Celiac Disease

[Biru]

Just wondering:

Do any of you posters suffer from Celiac disease? Last year I was nearly killed by it after unknowingly suffering from it the previous two years (strangely, I have eaten wheat my whole life, only to have Celiac "turn on" suddenly). It wrecked my blood and heart from chronic anemia. All the time I thought I had some weird recurrent bug.

Anyway, until last year I had never even heard of Celiac. I just wondered if any of you had it.

Thanks, Bill.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I've never even heard of it, so I would guess I don't.  I suppose I should look it up and see what it is.

Def

[Zed]

Hi mate, yep ive sufferd with this for nearly 3 years now, its tough as i lost over 3stone quick when it was at its worse, but now i have it well under control with my diet, i also cant eat any diary, there are plenty of alternatives out there with freefrom food    you take care,

paul

[dks]

Does it mean you can not drink beer?? 

 

It sounds pretty bad, having to check every food for wheat..

[Zed]

Does it mean you can not drink beer?? 

 

It sounds pretty bad, having to check every food for wheat..

yep, pretty much anything with wheat, and believe me alot of stuff had it in  same for me with eggs  i do have a blow out now and then, but suffer big time for it, 

[Mr. Whippy]

Celiac disease is a gluten insensitivity, due to antibodies against it (and related proteins).  It affects the small intestine and causes malabsorption, abdominal pain (and usually) diarrhea.  It is actually fairly common (1:120 or so people have it).

Most are never diagnosed.  It is the impetus of the recent "gluten free" craze.  For those with celiac disease, they must COMPLETELY avoid gluten.  There is also an increased risk of a rare type of lymphoma associated with untreated or poorly treated celiac disease.

Patients can be easily screened for it by serologic testing (for anti-endomysial and anti-gliadin antibodies I think).

Luckily for those with the disease, companies are doing a better job of identifying gluten free foods--and they aren't necessarily in the "Hippie" section of the supermarket.

[Biru]

That's a great point about the "Hippie" section of the grocery store. Much of the safe foods are segregated to a special section of my market. In that section are also organic and "natural" foods. You know, basically the stuff with no taste...

By the way, Celiacs also have to avoid any food or drink with wheat, barley, rye or oats. If the oats have been grown in a field away from any of the other three gluten plants, most Celiacs can tolerate them.  Many of the medical sites such as NIH and Mayo Clinic are now saying it's best just to avoid oats altogether. That's also the advice I got from a Quaker Oats rep. I seem to have little to no trouble with oats, so I take them marginally.

Zed, may I ask, do you feel that the English markets offer much in the way of Celiac-specific foods? Here in my area, I have to travel about 30 miles to get to a market where Celiac foods such as rice crackers, rice bread or cereals are available.

Anyway, thanks for the good thoughts! I look forward to hearing from you!

[Mike]

The following is not directed at you Bill, these are just my observations over the years regarding Celiac Disease. I hope you are getting well and are able to manage this and have a great life!

Begin minor rant now.

Over the years I have heard maybe 40 people claim to have "gluten intolerance". Out of all those, only one was actually clinically diagnosed to have it by a doctor. Additionally, out of all those, less than half even knew that Celiac Disease was gluten intolerance.

Here in the US people are eating way less real wheat and grains than they think they are. Most of the bread, buns, crackers, etc, are using enriched flour or processed wheat. In other words, these items should not be considered whole foods. Take Oroweat bread, if you read what's in it you will find a lot of ingredients. One of those ingredients is called azodicarbonamide which is used as a dough conditioner, it is also used in foamed plastics.    In fact most fast food places in the US use this in their buns, rolls, etc.

Your most basic bread recipe only needs about five ingredients, granted it won't last 3 weeks on your counter but real food generally won't.

Don't get me going on sulfates! They are in everything, including your bottled water. It goes by a bunch of different names and doesn't have to be listed if it's being used as an anti-bacterial agent. Then there's the whole high-fructose corn syrup thing. ARGH!

Anyway, we have doctors and pharmacies who have to look at the medications we are taking so as not to cause adverse reactions. But nobody looks at the possible negative interactions between the chemical crap that is being passed off as food in the US and around the world.

Sorry, rant off now.

Mike

[Zed]

That's a great point about the "Hippie" section of the grocery store. Much of the safe foods are segregated to a special section of my market. In that section are also organic and "natural" foods. You know, basically the stuff with no taste...

By the way, Celiacs also have to avoid any food or drink with wheat, barley, rye or oats. If the oats have been grown in a field away from any of the other three gluten plants, most Celiacs can tolerate them.  Many of the medical sites such as NIH and Mayo Clinic are now saying it's best just to avoid oats altogether. That's also the advice I got from a Quaker Oats rep. I seem to have little to no trouble with oats, so I take them marginally.

Zed, may I ask, do you feel that the English markets offer much in the way of Celiac-specific foods? Here in my area, I have to travel about 30 miles to get to a market where Celiac foods such as rice crackers, rice bread or cereals are available.

Anyway, thanks for the good thoughts! I look forward to hearing from you!

yes mate lots to choose from, but the bread sucks  taste like crap and falls apart, the lactofree range from arla is god stuff, ive found lots of nice stuff including alpro soya yogurts, but wheat wise i fint some stuff tase rough, i have whittled down what i can eat and not by doing a diary, ive done this for the last 2 years and now pretty much got it dialed  it takes time to find this out and find the food you like, trial and error 

[MeadMaker]

Does it mean you can not drink beer?? 

 

It sounds pretty bad, having to check every food for wheat..

There are beers that are made for people that have celiac desease.  I've had this one.  Its pretty good.

http://www.redbridgebeer.com/about/aboutRedbridge.aspx

[Biru]

Someone on a guitar forum showed me those. I don't drink, but I hope it tastes better than the bread made out of almond flour!

One reason I asked about English markets is that Europe seems a bit more advanced in offerings for the gluten-intolerant. So far the best bread I've been able to locate is Schar's from Germany. The Glutino products out of Canada are great as well (not European, I know). Some of the concoctions sold for Celiacs are wretched abominations. I guess any help is welcome. You'd be surprised, but many of the french fries from major restaurant chains are dusted with wheat to keep them from sticking while frying. My sister took me to a chain restaurant a while back. They advertised a gluten-free menu and upon requesting it the manager had to be informed, and would you believe he had to prepare the meal (a salad with baked chicken n top) himself! Protection from lawsuits, I guess.

[Sazabi]

Someone on a guitar forum showed me those. I don't drink, but I hope it tastes better than the bread made out of almond flour!

I'd like to try some of that, it sounds good to me. 

[Biru]

Try to imagine cardboard formed into a loaf of bread!

[Zed]

Try to imagine cardboard formed into a loaf of bread!

  yeah that falls apart at a touch    the rolls are worse, and try the corn flakes  yuk, but some of the freefrom cakes and biscuits are yummy, 

[Sazabi]

Try to imagine cardboard formed into a loaf of bread!

  yeah that falls apart at a touch    the rolls are worse, and try the corn flakes  yuk, but some of the freefrom cakes and biscuits are yummy, 

Ah, so basically like rice cakes, gotcha.

[Zed]

Try to imagine cardboard formed into a loaf of bread!

  yeah that falls apart at a touch    the rolls are worse, and try the corn flakes  yuk, but some of the freefrom cakes and biscuits are yummy, 

Ah, so basically like rice cakes, gotcha.

yeah kind of but taste yuk  its all trial and error with this kind of diet,