Family member on gluten-free diet

[EAM]

A family member recently learned that he may have celiac disease or at least gluten-intolerance. Antibody tests are positive, but he hasn't had a biopsy yet to confirm celiac disease. His symptoms go away on a gluten-free diet.

To JestJoan or anyone else who is familar with gluten-free diets:

Do you have any tips for avoiding ingestion of gluten while traveling to timeshares or while staying in them? E.g. do you bring along your own gluten-free toaster, or other kitchen apparatus? Do you bring gluten-free foods along or can you usually find them at major grocery stores such as Kroger, Food Lion, City Market, Winn-Dixie, Publix, Wal-Mart, ...

Thanks!

[drguy]

I was recently diagnosed with celiac disease based upon the antibodies, but the biopsy showed no evidence of damage. You must no be gluten free prior to the biopsy, or the changes may not be evident.
When I was traveling under the impression that I had celiac disease, I purchased gluten free foods near the resort. If I was in a restaurant, I explained my condition to the waitress/waiter and they conveyed this to the chef who made appropriate modifications.
1 in 133 people have celiac disease in the US, with only 1 in 5000 being diagnosed. Proper food hygiene helps control the need to take your own appliances. A company called Clan Thompson list gluten free foods and medicines. They update their lists frequently and have been have been quite helpful for me as I prefer many of the gluten free products.
Good luck.
Guy

[Jestjoan]

I'll send you a PM.

[Jestjoan]

http://www.ceceliasmarketplace.com/

DO NOT rely on the listings 100%, though, I have found some errors. You still have to read the labels on the products.

[happymum]

This website and book have proven very helpful to a friens with celiac disease.

http://www.glutenfreediet.ca/

[Judy]

I have no experience with gluten-free diets, but I do have a dietary restriction that I've been dealing with while traveling. I've learned one thing the hard way: Don't count on airlines or restaurant servers to meet your dietary requirements or to know what's in the food. I have been promised food that was not available when I arrived; I have been served food that was alleged to be safe and was not. Most of the time it's been poor communication among staff or ignorance. I've been offered soup in a restaurant that the staff had no idea what the ingredients were because it was canned. They had to get the can out of the garbage so I could read the label. My suggestion: Carry food while traveling and when eating out, be sure the server speaks to the chef. Don't ever believe an assurance that begins with "I'm sure...."

[SuzanneSLO]

Originally Posted by EAM

A family member recently learned that he may have celiac disease or at least gluten-intolerance. Antibody tests are positive, but he hasn't had a biopsy yet to confirm celiac disease. His symptoms go away on a gluten-free diet.

To JestJoan or anyone else who is familar with gluten-free diets:

Do you have any tips for avoiding ingestion of gluten while traveling to timeshares or while staying in them? E.g. do you bring along your own gluten-free toaster, or other kitchen apparatus? Do you bring gluten-free foods along or can you usually find them at major grocery stores such as Kroger, Food Lion, City Market, Winn-Dixie, Publix, Wal-Mart, ...

Thanks!

I see from your signature that you own at DVC. My understanding is that WDW is one of the best places to visit with any kind of dietary issues. I am intolerant of ocean fish and learned NOT to mention it when dining out because it would inevitably result in a a lengthy discussion with the chef even though my issue was always easy to resolve: don't order fish!

For those like your family member with more complicated dietary issues, that chef's visit will be just what you need to feel in control while dining out. Just google "gluten free" and "WDW" and lots of information will pop up! I think it even discussed in the Passporter's book called "Open Mouse."

Best of luck and enjoy your travels. -- Suzanne

[Mel]

I'll second that. You should be able to purchase adequate foods on vacation - but the person affected should be one of the ones doing the shopping!

We have both tree-nut and nickel allergies in our household - the nickel manifests mostly as a problem with chocolate, and occasionally with soy products. My MIL was severely lactose intolerant (does much better now with enzymes available to handle the lactose).

Whoever does the shopping will need to know how to read labels well - but needs to be familiar with ALL the possible names of problem ingredients.

As for restaurants, do make sure the staff understands the issue, and speaks to the chef. You may need to pick your restuarants carefully, and avoid some ethnic restaurants if the chef is likely to speak a language other than english as the primary language - communication is key.

