Comments | kalyx: Gluten-Free eating

kalyx

Gluten-Free eating

Aug 15, 2010 11:20

I assumed this would be easier. This was based on the assumption that eating 90% Asian cuisines and living in Seattle would make this change relatively pain-free. That I could eat gluten-free without sacrifice ( Read more... )

food, gluten-free, celiac

Comments 11

rm August 15 2010, 18:35:37 UTC

Hey. San-J makes a line of gluten free soy, teriyakim asian bbq, etc sauces that are all gluten-free and awesome. Udi's makes good bread. Glutino does good pretzels and cookies. Lot's of decent pasta options out there. Get into risotto. Kinnikinnick does good gluten-free donuts and cinnamon buns. there are lots of pre-packaged thai noodle prodcts that are gf. Ian's does dome good frOzen gf stuff. There are a few other brands I can't think of right now. Everything ar Chipotle is gf but the burrito shell. Pf chengs has a gf menu. Most Indian food is gf. There's a lot of crap out there but there's plenty of good stuff it just takes time to find what you like. There's nothing you will never eat again.

kalyx August 15 2010, 18:56:15 UTC

Thanks for the encouragement. I've read that the first year is the hardest. I've become accustomed to eating foods that I doubt I'll ever be able to really know whether they are truly safe, so lots is off the menu at the moment. Like my favorite restaurants. I eat places without caucasian patrons with menus that are not in english. I question whether I can ever eat at these places with confidence. I'm an adventurous eater and like strange and exiting new foods.

And I'm so hungry all of the time. Please tell me this goes away.

And I've already found lots of gf options at Uwajimaya. soy sauce can be replaced by tomari. the soy pastes are a bit more questionable due to lack of known details of the fermentation processes. I expect I'll just have to wait and try things like my favorite miso pastes after a month or so. MSG is another giant ?.

rm August 16 2010, 14:44:24 UTC

I've always been ravenously hungry me entire life. So I don't know if they will change for you. It may, as it may just be your body being excited to get actual nutrients for a change, now that it can absorb them.

I'm an adventurous eater too, but if the place cooks with soy sauce and doesn't have a gluten-free policy, you're pretty much done (I bring my own soy sauce to Japanese restaurants for sushi, and that's fine; and most Thai places will prepare things I want without the soy-related sauces; I usually do okay with Vietnamese food too -- but eating Chinese out is hard). Also be careful at French restaurants that may use wheat to thicken sauces.

MSG is a source of controversy, because it's unclear if the gluten is destroyed or how sensitive some people are to it. I try to avoid, but it's lower on your list of concerns.

I have problems with almost all miso products that aren't explicitly gluten-free, fyi. It's aggravating.

im_funsized August 15 2010, 21:22:17 UTC

I'm really surprised that you are so hungry all the time. Maybe it is your bodies way of trying to make up for your nutrient deficiencies?

kalyx August 15 2010, 21:28:56 UTC

I haven't a clue why I'm suddenly so starved, but that was my guess too. Also, I think this might be a new change to eat without feeling slightly ill after. For exacmple, my stomach isn't bloated. It is ALWAYS bloated. I also don't have gas right now, which is weird.

fleabear August 16 2010, 01:32:21 UTC

I know that you and Nate don't eat Italian much but Chris just made lasagne and used zucchini instead of noodles. It was really good. I think that I like it better than the normal version because the zucchini didn't get mushy like pasta can.

fleabear August 16 2010, 20:30:19 UTC

yeah, I've never liked italian much, but I might have suddenly identified why that might be. But there are a lot of options for gluten-free pasta made with corn and rice.

Sadly, I just found out this morning that I need to be 100% dairy free as well as gluten-free so American-style Italian is out too.

jezebel873 August 16 2010, 14:42:34 UTC

Oh man. Well, I'm just about rounding up my first year of living gluten-free, and it definitely gets easier after the first few weeks! I had no idea what I was going to eat at first, as I'd been basically living on carbs (and suffering for it) the last year before I did it. My dad is just going off of it as well to see if it improves his neuropathy ( ... )

jezebel873 August 16 2010, 14:55:08 UTC

aaaahh, forgot the most important thing!
You will feel better. You will feel so much better. You will feel sharper, and more alive, and healthier in ways you didn't even expect. And having that feeling will make the sacrifices seem so much more manageable.

kalyx August 20 2010, 15:13:07 UTC

Yes, I do feel much healthier. I have some energy again, which is amazing and I expect I will only get more as I absorb more nutrients.

And I haven't a clue how you're managing this diet living in Columbia, MO. I've just found Udi's breads and Wow cookies and brownies that are quite good, but maybe difficult to find there, but look them up and see if you can order them. Esp. Udi's. Turns out my first experiment in GF eating was when I was living in Columbia and too poor to shop at regular grocery stores and did my shopping at the Asian markets experimenting with Thai food which is naturally GF. No soy sauce is used. And Jasmine rice is the tops!

And yes, stick around and add info on your experiences. As my energy improves and the weather cools off, I'll be starting to experiment in GF baking as I used to bake a lot, before becoming too tired to do much of anything. And I will try to document everything here.

peace873 August 20 2010, 13:21:21 UTC

I'll just put this here...
http://www.amazon.com/Mrs-Leepers-Pasta-Organic-Rotelli/dp/B000LKZ93W/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=grocery&qid=1282310352&sr=1-2