OT gluten vs. wheat

OO i can so answer this! I am a trained pastry chef and have done both the gluten free and wheat free diets.

Gluten is a protein found in many grains. It is not specific to one particular grain, but wheat does contain it. Others that contain gluten are barley, spelt, rye, some forms of oat and some food additives. It is much harder to be gluten free than wheat free. there are no laws about gluten free labeling. You can't trust the stamp, you must check ingredients

Wheat is a grain. It is specified on all food labels now per allergy warning laws requiring all the top 8 allergens to be boldly identified. At the bottom of the ingredient list, it will say CONTAINS: WHEAT and then you know you can't have it. (Also the label will say MILK so that will help you stay away from the dairy too.) There are more foods that are wheat free than gluten free. You just have to know where to look, mainly healthfood stores and stores like Whole foods and Trader Joes will have lots of options for you.

Rule of thumb for recipes and well know food brands - If it is gluten free it is wheat free.

The combo of both dairy and wheat free can limit options. But you can find alternatives if you do your homework. Look for dairy free or wheat free food blogs. The gluten free ones are good too. I like glutenfreegirl.com a lot! Its much easier to take a wheat free recipe and make it dairy free than a dairy free and make it wheat free. If a recipe is wheat free but has milk or butter learn your substitutes! Almond, rice and hemp milk can replace regular milk. Coconut milk is great too, and really good for you, but it will add a coconutty flavor most of the time. Butter can be replaced with oil just less of it to compensate for the liquid. I have a book around somewhere that says what to replace butter with but I can't find it, I'll look and post that later. But I do remember you cna replace fats in baking recipes with fruit purees and like applesauce too. There are soy butters and olive oil butters (earth balance) that are safe too. I don't recommend soy though. it can be very aggravating to IBDers like us. Earth balance, that's the olive oil spread, is widely available and actually tastes like butter and cooks like it too. You'll just have to remember that if you are baking with it, to cream it really really well. Many things have wheat free options now like soy sauce. Something you wouldn't think about having wheat, but they specifically make a wheat free version now. You will become a label reader! So start checking out food blogs and healthfood stores. And if its a small local store, more than likely they will have people there that know their stuff and can give recommendations! (Amy's food brand, available everywhere in the organic section, is both dairy and gluten free fyi) I have a great gluten free baked goods cook book if you want some bread or goodies recipes send me an email (its on my profile) and I can send you some. :)

and p.s. you can eat white rice too, its just not as good for you as brown rice and I freaking love quinoa. its really good and full of protein!

ouch no sugar either! I couldn't do it, i love me some sweets! Yes I did try the diets for my UC. I tried the gluten free to give my digestive system a break a few years ago after a big bad flare, did it for 6 months. Also on the recommendation of my acupuncturist/nutritionist. It did not improve anything UC wise. I was wheat free for a while after stopping the no gluten because i have a wheat allergy, but also no improvement and I had no actual allergy symptoms. I no longer have any diet restrictions because I had J-pouch surgery, the last of which was 2.5 months ago. I'm almost at my 1 year anniversary from when my colon perforated and i needed emergency surgery (the first of 3 procedures.) Since I no longer have a colon, I no longer have UC. I honestly had no improvement with any treatments hence the eventual need for surgery. The only food thing that did make me feel worse was processed foods and fast foods. Having UC dramatically changed the way I looked at food, but not it a I can't have anything kind of way, just a I need to eat REAL whole foods.

Question for you bookworm, have you been tested for allergies at all? If you get an injection test done, (not a scratch test, those are not very accurate) it may help you determine whether cutting out one of those foods will actually help. Also unless this is planned to be temporary, (and even then maybe) you may want to consider doing a 2-3 week trial elimination of either the dairy or the wheat, see how you feel, take note of symptoms and daily bms, etc. and then switch to try the other elimination. That way, if your symptoms do improve on one but not the other, you'll know if its actually necessary to cut out both. If you cut out both to begin with along with the no sugar, there will be no way of knowing if its both or one or maybe even just the sugar alone that is possibly aggravating symptoms. Food eliminations are tricky and hard to pinpoint unless done individually. All 4 things (dairy, wheat, sugar and soy) are commonly aggravating and 3 are common allergies so it makes sense to give it a go. But I'd really recommend one at a time as well as an allergy test. Oh but if you are on or have been recently on prednisone the allergy tests will be messed up so you may need to wait. Just some thoughts! Either way I hope you are able to find some relief!


yes, they are all expensive! go check out those food blogs, trust me they will help you think of cheaper ways to cook for yourself. Looking for Vegan would be good too. You can simply replace the soy/tofu with meat or something. Sugar is not vegan so no vegan recipe will have it in it. if you look around the GF sites, they will give you ideas for how to replace any wheat ingredient. Its kinda like food chemistry!

(sorry so long-winded!)

Yes. I too feel the diet is very restrictive. However, the foods on the list seem quite safe and will give you a chance to see whether or not your body is sensitive to any foods. Once you are on the diet for a week or two, you can then start to add foods one at a time, taking note of which ones your body has trouble digesting.

In regard to fruits, some people, like me, are fructose intolerant. In fact, all my IBS is due to fructose and artificial sweeteners. I no longer have IBS now that I eliminated them from my diet. For other people, though, its lactose, gluten, wheat, yeast, ..., or a combination thereof. So it's good to eliminate everything that might cause an issue and then start adding foods one at a time.

I was tested for food allergies and nothing showed up. The issue could be with food intolerance, not food allergies.

Book, You made me laugh Eating the M&M's to wash down the taste LOL!

I also started looking at gluten free options and found quite a few at my local gocery store.

I also don't think you need to cut out fruit unless you notice it giving you problems...is an accupuncturist really qualified to be giving you nutrition advice?

Wow, sorry to hear all you're going through. I understand why you would be desperate to try any and everything. I don't know what a functional medicne doctor is. What did the MDs say about all your symptoms? Do you have allergies? That could account for the congestion, ear pain, headaches. I don't know...I'm no doctor. I wish I could help you!

Just thought I'd post an update--I ended up with diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting on the 7th that wouldn't go away. Because this is the third time this has happened in the past two months, my GI sent me to the ER. It took two bags of fluids and three IV doses of nausea meds to make me stop vomiting. I finally started eating a normal diet yesterday. I think this was either was some sort of viral bug or a reaction to quinoa (not a flare and most likely not c-diff--bloodwork was normal).

Sara--All the MDs say that they don't know what to do and maybe refer me to another MD. I do have allergies but don't know why I keep having symptoms outside of allergy season even after getting an air filter, allergen-free pillow, etc.

I didn't get an appointment with the functional medicine doctor (they run individual tests to see what you're deficient in and combine alternative and traditional medicine) until January. I guess I'll experiment on my own...