If one dc is a coeliac should the whole kitchen be gluten free?

[jicky]

Looking for advice here re the title question.

One of the dc has recently been diagnosed as coeliac. We have started him on a gluten free and dairy free diet but isn't getting better as fast as I would have hoped.

So does the whole kitchen plus all utensils need to be gluten free or is just having his own bread board, knife and toaster enough? Cleaned out some drawers the other day and expect the crumbs I hoovered up were all gluten based (with maybe a bit of sand!)

Or am I expecting things to improve too fast, currently about 3 weeks in.

Hi there - I think it would be almost impossible to run a totally g-f kitchen to be honest, especially if everyone else isn't coeliac. I'm coeliac and have separate things - toaster bags and I'll only use the grill when it's clean - or with some foil over it - but yes, separate utensils and equipment should be fine.

Sorry things aren't improving quickly - hopefully you'll see a difference soon.

don't know about timescale for improvement, sorry. (my dd is gluten free, but not coeliacs)

why dairy free as well, out of interest?

you do need ot be pretty scrupulous, ime. but we didn't go totally gluten free, just a gluten free corner.

things like spreads (dd is also dairy free) we have a separate gf one, as toast crumbs are so easy to spread... and jams etc we religiously use a spoon to scoop out ot avoid contamination.

I think it's unrealistic for the whole kitchen to be GF but as well as own toaster etc make sure there are separate tubs of butter, jam etc which are not cross contaminated. I do use different plastic spatulas for stirring things. I could be wrong but even when washed I'd be doubtful about these.
We have a dishwasher so no problem with normal plates, cutlery and pots.

I am not coeliac but have a wheat intolerance. It is my understanding that if you really want to see significant results then the whole kitchen should be gluten free.

My 'sensitivity' is not such a problem to require that but I have read of people who have serious reactions to even the smallest iota of gluten.

If your dc is very sensitive then I would de-gluten the kitchen.

There are a number of websites dealing with coeliac disease that will improve on my not very good, rambling response. A fairly good read is 'gluten free girl' (book and website) - a bit American but interesting.

I would have expected to see an improvement in 3 weeks tbh.

I am sure other, much more qualified people will be along later with excellent advice.

Oh yes and baking parchment is your friend when using baking trays.

oh yes I have a separate margarine - and often use the butter as an excuse as that's just usually used for cooking

It takes some time but you'll get there... I also find if I have lots of g-f replacements in a day I can sometimes feel poorly - so if I have lots of g-f biscuits/crackers/breadsticks/bread/pasta etc. in a day I can feel ill, so I tend not to have much of the above at all, but find alternatives instead.

I used to look after a child who was coeliac, and the rest of the family at as normal, there was certainly no use of different utensils, toaster or separate spreads (with hindsight that would have been a good idea). His mother was an ultra fussy person, so would quite happily implemented a gluten free kitchen if she thought it necessary.

I wasn't looking after the child when he was diagnosed, so don't know exactly how long improvement took, but from what I remember being told it was quite quick, although he did need to put back on weight he had lost.

it is not necessary to have a totally gf kitchen to see positive results.

my dd1's gluten intolerance is often described as "more severe than coeliacs" - there is absolutely no tolerance level there at all. everything we use fo rher has to be sourced properly, with no possibility of any (talking parts per billion) cross-contamination. we cannot use products that are "certified for coeliacs" (you know, the ear of wheat symbol) as they are not suitable.

I in no way have a gf kitchen.

but dd1 is totally gf (and believe me, i know htis - her behaviour as well as her bowel health are testament to this)- it can be done with just a separate area

The problem is even a crumb of bread with just a few molecules of gluten can set off a reaction. And the damage to the gut caused by the reaction is irreversible. It is not the same an intolerance to gluten; it is a disease process that is caused even by the smallest crumb of gluten.

Can you have a totally separate section for your dc's food and food preparation?

jicky - is there a specialist nurse who can give you more advice? Have you seen a dietician?

erm, it can be the same ot an intolerance, belgo.

in dd1's case, gluten also causes gut damage, and potential brain damage (so the theory goes)

however, it is still classed as an intolerance, as it is not coeliacs, and not an allergy either.

