Going gluten and Dairy free....talk to me!

[Badvocatyuletide]

Hello.
After years of ill health last month culminating in me being on morphine for 2 weeks and having my gallbladder out and with still no improvement in my health I have come to the conclusion I need to do something drastic.
I have severe GERD and have been on meds since pg with my youngest 5 years ago.
My mum is coeliac (not dx til she was 64) and I believe I am gluten intolerant.
I have NO idea what I will eat and how to cook gf and dairy free but I have to try something :(
I have ordered a couple of books from amazon.
Is it terribly expensive - are the ingredients difficult to find?
Any help gratefully received x

Have you tried the 'Dukan Diet'?

I know its gluten free (not too sure about totally dairy free), but the recipe book contain loads of stuff that is free of both and brill -

Google and have a look x a well worth buy x

Hi, I went Vegan, caffeine, gluten free about 18mths ago for three weeks, which I saw the benefits for immediately. So much so I stayed vegan and mostly caffeine free though I am not gluten free any more, I do try to stay away fron White bread and pasta.

Though you are still eating meat, there are some great recipes on here (dont buy her book, all the recipes and more are on her site) including dairy free cakes and icecream.

Luckily you can buy dairyfree Chocolate, icecream, milks, cheese , mayo from most Supermarkets now. Though making them yourself is cheaper if you have the time.

I have to say I dont miss dairy at all!

Ps. if you dont like Soya milk try the nut/rice or oat ones instead, they are lovely. especially the vanilla ones .

Sorry, i havent been able to offer you any advice on being gluten free!

I diagnosed myself with dairy intolerance and I can highly recommend Koko coconut milk (with long life milk) in supermarket. I think it tastes a lot like normal milk and it easily goes into coffee/tea etc without altering the taste massively. I found the easiest thing is abstinence as I am often disappointed with the substitute items (they're never the same!!)

Good luck!

Hmmm...can't stand coconut sadly :(
Is Mayo dairy!? (Weeps)

Have a look at The Intolerant Gourmets website. She has great blog and recipes.

I like rice milk and use Pure Sunflower spread instead of butter.

Hi Badvoc...slight diversion from topic but did you try the slowing down with meals? Any change if so?

Going gluten and dairy free shouldn't be that difficult if you don't mind cooking from scratch. If you can't live without bread and pasta there are some good gluten free ones afaik.

Hi sleep :)
I have tried to be more mindful when eating and I do think it has helped actually.
Taking more time, more breaks etc.
Pasta doesn't worry me but I do love bread :(

Eating too quickly is a really hard habit to change for most of us I think! I wouldn't expect it to completely 'cure' the GERD but any improvement has to be good .

I'm with you wrt to bread and pasta but I have a friend who is coeliac who liked gf bread...good luck, let me know how you get on

Sorry, you can have normal Mayo!!

The coconut milk doesn't taste of coconut at all- it's very similar to cows milk. They also do a chocolate version which is fabulous- properly chocolatey unlike a lot of dairy free chocolate.

Koko doesn't really taste of coconut. Oatly milk is ok too. Pure spread and vitalite are dairy free. It's not that hard or expensive to go dairy free. Gluten free is a bit harder and a bit dearer but there is so much available in the supermarkets now.

Koko coconut milk doesn't taste like coconut......it's just another dairy-free milk like soy milk, oat milk, rice milk, hazlenut milk etc - I agree it's the best non-dairy milk out there, I don't drink hot milky drinks but it works great for cereal and porridge, making white sauces, baking etc. (real coconut milk is also a brilliant ingredient for this kind of diet if you do like it, for curries, creamy rice pudding etc). Also - its worth noting the difference between lactose free and dairy free - if you're lactose intolerant, you don't really have to be completely dairy free - hard cheese and butter don't have lactose in them practically, at least many people find they can tolerate them fine but milk, yoghurt, cream, icecream are problematic.

Bread is the biggie really when going gf. You do have to change your expectations a bit. You don't get a nice white chewy crusty loaf without gluten. IME homemade gf breads tend to be much nicer than shop bought when you get it right. I went on a gf baking course recently and made some fantastic gf sourdough, pizza base and scones, I've also made some really nice rye bread. Shopbought gf loaves are generally only nice toasted (although some can be pretty good when they are toasted).

Simple homemade mayo = egg yolk and oil (I use a delia recipe I think it has pepper and mustard in it), really not that hard to do, just a bit of whisking and sooooo yummy, shop-bought is awful in comparison.

Hi have you tried paleo?

A lot of low fat mayo has cream powder in it, but full fat is usually fine.
If you email supermarkets they'll give you a list of all their products that are gluten and dairy free, not just the freefrom ones.

Flopsy....I have been looking at paleo but I think it's a bit too restrictive for me. I am not a big meat lover.

Have you been tested for coeliac disease? If your mother has it then you're more likely to have it too and all siblings and children should get tested. You must not stop eating gluten until you have been tested so please make sure you've ruled out coeliac disease before going gluten free,

Get the Dukan Diet recipe book!! So inexpensive to follow and amazing recipes!!

It's totally gluten free, you don't have to follow the diet regime, but for tasty, healthy and coeliac friendly meal plans, I haven't found better -

And totally inexpensive, infact, cheaper than buying 'shop manufactured' 'buy me I'm free from' inadequate stuff that makes you spend more x

I would echo the advise to get a coeliac test first and to avoid too many manufactured alternatives, instead change what you eat, the results are more satisfying in many ways!! Eat more eggs, rice, vegetables, potatoes and sprouted grains and seeds. Gwyneth Palthrow's book is worth a browse for ideas and while the high meat content of the Paleo diet might be off putting, the blogs do have some great ideas (my current favourite is banana and egg pancake).

You may find you don't get instant improvement from excluding gluten alone as the damage to your gut may well have left you temporarily intolerent to other foods which you may need to exclude as your gut recovers, probiotics and vitamin A should help this process.

It's easy really. Are you ok with soya?

Alpro do a load of products these days: milk, yoghurt, desserts, etc. Soya milk works easily in cooking, including the cream.
All major coffee chains (and most small cafes even these days) sell drinks with soya instead of dairy. Swedish Glace ice cream is what you're looking for too.

If you can't do soya, then Oat or coconut are next alternatives. Oat makes me retch personally, and I can still taste the coconut, but it's true that it isn't a strong flavour

Pure is the best df margarine.

GF: Rice is your new friend. Stir fry, risotto, all sorts of rice stuff - even rice pudding. Potatoes are also good - so many choices for potatoes.
Pasta - any supermarket does their own version and there are some brand ones too - salute is good.

Bread - Genius is best imho - I like the seeded one best myself.

Breadsticks and crackers - look for DS brand

Biscuits - Nairns

Breakfast - porridge, granola, rice krispies

The best place to start your journey is prob Ocado's website. Even if they don't deliver in your area (and are a bit pricey) it will allow you to filter on DF and GF so you can see what's available.