Son Starting Gluten Free Diet

Gluten is a special type of protein that is commonly found in rye, wheat, and barley. Therefore, it is found in most types of cereals and in many types of bread. Not all foods from the grain family, however, contain gluten. Examples of grains that do not have gluten include wild rice, corn, buckwheat, millet, amaranth, quinoa, teff, oats, soybeans, and sunflower seeds.
There are some really good things that are gluten free. Not sure how many health food stores are near you, but they usually have a number of gluten free produts! It can be a bit hard at first, but there is a lot of recipes and stuff available these days!

My husband has Celiac disease, so we have to stay away from gluten, too. One thing to look for in the ingredients list is Modified Food Starch. If it doesn't specify what kind it is, like Modified Corn Starch, then it could be wheat. Also, watch out for things made with oats. Whilte oats themselves are actually gluten free, most of the time they are contaminated with wheat. So unless oatmeal or something made with oats says that it is gluten free, don't let him eat it.

The last thing I can thinks of is eating out. You have to be very careful of contamination. For example, most places that make french fries also use the same fryer to make things like chicken nuggets or fingers. Then breading from the chicken goes into the oil, then onto the fries contaminating them. Always make sure to ask before ordering. On rare occasion, we eat fast food at Chick-fil-a. They have a dedicated fryer that is only used for french fries. Also, watch out for seasonings. Lots of seasonings also use wheat in them, so order everything without it.

Good luck!! It is really hard to do at times, but it gets easier as it becomes habit.

It can be hard as you learn how to eat and cook gluten free. My brother has celiac disease and I have to refresh myself everytime I cook for him. The web sites that Laurie D suggested are great sites with great recipes, I may have to look at them as well. I also suggest joining the Celiac Disease Foundation. They have great information and resources. I think they are the group that also has a mostly comprehensive list of all "safe" products and manufacturers. Also, a few years ago the FDA (aka the government) passed a law that requires food manufacturers to put an allergy warning on their food labels. I am not sure but I think manufacturers have a couple more years to get it on their labels, but most have it now. It is usually located below the list of ingredients. It is a great resource but not always comprehensive. I have found that it reduces the amount of time I spend reading the labels. If wheat is in the list of allergens in the product, I can stop reading.

Another thing to think about is how sensitive your son is to gluten. If he is extra sensitive he should probably not eat stuff that has been processed in facilities that also process wheat.

Someone said something about getting lists of products that are gluten free from the stores you shop at, you can also get these lists from most of the places you eat out at. All you need to do is ask the waiter/cashier for it.

Also, as you cook for your son, you will need to think about what else you are cooking. If what you are cooking for yourself has wheat in it, you will need to use seperate utensils/pans for your sons food. Basically, watch out for cross contamination. (Like you do for raw meat.) In my brother's house that means there are two toasters.

Hope you get some more helpful information. What you already have is great! (sorry if this seems like rambling)

Here are some really great resources for you:

http://www.befreeforme.com/
http://www.livingwithout.com/
http://gfcf-diet.talkaboutcuringautism.org/index.htm
http://www.glutenfree.com/
http://www.glutenfreemall.com/

Also, most big chain grocery stores do maintain lists of products that the stock that are gluten-free. You can ask management for a copy of it the next time you go to the store or you maybe able to access the list on the store website.

Hope this helps.

There are many great websites out there as well as major cities have expositions that have vendors that have samples of food that your child and or you could taste to make sure you like it before you buy it. Malt Barley, MSG or monosodium Glutimate are 2 names. If anyone tells you it's okay if he has a little, it is not. His intestines need healing time and then need to be rid of the very thing that prevents absorption of nutrients. Keep in mind to take a look at activities as well are they playing mail at school and licking envelopes(gluten in the adhesive), play doh(has wheat, but there are great substitutes). If he is entering school make sure his teacher knows so he is not sitting there making a macaroni necklace and then going to lunch to eat after using only hand sanitizer(he must if he is alowed to do such a project, wash his hands throuroughly). Treats can be substituted out. Make sure cross contamination in your kitchen is not happening from counters, toasters, peanut butter(using the same knife), mayo, reaching across pans when cooking on a stove with gluten items. Start up for this diet is a huge learning curve, but once your there it's not bad. Let me know if you need more info.

welcome to the world of gluten free! lol. my husband, daughter, and son all have celiac disease. So when it comes to gluten free, i have become pretty seasoned. lol.

the number one things that you want to look for on labels is: wheat, oats, barley, malt

so no wheat flour, no malt flavoring, no oat bran. just look for things like that. there are other things, but those are the main ones you need to look out for. there is a LOT that is labeled gluten free now. the chex cereals are almost all gluten free now. My kids love the chocolate, honey nut, and cinnamon. We make "rice crispy treats" with rice chex instead of rice crispys (they have malt flavoring), we use corn tortillas instead of flour.

Also be sure to check out the Udi's bread and cupcakes! those are AWESOME.

dont worry! its really pretty easy once you learn how!

4 main grains that have gluten: oat, wheat, rye, barley.

For my son we buy gluten-free pizza flower at Price Chopper. Taste actually pretty good. Also I just got loaf of gluten-free bread at Whole Foods. The brand is Udi's. Taste not bad too.

It is not easy to follow the diet. Even soy sause has wheat in it, but there is a product you could use instead. Don't remember the name right now.
Like others mentioned a lot of grocery stores have healthy section with multiple gluten-free products: cookies, brownies mix. They don't tast to me as good as the ones with gluten but my son is happy with those. So I'm happy too. :)

Our son is also sensitive to corn syrup.

Go to www.befreeforme.com for more helpful info.

A friends of ours actually makes gluten free products and sells them at Hy-Vee. It is called Olivias Oven (after her daughter who has Celiac disease) and she has a web site with alot of information that might be helpful, I believe it is oliviasoven.com. Good Luck.