Silverfrog to be honest the OP needs proper advice about Coeliac's disease, not about an illness which someone on the internet thinks is more or less the same.

Jicky I really think you need to go back to the doctor and get more professional advice.

My daughter was also recently diagnosed as coeliac and I think 3 weeks is still very early to expect all the symptoms to have improved, especially if your child was having quite severe symptoms. The bowel takes at least 6 weeks to heal, sometimes longer depending on the severity of the damage. We don't have a gluten-free kitchen, even though my other child has a life-threatening allergy to wheat, we just make sure we have separate utensils, toaster, spread etc and keep everything separate. I think it's unrealistic to try to have a totally gluten-free environment - after all, life isn't gluten-free is it? I would give it at least another month and if there's no significant improvement by then, contact the dietician/consultant.

Thanks for the quick responses :)

We are doing the separate spread and jams etc and I'm also using lots of baking parchment. The 'replacement' foods he has are the breads & pasta, but not every day.

Will try making one area of the kitchen super clean, but the layout doesn't really lend itself to that very easily.

We are back to see the dietician in a few weeks and the consultant in the summer holidays, so will ask them for advice as well. Guess it's possible he is picking up the contamination at school, I was just shocked at the volume of crumbs I found in the cutlery drawer the other day!

belgo, I am not advising Op about coeliacs, nor indeed saying anythign about any illness at all (beyond simple information on why an intolerance should not be so easily dismissed)

I would entirely agree with getting a professional opinion as to when OP can expect to see an improvement, and what further steps could be taken.

what i have advised on is the fact that it is not always necessary to have an entirely gf kitchen/house if there is a severe intolerance to gluten. which is fact.

Freefrommum, thanks for your post. Looks like I might be expecting improvement too soon.

I will go and buy new utensils for g-f cooking I think (I love browsing kitchen shops so that part will be fun :o) and hope we see some improvement by the time we see the dietician.

the crumbs could well have been an issue, jicky.

and yes, cross contamination form school is entirely possible. how old is your son? we have had ot advise, time and again, that dd1 cannot have play-dough, or PVA glue, or most standard paints etc (don't know if this woudl be the same for coeliacs - but might be worth checking out? depending on age of course - if ds is 17 and no longer sticking and gluing, it may not be so much of an issue )

jicky - I am coeliac and on a strict gluten and lactose free diet.

To be honest, I just find it easier to cook most things gluten free for the whole family but not sterilise or totally exclude all gluten or lactose from the kitchen.

My family still use milk, bread, butter and ordinary pasta.

I think you can recover form lactose intolerance once the gut repairs itself but I will never ever be able to tolerate guten in any form.

Total exclusion of lactose and gluten in the diet should show improvements within 3 weeks. However,what I found was that lactose and gluten was still slipping into my diet in really unexpected ways so it took a couple of months to figure out that cornflakes are sprayed with barley malt so although maize is gluten free cornflakes with barley malt do still contain gluten. Lots of sauces and stock cubes do contain gluten and lactose too. I strongly suggest you look carefully at every item in your cupboard to check if it has gluten or lactose in.

Hi again - just to say I don't know how old your ds is but he might be 'cheating'? Only saying this because although I was diagnosed a few years ago, it took me ages to (a) believe it (even though I'd had a biopsy, blood tests etc) and to truly accept it. So every now and then I'd have something with gluten in. Maybe your ds is too young to be this rebellious (or too sensible!) but he might be swapping food at lunch for example?

Sigh - it's really hard coming to terms with, I think. I only really properly was 'good' when I had a dexa scan, a year or so after my diagnosis, which showed my bones were pretty fucked - that scared me more than the biopsy results.

Or if he's really young (or a teenager?!) it could just be accidental but at school when you can't keep an eye - it's so hard to tell with sweets for example.

Anyway, good luck and hope things get better for him soon.

and I have to say that when drunk I'm still less than 100% careful if I get the munchies and grab a chinese on the way home...

It's a long road to being entirely g-f...

DottyDot - I agree about the munchies. When I open a cupboard door now I can smell wheat and it has an incredible 'pull' like alcohol to an alcoholic. I also succumb to cheese.