Good morning all :-)

I imagine my story is pretty common these days. Hubby has been plagued with headaches
since he can remember. He literally had one without fail every day of his life. It was
just a matter of how bad. He also had the skin issues, especially in the winter. We
had been to our family practice doc numerous times trying to get relief and kept
trying different things. Well he was so miserable he decided to try a chiropractor
and when they did his weight, he was horrified.

He came home that day and said, "That's it, I'm going on a diet". He did the research
and started the South Beach diet. By the end of week one/ beginning of week two he
said," I have not had a headache once today or yesterday!!" This was MONUMENTAL!!
He cheated one day and got a burrito for lunch and within 30-45 minutes he had a splitting
headache and no energy. He started researching the South Beach website and found
out about Celiac disease and how many people have found out they are either allergic
or sensitive to gluten as a result of going off the processed foods and flour.

He's been living gluten free for the better part of a month now and has lost 20 pounds so far.
He looks great and feels so much better. We still have some items in the house that the
kids eat but I'm trying to adopt new ways of meal preparations and have become a
"label addict" I've found making the effort to prepare him healthy good-tasting meals
and researching different foods is the best way I can tell him," I love you." I want him
to be as happy in this life as possible and if that means learning a new way to cook,
eat.... LIVE.. than I'm ready to learn...........

Does anyone have good practical advice for books or other resources they found helpful
starting out? I've been really pleased with the gluten free section at our local Meijer
and we've gone to a whole foods store and Trader Joes as well. We're in Indiana and
healthy eating is still something that takes concerted effort but I'm happy for what I
have found so far. I'm contemplating just having a gluten free home but that's going
to require a much higher food budget!! I just keep telling myself that in the long run,
it's probably going to benefit all of us. My biggest thing is not having too many "stinker"
meals that we would rather fast than eat!!!

Thanks for any advice/support you can offer me



Griffmom in Indy

Welcome and congrats! I love The Gluten Free Gourmet cookbook. I've made most of the cakes in there and they've all turned out great. The gluten free diet can be more expensive at first mainly because people try to replace all their old gluten foods with gluten-free ones. With a bit of thinking outside the box, you can reduce these costs. Like using corn tortillas for PB&J wraps rather than sandwich bread. Or eating a baked potato with toppings for lunch instead of a sandwich. I do very little shopping at a gluten free store and buy mostly "mainstream" brand products so I wouldn't say my food costs have increased much at all. For things like rice flour, I go to the Asian food section and buy it in bulk for cheap (4lbs for $2).

If you want to read up on the subject.....

Living Gluten Free for dummies by Dana Korn. It's humerous and has lots of good info and some great recipes.
Celiac Disease: A Hidden Epidemic by Dr. Peter Green is also great.

I bought both together on Amazon for about $30 as a pair.

Good luck!

Dear Griffmom,
It is nice to see a fellow Hoosier on here! I have a present for you! It is to welcome you to the forum!
I have a list that should really help. This is overwhelming. I went through this with myself eight months ago. You spend most of your day cooking and cleaning obsessively. The rest you are on the phone with reps from companies trying to find out what is safe. I decided to save you the trouble!
1. There are a number of things in the regular grocery that are safe. Some things are labeled already. Wal-Mart's Great Value brand has numerous things you can eat.
2. For the love of God use Coupons on items you are allowed to eat. People can get them and print them out online even. Call some of the local stores and ask if they accept online coupons.
3. Check the ads online and in the newspaper. You would be surprised how many people do not do this.
4. Some items like rice flour and rice noodles are safe to buy at the Chinese or oriental market. The merchants are more than happy to help you if you cannot read the label.
Now, here is my list of great things to get you started:
Condiments:
Smart Balance Margarine*
Crisco Shortening
Crisco Oil
Pompeiian Olive Oil
Great Value soy sauce
Heinz Ketchup
Lea & Perrins Worchestershire Sauce (all Lea & Perrins Products are safe)
Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue Sauce
Kraft French Fat-Free Salad Dressing
Kraft Thousand Island Fat-Free Salad Dressing
Pace Picante Sauce
Ortega Salsa
All Classico Red and *White sauces
All Jif Peanut Butters including Smooth Sensations
Welch's Grape Jelly
Cool Whip*
Philadelphia Cream Cheese*
Miracle Whip
Daisy Sour Cream (fat-free, low-fat, regular)*
Snack Foods:
Utz Potato Chips (Found at Sam’s Club)
Lay's Stax Potato Chips (Do not get any other kinds, these are the only ones made on dedicated lines)
Act II Microwave Popcorn
3 Musketeers candy bars *
Butterfinger candy bars*
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups*
Meat and Protein :
Eggs
Great Value Frozen Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
Extra Lean ground beef
Carl Buddig lunchmeats all are safe
Kraft Cheese Shredded or sliced (Kraft is a great company, they never hide gluten in their labels. If it does not say wheat, barley, oats or rye, then it is not in there!)*
Jell-O Gelatin Cups (Will clearly label gluten if present, due to it being a division of Kraft)
Jell-O Pudding Cups (Will clearly label gluten if present, due to it being a division of Kraft)
Cereals:
Cocoa Pebbles
Fruity Pebbles
Dora The Explorer Cinnamon Stars
Seasonings:
Durkee Cinnamon-ground
Durkee Ginger-ground
Durkee Chili powder
Durkee Vanilla Extract (in fact, all of their liquid flavorings, food colorings, and extracts are g.f.)
Emeril's Essence - Asian, Italian
Ortega Taco Seasoning (In fact, since they are under a very strict labeling policy, all of their products are gluten free at this time)
Miscellaneous:
Ortega Taco Shells
Starkist or Great Value Tuna
Butter Buds
Great Value Soy Milk
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Apples
Pears
Carrots
Great Value Canned Fruits and Vegetables
Del Monte Canned Fruits and Vegetables
Ore Ida Tater Tots
Ore Ida French Fries
Hormel Chili
Hormel Spam
Hormel Turkey Spam (Oven Roasted and Smoked)
Hormel Pepperoni
Dinty Moore Beef Stew
Jimmy Dean Fresh Taste Fast Sausage (links, rolls, and patties)
Plumrose Bacon
PAM Non-Stick Cooking Spray (all except for PAM for baking; it has flour)
Beverages:
Coca-Cola (Diet, Regular, Vanilla, Caffeine Free)
Diet Rite
Folgers Coffees (all including Cappuccinos)
Luzianne Tea (We get decaf)
Arizona Teas
Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice
Some Household Items that are safe include:
Cascade Dishwashing Detergent
All Laundry Detergent
Wisk Laundry Detergent
Dawn Dish Soap (all including the Power Disolver)
SoftSoap Hand Soaps
Murphy's Oil Soap
Hygiene, Cosmetics, and Beauty Items:
Dove Soaps, Shampoos, Conditioners, Lotions, and Styling Aids (Will clearly label gluten if present)
Crest Whitening Expressions Toothpastes
Colgate Toothpastes
Suave Soaps, Shampoos, Conditioners, Lotions, and Styling Aids (Will clearly label gluten if present)
Maybelline (Gluten is clearly labeled when present)
CoverGirl (Gluten is clearly labeled when present)
Wet'n Wild (All except for one of the mascaras)
Olay Quench Body Lotion
Crest WhiteStrips
Colgate Simply White

