The gluten free way of eating become a necessity for several people I know, as well as some of their children. So, I asked my friend Becca to write about it since I knew she had adopted it as well... Here is her take on how things have changed and stayed the same for her and her family since changing to a gluten free diet.
Hi there! My name is Becca and I
write over at Our Crazy Boys. I
have been recently diagnosed with adult onset food allergies, and it has made
our lives a little crazier in some aspects. But it’s manageable, with some
planning.
Elaine asked me to write about my
gluten intolerance. I have been gluten free for seven months now, and I have
noticed differences in my chronic migraine headaches, my severe foot pain (that
was thisclose to being misdiagnosed as arthritis), and my multiple belly issues.
The kicker, though, is that a few days after she asked me to write about my
gluten issues, I found out that gluten was actually the least of my food
issues.
My food allergy test results just
came back, and I figured out why after eliminating gluten from my diet, I still
didn’t feel 100%. I am allergic to (in order from greatest sensitivity to
least) dairy, bananas, pineapple, gluten, oats, sugar, yeast, kidney beans,
pecans, and sesame seeds. Wow. It looks worse all written out like that.
You can read more details about
symptoms and diagnosis on
Crazy
Mom’s Kitchen, but I want to tell you about living with food allergies. As
a busy Mom of two and someone who loves to spend time in the kitchen, eliminating
all of these allergens from my diet was a bit of a challenge.
We don’t eat out much anymore. When
we do, we stick to the same local chain of restaurants because I know their staff
is well educated about food allergies. I’ve gotten sick quite a few times after
eating something with an allergen in it, and as much as the serving staff wants
to accommodate my needs, telling me that something is allergen free when it’s
not is not ok.
During daily Mom life, I take a
cooler full of food with me everywhere. When you’re starving and still have
four stops to make, it’s really easy to say “I’ll eat this even though it’s not
the best choice for a meal.” I’ve eaten kettle corn for lunch one too many
times because I didn’t want to chance eating out. Did you know that sometimes
restaurants inject their chicken with gluten so that it tastes better?
My cooler has several staples:
Boar’s head turkey and ham, apples, carrots, some peanut butter, gluten and
casein (dairy) free pretzels, and a few Kind bars and Lara bars. Carrying this cooler is a pain. It takes
a bit of time to pack. But in the end?
It’s totally worth it - and healthier
than eating out.
My family eats together. We eat
breakfast at the island in our kitchen, and dinner at our dining room table. As
the family chef {am I the only one who calls myself a family chef?} and someone
with food allergies, I get final say in all meals, right? To be honest, the
meals we eat at home haven’t changed much since my diagnosis.
My family still eats toast,
waffles, and pancakes. I make gluten and dairy free versions from Pamela’s
baking mix every month or so. I freeze them so while I’m making breakfast for
the boys, I can quickly reheat a pancake or waffle and eat what the rest of the
family eats with minimal preparation.
For us, dinner is usually chicken
or steak and two or three vegetables. Every once in a while, I’ll add a grain
such as brown rice or quinoa. My serving sizes of these grains have increased a
little because vegetables and chicken don’t always fill me up for too long. I
have had to cut out some marinades that we used to use because of their
ingredients, but I have found that it’s easy to replicate those marinades using
different allergen free ingredients.
Going out for ice cream is one of
our favorite things to do here in Tucson. It’s almost always ice cream weather
here! Sometimes, I’m able to find sorbet in ice cream shops, and sometimes I
just go without. It’s probably better for my waistline, anyway. I’ll tell you
this - It’s much easier to diet when the fattening foods you love make you
sick.
For someone who was eating entirely
clean a year ago, using mixes for baking and relying on pre-packaged granola bars
is a little frustrating. It’s worth it in the end, though, so we’re rolling
with it. My boys are always asking me “Is that gluten free?” They have seen how
sick I get when I eat it, and they have also noticed that sometimes I’m just
not thinking about it. After eating one way for 33 years, sometimes I forget
that I have to watch out for certain foods. Last Christmas my neighbor brought
over cookies and without even thinking, I took a bite of one.
Having adult onset food allergies
is challenging. I don’t truly understand why this happened, and I’m scared that
in the future I’ll become sensitive to other foods. We have to live day by day,
right? And today? I’ll make gluten free, dairy free chocolate chip cookies.
I’d
like to note that I have several food allergies, but do not have Celiac
disease. I’m happy to answer questions or point you towards resources that I
use, but am not a medical professional.
