Gluton Free Diet

I have never been had to think about this issue, but I have a friend who cannot have gluton products. I am Jewish and oftentimes the kosher for passover products state they are gluetin free-- I would look at websites too. Good luck!

Mel

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First, I am sorry that the dietary change is required. This can be an overwhelming diagnosis initially. We tried to stick with the mantra "It's just food" when it all felt like too much. Initially, we stuck with fresh things-- fresh fruits, vegetables, the basics. There is a great support group for individuals on gluten free diets in Knoxville. They even have a super website. It is www.celi-act.com. You will of course find the "crazies" who obsess about this stuff. You'll just need to weed through some of the advice and find what works for your family. I hope this helps you and your son. I would suggest you thoroughly have your child tested as to confirm why the need for the diet. In the end, our child was incorrectly diagnosed and the diet is quite a life change to endure if it is not necessary.

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I don't know much about gluten free diets, but I am learning a lot about dietary restrictions because I had to stop eating wheat, egg, dairy, soy, seafood, and nuts while I breastfeed my baby. Today I went to the Home Economist Market on Independence and found lots of "edible" foods and saw that many of them were gluten free. You might want to go there or any other health food store for some gluten free options. It made me feel better to know that I have options.

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If you live near a Trader Joes, they have a 5-6 page list of all gluten free foods. And also lable foods that they sell. good luck

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do a google search for gluten free recipes, there are some really great ones. i had one for chocolate cake that was made with tapioca and rice flour. yummm. also they make pretzels and crackers that are made with rice flour, and they have a huge selection of gluten free products, even bread, at whole foods and other organic markets.

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Homemade Gourmet has some Gluten free mixes that you could work into your families meals. I would love to help you out if you will call me at ###-###-####. I live in Wilmington so it is close to you. Or go to my website at www.homemadegourmet.com/ANN19443 or just the main site has a recipe section. Put in your "lifestyle" need and you will will see it has recipes for gluten free meals using our mixes. Also Harris Teeter has some products that are gluten free. They can be found through the store such as in the pasta section or in the health/beauty area where there are vitamins. Hope this helps.

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Well a gluten free diet can be overwhelming but it is doable. We've been gluten free in our house for over a year now and it does get easier.

When I found out my now 19yodd had this (and my husband) I bought the book Living Gluten Free for Dummies by Danna Korn. You can find it online at amazon.com, I found mine at either Barnes & Noble or Books A Million, I can't recall. But that helped a great deal, even has recipes in it.

Also some good websites:
celiac.com
celiac.org
csaceliacs.org

Danna Korn also has another book that I found helpful and I found it at my local library. Kids With Celiac Disease (http://www.celiac.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_i...)

Where do you live? I am the President of the Memphis Celiac Support Group. We meet once a month at Wild Oats on Poplar Avenue. Our next meeting is June 23rd and we have a dietitian coming to speak at our next meeting. If you're close we'd love to have you come, it's at 7pm.

You can go to csaceliacs.org & see if you can find a local support group, they are invaluable IMHO. This does get easier.

Eating out will be greatly limited especially if you're use to popping into places like McDonald's. No matter how careful they may be, it's risky. I did find a pdf file of snacks & candy that if you're son is in public school is invaluable to give to his teacher. If you email me privately at ____@____.com I will send that to you.

There are other issues to consider as well with public/private school situations and your sons disease. My 2 school-aged children have not been tested or present with celiac issues. But I can direct you to places that will help you file proper papers to ensure your child is protected at school.

I know this is overwhelming but it does get easier and it's good you found out over the summer break so you can do some adjusting before school starts. The BIGGEST thing you can do is STAY POSITIVE. If he sees you angry, frustrated or sad, he will be too. He needs to understand that things are different now but because they are he is going to feel so much better and do so much better.

I've heard great things about a couple of books for kids to help them understand this disease. One is Eating Gluten-Free with Emily (http://www.amazon.com/Eating-Gluten-Free-Emily-Children-D...)

and Gluten-Free Friends: An Activity Book for Kids..when I clicked on the 1st book link about Emily, you'll see several suggestions that are tailored towards kids with celiac disease.

Email me and I can give you a list of some of our favorite foods. I have 5 children, 4 still at home, 2 girls 19 and 15 and 2 sons 21 and 10. My 10 year old just switched over with no problems because he knew how sick his big sister was and how great she is now. She gained 15 pounds & her hair stopped falling out within 3 months of going gluten-free. She misses things, but she doesn't miss that. She doesn't miss being sick all the time, tired and run down.

We tried running a dual household but it was too difficult. My non-celiac family can eat gluten outside the home, but not in it. There are some things I have, like cold cereals, that contain gluten, they aren't crumbly like bread. But no gluten bread is allowed in the house or cookies as they are just too crumbly.

Anyway, I could go on and on, but email me and I'll be glad to share with you all I know. I'm always learning but feel I have a good grasp of things after doing this for over a year.

So take a deep breath, rejoice in the fact that you have found out while he's young rather then going through years of agony and tests and that he can start to grow & flourish. My mother-in-law was in her late 50's when she found out, her life is SO much happier now, but she suffered all those years.

Write me.

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Dear GiGi,
My son may have the same problem. They biopsied him to see if he has celiacs and if so he will need a gluton free diet.
If you get any good ideas or recipes can you sent them to me please. I have been looking and studying this but I am not sure that either of us (me or my son) can do this.
Thanks so much.

