As I have mentioned a few times, I am on a gluten-free diet. This means that I do not eat any products derived from wheat, rye, barley, semolina and many other grains. Gluten is a combination of two proteins found in these grains, which provides the elasticity, leavening and chewiness of these products.
In truth gluten is what makes baked goods so soft and yummy. I would miss it, except that it makes me feel so sick. I get a very upset stomach and cramps not to mention frequent, urgent trips to the bathroom to rid my body of the stuff. The longer I am gluten-free (GF) and the more people I talk to about being gluten-free, the more obvious it becomes that so many people are negatively affected by Gluten. Almost everyone knows someone who can't eat gluten. Seriously, ask a couple people, I bet they will know a cousin or a friend of a friend, someone who's gluten-free.
In truth gluten is what makes baked goods so soft and yummy. I would miss it, except that it makes me feel so sick. I get a very upset stomach and cramps not to mention frequent, urgent trips to the bathroom to rid my body of the stuff. The longer I am gluten-free (GF) and the more people I talk to about being gluten-free, the more obvious it becomes that so many people are negatively affected by Gluten. Almost everyone knows someone who can't eat gluten. Seriously, ask a couple people, I bet they will know a cousin or a friend of a friend, someone who's gluten-free.
May is Celiac Awareness Month and so it seemed a fitting time to talk about living gluten-free. Personally, I consider myself Gluten- intolerant, no tests have indicated that I have Celiac's but I had the test after eating gluten-free for over a year; which is known to result in false negative results. Regardless, when I eat gluten-free I feel good and when I eat contaminated food or cheat (which I truly never do) I feel very sick and crampy and run to the bathroom. That's truth enough for me that gluten and my body don't mix.
The boy is 14 months old, and I still haven't given him gluten. Well, not intentionally at least. Despite my caution, I'm fairly certain he has had some exposure between traveling to Asia and spending time with his grandparents (they like to feed him food other than what I pack). I think the time is drawing near that I have to try him on gluten, but I wanted to wait until he wasn't sick. Or wasn't teething. Or wasn't having surgery. There's always something I guess.
I'm not so sure why I'm so intimidated about feeding him gluten, if he has a reaction its no real sweat off my back, we already eat gluten-free. Maybe its because I know how awful gluten makes me feel, although I'm in tune with the boy, I worry that I may miss the signs that he is suffering. I doubt it. But I still worry.
I remember reading an article that stated when first introducing gluten to a child with a family history of Celiac's it was important to keep the quantities small for the first few introductions. I think I might try some of those Gerber puffs, wheat is in the middle of the ingredient list and it will be easy to limit the boy's consumption. I'll keep you posted and let you know how it goes.
Gluten-Free Momma's
I have some questions and I appreciate any advice or feedback you can provide on the topic!
I have some questions and I appreciate any advice or feedback you can provide on the topic!
- Do your children eat gluten?
- What was the first gluten-containing food you fed your child?
- How old was your child when you first fed them gluten?
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We are a complete gluten free household. I was dx w/ celiac in 2007 and at the time i had 2 kids. we introduced gluten to my 2nd at 14mo and by 18mo she had lost 5lbs and was super underweight.
ReplyDeleteShe was placed on a gf diet and has been dx w/ gluten intolerance (was too young to test 4 celiac). Since then the whole house has been gf. I have since had another baby (shes 15mo now) and she has never had gluten. It is just safer for me and my 2nd to keep it out of the house.
Gluten is not NECESSARY. I have heard/read that if there's an allergy in the family to keep it out of the child's diet for at least 1yr - up to 2yrs. I can not be around the stuff - i am SO sensitive
Good luck!
Devan @ Accustomed Chaos
http://www.accustomedchaos.com
Stopping by from D-list BYOB.
ReplyDeleteHonestly I never knew that there was a gluten-free part of the food system out there. Either I'm completely oblivious or just not many people around me are.
What I do know is a lot of diabetics and I'm lactose intolerant.
I feel for you hun and good luck with your journey.
Thank you both so much for your support!
ReplyDeleteKatie, I'm sensitive to dairy and can't have too much. I drink rice milk on my cereal but can still eat cheese and yogurt. So I feel your pain too!
amber :)