that in a new post.
Technorati Tags: gluten free foods, gluten sources
November 24th, 2009 -- Posted in Beverages, friend and family support, gluten substitutes, living without wheat, wheat alternatives |
I am a beer drinker. Not often, but I enjoy a beer about once a month and when I realized this was one more area of my life that was to be affected by my gluten-free diagnosis, it was a bit annoying. In my dad’s final weeks one of the things he enjoyed doing was sharing a beer with one of his kids. He gamely shared a gluten-free beer with me but he didn’t care much for it. Poor guy…I wish I could have been more accommodating.
Pretty much all beers, ales, and lagers contain gluten. Those pesky grains are just so excellent at creating beer that I would say 99%+ of all beers on the market contain gluten. Here is a bit of good news…manufacturers of beer are realizing that this market is growing larger every year and they are rushing to answer our need. Large breweries, like Anheuser-Busch have answered the call with Redbridge (a gluten-free beer that I liken to Killian’s) and small breweries are also bringing to market artisan gluten-free varieties as well. Speak up when you go to your local brew pub and let them know that you would purchase a gluten-free beer if it was available.
A warning about the gluten-free beers available: some of them taste terrible. I am a “regular” beer drinker which I consider puts me in the “average joe” category that I like beer that isn’t too strong (like Guiness) or bitter. I used to drink Killean’s, wheat beers, an occasional flavored beer (like pumpkin in the fall or berry in the summer) and I enjoyed a good Corona with lime on a hot summer day.
As with all foods, everyone has different tastes so it is important to keep an open mind and try a variety. For example, when I first went gluten free I bought a six pack of Redbridge and a six pack of New Grist and shared them with my gluten-free siblings. I was the only one who liked Redbridge and no one liked New Grist. However I had a party a few months later and one of my non-gluten-free guests really liked the New Grist (I sent the last unopened bottle home with her). I have heard “Temptation” is a good choice as well, although it may be a bit pricey (I haven’t been able to find it at my local grocery stores as even Whole Foods stopped selling it).
I have found for the days I want more of my “Corona experience”, I take my Red Bridge and add about 50% water and a slice of lime to create a lighter beer…it works for me and stretches out the enjoyment.
Other brands on the market (I have not found them in the Ann Arbor area) are:
- Bard’s Gold
- Green’s Discovery Amber Ale
- Green’s Endeavour Dubbel Ale
- Green’s Quest Tripel Ale
- Sprecher Brewing Mbege
- Sprecher Brewing Shakparo
As you are no doubt aware, an open mind and sense of adventure will serve you well in your gluten-free journey. Raise your gluten-free beer in a toast to those wonderful breweries looking out for us and helping us to enjoy a good bottle of beer from time to time. Cheers!
Technorati Tags: gluten free beer
