Ah...how to deal with this??

[shadowkat]

As many of you know - if you've read my lj for the last five or six months, I am gluten-sensitive. This means I cannot eat anything with gluten in it. Gluten = wheat, barely, oats, kamut, spelt, and millet. Also be careful of buckwheat (cross-contamination), oats is controversial.

Here's the problem...I'm considering doing a couple of things that involve lots of activities around food and with people who love to eat foods high in glutens: BBQ sauce, pancakes, pizza, cakes, cookies, brownies, most creative chocolates/candybars, pies, bread, sandwiches, bagels, muffins, smores, beer, some wines (not all, most are fine - particularly California wines are fine), crackers...and some ice creams. Both trips will be in environments where my choices are going to be limited. They group decides. Money is a factor. And one takes place at a conference in a Holiday Inn.

I don't know what to do? Do I bring food with me? I don't want to be an inconvenience or put people out. This has been my fear from the beginning. I *hate* being a bother or a pest. I *hate* being noticed. I'm the sort who goes along with what the group wants to eat - yay democracy. This diet makes that impossible. I will get sick.

Help???

Comments

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

Food may indeed be a problem for you if you come, I can't deny it, but as Jane says there is a kitchen in the cabin. Don't worry that we'll be put out. I haven't kept up with what you can eat, but assume we don't have to all eat the same things. Jane says she's a vegetarian. I'm not. So it sounds like variety is going to be the big item on the menu. Ann wants to make cookies, which may be a temptation problem and also there may be more problems when we're over with the rest of the gang at the other cabin. If we knew something you can munch on (do apples or carrots have lots of gluten?), we could have some around so you won't be left out when the rest of us are munching on stuff you shouldn't have.

It's your decision. Just know we'd like for you to come.

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

Oops I misread. Jane was talking about anom. Masq and I didn't have any problems going out to lunch with anim. I don't think we'd try to make your life miserable either,

;o)

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Gluten - is a protein found in wheat. It is basically a wheat protein that allows wheat to have a certain texture and firmness and many vegetarians use gluten as a protein substitute - which is why you find it in all sorts of veggie restaurants and soy products - it works as a subsitute for meat.
Or something like that.

It's not in vegetables, fruits, animal meats - which have not be pre-prepared, or canned, or mass produced, or seasoned. Just the naked stuff is gluten free.

It's not in hard alcohol or wine. But it is in beer or anything with malt.

You will often find it in some pharmaceutical drugs such as regular tylenol, or benedryle - as a binder. It is also in most soups - as a thickner, and gravies, sauces, condiments, bbq sauces, candy bars, and preservatives/additives used in certain ice creams (Ben and JErry's is completely out for example, while Hagen Daz, StonyField, and Breyer's Vanilla - Natural are okay). Hershey's plain milk chocolat bars are fine. Goobers - chocolat covered peanuts by Hershey's - also fine. Nestle - is dicey. M&M's? Not fine.

And well anything that contains wheat, barely, spelt, kamut, or millet - which are cereals, breads, baked goods, pizza dough, bagels. In some ways the Atkins diet resembled the gluten-free diet - except Atkins doesn't do rice or corn.

Someone who is gluten-intolerant can handle rice and corn and potatoes. Those are my flour sources. Not sure if that clarifies.

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

I would have guessed you couldn't have rice, so it's a little better than I thought. Not much comfort for you, but it is something else we can all have together, if you can come stay with us.