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Gluten Free Guerrillas

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Free from foods and pain.

beaton profile image
29 Replies

It's bad enough being G/F. I have just had a FreeFrom choc. brownie,oh what a treat,more bloating and pain.Is it the tapioca??

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beaton profile image
beaton
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29 Replies
Penel profile image
Penel

Bad luck Beaton

Tapioca should be ok, but who knows? Any other suspect ingredients? Xantham gum gives me terrible gut ache and diarrhoea.

beaton profile image
beaton in reply to Penel

Hi Penel, No xanthan gum. If being G/F wasn't difficult enough,xanthan gum gives me gut ache now tapioca. Vegetarian as well. :(

Lynilou profile image
Lynilou

Too much dairy does me, sometimes this includes chocolate! I can't eat free from cakes so make my own.

beaton profile image
beaton in reply to Lynilou

Do you have any recipes? I have people coming over and have gone on about G/F so want to produce something good.can't let the side down.x

puncturedbicycle profile image
puncturedbicycle in reply to beaton

I think the gf genoise is nicer than the ordinary one (and my non-gf partner agrees). I like the Dove's Farm gf flour. This recipe makes a great layer cake if you use cake tins instead of a swiss roll tray. frenchfood.about.com/od/des... You can sub some cocoa for gf flour to make a chocolate sponge.

Lynilou profile image
Lynilou in reply to beaton

I have lots of things, try Pinterest for some gf ideas, or bbcgood food in uk. I use doves farm gf flour in cakes but polenta is also good. There's a very nice lemon polenta cake online. If you want to impress your friends you can't beat a pavlova or a sherry trifle, bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/rasp...

nigella.com/recipes/view/ca...

realfood.tesco.com/recipes/...

Lynilou profile image
Lynilou in reply to Lynilou

Good luck! Also it helps to know these cakes are definitely best eaten fresh, what a good excuse!

beaton profile image
beaton in reply to Lynilou

:)

beaton profile image
beaton in reply to Lynilou

Thank you.x

MrsPepperpot profile image
MrsPepperpot

Hi Beaton

The ready made foods are bit of a minefield because of the multitude of ingredients and in the early days your gut is just more reactive to who knows what. The villi damage means that you cannot heal lactose/milk products but as your gut heals this recovers. You can get lactose free milk, butter etc, they suggest for 6 months or so.

If you want a family pud this

goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/52...

is easy to make and looks good. Main courses are much easier if you go down a traditional route - btw many cheeses are low in lactose eg cheddar. Also, nuts and nut butters are useful additions to give oils and protein.

Sweet potatoes are very versatile for sweet and savoury dishes. There is a 'bread' knocking around GFG which is very useful and makes a nice little pizza.

I wouldn't reject tapioca yet since it is a very useful food to have in a gf diet.

It's worth making good use of a dietician and keeping a food diary, symptoms and perhaps labels to identify what may be a problem. Sounds bit of a pain but suspect it helps to get to problem foods.

Good luck.

beaton profile image
beaton

Thanks Mrs Pepperpot,some useful ideas,love the look of the pud.xx

violetkathy profile image
violetkathy

There are lots of chemicals and additives in FreeFrom GF foods.

beaton profile image
beaton in reply to violetkathy

Yes but what do you do when you find yourself away from home? These are not my normal diet. Well won't be having them again,guess it'll have to be the banana. xx

Lynilou profile image
Lynilou in reply to beaton

Haha yes, I went for a spa day last week.. Poor show on the menu, so I stuck to fresh stuff.. Pineapple and melon for brunch. More pineapple with yoghurt for tea, this was a replacement for a cream tea! Was careful not to have too much yoghurt, so a very healthy day!

beaton profile image
beaton in reply to Lynilou

Sounds good.x

violetkathy profile image
violetkathy

I react to Doves Flour. My diet is very boring, salad, greens, fruit meat and eggs. I have tried baking with almond flour but I am still experiencing problems with lots of foods. My gastroenterologist checked my bloods and my tTGA was he said, 'the lowest in the whole hospital'. This shows that I'm not ingesting gluten but I'm reacting to something else. I have searched the web, read articles and recommendations for books. I have come across a book called 'Breaking the Vicious Cycle. Intestinal Health Through Diet.' I am also investigating the Specific carbohydrate Diet. Everything I eat seems to make me ill, that's irrational, I know. The other thing that seems to be causing problems is corn and corn is in so many foods. I have got used to being GF but am frustrated with all my other food problems.

Penel profile image
Penel in reply to violetkathy

Hi Violetkarhy

Have you had a look at FODMAPS ? It's an elimination diet which is being used by the NHS now in some places. It has been mentioned on here a few times.

