Forums: September 2011 Kickstart Forum: Celiac Help Please
Created on: 09/19/11 03:21 PM Views: 1037 Replies: 5
Bugsmom Joined: 09/13/10 Posts: 2072	Celiac Help Please Posted Monday, September 19, 2011 at 3:21 PM A friend of mine was recently diagnosed with celiac. Her dietician told her to simply just eat lean meats, fruits, and veggies (seems reasonable at this point as she's needing to heal and make sense of it all before trying to sort out labels). But, she's needing ideas, tips, tricks - good cookbooks, recipes, brands of products, websites, etc. for going forward in this. She's open to vegan suggestions (I told her that the feedback I could get for her would be basically vegan options and she's okay with that) but the rest of her household (hubby, grown daughter and son-in-law) are very NOT vegan, not to mention they're having to learn new behaviors as well (like avoiding cross contamination between gluten containing products and her food). --Deb R
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mollyhorn Joined: 03/03/10 Location: Fort Worth, TX Posts: 582	RE: Celiac Help Please Posted Monday, September 19, 2011 at 3:34 PM There are about a zillion gluten-free vegan blogs out there – just do a google search for "gluten free vegan" and you'll get a ton of results. Of the ones out there, I like: Gluten Free Goddess Wheatless & Meatless Vegetarian and Vegan Gluten-Free Recipes on About.com Manifest: Vegan (seems alright, I haven't read much of it) Several of the great vegan sites have gluten-free sections, like FatFreeVegan.com and Chocolate Covered Katie. I highly recommend both of those. Some of the best-tasting and most popular brands of gluten-free packaged foods are: Udi's breads Enjoy Life baked goods Glutino snacks, cereals, baked goods Bob's Red Mill flours & baking mixes Above all, go slowly. It takes a looooong time to adjust, and tell your friend not to pressure herself. If she ends up eating the same three meals for a month – so what? At least she found something she can eat! Everything else will work itself out later. Molly Horn
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Bugsmom Joined: 09/13/10 Posts: 2072	RE: Celiac Help Please Posted Monday, September 19, 2011 at 3:39 PM Thanks. Yeah, she was very upset that the dietician didn't tell her a list of dos and don'ts and what to look for on packages. That's what most people want. But, I explained to her that it made sense. Right now she needs to heal her innards and get as much nutrition as possible back (she's undernourished due to malabsorption). Simple whole foods, especially fruits and veggies, are what she needs. I told her it's kind of like when the kids get a stomach bug or the flu - you feed them the BRAT diet (banana, rice, applesauce, toast (plain)) along with, possibly, light broth type soup. As they recover, then you can add more complex types of food. She said that helped her understand it better and she'll take her time getting back to figuring out processed foods. I suggested maybe she just not go back to processed foods and just make as much as possible herself so she can control the ingredients. I'll pass along the suggested sites - part of the issue, I think, are there are so MANY hits if you look for 'gluten free' on the web that it can be overwhelming to sort through and find out what's good information and what's not. --Deb R
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sis11 Joined: 08/17/11 Posts: 30	RE: Celiac Help Please Posted Monday, September 19, 2011 at 4:08 PM A great option for treats (to avoid that "I'll never get to eat anything good again" feeling) are the gluten-free and often naturally sweetened recipes in Jennifer Katzinger's Flying Apron's Gluten-Free & Vegan Baking Book. The recipes are so great that even her family will be able to enjoy them. It includes breads, sweets, soups, salads, pizza, and resources. Occasionally there's some sugar, or even honey, but we've had good results swapping it out for maple syrup or agave. Scones, muffins, cookies, pies (a non-vegan, gluten-eating family member said, indignantly, about the almond pie crust, "But that's the best pie crust I've ever eaten!)" Tell your friend good luck! It's so hard to have life change so much all at once. Sarah Animals-Planet-Health
	Edited 09/19/11 4:10 PM Quote | Send PM | Link | Top | Bottom
