I am giving up wheat/gluten and need help.

[AtYourCervix]

Coeliac blood test negative but more and more irritable every day (currently on the loo after delicious garlic bread).

Help! Where do I start/stop? Everything nice and virtually my entire diet is wheaty. No more pasta, cake, beer etc.

I know I can just eat vegetables but I can see that getting tedious after a week.

What about oats?

Is there a definitive list somewhere of gluten free foods and/or a list of foods with gluten in?



Oh lord. Can I have ?

[addictedtosugar]

no gluten in

Any useful info here to help you?

I'd suggest completely cutting out gluten for bit (and oats can irritate some coeliacs), and when your gut has recovered, slowly introducing some things that are OK for some and not for others, just to see how how you react.

Potatoes, rice. Gluten free pasta is available. Gluten free flour is available, you can make cake and biscuits.
Meat (read the label of processed meat), dairy, veg, fruit.

Its a different way of eating, but you can get used to it.

[CMOTDibbler]

It does seem a huge, insurmountable problem when you first think about it, but it does get easier I promise.

And you don't go without pasta, cake or beer if you don't want to.

If you make most food at home, then the worst bit is the initial going through all the cupboards to look at the labels of all the stock cubes, soy sauce, ketchup etc and then replacing with gf. And the good news on that is that these days all pre packaged food has to clearly state if it contains gluten or wheat.

Start slowly - Genius bread toasted (with a new, clean spread and marmalade) for breakfast, a salad or jacket pot for lunch, and meat + veg/chilli and rice/ curry and rice/casserole (gf stock cube, thicken with cornflour) for dinner.

GF bread and pasta are very much individual tastes, so try a variety. You can also accost people in the free from aisle of your local super markets and ask what they like.

If you need to eat out, then most of the big chains have a gf menu on line you can check. Pizza hut, Pizza express and Dominos all do gf pizzas.

[Mucho]

Go through the cupboards and get rid of everything with gluten and clean cupboards, don't forget the cutlery drawer and toaster (get a new one). Join coeliacs uk for the gf directory. Go round all supermarkets and see what they have. We had to do it last year for our coeliac dd. It's not as hard as you think but there are some tricky gluteny suckers out there - hp sauce, soy sauce and heaven knows what else! Good luck.

[SanityClause]

Look at The Intolerant Gourmet website. She also has some recipe books published. The recipes are wheat, egg and dairy free. You may need to check some products, such as oats, to ensure the ones you use are gluten free (try Alara).

[Justgotosleepnow]

To save you the bother- Pizza Hut gluten free pizza is the best one

[Justgotosleepnow]

Think what you will gain- no ibs symptoms, no bloated tummy & all the other yukky side affects.
It will be worth it

[AtYourCervix]

Thanks v much.

Will plan. And shop.

[captainmummy]

Try going low-carb, OP. Main benefits include less bloating, IBS clears up, loss of weight...
I've done it for over 2 years, never been hungry, and eat better and cleaner than in years. I just don't use/cook/eat wheat products (yes that includes bread, pasta, biscuits, pastry, beer - see how the weight-loss comes about?) but there are ways round it . Potatoes, oats, rice - all Out but we use other stuff instead. 'Pasta' can be thinly sliced courgette, 'mash' is mashed celeriac or swede, 'rice' is grated cauliflower (honestly, try them, they are delicious, especially smothered in butter - high fat is also a (delicious) feature of low-carb and yes you will still lose weight)

Chekc out the low-carb/bootcamp threads. BIWI, who runs them, was an IBS sufferer, and she is symptom-free now. It's also good for diabetes-sufferers, as it regulates your blood-sugar really well (being low-sugar)

[AgathaF]

I have stopped eating wheat this year after years of symptoms. There are plenty of wheat free beers out there - I can pm you a list if you like, but otherwise just email the breweries and see who doesn't put wheat in their beer.
Sainsbury's has a decent line in wheat free (and GF) bread rolls and sliced bread. Most of the supermarkets sell wheat free pasta, flour etc.

Also lots of online stores that sell GF and/or wheat free.

It will be good when restaurants etc catch on to the fact that GF is not the same as wheat free, and that just because something is GF doesn't mean that people with wheat intolerance can eat it. But I guess that will improve in time. I'm sure it has already improved over the last ten years or so.

For me the benefits far outweight the inconvenience. No more palpitations, bloating, grumbling stomach etc.

