Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with celiac

Can I eat bread and pasta again?

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:14:53 -0800

Warning: kinda gross question about bowel movements, bleeding, and wheat/gluten intolerance! In the last year (I'm in my late 20s), I've noticed that if I eat wheat products (bread, pasta) or oatmeal, my bowel motion the next day will be so difficult that I'll experience bleeding or tearing. I've done some reading online about celiac disease, but I find that if I just don't eat too much wheat flour in one sitting, I'm fine. Especially if I supplement a meal where I eat wheat with a lot of soluble fibre like some lentils or beans.

Prior to the last year, I've been able to eat bread and pasta, just fine.

Has anyone ever experienced a similar change? Besides not eating wheat, were you able to go back to enjoying bread and pasta?

How do you diagnose Crohn's vs celiac disease?

acoutu — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 22:08:22 -0800

How can doctors tell the difference between Crohn's/IBD and celiac disease? I'm looking for (research-based) information that explains how doctors can diagnose Crohn's vs celiac disease.

For example, say a Crohn's diagnosis was made from barium, flexible sigmoidoscopies, colonoscopies and various symptoms over the years. What markers would show that this is Crohn's and not celiac? Or vice versa? I can find comparisons of Crohn's and ulcerative colitis, but I can't find anything that explains how Crohn's is different from celiac disease.

Thanks.

Any vegan celiacs in the house?

pseudostrabismus — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 21:20:48 -0800

Please suggest tasty vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free recipes that are not too difficult for a first-time vegan cook to attempt. My friend's dad has recently been diagnosed with stage IV cancer of the tongue and lymph nodes. He's seeing doctors and a naturopath, who has suggested he try a candida-type cleanse diet as the first stage to an alkaline diet. Essentially a vegan celiac diet (more details below). He also needs to keep his weight stable despite having a lowered appetite, so very palatable foods that are higher in calories would be good.

Any recipes you could suggest would be so appreciated- my friend's mom is understandably stressed already, and learning a whole new cooking style is an extra challenge at a time like this.

FOODS TO AVOID:
wheat or gluten
dairy
eggs
sugars (see below for okay substitutes)
tomatoes
potatoes
red meat
citrus (except lemons and limes)
not too much fruit allowed
fried anything
chocolate
caffeine
alcohol
vinegars (except apple cider)
soy
anything fermented

FOODS TO FOCUS ON:
rice, teff, quinoa etc (but not kamut or spelt)
legumes
2 fruits a day
vegetables (all should be lightly cooked)
chicken
fish
rice and nut milks
as many nuts and nut butters as he wants
good oils (hemp, flax, coconut, olive)
all kinds of spices
bragg's
maple syrup
stevia
brown rice syrup

Any recipes you can suggest would be much appreciated!
Thank you in advance.

Celiac Recovery, Am I doing it wrong?

i_love_squirrels — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 12:50:04 -0800

Regarding celiac disease and the recovery process: I began a gluten-free diet 3 weeks ago. It's going good but not like I expected (more details inside). Anyone have advice on the healing process? Can anyone point me to helpful resources that explain what the healing process is like and how to best facilitate it? Since eliminating gluten from my diet, I've experienced some wonderful days recently. My painful, loose and smelly bowel movements that were with me for 3 years ended in three days. The color has come back to my pale face and I have had an increase in energy and a feeling of ease I haven't felt in decades.

I really believe I have finally found the reason I was always a skinny, cranky kid. Wherever I went, my nickname was Toothpick and people marveled at how much I could eat. Figuring this out really explains a lot.

However, several times since going gluten-free I have experienced upset stomachs and nausea in the evening. Twice the symptoms followed having some gluten-free cookies and brownies I made myself. So I stopped eating desserts because I figured I wasn't ready for that.

Instead I have been following a mostly paleo diet with minimal sweets, small amounts of dairy and one-serving of Bob's Mills Mighty Tasty GF hot cereal every morning. I mostly cook for myself or eat Trader's Joe's products with the gluten-free symbol. For take-out I only go to Baja Fresh, get naked burritos and don't eat the chips.

