Vegan Diet, Gluten and Celiac Disease

I've often thought about going Vegan. I've read a lot about a plant based diet and all the reviews are good. Juicing is getting decent reviews too. I'm thinking about doing a day of that just to see how it would feel. (More on Juicing another day)

Back to the Vegan diet. I know I feel better when my diet is heavy on salads and fruit. I have times when I think, "I need a salad." However I'm a lazy cook and I worry I wouldn't be up to making Vegan food that tastes good. I purchased the book, Forks Over Knives for recipes and it's smaller volume, Forks Over Knives How to Companion. The how-to information explained more for the beginning Vegan. There are other books on how to go Vegan but a lot of them are heavy on animal cruelty. I know about that, what I don't know is how to be a successful and happy Vegan. Step into any book store or check out Amazon and you'll find lots of Vegan/Vegetarian cookbooks. I watched the Forks Over Knives video so I decided I'd start with that book.

I worry about protein levels. (Am I going to have to do math?) and the vitamin B12.

From what I'm understanding protein isn't really a problem is you incorporate beans, legumes, nuts into your meal plan. Forks Over Knives tells me that plant food has lots of protein and getting a good level of protein on a Vegan diet is easy.

I don't really worry about B12 but most people should. I have a B12 deficiency. I don't absorb it from my food anyway. Is this due to the Celiac damage? Or is it just genetic? Who knows. I go for B12 shots every two weeks to keep my levels up. All other Vegans should take a B12 supplement.

The difference between Vegan and Vegetarian is Vegans consume no animal products. No dairy, eggs, or (of course,) meat. Vegetarians sometimes consume either dairy or eggs. They describe these as Lacto or Ovo vegetarians.

I recently went to the restaurant, Loving Hut and was really impressed with the food. Each gluten free item on the menu was marked with a little heart. We ordered a few things and shared. First was the Summer Rolls with a miso-honey mustard sauce. This was made with tofu carrots & seasonal veggies and all wrapped with a thin layer of rice paper. They gave you 8 rolls and I could order this appetizer for a meal. Next was the Garlic Seaweed Salad, it wasn't my favorite so I let my dining companion have that dish. I've never been a fan of seaweed. My companion ordered a Chickpea-mushroom soup that was also very good. There was a rice noodle dish with mushrooms and tofu that was also very good. They gave generous portions and we had to ask for a doggie bag. And then there was the gluten free chocolate cake. OMG! Luckily we got the last piece.

After my experience at Loving Hut Vegan-ism is tasting a lot better. So I'm thinking of trying it. My doctor didn't think there was any problem with this diet.
Are you Vegan? Have you ever tried it? Got any advice?

Warning: when eating out anywhere always explain gluten to your server. Make sure they understand this is a major health issue. I also ask again when the food is delivered to make sure they did it right. You can never be too careful. 

My Gluten Free Celiac Code

 I have a code I live by:

Love many

Trust few

Always paddle

Your own canoe

Basically it means I don't trust any product unless I've discovered for sure it's gluten free. When I eat gluten I'm sick for 3 days. It feels like I have a giant lump of cement in my gut. Every nerve ending feels like its moaning in commiseration with my tummy and all I want to do is lay down and suffer. However, in this dog eat dog world we know sometimes you just have to carry on. 

So this means if I don't see "Gluten Free" on the label I run the other way. I won't let it touch my lips until I can prove it's free of that nasty little protein in wheat, rye, barley, or (sometimes) oats: gluten. If its something I really want then I reach out to the people who make it.

Here is the response from Twinings Tea. I love flavored teas so I'm doing the happy dance!

Thank you for taking the time to contact Twinings.

All teas are inherently gluten free regardless of where the tea is sourced, our ingredient listing states “black tea” or “green tea” in additional to other ingredients a particular tea may contain.  None of these added ingredients contain gluten, so therefore our teas are gluten free.  Please note, however, that Twinings at this time does not utilize an outside agency to certify our teas as gluten free.

 Thank You,

Consumer Relations

 Twinings North America

PLEASE DON'T FEED THE CELIAC

Why do people feel they have to feed me? Offer me food? Go out of their way to make sure I have something to eat?

One thing I hate about this world is that it's food based. Go to someone's house and they offer you coffee, cookies, or lunch. Sometimes I wonder if they really want to eat cookies and my visit is the excuse to get a treat for themselves. With other people, it's their mission. I explain about Celiac Disease and tell them not to worry about me. I either bring my own food or wait till I get home. Still they persist.

"It's okay, I checked," they say.

