Gluten-Free while traveling?

[Calli66]

I have been eating gluten free since a year and a half ago, and my digestion's much improved. But last month I was on vacation and ate some wheat. I was just so unhappy---couldn't find anything to fill me up in restaurants. That's mainly because of my FOOD INTOLERANCES (capital letters 'cause I hate them) ---to onions and garlic---which make me ill immediately. So I gave in, and sat down in a deli and had a sandwich. Later, I had a bit of pastry, and the next day another sandwich. I didn't have any bad effect from it, and I felt much happier to be able to share a dining experience with friends and family.

I had been buying food at the local Trader Joe's and cooking it in the motel room microwave in the evening----not much fun! During the day I tried carrying around gluten-free crackers just to get by, but walked past so many markets and savory-smelling restaurants, that crackers and Lara Bars just didn't satisfy.

I'm back home and back to gluten-free again, but I feel better knowing that I can ease off a bit on the diet while traveling without bad side-effects.

Calli

[wednesday mc haggis]

calli

good to hear it didnt set off a huge response, right now im on the candida diet, which pretty much means i hav ecut out lots, really its a detox diet i guesss. I found baked potatoes a good thing in the cafe i was at last week, gluten free would be fine with caesars salad id have thought , and steak and chipc is one of my favs.

I have notied in tourist areas here, small cafes offer gluten free homebaking now, dont know what its like your way.

  Im being tested for food intolerances at the moment, i know i bloat instantly at pasta and pizza  , i dont know right now if its refined flour or yeast or gluten, so ive cut the lot and in 2 weeks am greatly improved. can i ask how you found you were intolerant, elimination doet or testing ??  also what effect cutting these thing out had on your systemic symptoms ??

I found a range here (UK) called free from in supermarket, huge range, of bread, cakes, muffins all gluten free , right now im sugar , yeast , gluten , preservative and fruit free   in candida diet, am eating alot of nuts, fish, chicken, unmalted oat cakes, cottage cheese, juiced veg, eggs , popcorn       but i want a big slice of cheese so much lolol. so eating out is a bit of a mightmare now, but steak , baked potatoes, omelettes, and sushi bars are doable

T x

[ohiolady]

Callie,

I hope you had a great vacation.  One of my friend's daughters is gluten free due to being diagnosed with a very serious autoimmune kidney disease.  In fact, the hospital told them there daughter would be dead by now.  She is a college senior and thriving and it's been 9 years since diagnosis.  Anyway, the only treatment they used for her was no dairy, gluten, wheat and a diet filled with fruits and vegetables, lean meat, nuts ect.  Anyway, I say all of this to say, she followed very close for at least six months but does cheat occasionally and has no ill effects.

I am going to try the gluten free again in the spring.  Was planning on doing the first of the year but diagnosed with kidney cancer and had surgery.  I have to get myself psyched up to do it and also prepared by buying all the gluten free products. 

Take care.

Anna

[Calli66]

mc haggis--

You are fortunate to have gluten-free products in bakery and restaurants--it's the bread that I really miss. I can buy frozen GF loaves in the store but they aren't very good at all. When I eat out I do best at Japanese restaurants where I can have rice, vegetable, miso, and tofu.

I didn't have any tests for intolerances. The onion/garlic thing is immediate and obvious so that's a no-brainer. But like you, I have a history of bloating. I used to eat a cheese sandwich and salad for lunch and within 5 minutes my belly would blow up like a balloon. I was so desperate for relief, I cut out all dairy, gluten, and coffee all at the same time, so really I have no idea which is responsible. But I got relief. One of my definite triggers was Whole Wheat----bread and cereal. I know that one for sure. White bread is much easier.

I still get bloating, cramps, constipation occasionally, but not like before. My intestinal tract isn't inflamed anymore (I can tell because I'm not getting fissures and hemorrhoids and my poop doesn't burn like acid!).

I do best when I eat cooked vegetables, not raw. And I have to keep fresh fruit to a minimum. I get a gluten-free pancake mix that's good---makes me feel like I'm eating regular pancakes! So now I try different foods. I discovered that ostrich burgers are delicious---like beef only leaner. I make that Mori-Nu tofu pudding--yummy.

Anna--

It's an adventure to go gluten free---I do a lot more cooking now. I have a pot of brown rice going, and soups, stir-fry, etc. Like your friend's daughter, I eat lots of nuts (almonds are my favorite---dry roasted and unsalted).

The only drawback for me is that my husband used to cook a lot, and now he doesn't---he says he doesn't know what I can eat. And it's sort of sad not sharing the cooking and the food together. "Breaking bread" together is more than about eating food, it's about sharing and togetherness. That's the part of gluten-free that's been difficult---we haven't adjusted as a family. I hate it----I've got "my food;" he's got "his food."