[AtYourCervix]

Day 1. I'm off shopping. Will buy vegetables.

[IDismyname]

There's heaps of lovely GF stuff out there.

So much, that I think I eat more biscuits and cakes than I did before

Get GF pasta (don't tell the family they won't know the difference)
Get GF Doves farm flour (ditto)
Get GF Bread (trickier to pass off, but can recommend DS Brown Ciabatta rolls. Cut in half and bung in toaster)

[AtYourCervix]

If something says 'may contain wheat or gluten due to harvesting or processing' does that mean I shouldn't eat it?

[CMOTDibbler]

Yes, be really strict in the first few months, then you can see if a particular brand upsets you after 6 months.

[AtYourCervix]

Do I need expensive GF oats? Or would normal ones do?
And what about lentils?

[AtYourCervix]

I forsee another 12 million questions like the previous. Sorry.

[IDismyname]

I would keep it 'vairy' simple to start with, and eat as cleanly as possible. Meat, fish, veg, fruit, unprocessed stuff....

Technically oats have a type of gluten in them that may affect some people, so I would - for the sake of this experiment - switch to GF oats. Then you can say that you have eliminated all gluten.

Give yourself a month without gluten, and see how you feel. Then maybe introduce normal oats and make a judgement based on that.

As for lentils...? They have no gluten in them, but are pretty difficult to digest for some - along with all pulses.

Does that help?

Feel free to ask more questions! :)

[CMOTDibbler]

You need gf oats, but keep the quantity down as they can still affect some people.

Lentils are fine.

Watch out for couscous, semolina, bulgur wheat as they are all wheat, and people often think they aren't

[IDismyname]

Too right CMOT!
I've been served cous cous several times because it's gluten free... NOT!

[sixlive]

I've had similar symptons twice. Each time I give up wheat for a month and the symptons then go away for years. It then builds up again. Need to do it for a month again soon. I love baking so gluten free is hard for me.

[sunnyrosegarden]

I agree - start with simple, fresh food. Then add in other stuff and see what affects you.

I can't tolerate oats, even gluten free oats. It also took ages to work out that I can't drink gin

Genius bread is fine, gluten free pasta has really improved, and Dove flour is great. I also use cornflour a lot.

[carolinementzer]

Hiya, I've been gluten free for 20 years - my daughter is also GF so I'm well versed at making GF kids friendly recipes. Gluten free substitutes can be just as bad for you - as they are usually highly processed. I agree with the above, and keep it simple. I've got a Gluten free recipe page on my blog - it includes easy chickpea flour brownies, and grain free focaccia - which is actually very easy to make. Here's the link if you're interested mydaughterwontsleep.com/gfrecipes/
good luck - it's actually not difficult once you get started. We feel so much better without Gluten!

[anotherdayanothersquabble]

Grab Gwyneth Palthrow's book, it's all good, do the detox suggested in there. If you feel better, start introducing things one at a time but slowly. Whatever has been irritating your gut will take a while to clear and then your gut will need to heal.

Long chain fatty acids, good quality dairy free probiotics, vitamin A will all help.

If your gut has been suffering you should consider a parasite cleanse as your gut may not have been able to balance itself. Also stay clear of yeast and sugar for a while.

[RockinD]

Have bookmarked your blog caroline. It's not often I see so many things I want to make in one place!

[CountYourEyelashes]

I cut out wheat a couple of months ago after suffering years of debilitating IBS, and undergoing an endoscopy. After my examination (which found nothing) the nurse suggested I tried going wheat free for a month just to see what happened. After about a week, all my symptoms disappeared... I had a hard poo for the first time in years !!! TMI but I'm assuming you're all used to that!

Shortly afterwards, I went on holiday to the States where it was often impossible to avoid wheat, and my symptoms came back in full force. So it proved it to me without a doubt.

I have spent a fortune in the Free From section in Tescos trying all the products out. Tescos Free From multi grain bread is nice, as are the ciabatta rolls. The crumpets are a bit greasy, but ok. The pasta is great, really can't tell the difference.

My new favourite food though is rice noodles (normal egg noodles contain wheat). I love my rice noodles, have them with green curry or stir fry, and they take minutes to cook. You can buy them in big bags in the Asian food section in Tescos.

Looking forward to reading other recommendations, and good luck OP I hope you feel the benefits soon

[seasalt]

Maybe try the low FODMAP diet? www.ibsdiets.org/fodmap-diet/fodmap-food-list/