Life was so much easier when Andy was smaller. I just sent all of his food to daycare and he was watched like a hawk and never touched food that wasn't sent from home.
I still send all of his food from home, but trading parts of lunches is a big part of the social structure of second grade. I love that he has friends to trade foods with. I just want him to make the best food choices he can. After all, I want him to grow into an adult that can do just that.
Yesterday there was a false alarm at school. He had a tummy ache in the afternoon so after he used the bathroom he went to the school nurse and told her he thought it might be something he ate. He has yet to understand that sometimes we just get tummy aches and they have nothing to do with "special diets" - but when you have celiac, it is a good place to start.
So the nurse called me and we discussed everything he had eaten that had not come from home. Grace gave him her fruit cocktail and Sylvester shared a few potato chips. The potato chips were suspect - Andy had gotten some Pringles (not gfcf) from the same boy a month ago. So we questioned him and he had made sure they were not the "red can" kind and they were plain so he made some good choices in deciding whether they were safe - since most plain chips (except Pringles) are okay. A quick call to Sylvester's grandma confirmed that they were indeed okay (they were Lay's).
So, I think we are doing okay in this. I don't want to tell him not to trade foods - I want him to be able to enjoy lunch. Luckily we are not dealing with a severe food allergy that can kill him immediately. I know the gluten can still cause a lot of harm and I would rather he never make a bad food choice and get glutenized (is that a word?) but truthfully a tummy ache or two may make him learn to manage his food choices wisely.
Now, I just need to convince him that while we still want to investigate all tummy aches - that if we don't find a clear cause, it is okay to just let it go - it may have been nothing.
Showing posts with label My views. Show all posts
Showing posts with label My views. Show all posts
Friday, February 08, 2008
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Vacations and staying GFCF
When we go on vacation we rent a condo with a full kitchen instead of just staying in a hotel room. It costs more, but we don't go out to eat at all. It is also nice to have the extra room to spread out in. Our favorite vacation spot is Wisconsin Dells and I'm pretty sure you are not going to find a lot of gfcf foods there - so we pack everything from home - we drive so taking extra ice chests is not a problem. If I were flying somewhere I would enquire ahead of time if there is anywhere to buy gfcf foods. If not - I would see if I could fed ex a package to the resort with staples in it.
Planning ahead when site seeing makes the day go smoother. I always pack candy and lots of water with us when we go out. I also pack fruit and healthy snacks, but Andy will see candy and want it and it will be full of red 40, high fructose corn syrup and other things I don't want him to have. By packing my own organic candy I can let him be a kid and not put things in his body that I don't want there. If you don't plan ahead you will find yourself making bad choices.
Planning ahead when site seeing makes the day go smoother. I always pack candy and lots of water with us when we go out. I also pack fruit and healthy snacks, but Andy will see candy and want it and it will be full of red 40, high fructose corn syrup and other things I don't want him to have. By packing my own organic candy I can let him be a kid and not put things in his body that I don't want there. If you don't plan ahead you will find yourself making bad choices.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
An affordable way to buy Organic
Since I have gone back to get my Master's in Holistic Health and Nutrition Education I have become even more determined to only buy organic foods. I have always grown an organic garden and preserved my extras for winter - but it's not enough. I would buy organic when convienent, but if it wasn't there - I thought fresh fruit was still best. I can't believe I was so naive - the stuff I'm learning about how many pesticides are put on these plants - and how deep it penetrates - you cannot wash it off - scary.
Anyway I have started buying all organic and my grocery bill has really gone up - even with the garden right now. So I had to do a paper for school on where to buy organic in my area - a tool for my professional toolbox that I will use with clients. As I was researching this, I stumbled across CSA's (Community Supported Agriculture). I had heard of CSA's before but for some crazy reason thought they were only out in CA. Well - there are a ton of them right here in my area - and some still have openings for this year.
What you do is buy a share of the harvest and get weekly deliveries. Most of them have several delivery spots around the metro area - some deliver right to your door - and some you have to drive out to the farm to pick up. Some have financial assistance if you can't afford it and some will let you trade some labor for part of the cost. Many of them have activities on the farm that you can come to.
And some of them offer eggs and meat - and I even found one that offers baked goods - including some that are gluten free and casien free.
The costs of the ones I looked into appeared to run right around $500 for a box big enough for 2 adults and 1 small child. The number of weeks they deliver is between 16 and 22 (this is only based on the ones I found). That's like $28 a week.
