OT: Anyone else here gluten intolerant?

[kelp]

I play in an Irish band and do a fair amount of pub shows. And that usually means beer. But not a lot of the venues in my area have gluten free beers available. I usually end up sneaking my own in. I'll try to patronize the place with a whiskey purchase, but that can lead one down a much sloppier road!

 

Just looking to commiserate (not start a drinking-while-playing thread).

[Bobadohshe]

My wife discovered her gluten intolerance about 3 years ago. She pounds the gin and tonics now.

 

At first a big pain, we have adapted to the gluten free lifestyle quite well.

[dazzjazz]

I thought I was, but it turns out I'm just intolerant!

[DirtyRubberDuck]

I think Gluten is a staple of the all-american diet and anyone who can't consume it ought to move back to their own country!! I can't stand Gluten intolerant people!!

 

Guess you'd say I'm Gluten intolerant intolerant

 

DRD

[frogmonkey]

Wheat makes me feel pretty bad- but it turns out it's something else in the wheat that bothers me, not the gluten. Which means I can drink beer, after all!

 

But no pizza, pasta, bread, etc... Which ends up being a good thing. Because now when venues try to feed me pizza or sandwiches-- which is almost always- I have to turn it down and usually they find me something better. I've even got the manager of one band dialing it in ahead of time! I have to put a little more effort into eating on the road, but in the end I eat much healthier!

 

[MAJUSCULE]

I'm not, but I recently cooked gluten-free for a week for the hell of it. Made a few loaves of gluten-free bread and an egg-based pizza dough. Man, is gluten-free flour expensive. I had a few cookies at an event I was volunteering at and boy, did they ever feel heavy after a few days without flour.

[Phil Aiken]

Not gluten intolerant, but I'm diabetic and controlling it with diet and excercise as opposed to meds, so I am more or less gluten-free. In addition to no bread, like you this means no beer, even though the hard stuff is OK.

My wife is completely gluten free for other reasons, and used to enjoy good beer. She has found ONE gluten free beer

that is made with a different process that she says is head and shoulders above the rest. It is not made with sourghum (sp?) like the rest of them. I will try to remember to get the name for you.

[kelp]

Yes! I'd appreciate the recommendation. I've tried:

 

Lakefront Brewery New Grist (sorghum), which is made right here in Milwaukee.

Sprecher Shakparo, which is also made in Milwaukee.

Anheuser Busch's RedBridge.

Bard's (made in New England?).

Estrella Damm Daura (Spanish).

And I think a British one called Green's.

 

My wife went gluten free before I did. I remember her having me sample a few beers. I was like, "Blech! Never!" But here I am, happily drinking it, alive and well.

[frogmonkey]

I was about to recommend Greens-- not the dark one, but the other one. IMO Red Bridge is nasty.

 

There's a local (Vermont) brewery, the Alchemist, that makes a beer called Celia Saison. It has been unavailable since their brewpub got destroyed in Hurricane Irene last spring. They say they are about to release it again!

 

 

[mikecorbett]

I went Gluten free for 6 months on a whim. At first I thought I felt more relaxed and healthier but now I think it was all in my mind and Im back eating wheat. I suspect there is something else in my diet that my body dislikes. I am good with pasta or basic bread, but rich, baked goods make me feel crappy and give me headaches.

[Phil Aiken]

It's this:

http://blogs.menshealth.com/the-regulars/files/2011/11/DAURA.jpg

 

[MuzikTeechur]

What did we do before folks discovered gluten problems?

[kelp]

Oh, just perished early from a variety of ailments attributed to bad luck or bad genes.

 

I suppose people smoked tobacco for years, even thinking it healthly. This cancer and surgeon's general nonsense surely is the same type of fad.

[Michelle ggurl]

Do a web search on "super gluten wheat." There is no authoritative conclusion that GMO wheat is affecting more people and creating more gluten intolerance, but some personal accounts on message boards dedicated to celiac desease, for example, show there might be some merit to the claims. It appears that some people with gluten intolerance can't eat spelt or wheat of any kind, while others can eat certain varieties of wheat but not others.

[marino]

The thing is in my family too. My sister is celiac, and I have the predisposition in my blood, but luckily, it hasn't manifested itself until now. Theoretically, it could show at any moment, although at his point in my life I strongly hope that I can consider to be on the safe side.

 

Other than my sister, I have a few close friends who are gluten intolerant in various degrees, and it's a royal pain. Especially when one is gigging, or traveling.

 

 

[Joe Muscara]

If I couldn't eat pizza or pasta, I think I'd die from starvation or insanity.

[Phil Aiken]

If I couldn't eat pizza or pasta, I think I'd die from starvation or insanity.

 

That's what I thought, until I had to give them up or risk dying from something other than starvation or insanity....

 

[drawback]

What did we do before folks discovered gluten problems?

 

We lived a less self-absorbed, bubble-wrapped life, that's what. In my parents' generation, and in a huge portion of the world this very moment, people will eat anything to stay alive.

 

Avoid what makes you sick. That's it.

 

 

[kanker.]

Other than my sister, I have a few close friends who are gluten intolerant in various degrees, and it's a royal pain. Especially when one is gigging, or traveling.

