My name is Brenda, and I’m from the greater Chicago area. In early 2013, a friend discovered with her doctor’s help that she is gluten sensitive, and feels much better now that she’s eliminated gluten from her diet. We shared a number of the same symptoms (see below), so I decided to see if cutting back on gluten in my diet would help me as much as it has helped her. It’s the only change I’ve made, and after only a few weeks of limiting the gluten – not even being 100% gluten free – I could feel a real difference.
- My knees, while still stiff and creaky, are much less swollen and painful. I no longer rely on over the counter painkillers to get through the day, and don’t have to apply ice to my knees at bedtime in order to be able to sleep.
- My chronic dry eye problem is all but gone! Rather than my burning, red eyes telling me it’s time use moisture drops frequently, I have to leave the bottle where I can see it to remind me to use them, as my eye doctor has recommended.
- My feet are not nearly as swollen. At times, even my Crocs were tight and uncomfortable, but now they’re just fine.
- My longtime itchy spells have all but gone away. For hours at a time, I itched terribly… sometimes it felt like bugs crawling on my skin! Eliminating caffeine, artificial ingredients and other things from my diet one at a time seemed to help a little, but not much.
- For years now, I’ve had a very large patch of dry, crusty, itchy scalp on the back of my head – sometimes so sore and irritated that it would crack open and bleed. The dermatologist and my hairstylist both suggested a variety of different dandruff shampoos. None of them helped, and some actually made it worse. When I started limiting the amount of gluten in my diet, on a hunch, I also changed to a wheat-free shampoo and conditioner. At my next appointment, my stylist asked what I’d been doing differently, because the nasty patch was gone.
I want to make it clear that to the best of my knowledge, I do NOT have Celiac Disease. In fact, years back when I was having some intestinal issues, the tests were negative, and the issues turned out to be medication related. I have had many allergies since childhood, but doctors claimed that none of them were food allergies. I have not yet challenge-tested myself to see if I am sensitive to all forms of gluten, or if perhaps it’s just wheat that bothers me. I doubt that I will adopt a 100% gluten-free lifestyle, but plan to eliminate it as much as I can. Will I worry about cross contamination when I eat out, like celiacs need to? No, as small amounts of gluten don’t seem to bother me. For example, I can eat regular Rice Krispies and the small amount of gluten from the barley malt syrup doesn’t seem to bother me, but eating a bowl of Wheaties will start me itching like crazy a few hours later. I do, however, understand the need for celiacs to completely remove gluten from their life, and hope that they will find the information on this site as useful as it is for those who are gluten sensitive.
I do not have any other food allergies, so some of the recipes I share may include dairy, which can usually be substituted for relatively easily, and nuts, which can be substituted for or simply omitted. As I am converting my pantry and menu items over to gluten free, my goal is not to eat things that are “good, for being gluten free” – it’s to eat things that are good, period, and also happen to be gluten free. The real test is the other household members who don’t have a problem with gluten, one of whom is a notoriously particular eater. If THEY like it enough to eat it, then I know it’s pretty darned good! I’ve adapted several favorite family recipes already, and they tell me that my new versions are just as good as (and in one case, even BETTER than) the old ones. In the process, I’m discovering great products, good products, and some definitely NOT so good products. I want to share all of them here with you, in the hopes it will save you some time, money and disappointment.
My goals for this site:
- Honestly reviewing products I’ve personally tried. Some of them may be given to me by manufacturers, and those will be marked in the interest of full disclosure. Others will be things I’ve purchased, and there won’t be any difference between the two groups in my reviews.
- Accumulating resource links, including a list of manufacturers who make gluten free products, a list of gluten free expos where you can sample items and participate in education about the gluten free lifestyle, and links to other blogs that I think have great information and/or recipes.
- Sharing some of the recipes I make that my family enjoys. And yes, those recipes will include photos.
- Posting information about coupons, discounts and special sales on gluten free items.
I hope you’ll find this site a useful resource, and I encourage you to contribute information that I can post and share. Please use the “Contact” page to email me information, and comment on posts to let me know what you think.
Brenda