marigoldmind Joined: 01/01/10 Location: Washington, DC Posts: 35	RE: Celiac Help Please Posted Monday, September 19, 2011 at 5:17 PM Hey Deb, A celiac diagnosis can be very overwhelming! My biggest advice is to realize that no one "gets it right" at first. It was really important to me to seem "normal" at first, and I didn't want to be fussy in restaurants or inconvenience my friends and family. What that really did was just make everything confusing for other people and dangerous for myself. I was also so sick at first that it was really hard to identify when I had been cross-contaminated. I was not vegan when I was diagnosed although becoming more aware of food through celiac is how I became vegan eventually. I think a whole foods, plant-based diet is really helpful in healing the gut, but so many medical professionals default to celiac = meat-based diet that it can be hard to ignore. I'm glad your friend has you to help! Some helpful resources that I have found are: - local celiac communities that can offer restaurant guides, grocery stores with good GF selections, etc. This can help with the social isolation that some new celiacs feel. Some areas have GF potlucks or supper clubs. - gluten-free blogs - subscription-based gluten-free lists like (Clan Thompson) -> I was diagnosed a long time ago, so I have no idea if that is still updated or useful I wouldn't recommend Udi's if you want to stick with vegan recommendations. The breads all contain eggs. Most GF breads do. Personally, I don't miss bread that much; but many people buy bread machines to more easily have fresh GF bread. One of my tips for trying new foods is to stick to one new item at a time. I try to stick to only known-safe foods for one day before and one day after I try something like a new restaurant. I eventually learned that I also cannot have corn, and this method made that determination much easier. Many celiacs have multiple food intolerance issues. And of course, most people cannot digest dairy so that is just good for everyone to cut out for health, digestion, animals, and the environment. Some of my favorite items are: - Tinkyada brown rice pasta - dedicated GF facility! http://www.tinkyada.com/ - Turtle Mountain soy and coconut ice creams - not all flavors are GF but they are good about labeling - http://www.turtlemountain.com/products/index_products.php - Erewhon cereals - http://www.attunefoods.com/products/Erewhon-Gluten-Free - Silk Live soygurt - http://silksoymilk.com/products/yogurt - Bob's Red Mill GF oats, but I waited until my celiac was stable over a year before I introduced oats back into my diet. - Food for Life English Muffins - http://www.foodforlife.com/product-catalog/gluten-free-wheat-free-breads/gluten-free/wheat-and-gluten-free-brown-rice-english I make pretty simple meals at home. - Brown basmati rice with frozen peas, - brown rice + canned beans + steamed veggies, - rice pasta + oil-free marinara sauce (Whole Foods brand), - oatmeal with raisins, - millet + nutritional yeast + fresh tomato slices, - quinoa + steamed veggies, - baked tofu + steamed veggies Most nut milks are clearly labeled as gluten-free, so I just grab whatever is cheapest and some frozen fruit for smoothies.
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Oceandog Joined: 01/10/10 Location: California, USA Posts: 642	RE: Celiac Help Please Posted Monday, September 19, 2011 at 9:13 PM I also have CD. Ok, first of all, please feel free to private message me for more direct contact information if your friend needs it. I would be happy to "talk" with her and help her through. It is overwhelming at first. First off the obvious NO wheat, rye, barley, cous cous, triticale, spelt, kamut, bulgar. When shopping the FIRST thing she needs to remember if it is a whole food (fruit, veggie, whole rice, quinoa, meat) she is good to go. AS soon as it is a "blend" (rice) or has ANY sort of seasonings or is in a package, then she needs to read labels, even down to grape juice as they can use wheat products as a thickening agent. Watch for soy sauce, MOST tamari is safe but not all anymore. If she is not a vegan she will have an easier time, but I believe she will be healthier if she chooses vegan. My favorite cookbook is entitled the Gluten-Free Vegan by Susan O'Brien. I also found a website vegiac.com. Truly, truly, truly the easiest way to survive this and get healthy fastest is not to eat anything you did not prepare and NOTHING processed. Cross contamination is a major factor. Oats are normally grown near wheat so the wheat content in average oats can be enough to make some sick, some not. Each person is different in this area. Using butter, nut butter, vegenaise, jams, etc and then spreading on a slice of bread and dipping again makes the entire jar unusable for me. Cutting a sandwich then putting my food on the same board and using the same knife will make me sick. Eat whole, eat simply watch seasonings and sauces and dressings. After a while you get the hang of it and don't think about it much, like being vegan. The difference with CD is that if someon else prepares your food and doesn't know enough and get cross contamination or gluten in your food, you could end up sick for weeks. Then of course are the times you convince yourself you don't really have this and can eat what you want. And try it out for theory. A few weeks later you feel like living again! As I said, if your friend needs an ear or help I would be happy to help. Best wishes, Kym Always offer kindness and a soft word to the beings around you; You do not know their journey. Your words can be the hug they need or the shove that breaks them.
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