Wheat Allergy and Coeliac Disease - different, but combined?!

[RusticRita]

Hello, a question from a newbie if anyone can help? After suffering a variety of chronic symptoms my doctor ordered a Coeliac blood test and also sent me to an immunologist after an anaphalaxis-type episode. I've tested positive for true Wheat Allergy (RAST Blood Test IgE) with skin test to follow soon, but the TTg test isn't back yet (How long do they take??). I gave up wheat/oats soon after the TTg test, with the immediate effect that my urticuria cleared up, IBS lessened considerably and generally felt a bit better. A few weeks on I now have terrible stomach cramping! There seems to be very little info around on true wheat allergy and as I already have one auto-immune disease (Thyroid with another suspected) I'm wondering if its likely I have Coeliac Disease as well? If anyone has any insights on any of this or any tips to help stomach healing, they'd be gratefully received.

[Lynxcat]

Hi RusticRita, Firstly .. let me say welcome to our clan! From what you have said it is highly probable that you may indeed have Coeliac Disease but your doctor will confirm this soon enough. In the meantime, the difficulty will be to remove all of the wheat based products from your diet. Many of us have learnt to our cost just how difficult this can be as along with gluten it hides under so many disguises.

The problem with developing either a food allergy or autoimmune disease is it takes time for everything to settle down and completely heal. Sometimes if the damage has taken a few years to develop then it may also take a year or so to heal. Best advice with healing is to try and keep things simple, eat natural foods that haven't gone through a factory, avoid processed foods and if you can, cook and bake your own foods so that you know what is going into them. This usually speeds up healing. Whilst you are in the healing process try and exclude the *free from foods - if you must have cereal then perhaps try brands like Kallo which are usually just one thing without additives of any kind - you may add honey or banana, etc to sweeten but at least the cereal is pure.

Here is a basic list of foods that contain wheat and various other names for wheat:

Bulgur (bulghar)

Durum, durum flour, durum wheat

Einkorn

Emmer

Enriched, white and whole-wheat flour

Farina

Flour (all-purpose, cake, enriched, graham, high protein or high gluten, pastry)

Farro

Fu

Graham flour

Kamut

Seitan

Semolina

Spelt

Sprouted wheat

Triticale (a cross between wheat and rye)

Triticum aestivum

Wheat (bran, germ, gluten, grass, malt, starch)

Wheat berries

Wheatgrass

Ingredients that may be derived from wheat

Avoid foods containing these ingredients unless the label states they are not made from wheat.

Hydrolyzed vegetable protein

Modified food starch

Vegetable starch or vegetable protein

Gelatinized starch

Natural flavoring

Foods that often contain wheat

Baked goods such as pastries, doughnuts, pies, pretzels

Baking mixes, powder and flour

Beer

Bread or bread crumbs

Cereal

Chicken and beef broth (cans and bouillon cubes)

Condiments, salad dressings, and sauces

Crackers

Deli meats

Falafel

Fried, breaded chicken, fish, or other deep-fried foods

Gravies

Host (communion, altar bread and wafers)

Hot dogs

Ice cream

Imitation bacon

Meatballs or meat loaf

Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)

Pasta, including couscous, gnocchi, spaetzle, chow mein, lo mein, and filled pastas

Pie fillings and puddings

Sausages

Soups

Soy sauce or tamari (unless gluten-free)

Tabbouleh

Tempura

Non-food sources of wheat

Cosmetics and hair-care products

Medications and vitamins

Children’s play dough

Pet food

Wallpaper paste or glue

To read the complete article please see the link below:

foodallergies.about.com/od/...

Wheat Allergy Diet:

lpch.org/DiseaseHealthInfo/...

[Liana]

If you want a comprehensive list of flours, this might be of help ... Fundamental Flour Facts

foodchallenges.ca/food-fact...

[Maryelle in reply to Liana]

Thank you for this , extremely helpfull.

[Liana in reply to Maryelle]

You are most welcome. I have found it helpful to share in the past... best wishes for improved health!

[SilverDreamMachine in reply to Liana]

Hi Liana, Many thanks for the link. Huge amount of useful stuff about a very confusing item (flour). I use prescription flour (Juvela) and have great difficulty in making pastry even with X-Gum (to be truthful my wife does the baking!). Anyway the end result is crumbly disaster and this is no reflection on my wife who is a fabulous cook. Any ideas on how, using this type of flour mix, it can be improved to mirror pastry with gluten in it?

[Liana in reply to SilverDreamMachine]

We don't have that flour in Canada, SilverDreamMachine, so unfortunately I'm unable to help you. We don't have perscription foods here. I have an excellent gluten free pastry recipe. The dough is easy to work with and the results are excellent. I understand sorghum is available in the UK now, so you should be able to make this. I have a savoury pastry as well as a dessert one.

foodchallenges.ca/apple-gal...

and

foodchallenges.ca/beef-well...

I use more xanthan gum than most people. I use 1 tsp per cup of flour as both a binder and to provide elasticity. If I'm making pasta, I use even more.

[SilverDreamMachine in reply to Liana]

Hi Liana, sorry didn`t realise you were outside the UK. Thanks for the tips and links. I can almost visualise a doughy apple pie!

[RusticRita]

Hi Lynxcat and Liana, many thanks for the warm welcome and the very useful information and links. I will try and heed your advice and keep the diet as simple as possible. I've been making the Dove's Farm gluten free bread and eating Mesa Sunrise GF cereal, but noticed both seem to be causing my stomach to bloat up - so maybe they are too much for my intestines to cope with right now! I will look up the Kallo one that you mentioned Lynxcat - cheers.

[Lynxcat in reply to RusticRita]

Hi RusticRita, You may find that if you firstly stick to simple gluten free flours such as rice flour, use gluten free baking powder and perhaps make simple scones in place of bread that it should be easier on your digestive system - if you are in need of making sandwiches.

After a while when you are feeling much better, then perhaps you could try visiting a few of the blogs that are based on gluten free cooking - Jerry's is a good one to start off with and he has a ground rice bread recipe:

withoutgluten.co.uk/recipes...

Liana also has some really lovely and unusual recipes - here is the link for her potato dough:

foodchallenges.ca/potato-do...

Let us know how you get on and if you have any recommendations for the rest of us!