G Free?

A friend of mine has a son that is so sensitive to wheat that his moods get really bad if he has any wheat whatsoever. Sugar is nearly as bad, but the bad moods only last a few days, whereas the wheat will make him almost uncontrollable for weeks.

We just stared following a gluten free diet. My son who's now 12 started getting migraines at age 6. We had him tested for food allergies back in October of 2010 and found out he was severely allergic to gluten and dairy and a few other things. We're just doing the GF diet to start and so far he's been feeling better and in a better mood.

It's hard at 12 to change your diet especially when you love pasta and pizza but we're trying substitutes. The rice pasta is good, but we've yet to find a decent pizza. I'm following the diet with him since I have many of the same symptoms and more so. Plus it's hereditary so I'm assuming he got it from me. The whole family eats GF though if we have pasta night I can't see cooking 2 separate meals if everyone likes what we're having.

It is an expensive diet though. We've found that some regular companies, such as Frito Lay, already have GF products that we've been eating all along. Some Chex cereal is GF, as is some Progresso soup. There's a lot of label reading and internet searching when a special diet is needed. Some toothpaste even has gluten. (Tom's is GF) Bread's are harder to find but we like Udi's brand from Trader Joes or Whole Foods.

Good luck. If anyone out there has a good GF pizza crust recipe I'd love to get it from you!

Although I do not have celiacs disease, I do have a strong gluten sensitivity. Before I started the gluten free diet, I had recurring diarrhea/constipation, headaches, muscle spasms, severe fatigue, trouble gaining weight and dizziness. I have been on a gluten free diet now for 8 years, and my symptoms have reversed 100%. Once told that I would never be able to have children because I was so underweight and my periods have stopped while eating gluten, i was able to conceive and labor a happy and healthy 8 pound boy while on the gluten free diet.

I have Celiac disease and follow the GF diet. Since it is genetic, I had my 2 children get the genetic test done at their 1 year physicals, if they didn't have the gene I would never have to look out for it. They both have the Celiac genes. My 2 1/2 year old was always in the middle of the growth chart, but ever since starting him on wheat at 1 year old and gettting some bad advice from a physician to stop giving him milk, he dropped to the 7th percentile for weight by 19/20 months old. I never gave him large amounts of wheat so his antibody tests came back negative twice. He was anemic and I had his iron stores checked, they were tanked, that was enough for me to put him GF. He also had a speech delay. Within 2 months of GF he was speaking in sentences and gained weight to 17th percentile and is now a normal-acting energetic toddler, he was pretty docile before. My daughter just turned one and her blood draw cam back positive for the gene and she was anemic with low iron also, she has had very little gluten, some barley and some possibly contaminated oats. It it too risky for me to have them eat gluten. My mother died at 59 from 10 years fighting colon cancer, her father died in his 30's from 'stomach problems', my sister has been diagnosed with Lupus, she refuses to get tested for celiac and still consumes beer every weekend and bakes her bread, etc with Spelt flour, she only avoids wheat because that causes symptoms.

I feel it is dangerous to go on a GF diet without being sure you have Celiac, it's too tempting to cheat on the diet. I was diagnosed over 5 years ago since doing research on Mom and sister and got educated in getting properly diagnosed. 1 in every 133 people have the disease, but very few are diagnosed. I was just telling a family member who thinks they are just gluten intolerant that the intolerance is unsually undiagnosed Celiac, especially if you have the genetic markers and/or family members have been diagnosed. You have a 1 in 20 chance of having it if you have a cousin with it, the odds go up much higher if it is a direct paren/sibling/child.

I eat GF, and since I cook for the family, my whole family eats GF too. I had unexplained fatigue and was sick a fair amount and the Drs couldn't figure it out. Removing gluten and dairy from my diet helped a lot. I am not sure if I am celiac or just intolerant. But, if I eat gluten or dairy (or sugar, too) I feel totally hung over the next day - foggy, sluggish, mentally slow and just really really tired.

