Great links.

I use Kinnikinnick bread and pancake mix alot. I am going to order it for
delivery up North next year. My local store only carries the white bread.
I'd like to try the dark with flax one.

The pancake mix is really good. My son likes it best. It is not so heavy on
the "corn" which seems common in others. And our store is often out of it.

https://secure.kinnikinnick.com/inde...odcatid/5.html

I don't eat enough bread to bake my own...so I prefer commercial ones.
Maybe when I retire (finally) I'll give it whirl.

Thanks for the links! Mrsd, apparently I'm like you, just gluten sensitive, but not celiac. The results came in the mail today, negative for celiac. Now, does that mean that I definitely do not have celiac? (My MG is seronegative). If it's definitely not celiac, but just gluten sensitivity, does that mean I can very occasionally sneak in some gluten? I'm afraid to try it since the improvement has been so dramatic. No more diarrhea, no more cramps, no more gas than normal people have, no bloating, plus nowhere near as much fatigue as I was having. I feel like I've gotten my life back!
Hugs,

Most of the folks who follow the GF life, do not cheat.

I sort of admit it, that I do very occasionally. But this is not a popular point
of view.

A true Celiac cannot.

I have found after more than 2 yrs GF, that tiny amounts of the malted
ingredients in cereal do not set me off. I do not eat any wheat ones however.
Only the rice and corn ones. Like Crispix, Honeycomb. Only the instant oatmeals, I cannot do them.

There is a granola one called Bear Naked which has whole oats, and that does not bother me either. But I cannot cheat with pasta...I found that out dramatically. My hands swell up rather quickly.

I think it is possible that once your GI tract settles down, other things show up to upset you. Some people find dairy a problem, or corn, or soy.
I'd really be up the creek if corn turned on me. I use corn chips with tuna/salmon, and other things, alot for bread substitutes. I eat nuts instead of pretzels, or other cracker snacks. I use Orville redenbacher corn cakes, and Quaker rice cakes for peanut butter. But I don't search out cross contamination, etc, because I am not battling severe issues. I started out years ago cutting out bagels, at first, then bread. Then this board started on OBT, and I started reading etc and getting better at it.

But admitting to a cheat or cutting corners, is not really acceptable to the GF or Celiac bunch. So don't follow my example, or I might not be welcome here anymore!

Hi Lois,

What tests did you have run? I am "just gluten sensitive" myself. I don't have the celiac genes and I've never been tested for celiac. For many years, I cheated fairly regularly, but cutting down on gluten dramatically helped my digestion. However, I developed many other food intolerances, including dairy, corn, quinoa, soy, and nuts. I can't help but think that if I had truly given up gluten years ago, I would not have developed these other food intolerances. At the time, it wasn't recommended that I go totally GF. If I only had to give up gluten now, I would be so grateful!

If a GF diet is working for you, I say listen to your body!

Claire

Mrsd, don't worry, I won't tell on you! I really doubt if I'll "cheat" since I feel so much better GF. I think I must have gotten a little bit of hidden gluten in my lunch yesterday, since I started to have a few symptoms today, but it must not have been much, since they've already died down. Unless, like Claire mentioned, I'm developing other sensitivities. But I think it was hidden gluten. I got carry-out from a restaurant, salad, green beans, corn and sausage. Then wondered after I ate the sausage whether it might have flour in it as a filler.
Claire, the only test I've had was a blood test, and I think they called it a celiac panel, but I'm not sure. All I know is that my GP said it was to test for celiac, and it came back negative.
2 of my kids, who also have digestive problems, are going to try the GF diet to see if it helps them. Thanks to all of you for your support and ideas.
Hugs

Some day, if you are ever in the mood to do it, you should request copies of the lab work. It would be interesting to know what tests were run, and if any were positve. For example, sometimes the antigliadin IgG is positive, but disregarded as non-specific for celiac disease, so your doctor will tell you that it was negative for celiac disease.

I'm glad you decided to try the diet, anyway, and trust your response to it.

Cara

because in the medical world the word "compliance" is what we are really
talking about.

The compliance for drug therapies for example is quite poor. People don't
realize it, but only about 40% take their meds properly or reliably. That is
why we see the emphasis on timed release type drugs, and the move to
once a day dosing.

There is a huge payoff in the beginning with the GF life. When we start to
feel better...wow... there is alot of reinforcement to continue. Then months pass, maybe years, and a little voice says "maybe I can have "this" just this once. I think this is just human nature.

This happens with supplements. I have lost count at how many times since
my son left home to be on his own, that he has decided he is "cured" of ADHD, and GF has cured his hands and GI symptoms that plagued him. In the end I
get a phone call or email, "Ma I don't feel right" or some such complaint, and the standard answer is ...how is your fish oil doing? Duh? Need I say more?
I have done this myself! So I know how easy it is to slip into the other mindset Right now he is doing well on GF again, and his moods and general energy are very good. And I did get him on 1mg B12 daily, and methylfolate, and zinc. He takes a B-complex too. And magnesium, but not every day mag.

It is really important to realize that if GF works for you, then you probably are not absorbing nutrients reliably from food. So some attention to this area may also help you alot. We have the Vitamin forum here, to deal with that

There is a connection between GF and weight loss. Dr. Kittley's book was posted on the old board, and I bought it and it is really good. Lois, there is a website too, so I'll post that again:
www.obesitysanswer.com
Dr. Kittley recommends trying GF to deal with resistant weight gain, or weight that is impossible to lose. I think the first thing I noticed was the edema that plagues my hands/feet went away on GF living. Semolina pasta returns the swelling within an HOUR! I found Dr. Kittley's book on Amazon. She covers other food intolerances, too (I found for example that onions were not so good for me anymore--doing an elimination for them showed that they were making me unwell. Also orange juice was inflaming my arthritis. Who would ever expect good old orange juice as a culprit? eh? )
Her book is really really good and useful. It is unique in the "diet book" world.
I can't recommend it enough.

Thanks for the replies. I don't think I will be tempted to cheat. I had a slight repeat today of some of the symptoms, so I think I must have gotten some hidden gluten in a food. Or else it was a reaction to the several oranges I ate. I don't usually eat fruit since it does tend to give me the runs, but thought I would try it thinking the GF diet might have corrected the problem I was blaming on the fruit. But apparently not!
Thanks, Mrsd, for the book reference. I'll look into it.
Hugs,