Many people who can’t eat gluten live with others that can. That leads to them having two toasters, colanders and a host of other things. When I was diagnosed with celiac disease, my husband and I went through the kitchen and got rid of all the gluten except for his sandwich bread and cereal.
Three years later we no longer keep gluten bread in the house as my husband is 99% gluten-free by choice. He does have cereal with barley malt in it. Other than that our house is gluten-free – except when in-laws with kids visit.
I didn’t think to make up house rules for visitors until one of my Brother-in-laws brought Krispy Kreme doughnuts into the house. Who knew the sight of the only thing I didn’t have a fabulous gluten-free version of would make me feel so bad? Certainly not my in-laws or even me. The feeling was one I was quite surprised by, but it really wasn’t something I could control.
After thinking about what my gluten-free house rules should be, I realized that only two things were not welcome in our home. Krispy Kreme doughnuts and Kentucky Fried Chicken. Luckily for my Brother-in-law, Dunkin Donuts are fine by me as I think they are absolutely horrid.
The friends and family that visit us are free to enjoy their gluten laden foods, though the younger kids don’t understand why I can’t have a gold fish cracker. My oldest nephew is old enough to understand that some foods make his Aunt Tiffany sick. He will even bring me a bag of gluten-free chips and say that his Mom said they were OK for me to eat. How precious is that?
I can’t help but think that my nieces and nephews generation will understand food allergies and intolerances much better than mine does. And that’s a very good thing indeed!
Tell us what your gluten-free house – or house guest – rules are in the comments below!
I have no problem with family or friends bringing gluten-containing foods into my place. They know before coming here that I can’t have gluten. I just simply ask them to tell me whether the foods they are bringing are GF. I’ll then tell them how I want them to handle any foods which are not GF
Fortunately, I couldn’t care less if I am in a place where there is gluten all around me, as long as my food is GF. I have no problems being in a doughnut shop or anywhere else. Within a day of my diagnosis, I figured out that life will be much easier if I don’t worry or get bothered about having celiac disease. I need to simply deal with it and continue on.
Geoffrey,
I think you have a very positive and wonderful attitude towards your celiac diagnosis, but over time you’ll learn how important it is to avoid cross-contamination. Gluten-free foods that are contaminated mine as well have gluten in them!
Good luck…
Kyle,
I do my best to avoid cross-contamination, but I don’t kid myself – I realize it may happen occasionally. I don’t have digestive symptoms, so I do not have any short-term measures as to how well I am following the diet. My first blood test since being diagnosed last fall indicated that I was on the right track, so I am continuing on the same way.
Our house has separate setups (multiple storage containers, multiple toasters, etc.). Our breadmaker, which was bought specifically for making gluten-free mixes, is only used for gluten-free mixes and off limits for items which may contain gluten.
My house is totally Gf except when my son returns home from college. At this point we allow a GF table for him (We call it the gluten cafe) that he keeps next to the wall by his seat at the table. He seldom has many things on it as his sister and I are both celiacs and we prefer not to be contaminated since we both get very sick if around gluten. I serve GF meals when we have company and no one does seem to mind coming to visit and eat our foods.
Geoffrey – you do have a great attitude and it’s great you don’t mind giving up any old favorite foods. As someone with anemia as their only symptom, it took a while for me to appreciate what being gluten-free did for me. I didn’t even eat KFC except maybe three times a year and I had KK doughnuts maybe once a year – if that. So it is quite strange to me that being around these two foods makes me feel like I’m missing out on something. I feel so lucky to have acclimated to my diet better than so many I’ve met. Only 40% of patients who are told to follow the gluten-free diet do so faithfully. In over three years I’ve never been tempted to cheat – not once. Many people that have crossed my path on this journey had to get deathly ill before finally admitting they had to give up gluten. And I’m talking about people with a bonafide celiac diagnosis.
Janet – great idea to have that area for your son’s food. We always serve gluten-free foods and most people remark how great they are. Once I served a dessert to dinner guests but didn’t have any because I was stuffed from dinner. They marveled out how outstanding the treat was and thanked me for making something I could not even eat. After I finished laughing hysterically, I explained the dessert was in fact, gluten-free. They got the most puzzled look on their faces….it was priceless!
