Gluten free diet

[Alliswell3]

i would appreciate any advice / pointers regarding how to follow a gluten free diet.
we are going to start this for my DD who is 16. My plan would be to put the whole family on it. Most of my staple meals will be out, obviously not the most imaginative cook🤣
thank you

I'd definitely get her tested for coeliac first, especially with the weight loss. There can be other issues associated with coeliac disease or links to other autoimmune conditions so I think it's important to know if it is coeliac disease. I also find that restaurants etc are much more careful about cross-contamination if you say that you're a coeliac.

Oh yes definitely go to the GP first and please try and encourage her to eat lots of gluten (I know this is awful) but it’s the only way to get a definitive diagnosis. I was told 6 slices of bread a day for 3 months… I couldn’t do it I was in so much pain so my medical records don’t have coeliac. I only confirmed it was this rather than a gluten intolerance because I developed lactose intolerance at the time and had severe stomach pain and diarrhoea only through tiny trace amounts of gluten (crumbs etc). A dietitian told me this was highly indicative of coeliac. Coeliac U.K. used to have dietitians you could call and speak to on the phone, they were brilliant for me (this was about 6 years ago mind).
Coeliac is very manageable especially these days but so many go diagnosed because they have already cut out gluten before doing tests. Wish we took the Italian approach and tested babies/kids routinely.
Good luck xx

Definitely don't put her on a GF diet until she's had coeliac testing. If it is coeliac she might be eligible for prescription foods and should get regular health checks.

I'm GF as a result of an allergy to wheat and it has been surprisingly simple at home. Eating out can be a challenge though.

With the greatest of respect OP, you need to educate yourself a lot more before drifting into this. As others have said, you may end up with a false negative if your daughter goes GF before tested for coeliac disease. As for the rest of the family, the plan to have main courses GF is a reasonable one but the rest of you shouldn't be following it otherwise lest you all develop intolerance which are a pain in the ass.

B vitamins, calcium, iron.. are added to fortified wheat / bread.. not naturally occurring in wheat. There are other sources of fibre and magnesium.

You do not need wheat to have a balanced diet. There is mixed opinion on whether exclusion merely uncovers existing intolerances or 'causes' them. There is also a school of thought that fortification and the chemicals used in growing wheat are what contributes to intolerance.

(Not celiac... as that is indeed different)

I appreciate this and am grateful for everyone‘a help. To be honest I though that if we went to the GP they would say ‘ have you tried cutting out dairy/ gluten / whatever’ and that we would be wasting their time going without having first tried that.
Now I see that I was wrong and will contact the GP tomorrow
thank you 😊

@Alliswell3 the GP might well say 'try cutting out gluten' as some GPs are (unfortunately) less on the ball than others. But I really advise against it, insist that they do the blood tests for coeliac, and if appropriate a calprotectin test for Crohn's. My daughter has had abdominal pain for years (and she's only 10) as we were unlucky and testing was delayed due to the lockdowns. Once our GP arranged blood tests, she got referred and she's now under the specialist and awaiting an endoscopy. Book in with the GP and let us know how it goes. I try to read all the threads about GF, coeliac and Crohn's, so I'll be here if you need a friendly ear 💐

If it's just an intolerance and not coeliacs, you don't need to worry too much about separate prep areas and utensils.

I wouldn't put the whole family on a gluten-free diet. It will cost you a fortune in bread.

@Nomorecoconutboosts Waitrose do great gluten free ready made Yorkies if you have one where you are in the fresh section

@Crikeyalmighty thank you

@CrispsandCheeseSandwich it's because I think a lot of products are fortified with Bvitamins but gluten free ones aren't always -

I know when I went gluten free my folic acid levels plummeted quite quickly and I ended up supplementing

@PickAChew and @CrispsandCheeseSandwich I was referring to the fact that gluten containing grains are fortified, GF options aren’t. I realise that coeliac disease causes absorption issues due to the damage caused by eating gluten.

Gluten-containing grain products are commonly enriched or fortified with vitamins and minerals, but very few gluten-free grain products are modified to add in these vital nutrients.

Yes, please get blood tests done before you start cutting gluten out. We made that mistake and it was really difficult to have to make my DD go back on gluten (in order to get reliable blood results) after a long time off it.

@Nomorecoconutboosts they are made by 'the real Yorkshire company'

The entire HECK range is gluten-free.

As a pp mentioned, coeliac disease can go hand in hand with lactose intolerance so it's hard to isolate what is causing issues with a self-devised exclusion diet. Definitely go to the GP and ask about Coeliac blood testing and screening for Crohn's etc. before making any dietary changes.