It takes a bit of adjustment, but once you get used to it, eating and cooking at home is no problem. Lots of whole grains, whole foods. We eat lots of brown rice, quinoa, millet and rice pasta. Chix / meat/ fish and lots of veggies. It does make eating out complicated, although it is defianately more common now than it was 10 years ago,a nd easier to get a good GF meal. I snack on nuts and lots of nut butters, gf pretzels and gf /low glycemic energy bars. The gf bread and pretzels are much more expensive than their gluten containing counterparts, but for me, so worth it. (the kids and hubby who aren't allergic eat whole wheat bread and regular pretzels).

Let me know if I can be of further assistance - once you get used to it, it becomes second nature, but until then it can be a real drag!

We try to limit processed carbs, and buy many gluten free snacks. We've actually gotten to really enjoy the gluten free foods we buy. Our favorite chip, popcorn and cheetos replacement is Pirates Booty White Cheddar!

I have one daughter who is now gluten free. It has made a world of difference for her. She always had dark circles under her eyes, was highly emotional, fearful of change, so unlike her siblings in these areas. Hyper-sensitive. I took gluten and wheat out of her diet. The next day, she threw up all day and had a rash on her tummy. The next day, she was perfectly fine, happy, joyful. She told me she felt so much better. A few weeks later, she told me that her tummy used to always hurt her, but now it didn't hurt at all anymore. She won't touch a bite of food without checking with me to see if it is safe for her to eat. She happily skips past the cookies, pizza, breads if they are not gf. She is 7. I tried her younger sister on gf, which she was fine with, but it didn't seem to make any difference to her on any level, so we put her back on a regular diet with the rest of the family. I have learned some excellent recipes for bread, so we don't buy the crazy expensive gf bread in the store anymore. And, with just a couple of tweaks in ingredients, it is pretty easy to make most everything we eat gf. There are a couple of things, but mostly it is easy. We seldom eat at fast food rest. anyway, but I have found that if you look online, pretty much every restaurant will have a list of gf offerings on their menu.

I personally have not tried the gluten-free, but my friend has two kids and one of them was having severe trouble with weight gain, breathing, rashes, etc. The docs could not figure out what was going on with him. Ultimately she just decided to try the gluten-free way of life and in three months this little buy gained over 20 pounds, grew a few inches and never had to use his nebulizer again. It was an amazing transformation, I hardly recognized the kid.

The only thing I know about going gluten-free is it is very expensive for her to cook this way but the health of her child has made it well worth it.

Good luck!

In the last couple years, my mom & sister both found out they have celiacs/gluten allergy. So they have to avoid it. Before my sister knew, she was sick a LOT and doctors couldn't figure out why. She finally tried on her own to avoid gluten. She was almost instantly better! Now even eating a wrong cookie will make her miserable.

My mom had an allergy test done & found she has several food allergies. She hadn't been as sick as my sister, but she will definitely notice a difference now if she eats something she shouldn't!

My sister doesn't keep her son from eating gluten though, just herself. He has his own allergies anyways!

I've never tried to go gluten free. I love breads & things too much, I'd starve! haha I did get tested for food allergies, and I have none.

EDIT to add: Yes, it is expensive to avoid gluten. Another reason I haven't tried it. Since I don't need to medically, I'm not going to bother!

I am gluten free because I have Celiac. I very seldom have migraines anymore, I have more energy, I no longer throw up for no apparent reason, I no longer struggle with my weight ( I was one of the unlucky ones who's weight kept moving upwards no matter what I did), oh the list goes on and on. For some the diet is hard to follow so before going gluten free you should be tested to find out if you are sensitive to gluten or if you have Celiac. If you have Celiac you cannot have any gluten because it will damage your intestines. If you are sensitive to gluten you may be able to have small amounts. It is in everything soups, soy sauce, cheeses, salad dressings etc... I only cook gluten free for me. The only things that I buy that are more expensive is Glutino pretzels and Udi's bread. For me it has not been that hard because I am not a big bread or pasta eater. Plus, I already had experience with label reading because my one daughter was allergic to milk and corn when she was little and my other daughter is vegan.