Calli

[wednesday mc haggis]

thanks to both of you for your replies.

ohiolady  wow !! just shows you the results of diet change that your daughter is stable now, gives so much hope that does, and makes more determined to stick this diet out, nuts are my snacking food now, and homemade popcorn, good luck with the gluten free, lets us know how thats going, and yup alot of shopping and planning :-s

calli

  yup cooking different dinners is annoying , im not so bad few nights we eat same, other nights its different. i know the feeling with the instant bloating, im like that and its not plesant, intresting you saying buring on passing stool, acid is good description. I miss tea the most , love my cup of tea, but feel id likely be able to have some now and again once i got this candida under control.alaways felt worse increasing my fibre like they tell you, bloated me did fibogel , and its like wall paper paste   yukky!!  i bloat at pizza and white bread, still bloat with wholegrains but not quite so bad.

Have to say last 2 weeks of normal motions ( miracle in itself ) and symptoms generally improving , ive cut tomatoes out also, dont think they agree with me yet i love them  ah well benefits outweight the downside

T x

[Scottietottie]

Hi 

I have a friend whose daughter has been dxd as coeliac, so obviously she now has to eat gluten free. She found various sites online very helpful and her local supermarket has a gluten free section too. I think she just does without bread - but I know someone else who buys gluten free flour and bakes her own. She has a daughter with a ton of allegies.

The yiungest daughter of my friend with the coelia daughter, developed IBS. She tested negative for coeliac but her mother took her off wheat and gluten and she improved dramatically. After about a year they re-introduced foods gradually and she seems to be able to tolerate quite a lot now without the IBS returning. If there is any sign of it she backs off gluten for a week or so.

My DIL in St Louis has landed a job in a gluten free bakery. I know there are TV shows, books and web sites about gluten free baking.

Take care - Scottie 

[genko_b]

Calli, just a couple of thoughts on the gluten-free diet. White bread is also wheat bread, so if you can tolerate it and not whole wheat bread, it is likely the fiber and not the grain itself that is causing you problems. The fact that raw vegetables give you more trouble then cooked supports this possibility.

And be aware at a Japanese restaurant that the "soy sauce" used in everything is made from soy and wheat. There is a kind that is often sold as "tamari" that has no wheat in it, but this is not likely what the restaurants are using, as it is much more expensive and tastes different as well. If you ask them, they will tell you "no wheat," but it is probably not true.

All of us tend to get into "ruts" in terms of what we eat, and wheat is one of those things that is in almost every meal in some form or another. Many of us would do much better simply cutting back on it and rotating through other grains. The same is true of many other foods. Nuts is another one that it is easily to develop a sensitivity to if you eat too many of them. My sister did. She started out able to eat all nuts, and now has developed real difficulties with cashews, pistachios, and almonds. She has stopped eating any nuts as snacks now, in order not to develop trouble with any others. I know several people who have similar problems, so be careful with the nuts.

Genko

[wednesday mc haggis]

genko thank for the heads up, ive been reading about food rotation, having a food for 5 days, going without it for 5, to avoid developing intolerance, alot to take in, trying to work out what you could rotate on candida diet as its so restictive, but ill have nuts for 5 then leave them to hopefully avoid this problem, thnaks for the tip.

I have noted you cant have soy sauce due to candida diet, miss that on my sushi now.

T x

[Sjenny]

Calli:

Do you live in the US?  If so, there is a brand called Bob's Red Mill which makes a gluten free bread mix called Wonderful Bread.  You add the yeast (in the pkg) and liquids and let it rise and bake.  It really is wonderful - it was delicious- even my hubby loved it, and he is not into gluten free and "different" foods.

Sue

[allium]

Hi Calli:

Just wondering if you might have a fructose intolerance rather than gluten or wheat; I developed that about two years ago, and think it may be part of whatever is bothering the rest of my body.  I had mucho digestive symptoms (gas, bloating, pain., diarrhea) starting slowly and getting to the point that I was given a colonoscopy and endoscopy (no bacteria, no celiac, IBD signs).  Of course, I was told IBS, but the symptoms and a food diary didn't add up to that.  I asked to be tested for fructose intol, and it was positive. 

I am now better able to tolerate foods I couldn't before (don't know why).  Onions, garlic, tomatoes, and sweet vegetables like peas and carrots are high in fructose sugar, and of course, high fructose corn syrup in so many things.  Fruits, whole grains, beans, honey, table sugar...it's in almost every food.  Your intolerance can be at different levels; mine didn't start until my health started going downhill in general.

See what your reaction is to eating any sweet vegs or high fructose foods, and maybe ask to be tested for fructose intolerance.  It's a breath test like lactose.  Doctors are not educated about this in general; they just say IBS.  But an IBS diet will possibly make FI worse.

If you need any help to find information, let me know.  Good luck.
Sheila