Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I have some health issues that are making me question if a gluten sensitivity may be the source. I have stopped eating all gluten from obvious sources but I am wondering if I also should be avoiding anything that was made on a plant that also processes wheat. When you went gluten free did you go extreme and then ease into eating things that had been processed on machines with wheat? Or did you ease in to things and only go more extreme if it was necessary?

I rarely come across a product I need that has been processed in a facility that also processes wheat...but now that I think about it, I don't purposely avoid it. AND...I've never contributed that to my occasional stomach upsets...which I should probably consider. So thanks!

i don't have celiac sprue, so i am not super crazy careful. i eat regular oats, but i would probably feel better if i ate gluten free certified oats. i avoid soy sauce, but have eaten in places where it was present. again, i prolly shouldn't do that.

xo
kittee

i don't have celiac disease either, gluten was causing my IBS. i am totally fine with things that are processed in the same plant and even some products that are run on the same belt (like Sami's millet & flax bread http://www.samisbakery.com/products/millet-and-flax/). i do use gluten-free oats because the regular ones upset my stomach - and i avoid anything else glutenous.

I have Celiac so I am very careful. I don't eat anything that contains gluten ingredients (soy sauce, barley malt, etc.) and sometimes avoid things made on equipment that's used for wheat, depending on what it is.

I don't have celiac but do my best to avoid anything with wheat as it causes my Candida to flare up. I was really strict when I first started but have found that it doesn't really make a huge difference, unless I am eating something that is made of wheat I usually do not notice an adverse affects.

To clarify: if it's something where cross-contamination on shared equipment is likely, like corn tortilla chips made on the same machines as flour tortilla chips, then I usually won't risk it. If it's something where contamination seems less likely--say, chocolate chips--I'll usually go for it. I don't eat anything fried in the same oil as gluten-containing foods (I've gotten sick before), and I ask the local sandwich places that carry GF bread not to put my sandwiches in the panini press.

At one Chinese restaurant I go to all the time, the owner keeps a bottle of gluten-free soy sauce in the kitchen with my name on it, and she keeps a separate gluten-free wok. It rules.

That's amazing! I've completely sworn of Chinese food...had too many bad experiences at Chinese restaurants. I miss it... I did try a new dish at my favorite Vietnamese place this week, though, that tasted JUST like lo mein. They assured me it was GF.

Do you like the flax bread? I eat the brown rice bread by food for life and it's really dense. This one seems a little more airy.

I'm 100% gluten free. Gluten products, even the traces in oats make me very ill.

I just got back from a hospital visit due to being glutened and they did blood work. Got called back to see the gastroenterologist tomorrow for a gastroscopy to confirm celiac disease. Nothing has been confirmed yet but every time I eat it I feel like I have the flu for 3 days.

I am just intolerant, so I am not extremely careful. I love the Sami millet and flax bread. It makes a great grilled Daiya.

Kitsune, I hope you feel better soon! Gluten sucks!

Well I just got the blood test for Celiacs even though I told my doctor that I haven't eaten gluten in 2 weeks, so I am guessing it will be negative. On the plus side, I have been feeling a lot better!

great! I am wheat intolerant. So this bread sounds good! Funny you say that, I just made a grilled cheese last night with my food for life brown rice bread... it was ehh ok

I tested negative for celiac so I'm not particularly careful about cross-contamination and I'll eat stuff with soy sauce out in the world (although I cook with wheat-free tamari at home). I will take a bite of anything I want to try, usually with no negative consequences. Weirdly I can eat flour tortillas (at the rate of one about every two weeks in a burrito) without any noticeable effect, but anything else made of wheat does all kinds of icky things to me. In terms of the ingredients I have at home (like my GF flours, oats, etc.) I do attend to cross-contamination because when I bake and share it with others I want to be able to genuinely tell them it's gluten-free and won't make them sick, even if they are more sensitive to gluten than I.



Zoey, I've been told by multiple medical sources that the test results are not at all dependent on whether or not you've had gluten recently, so your results should be accurate. I didn't believe it the first time my results were negative (or I was afraid to believe the good news) so I spent 10 days loading up on gluten (oy vey... I lost my voice and was bedridden for a few days) before my next test. Still negative!

I try to avoid cross-contamination but I also am not paranoid about it. Some labels say they have wheat just for legal reasons so it's hard to know how much is really in there. I try not to eat much that's not a whole food anyhow, just makes it easier. If I was more vigilant I might avoid bulk bins completely but I do use them if the rice surrounded by only rice, stuff like that. My whole house is GF so that avoids a lot of grief so I figure the once or twice I go out to eat a month I can chance it.

Oh no that's awful! Hope you can figure it out soon and feel better.

good point! i've been getting migraines lately even when I'm GF but I don't avoid stuff from facilities that process wheat either. maybe that's my problem?

sometimes i think only white flour makes my head hurt so a few days ago i ate a bunch of whole wheat bread and my head didn't seem worse but my IBS the day after was horrifying.

i love the flax bread - it's just like the wheatsie bread i remember. it's not quite as soft, but it's not hard and isn't dense at all. i love it so much! :D it puts the foods for life breads to shame. :)

I'm 100% strict since I'm coeliac.

Have you been tested for coeliac disease? If you haven't already it might be a good idea to keep eating gluten so you can tested before you go trialling a gluten free diet. I wrote a post on this recently here: http://inthemoodfornoodles.blogspot.com/2011/01/dont-stop-eating-gluten.html

I have celiac disease but am almost entirely asymptomatic (i know, it's weird...), so I'm probably more lax than i should be. I never eat anything that contains gluten and I use gf certified oats, and if I'm at, say, chipotle, i make sure the server changes his/her gloves before starting on my bowl, but i usually don't avoid products that say they've been processed on shared equipment.

I don't know if I have Celiac since I haven't gone through the process of getting diagnosed (no money, currently couch-surfing and unemployed and hoping it's a very temporary state of affairs) but I'm extremely careful about avoiding gluten. I don't worry too much about products made on shared equipment because they're ostensibly required to clean it between each use (though when I do get sick from something - and it does happen occasionally - I avoid it from then on). And the longer I'm gf, the better my body gets at telling me when I've eaten something it can't handle - for example, a veggie burger with no gluten-ous ingredients listed on the label made me sick last month.

I'm growing increasingly scared to eat out though - if I haven't googled the restaurant/menu beforehand to find out what is and isn't gluten free, I'm really hesitant to order regardless of what wait staff have to say about ingredients.

I saw a different doctor who went over my blood results with me. The test came back negative and the doctor asked if I had been eating gluten prior to taking the test. I told her that I hadn't and she said that the test is inaccurate then but if I feel better without eating gluten, then I should just stay gluten free. My plan is to stay off it and see if some of my other health issues improve. I have had trouble with some things that are gluten-free but made in a place that also processes gluten, but no trouble with others. I suppose I will figure out what my body can tolerate over time. Thank you for all the responses!

That's great!

I haven't been tested so sometimes I will eat gf products that were made on the same line as gluteny foods

I avoid it like the plague.

I actually went gf to try and see if it helped my fibromyalgia, but then I noticed it helped a TON of other things, my stomach issues went away, my INTENSE bloating. (I lost 7 lbs in two weeks), my pain in my ankles specifically which was unbearable at work.....gone. fabulous.

Then the other day I ordered a gluten free dish at pf changs. Someone must have used glutened soy sauce cuz I was a mess for 4 days and gained a ton of water weight over night.