Its fine to bring my children up gluten free

[Ironfistfunkymum]

I've been gf for 6+ years, not alergic or anything but feel so much better for it. People seem generally fine with this.

However now I have children people do seem to judge bringing them up gf. But why would if feed them something that I dont think is very healthy (grains hard to digest) and something that I don't think is very ethical (wheat production is causing more deserts due to its growing conditions).

Aibu to expect people to respect my choice and leave it at that?

Mil is kind of making a big deal of it saying she has to go special shopping for gf pasta or bread. I'm trying to gently inform her that many foods are naturally gf so no special shops should be needed.

If MIL isn't used to cooking GF meals, she might find it easier to buy the special GF bread/pasta and cook foods which are more familiar to her. When I was veggie, my mum found it easier to buy veggie equivalents of familiar foods than work out how to cook a 'naturally' veggie meal, because she wasn't used to cooking in that way.

If MIL isn't cooking GF meals on a regular basis, she's probably more likely to fall back on making sandwiches on GF bread than whipping up a chickpea curry. It sounds like cooking for her GC is important to her, and she doesn't enjoy heating up the food you've provided, so you can either try to (gently) show her a few easy things that they do like that she can make, or accept that this is going to be a bit of a bone of contention between you. Perhaps suggesting simple meals might be a good way forward - things like an omelette and salad, or jacket potatoes?

OP - you are gluten intolerent, then a weekend of gluten containing foods will make you ill. If your DCs aren't gluten intolerent, it won't make them ill, it might give them issues with their bowels if they aren't used to much wheat foods, but then children who are used to a wheat based diet suddenly having a weekend of chick pea curries might have bowel issues...

Thanks for that fast. I certainly wouldn't want any extra cost to be for my choices! If anything I'd like to help and donate so anyone could have what mine were eating then at least they wouldn't feel left out. Anyhow I'm many years away from these issues, its good to think about them now.

Barley is grain that contains gluten and malt is extracted from barley. Hence malt vinegar is a problem for those with celiac or intolerance.

Stealth - the increased likelihood of cancers applies to people with Coeliac Disease, which is an autoimmune disease and is not the same as Gluten Intolerance. Gluten intolerance was widely discredited for some time but is now acknowledged as an issue, in that there are some people whose digestive systems react badly to Gluten. But that doesn't mean they have Coeliac Disease.

What is a Quenoir (I googled, no wiser).
Does that stuff have to be refrigerated? Would it last for 2-4 hours transported?

Not just brownies, but Which item can be eaten like sandwiches on a 5 day residential school trip?

Many kids would hate feeling like the weirdos because they had different food from everyone else. Suspect your children will make their preferences known when time comes, but will you accommodate if they insist they want to eat regular sandwiches like everyone else.

I googled too, I could only find something about horses??

It is also possible to have a wheat allergy - and be ok with other grains.

a couple of personal anedotes about near misses, thankfully when DD was old enough to KNOW for herself that the adults looking after her were wrong....

1. making sandwiches for a tasting session of different fillings at school, we knew about this so she took her own bread in. But the teacher dishing out the regular bread just went round the table dumping 2 slices on each childs plate, remembered DD had her own bread and removed the gluten bread and told her to fetch her own. DD asked for a new plate and was told not to be so silly it was only a few crumbs. thankfully she just let her friends eat the sandwiches and had nothing to eat.
2. brownies - biscuit tin being handed round at a tea party after an enrolement - brown owl points to the pink wafers 'these are the GF ones' - well they were, but not anymore in the tin with all the others.

3)lots of adults we know have over the years tried to asure her she will grow out of it, or will be able to treat herself now and then, she wont. If she eats gluten her gut will scar and she will be unable to absorb properly and at risk of malnutrition, anaemia, bowel cancer and osteoporosis to name just a few.

4)lack of undertnding in the catering industry is particularly worrying..."oh yes, gluten free...so, can she have rice then? or potatoes?" and the worst one ever 'there is no gluten added, we just use normal flour'

I think she means quinoa.
Oh Lordy

Phantom those are all really terrifying. Good job to your daughter for standing up for herself and her health

Thank you hassled. so is the increased risk from exposure to gluten or is it just a side effect of the disease (which I know now is cd, not 'just' gluten intolerance thanks)(

I wouldn't sneer at people who avoid additives such as maltodextrin. There is research implicating them in bowel disease due to their effect on the gut bacteria. www.nature.com/news/food-preservatives-linked-to-obesity-and-gut-disease-1.16984

Hence why many people who avoid gluten for non-medical reasons and then eat processed GF food may ironically be doing themselves more harm if they are genetically susceptible to bowel disease.

