Gluten Sensitivity

Hi R.,

I have 3 kids and one on the way and we do the GF/CF diet for my 9 year old. I pretty much cook and provide every meal GF/CF but I let the other kids have milk or wheat inbetween or other wise. It is easier then being a constant short order cook. There are lots of Recipes on the TACA website www.tacanow.org as well as ideas for how to make the big change. Be careful of Soy products lots of kids are sensitive to them too plus they have alot of estrogen in them and they do NOT need that! We use Almond milk and coconut milk. You can pretty much find a replacement for all of their favorites.

With your kids ages it may just be easier to be totally GF/CF. If you would like anymore help I love to correspond with you! We GF/CF mom have to stick together! ____@____.com I wish you all the best it is not an easy life style but well worth the healthy kid!!

Smiles,
Steph

1 mom found this helpful

Hello! I have a degree in natural health, and much of the focus is on nutrition. I read a book by Dr Shari Leiberman caled, "The Gluten Connection" and it was a valuable resource. I would definitely suggest trying to feed the kids mostly the same things, or you will be in for a battle! I wish you the best - feel free to email me any time if I can help more. Here are some websites from the book;

www.godairyfree.org
www.soyfoods.com

www.gfco.org
www.clanthompson.com
www.onguardsolutions.com
www.triumphdining.com - this one offers cards that list hidden ingredients at restaurants.

H.
____@____.com

We have several children at our kid's school who have the same allergies. One mom started her own bakery business called www.sweetalexis.com (her daughter is in my daughter's class). You may want to check her out for future food (she sells cookies and breads which are probably not what you're looking for at this point).

And what a great mom to take off 2 years to be with your children! Go you!

You might want to talk with an NAET certified doctor about curing your child's allergies. My grandchildren (and I) go to Dr. David Karaba at East West Medical Group in Fullerton and love him. Gwen used to be allergic to milk, animals, pollens, trees, metals, etc., but no more. What a difference in her life.

Best wishes,

M.

I'm not dealing with this personally but I have a friend who's gluten sensitive. There are now a lot of foods that are gluten free. I've seen quite a few at Trader Joe's. Good luck!

I recently posted a note looking for help for celiac. Look for it in the read requests/responses. (I think it was last week.)

As a mom w/celiac (baby doesn't have it), I can tell you it's much easier for everyone to be gluten-free; especially w/kids who will want to eat what bro/sis is eating.

R., how blessed you are to find out now. My Mom spent the first 40 yrs of her life not knowing and thinking that diarrhea was "a normal bowel movement". We have been around the block a few times finding newer and better ways, better foods, etc. The good news is a lot of foods today are gluten free. Most foods can go across the board for all of your family, but I would not suggest eliminating it from all as you might later have a reaction - so don't start a problem that isn't already there. You can find a lot foods, cookbooks,etc at your nearest Seventh Day Adventist food store. If you are near Riverside, La Sierra Natural Foods is an excellent store, and I am sure there is a bigger store close to Loma Linda. They are vegan so you wont find real meats there but they have a ton of stuff that is gluten free. Also, Google gluten free recipes and you will get a lot of ideas. http://www.celiac.com/ has shopping lists and good/bad lists to give you ideas too. At first it is a pain in the bootie to switch over and you will hit and miss with good and yucky stuff but after you get the swing of it, it is quite easy. Remember to watch out (not till later) for other people offering food to your child and when school comes the party stuff. Most kids today that are raised to know they are allergic do very well educating others (Helpful Hint: if you use the word allergic people UNDERSTAND - otherwise they seem to think it is ok to take a chance). Go figure???
K.

I have recently switched to a wheat free/gluten free diet.

Here are some of the brands of packaged items that I buy:
Ians, Pamelas, Namaste, Enjoy life, Glutino, Rice Dream, Amy's, Muir Glen, Gluten Free Cafe, De Boles Gluten Free Rice Pasta.

Namaste and Enjoy Life brands are strictly wheat/gluten free and mostly allergy free. I think they have eggs in them, but no dairy or nuts for sure.

I have a lot of these items on regular order through amazon.com's Subscribe and Save program. They give you 15% off their price plus free shipping so it usually ends up being cheaper than store sales.

Places like Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Henry's Marketplace, Sprouts, and Wild Oats have a website where you can print a list of all the allergy free/gluten free items that they sell in their stores.

For most of the packaged items I buy, the best deals come from Amazon.com and Henry's Marketplace. Trader Joes and Wholefoods are a bit pricey for me, but they generally have a better selection of items.

There are a number of books out there about the gluten free diet. The one that I like best so far because it's easy to read and gives you a good list of foods you can eat and foods that you have to avoid is called "Wheat Free Worry Free". It's written by a Mom who has a son with Celiac Disease.

And to save money, sign up on all the websites of the products that you like to get coupons sent to you. Every little bit helps.

My mom and I are both wheat sensitive so we have to eat wheat-free/gluten-free. There are many cookbooks that you can get and a lot of health food stores sell wheat-free/gluten-free items. It is more expensive then "normal" items. If you go on to amazon.com under gourmet foods you will find wheat-free/gluten-free items to buy and these are usually in bulk.

As for feeding all of your kids a gluten-free diet is up to you. If you can afford to do so then you should do it. It would probably be a better diet for everyone and you wouldn't have to fear your son getting something that has gluten in it.

If you have any questions or just want someone to talk to send me a message.

Yes - we had to deal with this as well. My son loves the Trader Joe's gluten free pancake mix, brownie mix and he eats a lot of meats and veggies. I also use sprouted ezekiel bread and buns. We use goat cheese and Alta Dena has a great cheese that you can grate onto your gluten free pizza crust. His favorite pizza crust is by Chebe.

Checkout www.bluedominoes.com. There is a recipe section with kid friendly recipes and then more family recipes. Also, the celiac sprue is a wonderful organization and they even have info on which lotions, etc., contain wheat products.