* Includes dairy
I hope this helps!
Sincerely,
NoGluGirl
P.S. I am happy your husband is doing well. Be careful, though. You could accidentally make him sick! You need new cookware, utensils, etc. You could accidently get him sick if you kiss him and you have eaten gluten, or your cosmetics have it in there.

NoGluGirl: That is a GREAT list! And, those are fantastic ideas. I've been gluten-free almost two years, and I haven't used some of those ideas! Going to start immediately.

Also, all Hunts tomato products are gluten-free.
Softsoap antibacterial soap is gluten-free.

Watch out for Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, things like that. Those are sources of "hidden" gluten. My dietician said that those are two biggies to watch.

The Clan Thompson software seems to be better than the Gluten Guard . . . . they used to follow up on items more often than the other. Don't know about it now. Also, they were really willing to work with you if there were items you wanted researched and listed in their next quarterly update. Don't know if you have a PDA, but they now support both Palm and (can't think of the word!) operating systems.

Don't know if this helps, but thought I'd let you know.

NoGluGirl: You ROCK!

Dear tiredofdoctors,
You are so welcome for the information! There really are some great things we can have! I just made the best Tollhouse cookies! Chocolate Chip are my favorites! They are so good right out of the oven! I had not had any since I went gluten-free back in August of last year.

I was not able to access the Clan Thompson list the last time I tried. I know one thing, I will not drink Coke.
It goes by Codex. Even 0.02 percent ppm is too much gluten! I get violently ill from it.

There is great news about soy sauce and worchestershire sauce. Lea & Perrins has gluten-free everything in the U.S. In Canada and other countries, their products are not safe, though. LaChoy Soy Sauce and Wal-Mart's GV brand are safe. Chinese food is my life blood. I have not eaten it since going gluten-free. I plan on making some this week! Crab and shrimp rangoon, and spring rolls! Also, Chinese food often requires cooking sherry. Wal-Mart carries Holland House Cooking Sherry. It is labeled gluten-free.

Sincerely,
NoGluGirl
P.S. Thank you for the compliments!

Does Coke have gluten?

Dear barbara123,
I think I drank it before and I was alright. It is just that I have heard negative things about Codex. I am nervous about any gluten. They said on the site I went to called Gluten Free in SD that they keep their amount of gluten below 0.02 ppm, but I am not sure I should drink it now. Would anyone like to add to this?

Sincerely,
NoGluGirl

Thank you, i was out camping with my husband for three days, drank coke, thought i was being good. Woke up this morning feeling bad, tired, achy, headache, and fog head. I can't remember anything, afraid to go anywhere, afraid will be sick in public.

Dear barbara123,
I have drank it in the past, and am extremely sensitive. I did not get sick from it, though. However, after reading that they go by Codex standards, I decided not to drink it as a precaution. I am not sure if it is okay now. Of course, I have heard others say they drank it with no trouble. There are other things in the Coke that you might be reacting to. It is difficult to say, since I am not certain about this, as I had said before.

I react violently as well. I start to break out in a sweat, shake all over, sometimes my hands go numb, I get really nauseated, have the sudden urge for a bowel movement, and if I do not get a promethazine down fast enough, I begin having dry heaves that are so painful, they make it feel like my insides are imploding. I am not sure if Codex standards are unreliable here, but I know they are in Europe. I guy on here told about that. I think I will ask around and see if there has been a consensus reached.

Sincerely,
NoGluGirl

Interesting. This was my experience when I went on the Atkins Diet a few years ago - it never occurred to me that the issue was gluten, not carbs even though I occasionally "cheated" and had sushi with sushi rice, with no ill effects.

You are so right! I have recently read both of those books and the Gluten Free for Dummies is super. I really enjoyed the read and would recommend it to anyone starting out on this "adventure"... Great advice!