Gluten-free diet. Anyone have problems with gluten?

[libnnc]

I have a friend who has been diagnosed with that disease and I'm curious about what she can and can't eat.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

1. Nothing with wheat, oats, rye, and a few other grains

Rice and corn are okay, usually, as are some other, more obscure grains.

Food co-ops and health food stores often have gluten-free sections.

[flamingyouth]

2. I'm allergic to gluten.

I can eat oats occasionally with a little reaction, but no wheat, buckwheat, spelt, rye or barley. I can eat rice and corn, and that's about it.

I was just diagnosed with a ton of food allergies.

[u4ic]

4. Buckwheat doesn't contain gluten

though it could still be problematic for you otherwise...:hi:

[flamingyouth]

7. I know.

Unfortunately, it still showed up on my allergy panel. :(

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

3. Quinoa and amaranth are another two grains that are gluten-free, and haven't been said already.

Feel free to ask me questions. I put together the gluten-free sections at the health food store I work at.

[u4ic]

5. Plenty of resources available

Here's a place to start: http://www.celiac.ca/EnglishCCA/egfdiet.html

I'm not celiac, but gluten sensitive. I can't eat wheat, rye, and barley. I can handle oats occasionally if they're processed in a GF facility. I can also handle spelt and kamut occasionally without much reaction (usually in the form of pasta. Rice pasta sucks).

There are plenty of flours to work with (though they're tricky). Garbanzo and Fava bean (separate; and together knowns as Garfava), tapioca starch, corn starch, rice (brown, white, sweet rice), almond, buckwheat, soy, amaranth, quinoa, millet...just to warn you, they're pretty expensive, and you have to mix a few together. She'll definitely need a couple of cookbooks. Bette Hagman and Joyce Friesen are good to start off with.

Sometimes you can find the chickpea and lentil flours in the East Indian section of your grocery story for much cheaper.

I've always found Glutano and Kinnikinnick products to be very good, and Food for Life has a great brown rice tortilla.

[Xithras]

6. My son is.

I have nothing to add beyond what as already been stated here. Just wish your friend luck and remind her that it's not the end of the world...most people with gluten allergies adjust quickly and don't really miss it.

Depending on the severity, she may not even have to cut it out completely. My son still gets the very occasional slice of cake or cupcake (maybe one a month) and it doesn't really affect him. In many people the effects seem to be cumulative with regular consumption, so the occasional "splurge" isn't really an issue. Do you know which type your friend is?