Or Italian. I have a friend whose wife is Italian, and gluten intolerant. No pasta, no pizza, no bread. It took a lot of getting used to for her. Now there are a lot more gluten-free alternatives in those kinds of foods, but 10 years ago? She was miserable.

[frogmonkey]

I think a lot of

What did we do before folks discovered gluten problems?

 

We lived a less self-absorbed, bubble-wrapped life, that's what. In my parents' generation, and in a huge portion of the world this very moment, people will eat anything to stay alive.

 

Avoid what makes you sick. That's it.

 

 

I think a lot of people feel sick when they eat, and they are so used to it that they don't notice. People think that you are supposed to have a stomach ache after eating, and that it is normal to feel very tired after eating. It's not normal-- we should feel good after eating!

 

Our food supply in America (and Canada, I think) has changed drastically in the last generation or two. When my grandparents were eating "anything to stay alive" it was likely more wholesome than 90% of what Americans eat today.

[Michelle ggurl]

Exactly, Andric. It's not just "in our heads" or about self-absorption, at all. The food supply has changed, hence my recommendation to check out the phenomenon of super gluten. I won't say more so as not to stray into political territory, but it's hard to not make the observation that what "food" is today, is different. Even from 25 years ago.

 

And people for YEARS have had allergic and other reactions to food and shrugged them off, or not attributed how they feel to food! Migranes? Rashes? How about heartburn? When I was growing up I knew a couple of adults who'd eat Tums like they were breath mints! Done eating, time to eat a Tums. Or maybe half a roll. .... Yeah, sure. If you're eating food that is compatible with your body, you don't have adverse reactions. Now we know more about how food affects our well-being, but we're also experimenting with how much modification and processing the human body can digest.

[Joe Muscara]

Other than my sister, I have a few close friends who are gluten intolerant in various degrees, and it's a royal pain. Especially when one is gigging, or traveling.

Or Italian. I have a friend whose wife is Italian, and gluten intolerant. No pasta, no pizza, no bread. It took a lot of getting used to for her. Now there are a lot more gluten-free alternatives in those kinds of foods, but 10 years ago? She was miserable.

This is what I was getting at regarding myself...

[Jim Alfredson]

The US diet is shit. It's directly responsible for the majority of ailments that plague the population, from diabetes to heart disease to cancer. And yes, it's gotten decidedly worse in the last 20 years or so.

 

It's incredibly hard to eat healthy on the road. Some days I get one meal a day and offset it with Clif bars and fruit (bananas and apples are easy to find). My bandmates refer to me as "The Food Bummer" because I'm constantly going on about how crappy most of the shit that's available to eat out here on the road actually is. For instance, we stopped for dinner at a Denny's in Oregon the other night. Do you have any idea how much salt is in those meals? It's absolutely insane. And then top that off with my synthetic food dye allergy; yeah, I'm a lot of fun.

 

But you know what? Since I started paying attention, I've lost 30lbs and I feel better than I have in years. I no longer have IBS, I can eat milk again (I used to think I was lactose intolerant... no, my insides were just constantly inflamed due to the dyes), my joint pain has gone away, I have more energy, I sleep better, my skin issues have cleared up, the arrhythmia has drastically been reduced (my heart used to skip beats at least every other day... now it happens maybe once or twice a month), etc. etc. etc.

 

Pay attention to what you eat, folks. The old adage is 100% true: You are what you eat. If you eat crap, you'll feel like crap.

[DanS]

Tonnes of alergies in our family, but thankfully gluten isn't one of them.

A life without beer......I can't think about it.

 

As Jim says, once you start reading food labels, you realize how much shit is in processed foods. We've been cutting out salt quite a bit lately.

[Joe Muscara]

My bandmates refer to me as "The Food Bummer" because I'm constantly going on about how crappy most of the shit that's available to eat out here on the road actually is. For instance, we stopped for dinner at a Denny's in Oregon the other night. Do you have any idea how much salt is in those meals? It's absolutely insane. And then top that off with my synthetic food dye allergy; yeah, I'm a lot of fun.

For a point of reference, the bandleader in this band is a vegetarian (or maybe a vegan, I don't recall exactly), and the band calls Jim "The Food Bummer."

 

Think about that.

[Jim Alfredson]

She's vegetarian. She eats fish and eggs and some dairy (though she tries to avoid cheese).

 

My diet is much worse than choosing to be a vegetarian because it's something I have to do or there are real, physical consequences.

[Iconoclast]

Not gluten intolerant but I avoid wheat generally because I don't think that it's good for you. I'm a paleo diet-er, not terribly strict but I'm pretty good about avoiding wheat.

 

Drink wise I've ended up drinking more Red wine (the drier the better--less sugar), or straight hi-quality tequila.

 

I haven't tried much of it but Saki supposedly does the trick with no glutens.

 

Gin, Vodka or other clear drinks generally have too much starch for my needs. Plus, for some reason, I seem to stay a little more in control with a good Anejo Tequila (not the typical experience).

 

I usually bring my own bottle to a gig and leave it in the car and sneak one or two in the parking lot on break.

[Michelle ggurl]

for some reason, I seem to stay a little more in control with a good Anejo Tequila (not the typical experience).

 

Boy, I'll say.

 

And see, I absolutely cannot tolerate a low-carb diet. No paleo for me, I thrive more on the diet of a typical Italian.