Anyway - I thought I would share the idea in case there were others out there like me who want to buy organic but wish it were more affordable. Here is a link to a website where you can put in your zip or state and see what's in your area: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/
Even if they are all full in your area for this year - you might want to investigate them and get on a list for next year.
I'm going to put all of the ones for my area in a spreadsheet so my future clients can compare based on what works best for their family.
Hope that helps someone!
Anyway I have started buying all organic and my grocery bill has really gone up - even with the garden right now. So I had to do a paper for school on where to buy organic in my area - a tool for my professional toolbox that I will use with clients. As I was researching this, I stumbled across CSA's (Community Supported Agriculture). I had heard of CSA's before but for some crazy reason thought they were only out in CA. Well - there are a ton of them right here in my area - and some still have openings for this year.
What you do is buy a share of the harvest and get weekly deliveries. Most of them have several delivery spots around the metro area - some deliver right to your door - and some you have to drive out to the farm to pick up. Some have financial assistance if you can't afford it and some will let you trade some labor for part of the cost. Many of them have activities on the farm that you can come to.
And some of them offer eggs and meat - and I even found one that offers baked goods - including some that are gluten free and casien free.
The costs of the ones I looked into appeared to run right around $500 for a box big enough for 2 adults and 1 small child. The number of weeks they deliver is between 16 and 22 (this is only based on the ones I found). That's like $28 a week.
Anyway - I thought I would share the idea in case there were others out there like me who want to buy organic but wish it were more affordable. Here is a link to a website where you can put in your zip or state and see what's in your area: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/
Even if they are all full in your area for this year - you might want to investigate them and get on a list for next year.
I'm going to put all of the ones for my area in a spreadsheet so my future clients can compare based on what works best for their family.
Hope that helps someone!
Friday, June 01, 2007
The price of GFCF
Eating GFCF certainly is more expensive - I don't think anyone will argue with that.
In the past I have never really kept track of the cost because it was just something we had to do. While I knew you could deduct the price difference of the foods, I also knew that getting enough to actually write off on your taxes was probably not going to happen - you are only able to claim a percentage of your medical and only if you itemize (which we do). But last year between the dentist and specialists we had a lot of medical expenses and could have claimed some of them if we had added the food on, but I hadn't kept track.
So this year I started saving my grocery receipts and tracking the cost in an excel spreadsheet. I missed January - I didn't start until Feb. 1 when I realized how close we were to being able to claim some medical expenses last year.
I am only tracking the foods that we buy that are GFCF. Not the extra cost of the foods that have nothing artificial in them or are organic - that's not legal unless you have to buy them because that is the only choice. I am sure if I tracked that cost as well it would be huge. I am tracking total costs because I believe that doing this diet as a family is beneficial therapy for my son and the reason that he eats so well. If we got audited I think I could get the doctor to sign for that. Dan thinks we should only track the foods that only Andy eats and a third of the ones that we all eat.
In order for the costs to be tax deductable, you do need a medical reason to be buying the more expensive foods. Just doing the diet because others have told you it helps autism isn't enough. You need a signed statement from your doctor.
This morning I updated my spreadsheet and so far this year between Feb. 1 & June 1 - the price difference comes to $328.95! That's a lot of money in 4 months and like I said that doesn't count the organic fruits and veggies.
If you are not keeping a spreadsheet, I suggest you do - the price difference might be more for some of you. I did it fairly - I didn't compare it to generics - I could have put the price of bread as a lot more, but I priced the bread in the store that we would have bought if we were able to buy regular bread and it wasn't the cheapest. I did the same with all products. Some things I would have bought generics, but many I wouldn't have.
In the past I have never really kept track of the cost because it was just something we had to do. While I knew you could deduct the price difference of the foods, I also knew that getting enough to actually write off on your taxes was probably not going to happen - you are only able to claim a percentage of your medical and only if you itemize (which we do). But last year between the dentist and specialists we had a lot of medical expenses and could have claimed some of them if we had added the food on, but I hadn't kept track.
So this year I started saving my grocery receipts and tracking the cost in an excel spreadsheet. I missed January - I didn't start until Feb. 1 when I realized how close we were to being able to claim some medical expenses last year.
I am only tracking the foods that we buy that are GFCF. Not the extra cost of the foods that have nothing artificial in them or are organic - that's not legal unless you have to buy them because that is the only choice. I am sure if I tracked that cost as well it would be huge. I am tracking total costs because I believe that doing this diet as a family is beneficial therapy for my son and the reason that he eats so well. If we got audited I think I could get the doctor to sign for that. Dan thinks we should only track the foods that only Andy eats and a third of the ones that we all eat.
