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Hermes

Gluten Allergy

luckylily · Gucci

My FIL has celiac's disease, which essentially requires a gluten free diet. It's been very hard for him as he LOVED bread and had a hard time cutting it out of his diet.

He's had some luck finding decent gluten free stuff at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. He now makes his own bread using Gluten free flour that's available in the health food section of the grocery store. Altho, he finds gluten free bread to be a poor replacement for regular bread, so he generally sticks w/ meat, dairy, and fruit/veg.

Elle · Hermes

I had a friend in HS with Celiac, and a little girl we watch often has it as well. From what I understand, many of the pre-made breads can leave something to be desired, but there are quite a few kinds of grains/pastas that are gluten free. They also have good luck at Whole Foods/ TJs, and we even have a gluten-free outlet store here, that stocks nothing but gluten-free products. Maybe check around your area, and see if you have someplace similar?

This blog has some good info/recipes and such, too.

jettie · Kate Spade

One of my roommates has celiacs...she is extremely careful about what she eats (reads all labels, rarely eats out, etc.). Gluten is hidden in a lot of things you don't think about - toothpaste, coke, and pretty much all processed foods.

In regards to flours, I think it depends upon what exactly you are trying to do with it. Definitely flours have different properties, and I think she has learned a lot from trial and error.

Good luck!

pollyjean23 · Marc Jacobs

My husband has Celiac. I'll write a little here. But, if you have more questions, I can certainly help. Just PM me. I rarely bring any wheat, barley, rye, or oats into the house because of his condition.

Have you been tested for Celiac? It's more common than people realize. Also, some just elect to cut gluten from their diet whether or not they have Celiac.

BEST MIX ON EARTH is Pamela's Pancake & Baking Mix. Even if Celiac was not a concern, I would still make pancakes with only this stuff. It is sooo fab.
http://www.pamelasproducts.com/

Anheuser Busch (sp?) just started making a gluten-free beer called RedBridge. My husband likes it (beer has been the hardest to give up). Another good gluten-free beer is Bard's Tale (Dragon's Gold) (corny, I know)http://www.bardsbeer.com/.

For white bread, I like Gluteno - Corn Bread (freezer section of natural food stores like Whole Foods, EarthFare, TJ, etc.). It neither tastes like nor looks like corn bread. I can't remember the brand name of the other kind my husband likes. A lot of choices though.

Amy's makes a lot of gluten-free stuff.

My hubby said that (I think) the government is going to standardize labeling for gluten free foods in 2008. Right now, apparently, there is no exact meaning for "gluten free" and anyone can put it on their packaging.

boobaby · Kate Spade

A friend of mine is allergic. I remember when she had successfully cut gluten out of her diet, she was still having symptoms. She discovered that her lip balm had gluten.

halah · Kenneth Cole

My mother has a gluten allergy. One of the things she discovered, that I love is Ezekiel bread. You can find it in the frozen food section in most health stores/whole foods. I love the sprouted grain, flourless tortillas and breads and they may contain gluten but I think if it's sprouted grain my mother is able to tolerate it. However they also have specific gluten free breads etc.

www.foodforlife.com

subwolley · Kate Spade

I don't have any suggestions, but when I was at Wild Oats yesterday I noticed they had a ton of "Gluten Free" labels on the shelves. So I guess if anyone is looking for gluten free products just look for the tags on the shelves at Wild Oats.