Ok my gorgeous darlings, I discovered I was celiac during lockdown as a result of an autoimmune disease that had developed in the last few years. I haven't been drinking much because I've been trying to be as healthy as possible to help me tackle this disease, but I'm well medicated now and feeling better and we are allowed out to play now!
I need help with what I can drink.
I've found I make the most mistakes when I'm in a new setting I haven't been in yet as a celiac.
This basically tells me I could drink whiskey and I cant help feeling like - really?! I know some people get symptoms because the body sees even GF oats say as a gluten protein and reacts. I dont think I fall in that category because I've had tracker bars and stuff and been fine. So I guess I'd be alright having gluten free beer and stuff.
Has anyone had whiskey and been alright? I do like a whiskey! And I know to watch out for flavouring added after distillation...I suppose it's hard to watch out for...should be on the bottle right? I do like a scotch like laphraigh but a bourbon like monkey shoulder or makers mark doesnt go amiss. What we thinking?
I was pondering on it and even vodka is made from cereals, and gin is basically vodka that's had juniper berries chilling in it for a bit. But I think the colour of whiskey makes it seem like it's got more of the poisonous grains in it 😅.
I did like wine, and I should be alright with a chablis or a pinot noir shouldn't I? Along with a nice Prosecco.
Cider would be fine to wouldnt it? But I was put off it a bit cuz I drank it when I had a very sensitive stomach and the acid killed me off and now I kind of associate that feeling with cider...which isnt really fair to cider but there we are...
What do you guys tend to drink?
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Flowerpot108
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You've hit a matter of contention here - for many reasons, and when CUK say it's 'ok' I tend to disregard their recommendation as they have a tendency to be quite wrong quite a bit on stuff......
Coeliac seems to be on a continuum from those who can chance their arm with the risky end of the scale, to those who can't walk past a bakery without being glutened.
I'm aware of a person with coeliac who has the odd pint of Guinness, but I think he is fooling himself. I personally am not much of a drinker, but stick to wine. I've never been massively into spirits so it's not a big drama, but I do miss beer and gin. The GF beers are in a league of their own with debate as to if they are ok or not. Most/all GF beers in supermarkets are 'de-glutenised barley' - enzyme used to break down the gluten. Two issues with this - the tiny particles of gluten are still in the beer, and the test used to test for gluten may not function properly with distilled and fermented foods/drinks (this applies to the testing of whiskey and spirits also). GF beer makes me ill, and I'm aware others have that issue. You can find GF beers/lagers made from non-gluten grains - Greens do those, but you will need to visit their website as the shops only stop their de-glutenised barley ones. I'm wary of cross contamination if they have barley beers onsite, but do your own due diligence.
There is potato vodka as an option, and lots of spirits come from other sources e.g. rum (cane sugar) or coconut based spirits (which sound lovely).
With wine - some wines may be aged in casks that were used for whiskey originally so that carries small risk, but those wines are few/far between, but worth checking.
Cider seems a safe option, but again worth checking out how the process of making them carries any risks, but cider will not have gluten-based ingredients normally.
It's really about what you like, and don't like. If you had beer as a staple, it's going to be tricky but not impossible. With whiskey - if you have high sensitivity to gluten, it's possibly going to be an issue. Wine and cider are there as a safe back-up staple if you can drink those.
Hahaha cant walk past a bakery without being glutened 😂
Yah safest bet is probably to stick to things that dont originate in gluten grains such as cider and wine. I do like wine so that's fine. I can see me now googling vodkas in a pub to see if they have any potato based ones 😂.
There is a very good vodka called 'Black Cow' which is made from milk, or more particularly cheese whey from the production of Lincolnshire Poacher cheese. Both products are excellent. Also, consider rum, made from sugar cane. At a food festival a couple of years ago, I was offered samples of flavoured gin, and queried the gluten content. Apparently, the distillation process removes all traces. I tried the gin, and had no undesirable consequences. I avoid whisky because it repeats on me.
I drink red wine, cider (Bulmers original), spirits and gluten free beer, but not always at the same time.
Whisky (Famous Grouse) is my favorite spirit, after gin and rum. I make my own gluten free beer (IPA) in 45 pint batches using kits from 'Simply'.
Do I get glutened?
Well, since Christmas 2019 I've been bloated and uncomfortable, after eating two large slices of chocolate cake at our companies Christmas buffet my trouser waste size grew by 2 inches that Christmas and it hasn't returned to normal since. It seems whatever I eat or drink bloats me, and I've been more tired than usual.