I feel best after eating the hot cereal and usually have a great morning and afternoon. But in the evening the nausea hits and sometimes I get gas, acid reflux and a general weak feeling.

Also, I had a round of canker sores that came and went and I have been getting foot cramps like I did in high school in college. I haven't had either in years but I used to get them constantly.

Is my body just healing? Or am I missing something key about the diet? I have googled this for hours and read every post on Mefi tagged gluten-free or celiac this past week and can't find anything very descriptive about the recovery process from celiac disease. Am I supposed to just feel great from now on or is it a bumpy road to recovery?

Welcome to the new you!

parmanparman — Mon, 12 May 2008 16:51:36 -0800

Ten days ago I learned I have a celiac disorder. I have lost almost 15 pounds and my eating patterns have drastically changed. Help me fill the void... My doctor confirmed the week before last that I have a celiac disorder, and to cut out gluten, barley, and spelt.

The first week of this was spent mostly at work. Which consisted playing the game of "Can I Eat This...I Can't Eat This". By last Saturday, I had gone from the 221 pounds I weighed at the doctor's to 209.5 on the scale in my house.

My diet is now extremely restricted. But, I am very worried about replacing the carbohydrates that I can't eat with meat protein because I don't want to see a jump in cholesterol. I also feel like some of defenses have gone: on Sunday I ate out to celebrate a friend's birthday and had a very bad reaction to an omelet. It was bad enough that I had to call in sick. I am now down to 207 pounds and I feel very weak and my clothes are not fitting very well.

I already cannot eat a lot of spicy food and I feel like I am doomed to a bland diet. I can't eat tomatoes, eggplant, cheese, beer, whiskey, chocolate, many things.

However, my acid reflux has totally gone away, so this is working and I am going to stick to it.

Any advice or help dealing with this Big New Reality would be helpful. Also, salad dressing recipes...

Help me work around some complicated food allergies.

fuzzbean — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 20:19:13 -0800

Help me feed thirty people with a lot of food allergies with the fewest possible dishes. All vegetarians, a few vegans, and a bunch of people with gluten intolerance. Not everyone needs to be able to eat every dish, but everyone needs to be able to eat SOMETHING at every meal. And there are five days, including lunches, to plan for.

Breakfast is mostly cereal and rice/soy/almond/cow milk, so not a big deal. Lunch is usually soup. Dinner is the main meal. This is a vegetarian gathering, so no fish, shrimp, meat, or products derived from above (fish sauce, chicken broth). The food budget isn't huge, and stuff that is fairly quick and easy to toss together is a definite bonus (although I will have a lot of people willing to help chop and whatnot). Attendees will be late-teens to mid-thirties.

Several people have allergies to gluten. Some of the GF people have overlapping allergies with other foods:
-oats, rye, barley, millet, quinoa, corn
-dairy
-eggs
-members of the allium family (garlic, onion, leeks, etc.)
-peanuts

Non-GF:
-no eggs, whey, mushrooms, bananas, sesame seeds, peanuts, kidney beans, navy beans
-no MSG

At least one non-GF person is a vegan. There are also a few soy allergies but I'm not sure where they fall (whether they're GF or not). A few other people dislike beans and lentils (but it's not an allergy, so I'm less concerned with accommodating them).

I think it'll be easiest if the GF dishes are also vegan (to avoid milk and eggs). The non-GF vegan will be completely happy eating GF for the week. I might just shoot for vegan across the board to simplify things.

I saw this thread and it was very helpful, but working with a few more constraints than I have. I read Gluten-Free Girl regularly and will trawl her archives again for ideas.

Things that are already planned: ratatouille, an Indian food night with several different dishes, a build-your-own-burrito night, miso soup, some kind of pumpkin-and-coconut-milk Thai soup, popcorn for snacking.

I'd love suggestions for more soups, sides, and mains. Tasty sweets or snacks that are GF/vegan that would be great too. It would also be really awesome to have something particularly nice for breakfast on one morning - it's a gathering that stretches across New Year's and it would be cool to have something extra tasty on the first.