In order for the costs to be tax deductable, you do need a medical reason to be buying the more expensive foods. Just doing the diet because others have told you it helps autism isn't enough. You need a signed statement from your doctor.
This morning I updated my spreadsheet and so far this year between Feb. 1 & June 1 - the price difference comes to $328.95! That's a lot of money in 4 months and like I said that doesn't count the organic fruits and veggies.
If you are not keeping a spreadsheet, I suggest you do - the price difference might be more for some of you. I did it fairly - I didn't compare it to generics - I could have put the price of bread as a lot more, but I priced the bread in the store that we would have bought if we were able to buy regular bread and it wasn't the cheapest. I did the same with all products. Some things I would have bought generics, but many I wouldn't have.
Saturday, May 05, 2007
There's a new gluten free bakery in town
I had heard rumors for several months now that there was a new gluten free bakery in St. Paul and that their products were really yummy. No one seemed to know the name or where it was at. I tried googling gluten free and St. Paul a few times but only came up with Bittersweet Bakery, which I already use and love. But finally last week, my googling paid off and I found the new bakery: http://www.cooqiglutenfree.com/index.shtm
Today after swimming, we ventured out to visit Cooqi and see if they are as good as Bittersweet. Their hours are more friendly for us - a two parent working family. They are open every Saturday until 4 and Wednesday through Friday until 6. It was easy enough to find at the corner of Marshall and Cretin. It is a very attractive shop and very kid friendly. My son was immediately drawn to the play kitchen and started making pretend muffins and cakes while we waited our turn. The products were very beautifully displayed and prices were marked on a chalk board that is so common in cafes. The gal that waited on us was very pleasant and friendly.
They had a tables to sit at and eat and they sold coffee as well. It was kind of a coffee shop and bakery combination.
The list of ingredients were not printed out or listed where you could see them and the employee behind the counter didn't seem to know her ingredients very well. When I enquired if the products we were buying were dairy free as well as gluten free, she seemed to think that eggs were dairy. When I corrected her, she stated she knew they weren't but some people think they are - well, I don't care what some people think - eggs are not dairy - I wasn't asking if they were vegetarian. Luckily Andy is not super sensitive to dairy in baking so I'm not worried about a reaction - but they really should have the ingredients listed or a more knowledegable staff. If you don't know what dairy is and isn't, how can you answer questions about what is in the proucts?
They had a better selection of breads than Bittersweet - a white sandwich bread, a whole grain bread with and without seeds and focacia bread. The bar, cupcake and cookie selection seemed about the same as Bittersweet. We purchased one loaf of sandwich bread, 2 brownies and 1 cupcake and left $15.98 poorer.
The brownies were super yummy - much better than the ones at Bittersweet and on a par with the ones I make myself. The brownies were $2.50 each compared to $2.00 for a brownie at Bittersweet. The cupcake was fine - about the same as the ones at Bittersweet - but much more expensive ($2.50 vs. $1.20 at Bittersweet). The bread was not as tall as what we purchase at Bittersweet - we had a loaf at home to compare it to. The bread from bittersweet is 3.5 inches tall and Cooqi's is 2.5 inches. It had a better texture to it - you could actually eat it without toasting it without it crumbling apart. The flavor was good. I like Bittersweet's better, Dan thought it was a toss up and Andy liked Cooqi's better. It tastes a lot like the bread I used to make from the Bob's Red Mill Mix. But at $7.95 a loaf, it is $1.20 more than Bittersweet's bread. They did have lots of bread available and you did not have to pre-order it like you do at Bittersweet. They also gave you the option of buying the bread frozen for 50 cents cheaper.
The conclusion for us is that we will probably continue to give Bittersweet most of our bakery business. I make good bars and cookies so for us, the bread is the deciding choice and Cooqi's bread is smaller and more expensive. However, if we want focasia style or can't get to Bittersweet or a store that carries Bittersweet's products, we will go to Cooqi. For those of you who live in St. Paul and not between the two bakeries like we do, Cooqi is a great choice.
It is exciting to live in an area where we have more than one gluten free bakery to choose from. Next week I am going to venture over to Minneapolis to check out Madwoman Foods' bakery. Andy loves their pizza, so I really need to check out their other products - even if they are not as conviently located.
Cooqi - if you are reading this - list the ingredients and price list on your website and print out the ingredients on fliers that patrons can take with them. You have a beautiful shop and I hope you thrive. We need all the gluten free businesses we can get.
