Hi! Welcome to our little gluten free haven! It will be interesting to see if you test positive, but no matter what, you have already witnessed the results of possibly the best test of all.

I think the best advice when starting out is to keep your diet relatively simple, focusing on whole foods (meats(unless vegetarian), vegetables, fruits, rice, potatoes, nuts. That is not only healthier and will aid in healing your gut, but it will help you to keep your sanity when at the grocery store. Slowly, you can add in processed foods. It is just way too overwhelming to read every label at the grocery store as you shop...when you have no idea of what items are safe and not safe.

I do buy a fair share of processed and specialty foods, but I worked into them. Do use the safe food lists you will find as a starting point, but remember that ingredients change, and lists can be outdated. So, it is important to learn to read labels routinely. Labeling laws have improved a lot, but you still need to be cautious and remember to watch for things like barley and malt.

Up under Useful Sites you will find links to safe food lists, forbidden food lists, etc.

I'm going to start a thread for favorite gf specialty products. The market is booming, and there are much better choices than even five years ago. But, still, some taste like cardboard..so it is nice to know what products people have tried and liked.

Oh, gosh, so much more to say, so just stay active here!

Cara