Should I be tested for celiac disease?

craichead — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 14:08:55 -0800

Who should be screened for celiac disease? And what would that entail? I've been wondering lately if some members of my family, including myself, should be screened for celiac disease. My reasons include:

1. We seem to be ridiculously predisposed to autoimmune conditions. I have one, my brother has one, my grandmother, my great-aunt, that great-aunt's son, and another cousin on that side of the family all have some sort of autoimmune disease. I have read that there seems to be a link between celiac and other autoimmune diseases.

2. My brother, who has psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, also has a bunch of free-floating ailments which have been diagnosed as fibromyalgia and irritable bowel syndrome. I feel like those are very often misdiagnoses for celiac disease.

3. I had a bone scan right after my 30th birthday, and it showed that I had osteopenia, a precursor condition to osteoporosis. This was attributed to the fact that I'd been on prednisone, but I know that celiac is associated with osteoporosis. I've also got some other symptoms that make me a little suspicious: chronic low-level iron deficiency, for instance, and a mysterious rash that my doctors have given up trying to diagnose. The rash didn't respond to prednisone, and my doctors don't think it's related to my autoimmune problem.

I raised the celiac possibility with my rheumatologist, and she didn't seem to think it was very likely. But I'm wondering if I should push harder, and especially if I should encourage my brother to look into it. Does anyone know if there are guidelines about who should be screened for celiac disease? And what exactly does "screening" mean? How does one go about convincing a doctor to consider the possibility that one has celiac disease? Does anyone know of any good, reliable articles that I could send to my brother to convince him that he should look into this?

I know you're not my doctor, but I'm just looking for general thoughts. Thanks!

cooking with (mild) allergies

heeeraldo — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 15:27:45 -0800

I have been diagnosed with a number of non-life-threatening food allergies and been told to avoid them as best possible. Please suggest recipes, substitutions, general tips, etc. Forbidden foods listed after the cut. allergies: corn, rice, rye, wheat, eggs, cow's milk and cheese, oranges, strawberries, string beans, tomatoes, potatoes, shellfish, chicken, pork and chocolate.
other useful info: I'm in Vancouver, 22, male, decent in the kitchen, prefer things to be cooked quickly, and I don't eat beef for religious reasons.
secondary questions: what do I order if I eat out? can I no longer drink beer?

Where can I find a good doctor in Philadelphia that will help me diagnose Celiac disease?

austinlee — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 07:47:54 -0800

Where can I find a good doctor in Philadelphia that will help me diagnose Celiac disease? I was "kind of" diagnosed with Celiac disease about a year ago by my previous doctor. My symptoms pointed towards it but the Blood Work tests came back with results that the doctor said weren't definitive. They told me to try the diet and see how I felt. I've been doing just that since then and I do believe I see a difference. I moved to Philadelphia more permanently recently and have to get a new doctor. Any suggestions on a doctor in the area that is familiar with Celiac? Thanks!

Should I worry about Celiac disease?

phaedrus441 — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 20:09:37 -0800

How dangerous is Celiac disease? What can I do? A few years ago my sister randomly underwent a study for Celiac at university and we found out that my sister, I, and my dad all have it. Sis no longer eats gluten, but I do (I tried it for a while, but didn't know *much* difference).

My question is, how much danger am I putting myself into? As for symptoms, the only thing I notice are stomach aches (mostly at night, feels like gas, but doesn't go away quickly-- any ideas?).

I know many of you will post links to info (and thanks!), but I could've just googled that stuff... Any personal info? Serious advice?

How about progress with the disease? Part of me says... just ignore it-- *they* will find a cure before I suffer any big problems later down the line...

Last idea for you-- what can I do to reduce symptoms without cutting out all gluten? Any way to avoid these night-time stomach aches?

Thanks guys!

What does my sister-in-law want for Xmas?

Carbolic — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 11:31:43 -0800

I need a gift for someone who suffers from Celiac (can't eat wheat gluten). I searched the old AskMe's and found links to a few sites offering gluten free products but have no idea what she, or anyone with Celiac, might really enjoy or have trouble obtaining. Any suggestions?