Today after swimming, we ventured out to visit Cooqi and see if they are as good as Bittersweet. Their hours are more friendly for us - a two parent working family. They are open every Saturday until 4 and Wednesday through Friday until 6. It was easy enough to find at the corner of Marshall and Cretin. It is a very attractive shop and very kid friendly. My son was immediately drawn to the play kitchen and started making pretend muffins and cakes while we waited our turn. The products were very beautifully displayed and prices were marked on a chalk board that is so common in cafes. The gal that waited on us was very pleasant and friendly.
They had a tables to sit at and eat and they sold coffee as well. It was kind of a coffee shop and bakery combination.
The list of ingredients were not printed out or listed where you could see them and the employee behind the counter didn't seem to know her ingredients very well. When I enquired if the products we were buying were dairy free as well as gluten free, she seemed to think that eggs were dairy. When I corrected her, she stated she knew they weren't but some people think they are - well, I don't care what some people think - eggs are not dairy - I wasn't asking if they were vegetarian. Luckily Andy is not super sensitive to dairy in baking so I'm not worried about a reaction - but they really should have the ingredients listed or a more knowledegable staff. If you don't know what dairy is and isn't, how can you answer questions about what is in the proucts?
They had a better selection of breads than Bittersweet - a white sandwich bread, a whole grain bread with and without seeds and focacia bread. The bar, cupcake and cookie selection seemed about the same as Bittersweet. We purchased one loaf of sandwich bread, 2 brownies and 1 cupcake and left $15.98 poorer.
The brownies were super yummy - much better than the ones at Bittersweet and on a par with the ones I make myself. The brownies were $2.50 each compared to $2.00 for a brownie at Bittersweet. The cupcake was fine - about the same as the ones at Bittersweet - but much more expensive ($2.50 vs. $1.20 at Bittersweet). The bread was not as tall as what we purchase at Bittersweet - we had a loaf at home to compare it to. The bread from bittersweet is 3.5 inches tall and Cooqi's is 2.5 inches. It had a better texture to it - you could actually eat it without toasting it without it crumbling apart. The flavor was good. I like Bittersweet's better, Dan thought it was a toss up and Andy liked Cooqi's better. It tastes a lot like the bread I used to make from the Bob's Red Mill Mix. But at $7.95 a loaf, it is $1.20 more than Bittersweet's bread. They did have lots of bread available and you did not have to pre-order it like you do at Bittersweet. They also gave you the option of buying the bread frozen for 50 cents cheaper.
The conclusion for us is that we will probably continue to give Bittersweet most of our bakery business. I make good bars and cookies so for us, the bread is the deciding choice and Cooqi's bread is smaller and more expensive. However, if we want focasia style or can't get to Bittersweet or a store that carries Bittersweet's products, we will go to Cooqi. For those of you who live in St. Paul and not between the two bakeries like we do, Cooqi is a great choice.
It is exciting to live in an area where we have more than one gluten free bakery to choose from. Next week I am going to venture over to Minneapolis to check out Madwoman Foods' bakery. Andy loves their pizza, so I really need to check out their other products - even if they are not as conviently located.
Cooqi - if you are reading this - list the ingredients and price list on your website and print out the ingredients on fliers that patrons can take with them. You have a beautiful shop and I hope you thrive. We need all the gluten free businesses we can get.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Making smarter choices with sweeteners
I don't see myself eliminating all cane sugar from our diet and honestly I wouldn't want to. But I do want to make smarter choices whenever possible. I bought some brown rice syrup to replace corn syrup in recipes. I really really want to totally eliminate high fructose corn syrup from our diet. And tonight I made my wonderful barbeque sauce and replaced the brown sugar with maple syrup and it was wonderful. I made both beef ribs and chicken on the grill (so we have plenty of left overs to eat during the week) and they were delicious.
Here is my revised barbeque sauce recipe:
BBQ Sauce
1 cup gfcf ketchup (I use Heinz Organic)
¼ cup vinegar (I used Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar)
½ cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon gfcf soy sauce (I use San-J Organic Tamari Wheat Free Soy Sauce)
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
Pinch celery salt
Pinch mustard powder
Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan and simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes. Store in a glass jar.
Here is my revised barbeque sauce recipe:
BBQ Sauce
1 cup gfcf ketchup (I use Heinz Organic)
¼ cup vinegar (I used Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar)
½ cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon gfcf soy sauce (I use San-J Organic Tamari Wheat Free Soy Sauce)
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
Pinch celery salt
Pinch mustard powder
Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan and simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes. Store in a glass jar.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Best Price vs. Most Convienent
I am grateful that we are able to afford to buy gluten free without having to draw from our savings or having to give anything up - but I am still a bargain shopper at heart and I hate to spend any more money than I need to.