I recall a situation with a college classmate who was allergic to milk. Hamburger buns often contain milk products (for years, the ONLY commercial bread MIL could eat was Italian), so he requested a special order burger at one of the chains without a bun. The server took the bun off a burger and rewrapped it, rather than handling it as a special order. Had he not noticed this happen, he might have eaten it, and ended up in the hospital - so don't assume they understand.

We have learned with the nut allergy that label reading is an art - don't assume that the chocolate chip granola bar is nut-free, because it might have been produced on the same line with products with nuts. My DD can "taste" the difference between the organic granola bars she can have and others that "may contain traces" of various nuts, while the rest of the family can't.

[happymum]

Interesting thread.
What is the connection between nickel allergy and chocolate or soy? That is a new one for me.

[Rose]

Hi I carry my ownmgluten free brea into restaurants I order a sandwich, and then put the baloney, turkey roast beef etc,onto my own bread
Stick to rice potatoes etc at major meals Most pasta contains wheat It is not easy Chilli is a good choice according to my daughter I stick to rice applesauce, potatoes , etc in restaurants Rose

[goofygirl17]

My husband has gluten intolerance and WDW was wonderful about accomodating him at all of the restaurants. A few years ago we stayed at POFQ and the chef there made sure they had gluten free buns in the counter service restaurant during our stay. We also have eaten at many table service restaurants and they took DH to the buffet and showed him what he could have. If you make reservations ahead of time let them know about the dietary needs when you call and they will plan ahead!

Hope this helps!
Goofygirl

[EAM]

As it turns out, he's been told to go ahead and eat gluten until he has his small bowel biopsy in a few weeks. If he goes off gluten, the biopsy might yield a false negative. So, we will be back from our trip by the time he has the biopsy. However, a gluten-free diet may well be in his future, so all advice has been very welcome.

[1songbird]

I have tested negative for celiac but continue to be sensitive to gluten. I have found this website to be invaluable. www.celiac dot com
It answered so many questions for me and they also have a newsletter.

Melody

[Mel]

Originally Posted by happymum

Interesting thread.
What is the connection between nickel allergy and chocolate or soy? That is a new one for me.

Cocoa beans and Soy beans are among the plants most likely to absorb nickel from the soil. Our DD used to break out in a terrible case of eczema if she ate chocolate, and was allergic to out soil and our well water(that was really fun). She can have small amounts of chocolate since we moved, but we still stay away from the Chocolate Oreos (she eats the golden ones instead). When she was drinking Soy Milk, we had to buy the non-organic brands, because she seemed to react to the ones made from whole organic soy beans, rather than processed soy protein.

Picking a single carton of Ice Cream to have during our timeshare stays is a chore in our family - so much that we often end up with 2, even if we only eat half of each. How many flavors are both chocolate and nut-free? Then factor in 5 people helping make the choice.

BIL is dating a woman with severe Gluten sensitivity, and other environmental allergies - glad we don't have to deal with that on a regular basis.

[swift]

I get a lot of recipies from this site. This is driectly to the gluten free list.

http://www.fatfreevegan.com/gluten-free/index.shtml

[Jestjoan]

http://www.webmd.com/diet/slideshow-gluten-free-diet

[Jestjoan]

http://www.triumphdining.com/

[EAM]

Thanks again for all the suggestions. My family member returned to eating gluten for the few weeks before his small intestine biopsy, and his symptoms have returned as well. He can hardly wait to get the biopsy over with so he can stop eating gluten for life, no matter what the biopsy results might be. Fortunately, he does not seem to be extremely sensitive to gluten, so he hopes that he won't have to worry about cross-contamination much.

[happymum]

Originally Posted by Mel

Cocoa beans and Soy beans are among the plants most likely to absorb nickel from the soil.

Interesting. Thanks for the info.

[itradehilton]

My DS has Celiac and has been gluten-free for over a year. The triumph dining website is great. They sell books that contain lists of dinning establishments, stores and bakeries. They also have cards that are bilingual and in various languages detailing what types of foods to avoid in different styles of food, IE: mexican , japanese, etc...

Also we google for Celiac support groups for our destination. Some sites like the Vancouver Celiac group has great links to lists of local stores, restaurants and bakeries, that serve gluten free food.

When traveling we bring a soft sided cooler on the plan loaded with GF food for plan snacks and the first couple days.