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Whole Foods has classes and handouts at the store. And they have an aisle.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluten-free_diet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probiotic

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prebiotic_%28nutrition%29

http://www.gicare.com/pated/edtgs06.htm

http://glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com/

http://www.glutenfreemall.com/

http://www.csaceliacs.org/recipes.php

CHECK OUT THESE SITES. MY SON HAD PROBLEMS FOR YEARS WITH STOMACH ISSUES AND CONSTIPATION. SPENT LOTS OF $$ TRYING TO FIND OUT WHAT WAS WRONG AT THE SPECIALIST OFC. HE WAS PUT ON "MILK OF MAGNESIA". NEVER WORKED. I TRIED PROBIOTICS (NOT ALL ARE EQUAL AND WORK THE SAME) I CAN REFER ONE TO YOU THAT WE USE. THEY HELP YOUR DIGESTIVE SYSTEM BREAK DOWN PROTEINS, FATS, & CARBS. WITH IN A WEEK OF USING THEM, MY SON'S STOMACH WAS NO LONGER BALOTED AND HE WAS NORMAL. HE HAS NEVER HAD A PROBLEM SINCE AND CAN EAT ANYTHING. I HAVE TURNED BOTH MY MOTHER AND MY SON'S FRIEND ON TO PROBIOTICS. BOTH SWEAR THEY WORK. ONE HAD IBS THE OTHER HAD ACID REFLEX.

GOOD LUCK AND LET ME KNOW HOW THINGS GO!

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Hi Gigi, There are tons of information on the web about Gluten Free diets and support groups. There are also gluten free cookbooks out there also.One of my friends is gluten intolerant and is doing quite well. It may take time for your child to get used the diet changes, but he/she will feel better overall. It takes time for the body to adjust. If your child's immune system needs a boost, I recommend MiVitality Gluten Free liquid, which tastes is like a zesty soda. It has 26 amino acids, 13 types of probiotics to help the intestines good 'flora' to flourish. I have a perk on Mama Source if you are interested. www.blueridge.mionegroup.com. You may also wish to speak w/ a nutritionist. Let us know how things go!

E.

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Everybody gave you great advice. I would also recommend signing up with a yahoo group for celiacs or gluten free diets. I know I love the yahoo groups I am on.

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Whole foods has lots of items that say gluten free. You will have to give him lots of fresh items, not processed.

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get thee to a health food store like Whole Foods (or a local co-op) you will find a plethora of gluten free foods (breads, pastas, soups, etc) also, if you look on the web or stroll through a book store you will find a lot of books for gluten free recepies!

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Whole Foods and Trader Joes are great, but if you live in a place that doesn't have either, it makes things difficult. I've found, though, that there are health food stores just about anywhere these days, all you have to do is ask and they'll special-order stuff if they don't have it in stock. I know that I have to special order Spelt bread from ours here, and all they ask is that I commit to buying 1/2 of the order, which I do b/c bread freezes well anyway. If you live in a place that doesn't have a health food store, you can talk to your local grocer or even order things online. Also, Harris Teeter carries a variety of gluten-free products and plenty of rice noodles and soy noodles to substitute for semolina pasta.

I know it sounds like a pain, but a breadmaker can be a real asset for gluten-sensitive people since you can make your own rather quickly and it's less expensive than buying it, in most cases, depending on the type of flour you use. I know my sister-in-law and niece are gluten-sensitive and she bakes a lot. Good luck!

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Check out the Nature's Market section of Kroger. Some great stuff there. Also check out Wild Oats or any sort of whole foods market. There's great substitutes for pizza crust, rice pasta noodles for spaghetti. One this to keep in mind starting out with this is that even if a product says it's wheat free does not mean it is gluten-free. On a GF diet, any forms of gluten must be avoided including wheat, barley, oats and other's I can't think of right now. Your best bet when trying to find out if something is gluten-free is to contact the company that makes a given product and find out from them. Also ask for gluten-free menus when you go out to eat. You have no idea the crazy places that gluten is hidden in foods we eat every day. My son is on the gluten-free casein-free diet which also means no dairy. We've gotten lots of help from the gfcfdiet.com website. You might check into any website that deals with celiac disease as it would be just gluten-free.
Good luck! It's tough getting started but once you get it down, it's not so bad. I'm still learning and my son's only been on the GFCF diet for about 5 months now.

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This Autism Society of Middle TN (Nashville) workshop may be helpful:

Eating Right and a GFCF Diet
Thursday, July 24, 2008
6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
Vanderbilt Kennedy Center

What IS good nutrition for children?
Ashley B. Hotle, RD, Clinical Dietitian,
Vanderbilt Children's Hospital
--Will speak about what constitutes good nutrition for children, share some tricks for getting children to eat the “good stuff”, and answer your questions.
How Can I Adopt a GFCF Lifestyle?
Martha Ballew, MEd, RD, CNSD, LDN
Pediatric Nutrition Support Dietitian in Gastroenterology,
Vanderbilt Children's Hospital
--Will speak about how to test for gluten/casein sensitivity, explain what constitutes a healthy gluten-free/casein free diet, share resources, and answer your questions.

This event is free to ASMT members; non-members pay $5 at the door.
Childcare is available upon request.
All community members are welcome.
Please register with ASMT at ###-###-#### or www.tnautism.org

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