There may be reasons that have nothing to do with being coeliac.
1) Cold wet winters when I would normally cycle to work and have opted for the car instead. 2) General lack of exercise due to the limitations imposed by Coronavirus.
3) The inability to walk very far without pain due to damaging a knee joint on a springy wooden ramp in a corridor at work.
4) Also, I'm getting older by the minute.
When we used to get gluten free food on prescription years ago we had to have blood tests to show ttga levels to prove we were keeping to our gf diet. Prescriptions stopped, so no more blood tests or health checks. So, I don't know if I'm getting glutened by drinks. The only way to test it is to stop drinking, but there aren't enough years left to do that!
I'm confused by your post - you seem to be ill yet advocate drinks that are gluten-risky. I would doubt that the cake you ate in December 2019 would still be impacting with regard gluten. Do you think your gf diet needs a rethink and a new referral back to gastro as, in the main, that level of perisistent bloating would be a concern.
You're right. A whole lot of things going on here. I agree with your point about the cake, which was 16 months ago.
Regarding diet I'm careful to read all labels, and eat anything that doesn't include gluten in the ingredients. I even avoid the 'may contain' and 'produced in a factory that also handles' products.
Regarding drinks, although I drink most things, none of them declares gluten in the ingredients. Some of them contained gluten originally; whisky is made using barley but the gluten remains behind then the alcohol is distilled off (we are told), and gluten free beer is made using malt in which the gluten has been broken down using enzymes ( we are told).
I therefore don't think my diet needs a rethink.
The 'referral back to the gastro' is cloud cuckoo land talk. Trying to see a GP has become a joke. It is no longer possible to go beyond the 'receptionist' , who has probably been instructed to fob as many patients off as possible.
I think, as coeliacs in the UK, we are being given pretty shoddy treatment. From the moment we' are diagnosed our fate is handed over to a private company whose only interest is profiting from the sale of 'GF' products they help to sell. Originally we would get to see a dietician once a year, get a bone density scan occasionally, and receive gf basics on prescription. We would also get blood tests every year to check the GF diet was working.
Poor old ageing, overcrowded Britain can no longer afford to provide these things. Our GPs don't want to know. We are left to look after ourselves as best as we can.
The last time I mentioned knee pain to my previous GP he just laughed and said "It's just an age thing". What chance do we stand? Its enough to drive some of us to drink!
I feel your pain Philaustin, and totally get where your coming from. Sorry for suggesting dietary rethink, which was trite of me. You're completely spot on with CUK, and the GP negation of symptoms. I have stated before that I do not believe there is an illness so badly diagnosed, negated and exploited as coeliac in the UK. I'm probably wrong, but you are a consumer not a patient as far as CUK are concerned, and the quality of the dross products that are pitched to gluten free market is atrocious. If coeliacs can not eat gluten free foods, why the 'f' do we even have them as they are simply making/keeping a lot of people ill. I would still push the gastro appointment - I've managed to have gastro appointments in past 12 mths, but were by phone and outcome was farcical, but they still have to do their jobs and refer people for further tests. And yes, drinking seems to be the direction we are driven in. I've long promised, if I make it over 70 (late forties at moment) to dedicate the last ten years of my life to gin and marijuana.
You should still get annual bloods done. Per Coeliac UK
Once the disease is stable and the patients manage their diet without any problems, annual follow-ups should be initiated. The physician should check on intact small intestinal absorption (
full blood count,
ferritin,
serum folate,
vitamin B12,
calcium,
alkaline phosphatase
associated autoimmune conditions (thyroid-stimulating hormone and thyroid hormone(s),
and serum glucose),146 147
liver disease (aspartate aminotransferase/alanine aminotransferase)40 and
dietary adherence (anti-TG2 or EMA/DGP), although the sensitivity and specificity of the latter cannot substitute for structured dietary interview.
Between 1.5% - 3.8% of people with autoimmune thyroid disease also have coeliac disease compared to 1% in the general population.
Whiskey is fine because the distillation process leaves the gluten behind. A lot of vodka is grain based too, and is all absolutely gluten free, as is distilled malt vinegar.
