What do I stock up on food-wise if I'm going to try going Gluten Free?

It really depends upon what you like to eat.  I was a carb freek, so it was really hard for me.  I found Bunny Love noodles are very good.  Really watch how you cook them.  For bread this was tricky: tapioca bread from ener-G was okay, light brown rice bread was tollerable if toasted, Kinnikwick (not sure on spelling) was decent but goes bad really fast. Ener-G pretzels are great.

I love sweets and found Anna's breads (pumpkin and banana were great) along with Namaste (their chocolate cake was unbelievable) For the sweets I used to make them into cupcakes so I could freeze them and have a few at a time out.  They are really tasty frozen also.

If you are really going to do this 100% be ready to call makers of products to find out about their malted products and other ingredients.  Read some of the web sites that give you specific words to look for. 

Good luck!!

If you have tested negative for celiac then there's no need to eliminate gluten and if you haven't been teted then please do so.

According to my GI doc and other sites on the net... you can test negative for a gluten allergy and still have it bother you. they call this not a gluten allergy but a gluten intolerance. Still I agree, its not an easy diet to follow. but if you decide to then you have to be willing to replace those grains with others. I would stock up on brown rice, and oatmeal. Also lean meats, and fresh veggies. as for bread, I bought rice flour and other ingredients xanthum gum or guar gum) yeast and such and made my own bread. Also even made gluten free pizza crusts. You don't have to "do with out" on this diet you just have to be willing to search and/or cook your own. I personally am not allergic to gluten, but found a gluten free diet helped and I noticed a difference in my flare with-in about 2 weeks. Personally following this diet cut my flare symptoms in half within two weeks. But Thats just how it affected me... you might be different. after two weeks I also started the spinach/sunflower regime. As this is also gluten free I figured it was a nice fit and had been helping lots of other on here.
Either way you go, your right in that a food journal is a must. My GI doc also said that once you are out of your flare ( if you're just intolerant) then you can start adding small amounts of gluten back into your diet. Basically, be religious when flaring, be very moderate when in remission. Hope this helps.
Rice pasta is not bad.... more expensive, but not bad. today I'm having chicken BBQ, pasta salad, pickled eggs, and a spinach salad. A pretty normal meal except with planning its all gluten free.

I've been GF for 4 years because I've found it really helps my UC - I also didn't test positive for celiac, but gluten can be an irritant for me. And it's really not difficult! Once you get used to not eating wheat/gluten, you just stop seeing it as an option, and it's less and less of a temptation (especially if you remember what can happen when you DO eat it). Here's what really helped me:

- Tinkyada rice pasta (no other rice pasta compares!)
- Pamela's cookies and pancake mix. Yum.
- Deland Bakery - based in Florida - (our local Whole Foods carries them) has the BEST bread I've ever found. Good toast! Once you've got that, the rest is cake ;)
- Watch for wheaty-y products - like soy sauce, oats - that you can definitely find alternatives to
- As unclebubba says - keep a store of GF flours on hand so you can easily replace them in recipes

Glutenfreegirl.com (mentioned below) has great recipes. http://www.latartinegourmande.com/ has beautiful GF food for inspiration, and The Gluten Free Gourmet has several cookbooks that have been terrific.

Once you get used to a GF diet and find foods you are truly excited about (rather than always feeling like you're not permitted certain things), it stops feeling like deprivation. Good luck!

Jones

________
Left-sided UC Dx'ed 2003
Remicade every 10 weeks, Chinese herbs, fish pills, D3

Thanks for the tip about the rice pasta...as the others I've tried are terrible. Why are you considering oats to be wheaty?

jones_77 said...
I've been GF for 4 years because I've found it really helps my UC - I also didn't test positive for celiac, but gluten can be an irritant for me. And it's really not difficult! Once you get used to not eating wheat/gluten, you just stop seeing it as an option, and it's less and less of a temptation (especially if you remember what can happen when you DO eat it). Here's what really helped me:

- Tinkyada rice pasta (no other rice pasta compares!)
- Pamela's cookies and pancake mix. Yum.
- Deland Bakery - based in Florida - (our local Whole Foods carries them) has the BEST bread I've ever found. Good toast! Once you've got that, the rest is cake ;)
- Watch for wheaty-y products - like soy sauce, oats - that you can definitely find alternatives to
- As unclebubba says - keep a store of GF flours on hand so you can easily replace them in recipes

Glutenfreegirl.com (mentioned below) has great recipes. http://www.latartinegourmande.com/ has beautiful GF food for inspiration, and The Gluten Free Gourmet has several cookbooks that have been terrific.

Once you get used to a GF diet and find foods you are truly excited about (rather than always feeling like you're not permitted certain things), it stops feeling like deprivation. Good luck!

Jones

________
Left-sided UC Dx'ed 2003
Remicade every 10 weeks, Chinese herbs, fish pills, D3

I agree with jones_77--Tinkyada pasta is the best out there. It does not mush. It was the easiest transition food for me.

For bread I would reccomend Ener-G High Fibre or Ener-G Seattle Brown. Seattle brown is VERY moist for gluten free and goes great with a burger.
The problem with gluten free breads is that if you want a sandwich you MUST lightly toast it or else it is too dry to eat. http://www.ener-g.com

Eating gluten free is very hard a first...but you get used to it. Now I don't know any better...for the most part.