Tiffany,
I was fortunate that I happened to change my eating habits a few years before my diagnosis, which allowed me to lose fifty pounds. One thing I realized when I started that was not to have a mindset that there were foods that I couldn’t live without. I knew that if I had particularly weaknesses for something, that would be the cause for me to fall off the wagon, so to speak. That has helped with this new diet.
Like you, I have anemia as my only clear definitive symptom. There were two months between the results of my first positive anti-TTG blood test and the results of my subsequent biopsy. In those two months, I did not go off gluten, but I was very conscious of the fact during that time that it would probably be the last time I ever ate certain foods.
During that time, I realized that once my diagnosis was confirmed, there was no sense delaying the inevitable. I started my new diet on the first weekend after my diagnosis and have stayed on it since. I have not intentionally had any gluten since then (eight months so far). I do go out to restaurants occasionally, targeting as much as I can (but not always) places that are advertised as gluten-free friendly. I know of a couple of restaurants here in Montreal that could possibly easily advertise themselves as gluten-free friendly but don’t, eithe because they don’t have any idea what that gluten-free is, and/or they are simply not interested.
I don’t have any short-term way of how well I am doing, including how much I have been affected by cross-contamination. Blood tests are the only real indication for me. My first test since going gluten-free indicated that my anti-TTG level was exactly where my doctor expected it to be at that time.
Wow! I was in the same boat as you during the testing process. Well, I actually had about 14 weeks between my blood tests and the biopsy. I decided to eat anything and everything I could think of that contained gluten during that time. You know the only thing I forgot to have? My beloved once a year Krispy Kreme doughnut…lol! When the Outback here made us gluten-free beignets last year for our dinner club gf goodie swap – more than one of us teared up. It was overwhelmingly amazing!
My diagnosis came at 5 pm one day so we made a gluten-free dinner and that was that. My new life had begun. That was over three years ago and I’ve never felt better or had more energy! Kudos to you for sticking with the diet (I meet so many who have a hard time doing that) and that’s great news about your blood work being where it should be. We’d love to go to Montreal – I heard it was very gluten-free friendly and I know it’s beautiful as well!
Montreal is a beautiful city 🙂
It’s hard for me to judge how gluten-free friendly Montreal is compared to other cities, as I have not done much traveling since my diagnosis (by chance, not due to the diagnosis). From what I’ve read online so far, my impression is that in general the US is more gluten-free friendly than Canada.
I do know of one reastaurant here (Zero8), which is not just completely gluten-free, but states that it is completely free of the top eight food allergens. I’ve eaten there a couple of times, and I’ll probably go back there again occasionally.
I was diagnoised a few weeks ago and for me going gluten free has been hellish. I’m 16 years old and still in college, every day I’m surronded by take-away pizza, sandwhiches and pasta salads. I know I can’t stop people, but sometimes I just want to run out of the canteen!
At home my mum has decided to go gluten free with me, which is awesome, and my sister is also a Coeliac so there are no issues there. Nevertheless, if my brother or dad is there they both eat fresh bread, cerals and normal pasta.
I suppose my rules are simply to allow it because I can’t change it, I hope gluten-free living gets easier, but it is a large hill to climb.
I am like you Tiffany and Geoffrey, I had my blood work, and 3 months later the biopsy. After my blood test results, I postposed my going gluten-free until after my daughter’s 4th birthday party so I could make the cake I planned (a princess cake) and eat without worry. And it was great, the cake was fabulous. Anemia was my only really indicator as well previously.
Sarah, it does get easier. It may not seem like it now, but it will. It took me a few months to not cry about it at some time. Once in a while I will see someone eating a fresh baguette, and that will make me twinge. Though, I have found some good GF French bread!
Luckily i never liked KK, even when I lived next to a store in Atlanta.
The rules in our house…we are 100% gluten-free. The only gluten item in the house is my husband’s HP sauce. He is from England, and I felt bad to take this bit of home away from him. When guests come, I always say that I will provide food, they can bring the drinks. At least beer doesn’t leave crumbs. So far this has worked well for us.