On the other hand, I want products to be available close by. Sometimes it is a difficult choice to decide where to buy my staples.
Take my favorite pasta - Tinkyada. The Rainbow Foods store right here in my suburb carries it and I'm glad they do and I want to encourage them to carry it and more gluten free foods, but at $4.19 a package it is quite expensive. I can get it for $3.59 a package if I drive to Fresh and Natural Foods in Shoreview (14 miles one way). Or I can order it online from glutenfree.com for as low as $2.96 if I buy 12 at a time. Even with paying shipping, the savings of buying online is quite substantial. Especially if you consider that we eat a lot of pasta - we probably go through 4 packages a month - that's 48 a year. At a difference of $1.23 each that's $59.04 a year.
Sometimes it is cheaper to buy locally. Take Panda Puffs. I can get that at Super Target right here in my suburb for $3.64. If I drive the 14 miles to Fresh and Natural, it will cost me $4.37. Glutenfree.com has them for $4.25 and Miss Roben's has them for $5.29.
It can be very confusing to know what is a better deal where. For myself, I keep an excel spreadsheet listing the items I buy and the prices at each of the stores I shop at. I then highlight in yellow where it is the cheapest. If I am placing an order online anyway, I will check my spreadsheet and see what else is cheapest there and go ahead and order some. If I'm getting low on just one item and I can buy it locally I probably will even if it's a few pennies more. I check my receipts against my spreadsheet and make sure I update the information periodically.
It's a lot of work making sure you get the best price and balancing buying locally to encourage the local grocers to carry more gfcf products - but it is something I feel I have to do. I just hate throwing money away. Just because we can afford to buy this food doesn't mean we should pay the highest price we can. And I would like to quit my job some day and that is only going to happen if we can afford to live without me working.
And don't forget to throw taste into the mix. Miss Roben's is more expensive than glutenfree.com on a lot of the items I buy - but you can't beat their taste or their customer service. If no one in the family wants to eat it - it wasn't a bargain!
On the other hand, I want products to be available close by. Sometimes it is a difficult choice to decide where to buy my staples.
Take my favorite pasta - Tinkyada. The Rainbow Foods store right here in my suburb carries it and I'm glad they do and I want to encourage them to carry it and more gluten free foods, but at $4.19 a package it is quite expensive. I can get it for $3.59 a package if I drive to Fresh and Natural Foods in Shoreview (14 miles one way). Or I can order it online from glutenfree.com for as low as $2.96 if I buy 12 at a time. Even with paying shipping, the savings of buying online is quite substantial. Especially if you consider that we eat a lot of pasta - we probably go through 4 packages a month - that's 48 a year. At a difference of $1.23 each that's $59.04 a year.
Sometimes it is cheaper to buy locally. Take Panda Puffs. I can get that at Super Target right here in my suburb for $3.64. If I drive the 14 miles to Fresh and Natural, it will cost me $4.37. Glutenfree.com has them for $4.25 and Miss Roben's has them for $5.29.
It can be very confusing to know what is a better deal where. For myself, I keep an excel spreadsheet listing the items I buy and the prices at each of the stores I shop at. I then highlight in yellow where it is the cheapest. If I am placing an order online anyway, I will check my spreadsheet and see what else is cheapest there and go ahead and order some. If I'm getting low on just one item and I can buy it locally I probably will even if it's a few pennies more. I check my receipts against my spreadsheet and make sure I update the information periodically.
It's a lot of work making sure you get the best price and balancing buying locally to encourage the local grocers to carry more gfcf products - but it is something I feel I have to do. I just hate throwing money away. Just because we can afford to buy this food doesn't mean we should pay the highest price we can. And I would like to quit my job some day and that is only going to happen if we can afford to live without me working.
And don't forget to throw taste into the mix. Miss Roben's is more expensive than glutenfree.com on a lot of the items I buy - but you can't beat their taste or their customer service. If no one in the family wants to eat it - it wasn't a bargain!
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
I am sick of the GFCF Diet
We have been on this diet for 2 years and 11 months now and never once during this time have I expressed negative feelings towards it.
It isn't like I have a choice and I want to present a positive picture for Andy - and I think part of the reason that he is so accepting of his diet is that he follows my example.
But today I just want to vent and get it all out. I am sick of this damn diet!
