Going Gluten Free

I recommend getting a journal and taking a couple of hours to browse the grocery store. Read lables on everything you would normally buy and write down anything that has gluten. Then look for substitutes. Like if you would normally buy spaggetti, if your store carries rice noodles or quinoa, write that down. Corn tortillas instead of flour.... You're making your future shopping lists. When I was gluten free, I tried to stick to things that are naturally gluten free rather than shopping exclusively in the special diet section (which can get expensive.)

It's pretty rough to get started, but then it's pretty simple. Just *read lables*! You'd be surprised how many things hide gluten in their ingredients. Good luck to you.

I know I have a wheat intolerance...I get extremely bloated when I eat anything made with white flour, too much wheat bread, any wheat based pasta. I wanted to play it safe & recently had an upper GI done to test for celiac (the only sure fire way to accurately test for celiac). It was negative, so I don't have it. That's good, but I still get really bloated when I eat wheat. I have eliminated a lot of wheat from my diet...I'm down to maybe 1 piece of 100% whole wheat bread with lunch sometimes...but pizza is my vice. I need to try to only eat gluten free pizza. I would recommend to get an upper GI if your dr. recommends it (go to a gastroenterologist) if your insurance will pay for it. Then you will know for sure. If you don't want to...shop at someplace like Whole Foods. They have lots of gluten free stuff. These are my favorites:

1) almond nut thin crackers...I could live off these!
2) Corn rotelli pasta, or other pastas made with rice/corn. They don't taste quite the same, but once you have pasta sauce on it, it doesn't matter.

Sorry I can't recommend more, I've just recently started drastically eliminating my wheat (& going gluten free is a lot easier than wheat free b/c many things are labeled gluten free nowadays). Good luck.

I've seen the effects of a gluten free diet on children with autism 1st hand - it's a very noticeable differance in thier disposition, attention span, development in general. So, gluten must affect alot of our bodies systems. I've read that the American gluten - called "Super" gluten is the issue. We engineer everything to be super fast acting, double rising, etc that our bodies don't break it down efficiently. That annoying blond lady on the View wrote a Gluten free cookbook that alot of people seem to like. ALso, there is a gluten free section in many supermarkets.

Hi T.,
They can do a blood test too but it isn't that difficult once you make the mental shift. I have an e-book that has 300+ recipes that will help.....can you message me your email?

Thanks,
K.

Here's a link that will give you all the information you need and help guide you:

http://www.livingwithout.com/
http://www.befreeforme.com/
http://gfcf-diet.talkaboutcuringautism.org/index.htm
http://www.glutenfreemall.com/
http://www.glutenfree.com/

Most stores do carry lists of what products that they have stocked that are gluten-free. And I have found that, for packaged products, if the item truly is gluten-free, it will proudly state that on the front of the package because that is a major selling point.

Hope this helps and that you feel better soon.