There have been studies that show that people who eat food who believe it is bad for them suffer real symptoms that they do not suffer when that food is hidden in a blind test. So if OP's DC believe that gluten is bad they may well feel bad when they eat it and be hypervigilant for symptoms.

Having done the fodmap diet for a while I seem to have issues with fructans - this is actually probably what a lot of people have who think they are gluten sensitive when they test negative for coeliac

So you choose not to feed your children wheat, but are you quite happy to feed them foods will xanthan gum added to replace it? That stuff really makes me cringe.

The increased risk seems to be from Gluten exposure rather than just having Coeliac, because once diagnosed and on a GF diet, the risk thankfully decreases and I think eventually becomes as low as a non-Coeliac. This is why early diagnosis is so important - my DS2 was caught fairly early, but that's only really because there's a family history so when he was anaemic and losing weight and pretty unwell, we thought about Coeliac. It hadn't actually occurred to the GP. And the diagnosis process sucks - you have to keep eating Gluten right up to the endoscopy even though it's making you ill.

I think as long as you're not too precious about it outside the home then no-one should be judging you.

That

Ok, so to be clear, you and your children avoid wheat not gluten. So tell people that.

Barley is a gluten containing grain that, in malted form, is added to many, many foods and drinks to give flavour. If you are not avoiding it then rejoice - neither you nor your offspring suffer from gluten intolerance.

In the home it is pretty easy to go without the GF alternative products. Most of the bread is so rubbish it's not something DH looks forward to eating anyway.

It would be unfair to expect other people to put themselves out though when it's not a medical reason

Most of the bread is so rubbish it's not something DH looks forward to eating anyway.

The DS seeded sourdough loaf is great. You really wouldn't know it was GF.

www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=280516054

Cool, thanks :)

I have no gluten issues I eat this bread because I like it (the Life Changing Loaf is amazing) but I see they have a disclaimer about gluten being used in the bakery.

www.modernbaker.com/organic-breads-oxford/

This gets my judgy pants on.

Every person who claims to be gf then eats: things with barley in, gravy with traces of wheat in, lasagne that had garlic bread on the plate then removed etc makes it really damn hard for those of us with coeliac to explain how bad it is to be cross contaminated.

Eating truly gf is a total nightmare and most of us don't ever eat out at all or only eat at other gf peoples houses who understands. We alsohave to take our own food everywhere. I've been poisoned in big brand name restaurants as well as small ones. Cross contamination for me means 3-5 days of excruciating pain and not being able to be more than 5 mins from a loo.

The reason you feel healthier on gf is usually because you cut out bread, cakes, pasta and biscuits as the gf versions are awful and full of tonnes of sugar. This isn't gf making you feel better it's lesscarbs and less sugar.

Do yourself a favour and just feed them a healthy balanced diet and limit the sweets and treats. If I discovered gluten after being deprived for years I reakon I'd put on 5 stone just eating bread...

I think eating clean / avoiding gluten at home is one thing. Doesn't have to be a big deal. Easy.
But passing on an obsessive attitude towards food to your children is a really bad idea. My mum did it to me. Scewed up eating and body image for years.
And insisting on sending them out with bloody quinoa instead of just letting them enjoy whatever everyone else is having is obsessive.

I would be really pissed off if you told me your kids were gluten free (if they were coming round for tea or a party).

My mum is celiac and even small traces of gluten in her food make her vomit for hours.
I would be really annoyed if I had spent time and money on gluten free options for your kids and ensuring there was no contamination only to find the kids weren't actually intolerant.

Not really sure why you would restrict your kids in this way when you dint have to.

There's no health benefit at all to your DC eating a gf diet. A low-carb diet? Maybe. A diet that avoids too much processed food? Sure. But a gf diet in itself has no health benefits to anyone except coeliacs or the gluten intolerant. Fair enough if you want to have them eat gf just to keep things simple for your cooking and shopping at home but it's totally pointless extravagance outside of the home.

I am coeliac and am blue in the face telling this to people over the years who keep asking about why I'm on a gf diet and if they should try it. Agree with theRealAmy too that asking people to make allowance for your kids 'gluten-free' diet implying that they have intolerances is frustrating for those of us who rely on correct information about the gf diet to eat out safely. Especially when your diet is not really gf at all so you will just be confusing people with your misuse of the terminology.

You can feed your children however you want.

However, I have coeliacs disease (an auto immune disease meaning I can't eat gluten) and having a restricted diet as a child isn't fun and at school etc I was singled out for it. Other people made me feel abnormal.

If your mil wants to give them pasta for example it's a lot more expensive. And people choosing to be gluten free make other people accuse coeliacs of being fussy. It means people don't take us seriously. Because of this I have been given gluten without my knowledge making me vomit and have terrible stomach pains. It also affects the villi in our intestines meaning we can't digest nutrients properly.