I quietly assure them it's okay and still they push. I'll try, "I'm not hungry," or "I ate before I came," but short of pushing food in my face they keep at it. "Take just a bite, I want you to try it."

Politely I try to change the subject and sometimes this works. Like distracting a dog from a bone.

What I really want to do is scream. I want to get up in their face and yell, "No means no! I don't want your freakin' food and I'm not eating any of that sh*t! One crumb can take me down for three days and I'm not going there just to please you with your one bite nonsense! DON'T FEED THE CELIAC!"

Whew! Too bad good manners prevents me from doing that. 

And what was your worst food moment?

Celiac and Weight Gain...

When first confronted with a doctor who said to me, "Could be Celiac Disease but those people are really thin, so it's not that." I believed him. What did I know? What did anyone know about Celiac Disease ten years ago?

So I began going gluten free to see if it helped and it did. Long story short, the doc now thinks I'm Celiac but to get an accurate test I'd have to go back to eating gluten which makes me sick for days.

One thing I noticed when I went gluten free was that I felt deprived. There were now so many things I couldn't eat. No cookies off the shelf, no crusty Italian bread with dinner, no Life cereal. :(

Sucks.

When I found cookies or breads on the health food store shelf I bought them all up and ate to my hearts content. After all, everyone else had so much to choose from and what did I have? An expensive trip to the Health food store and limited choices. Why shouldn't I get to have some enjoyment with food?

Oh the humanity! Oh the pounds!

Most GF food is not low cal. In fact its more high in fat than its glutenous counter parts. And it all lands on the hips and thighs. Before realizing why my pants were getting tighter I'd simply buy another size. After all, I'm Celiac; weigh is good, right?  And I deserve to enjoy food no matter what!

Wrong. A healthy weight is good....we know that, but using this disease to eat to excess was a good excuse.

It took time but gradually I came to realize that GF food needed portion control just like everything else. More salads and meat, less breads, pastas and cookies. It was a learning curve that gave me more curves but I'm fighting my way back down.
Lesson learned. GF food has calories too. Sometimes too many.

Ending the Year with a Vent

Some grocery stores put the gluten free food mixed in with the glutenous food in the main aisles.  Gee thanks, I think as I wander up and down the rows reading labels of anything I think could be an edible possibility. I get to go through tons of stuff I can't eat, stuff that will make me sicker than a dog, to find the one package of something gluten free. Really? Did you think it was a good idea to tease a Celiac like this? Would it have been so much trouble to just put it all in one place? A place where I didn't have to look at crusty Italian bread, Ding Dongs and pasta?

Sometimes I tell people what I can and can't eat and they are horrified. "I couldn't live like that!" they declare.

Are you kidding me? Spend three days holding onto the block of cement that takes up the space where your stomach used to be and you'll find out how quickly you can live gluten free. It doesn't take rocket science to realize that the days of pain came from the direct ingestion of the rye bread you had for lunch on Tuesday.

Sometimes when the living facts of this disease get to me and I'm met with a supermarket manager who tells me their stuff is mixed in the aisles I can't help but retort, "Who's bright idea was that?"

Sorry, I've been a  (miss) diagnosed Celiac for ten years, but sometimes  it still gets me. Usually when I'm tired and cranky. The only thing that keeps me going is the fact that I'm one of the lucky ones. I know about gluten and it's affect on my body. Not all Celiacs are diagnosed. Some are in denial. I'm lucky enough to know where the danger lies. I count that as a blessing.

Vent over.

Here's to a Happy and Healthy, Gluten Free New Year!
Stay well, stay happy.

Arbor Mist....is it safe???

I've been drinking Arbor Mist for a while and feeling okay most of the time. Sometimes something is getting to me and I can't figure it out. Sometimes it's hard to tell if this is a gluten reaction or some other kind of flu bug.
I usually have Arbor Mist on weekends and I've been blaming my Monday morning bloat on whatever else I ingested on the weekend. But then I was at a picnic and someone told me that Arbor Mist wasn't GF and she had a letter at home to prove it.
In a panic I race home to check with the company. The response I get was that they didn't add gluten ingredients.
Hmmmmm....
So I emailed the head of my Celiac Support group and asked. She thought it was, but now she's going to recheck to make sure.
I'm waiting...
Anyone else drink Arbor Mist?

Great Gluten Free Website

Check out this great GF website: Be Free For Me.
They are running a contest to win a great GF book and stuff so go check it out.
We need all the help we can get.
They also have an email thing that can send you a great happy thought for the day. I signed up!