I know today is going to be a bad day for Andy. Even though we don't celebrate Halloween, they do at school (he is taking a costume to school - we allow him to choose to participate or not - last year he chose not to) and the other kids will be able to eat their treats without regard to what they contain. His will be put in his backpack to be brought home and checked over before he can eat any. If he is lucky, there will be one treat that he recognizes that will not have red 40 in it that he can just eat - but that is a rarity.
I am sick of spending my entire weekends cooking so that we will have enough left overs to eat during the week since I get home from work too late to cook a meal from scratch during the week.
I am sick of having to veto vacation ideas because we can't get a reservation anywhere with a full kitchen.
I am sick of not having the option of going out to eat very many places.
I am just sick and tired of how this diet controls our lives.
Will we stay on the diet? Of course we will. The course has been set and we will continue to sail along, but I don't have to like it.
Is it really that bad? I guess not. We do eat healthier and in cooking from scratch it isn't that much more expensive than a regular diet. We do all feel better on the diet.
Is it really that hard? No, and it does get easier over time.
So what is your beef today lady? THAT IT IS NOT FAIR TO MY CHILD! That is all - it stinks to have to put a child on this diet.
There, now that I have vented I feel better.
It isn't like I have a choice and I want to present a positive picture for Andy - and I think part of the reason that he is so accepting of his diet is that he follows my example.
But today I just want to vent and get it all out. I am sick of this damn diet!
I know today is going to be a bad day for Andy. Even though we don't celebrate Halloween, they do at school (he is taking a costume to school - we allow him to choose to participate or not - last year he chose not to) and the other kids will be able to eat their treats without regard to what they contain. His will be put in his backpack to be brought home and checked over before he can eat any. If he is lucky, there will be one treat that he recognizes that will not have red 40 in it that he can just eat - but that is a rarity.
I am sick of spending my entire weekends cooking so that we will have enough left overs to eat during the week since I get home from work too late to cook a meal from scratch during the week.
I am sick of having to veto vacation ideas because we can't get a reservation anywhere with a full kitchen.
I am sick of not having the option of going out to eat very many places.
I am just sick and tired of how this diet controls our lives.
Will we stay on the diet? Of course we will. The course has been set and we will continue to sail along, but I don't have to like it.
Is it really that bad? I guess not. We do eat healthier and in cooking from scratch it isn't that much more expensive than a regular diet. We do all feel better on the diet.
Is it really that hard? No, and it does get easier over time.
So what is your beef today lady? THAT IT IS NOT FAIR TO MY CHILD! That is all - it stinks to have to put a child on this diet.
There, now that I have vented I feel better.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Should I test my child for celiac before starting the diet?
This is my opinion and only my opinion.
I believe every autistic child should be tested for celiac disease. On many websites you read that it is OK to just go ahead and try the diet - what do you have to lose? I believe that is bad advice. There just appears to be too many kids that have both autism and celiac to not be tested for it.
You must be actively consuming gluten when you are tested for celiac. Knowing that my child has celiac affects how I approach the diet. This is a life long diet. This isn't something I can try for awhile and then drop if I see no results. The consequences of continuing to eat gluten for my child are huge in the long run.
But my child shows no symptoms of celiac. Mine didn't either.
I had a urine test done to test for GFCF and it came back fine. The urine test is not for celiac. You can have a negative urine test and still have celiac. The celiac test is a blood panel - if all 3 panels are positive, then you need to have the intestines scoped for a diagnosis.
Again - this is just my opinion, but I feel quite strongly that celiac is not something you want to go untreated. Ask your doctor to test for it before you start the diet.
I believe every autistic child should be tested for celiac disease. On many websites you read that it is OK to just go ahead and try the diet - what do you have to lose? I believe that is bad advice. There just appears to be too many kids that have both autism and celiac to not be tested for it.
You must be actively consuming gluten when you are tested for celiac. Knowing that my child has celiac affects how I approach the diet. This is a life long diet. This isn't something I can try for awhile and then drop if I see no results. The consequences of continuing to eat gluten for my child are huge in the long run.
But my child shows no symptoms of celiac. Mine didn't either.
I had a urine test done to test for GFCF and it came back fine. The urine test is not for celiac. You can have a negative urine test and still have celiac. The celiac test is a blood panel - if all 3 panels are positive, then you need to have the intestines scoped for a diagnosis.
Again - this is just my opinion, but I feel quite strongly that celiac is not something you want to go untreated. Ask your doctor to test for it before you start the diet.
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