GF beer is a grey area. There are some that are brewed from non-gluten grains, which are fine for all coeliac's. Other beers are brewed from gluten grains, and then an additive is added to it to "break down" the gluten proteins. All this does is make a long gluten chain turn into a number of short gluten chains, which are undetectable to gluten tests, but aren't undetectable to a coeliac gut. Some still react very badly to GF beer, others can only tolerate 1 or 2, others have no outward reaction but damage is still caused internally.
Distilled malt vinegar is a different product from malt vinegar. Worth comparing the two when you're next at the supermarket, you'll see the difference
Interesting. To be on the safe side I'll stay away from the beer cuz I cant imagine being able to ask in the pub per the specifics of how its been made...also I only get the craving for it now and then.
I'll give whiskey a go and see how I am. Lots of blogs do seem to say they are fine with it and I would really miss it if I couldn't have it anymore!
I think the owners are coeliac, but basically they select a low gluten barley and brew it in such a way that it's gluten free naturally, no additives necessary to break down the gluten. My partner is sensitive to "gluten removed" beers, but this one is absolutely fine. It's also really close to real beer, in a way other NGCI beers aren't.
I looked at it. I'm a little confused about what it all meant...it seems like if you're ok with some gluten being present at less than 20ppm then they all had gluten present and all at less than that?
Sorry, I think I sent the wrong link for Gluten Free Watchdog. Just realised I sent you research link rather than summary. Let me dig around for the proper link. Sorry for adding more confusion to the mix!
One thing you need to take into consideration is how much your digestive system has recovered, as any alcohol may slow down the progress you have made. I tried various gluten free beers, but also other gluten free alcohol, but found they all irritated my system. I stopped drinking for a couple of months, then slowly introduced alcohol (cider in my case), with no reaction at all.
As an ex-alcoholic I drink no alcohol at all. And, even if I weren't an alcoholic, with Celiac, I wouldn't. Our guts and health are compromised and adding anything that is not beneficial is not in our best interest.
In theory I would have thought a “proper” whiskey or gin without any added flavours would be fine. Distillation as a physical process isn’t going to carry any gluten, regardless of it being from a cereal base. I drink lots of gin and save my worry for what goes in it. However I wouldn’t personally risk any of those sweetened, coloured, flavoured liquors as you don’t know whether what’s been added post distillation is safe.
For beers, I think you can only try, and see what suits you. I can’t tolerate the GF Daura Damm, I get symptoms within an hour, however I can drink seemingly limitless quantities of GF Peroni without ill effects. I’m also fine with Brewdog Vagabond.
I do wish that the average ppm figure from gluten free testing had to be part of the label, then we could judge for ourselves. I imagine from my own experience that the Daura would be nearer the limit than the Peroni, for example.
I agree on the ppm labelling. I've started to ask this question recently from food manufacturers - what is your average ppm measure from testing of this product (whatever the product is), and some can not even answer that question. One gave me 10ppm as an answer , but it seemed an oddly rounded up number given very quickly so I doubted that as the truth. Another manufacturer (Kirsty's GF apple pie) stated their test just gives a 'yay''nae' answer to whether or not is is above or below 20ppm codex, and does not give them a specific measure, to those who state no measurable gluten above 5ppm. I do not believe our food producers will be honest on their labelling for the ppms as they are not honest at the moment when approached directly and hide behind the Coeliac UK cult brainwashing on the codex safety.
I found I couldn't tolerate gluten free alcohol until about 18 months after being gluten free but I was okay with vodka and white tequila. Now I can drink gluten free lager. It was worth the wait!! 😊
Yes, I'd ignore what Coeliac UK say on this subject!
There are scientific papers out there which suggest in laymans terms that when wheat and barley based booze is treated to get rid of the gluten it just breaks it up into bits that are too small to register on tests but big enough for perhaps a third of coeliacs to react to.
For beer in the UK there's very little choice: Greens make some "naturally gluten free" beers in their range which I rely on.
For spirits: I rule out any from Barley or Wheat that haven't been distilled at least 3 times after reading a scientific paper years ago which suggested that below that you couldn't be sure of being clear of the original gluten.
Whisky: I think Bushmills is 3x but all other whiskies are only once or twice.
Vodka and Gin: Potato based like Chase make are mostly ok. There are some grape based and maize based. If it doesn't tell you...don't drink it!
Rum and Brandy are fine.
Wine and cider are your friends but I get what you mean about acid.
You can have any shorts, that have been distilled, be careful of gins, watch what you have with them no cloudy lemonades, I have vodka and diet lemonade, ot a can if in pubs,
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