I found Kathryn Marsden's book "Good Gut Healing" a useful read. I now follow a low carb type diet, and have found that going back to full fat food seems to have helped my insides work properly. It has not made me put on weight or affect cholesterol levels.

I have also found this a useful site.

authoritynutrition.com/low-...

Hope you can sort out your food problems.

Karen77 profile image
Karen77 in reply to Penel

The Paleo Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) is a good approach to try as well. It's also an elimination diet and while it might feel like you are depriving yourself, there are still lots of things you can eat and recipes you can find online like phoenixhelix.com. There's another site where they talk about gluten cross-reactive foods (thepaleomom.com). There are probably other places to find that information, but the theory is that even though you're not consuming gluten, your body thinks you are and treats it the same way. A lot of the time what you need to do is avoid all of the foods you are currently sensitive to until your gut has healed, and then you can reintroduce things that are currently bothering you like dairy. Some people find that once their guts have sufficiently healed they can eat more variety. I'm currently doing the AIP. I'm into my second month now, and I find that it was easier to give up what had been staples in my diet (eggs, nuts, seeds, chocolate) than I had thought. Having a hot cup of bone broth or stew in the morning is a lovely way to start the day (it's still too darn cold here!). Of course, it does require planning. I keep dried apricots in my car for emergencies, and usually travel with an apple and raw veg (carrots, cukes, etc) for snacking. If you can tolerate nuts, they are a very easy thing to take in your bag as they will last a long time and don't need refrigeration.

violetkathy profile image
violetkathy in reply to Karen77

That sounds interesting too. I bought nuts for the ketogenic diet, pecans and macademia, organic and reacted to those too.It seems like everything I eat or drink makes me ill which is illogical. I di eat an avocado with my salad at work last week and it made me feel very sick. I had to go and lay down for a hour or so. then my daughter reminded me I have reacted to avocado before and another daughter says she can't eat them either, So they're out of the question now.

violetkathy profile image
violetkathy in reply to Penel

Thanks Penel, it's funny you should mention FODMAPS because that crept into my mind this afternoon. I'm glad you found Kathryn Marsden's book helpful :) My daughter and son-in-law were following the ketogenic diet so I thought I'd try that. I felt very healthy but I don't eat dairy and you need a lot of fat on that diet. I have had a sore mouth for over a year now and no-one j knows what's causing it or is very interested either.. My lips are all red, cracked and swollen and have been for more than a year now. In the scheme of thins it's not serious but it's painful. I'll have a look at the website.

beaton profile image
beaton in reply to violetkathy

Interesting Violekathy, Wishing you well.x

urbangirl profile image
urbangirl

Hello VioletKathy - I sympathize with you. I seem to have less and less foods to eat. However, I did do the FOMAPS last time year and this helped me eliminate food that hurt me. Although I am fed up at not being able to eat things I once enjoyed it is worth it to feel well and comfortable. I too eat very basic food - meat, fish, salad, vegetables and a bit of fruit. I do add dairy to make sauces with herbs and spices so food can be very tasty. I read through my old recipe books and see what can be adapted and look online. Because I can't eat free from products it is often difficult to use gluten free recipes as they use GF flour. I have discovered potato flour and rice flour have been a godsend for sauces and gravy which my family don't complain about. Sometimes I despair because I eat the same things over and over again as I don't have any imagination to create another dish. But it is so good not to feel ill!

Karen77 profile image
Karen77 in reply to urbangirl

I made a fantastic gravy for Christmas with pan drippings and onion. It looked like "real" gravy and my non-GF guests thought it was amazing - elanaspantry.com/herb-gravy... (I had a lot of pan drippings so just used that instead of the chicken stock called for in the recipe). It's nice to be able to make something that tastes good without any flour at all!

violetkathy profile image
violetkathy in reply to Karen77

I do that too, Karen. the caramelised onions in the meat dripping is better than any other gravy :)

urbangirl profile image
urbangirl in reply to Karen77

Thanks for the link - will be trying this out! We do something similar and often make jus which is very nice too.

violetkathy profile image
violetkathy in reply to urbangirl

It is so good not to feel ill. I will have a look at the diets again tomorrow.. I feel a bit more hopeful now :D

violetkathy profile image
violetkathy in reply to urbangirl

Thanks, I'm going to look at the websites again tomorrow and make some notes.

lannilou profile image
lannilou

Going back to the original post, did the brownie contain glucose or dextrose syrup? I get bloating if I eat food containing anything like that. I've just started to use tapioca flour in my baking and haven't reacted, but we are all different!

urbangirl profile image
urbangirl

Some free from products contain hydroxypropylmethylcellulose. I cannot eat them as I react to them. Neither can I tolerate glucose syrup. Here is a previous post that covers quite a lot on hydroxypropylmethylcellulose.

healthunlocked.com/glutenfr...

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