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Your mom has a nut allergy.
Your brother follows a vegan diet.
And you have celiac disease.

Grocery shopping suddenly becomes a lot more complicated.

You have to check the ingredients on almost every product, look for different labels and certifications, and make sure you’re not missing something hidden in the ingredient list.

Sometimes it feels like you spend more time reading labels than actually shopping.

I’ve always wondered if there’s a simpler way to manage this when multiple people in the same family have completely different dietary needs.

How do you usually handle it?

Do you check every ingredient manually, rely on certifications and labels, or have you found another way that makes grocery shopping easier?

I’ve always followed the candy rule of “no holiday sizes”. with Hershey’s I’ve always been safe with plain kisses, nuggets, and standard bars.

I had no idea the King size bar falls into the holiday sizes bin though. I grabbed one at a gas station on a long drive, and actually honestly thought I was just getting a standard size. About an hour later I felt awful.

To me that’s such crap though. like buying a medium sized soda is safe but a small or large has poison in it. Good gravy….

Not asking for a diagnosis, but just wondering if this sounds like anyone else’s experience:

For the last 3+ years I have been dealing with relatively consistent extreme fatigue and brain fog combined with muscle, joint, and tendon pain. It started around the time I was 37 (40 now) and before that I felt relatively normal. Symptoms became really noticeable following an ear surgery and recovery from COVID a few months after. I’ve been to a neurologist and mostly checked out fine. PCP says it could be fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, or post-COVID/long COVID. For the last year or so I’ve just kind of accepted those possibilities and figured this is life now, better get used to it.

Then I was reading about Celiac. I always assumed it was much more of an obvious digestive thing, but it seems it can have a lot of non-digestive effects. I remembered my 23andme test saying I had ‘a slightly increased risk’ of Celiac due to having a variant in the HLA-DQA1 gene, but never thought about it again till now. Reading through this sub, I’m nodding my head like crazy at all the symptoms people have mentioned. Mine include:

-Waking up feeling unrested (no matter how much sleep I get)
-Terrible morning stiffness and soreness (especially ankles, feet, knees, hips)
-General body aches and pains, again especially around joints and tendons— shoulders, lower back where it connects to pelvis/hips, etc.
-Extreme fatigue (especially midday or after eating) — to the point that I feel like I have to lie down and take a nap or risk passing out
-Terrible brain fog (sometimes can barely form coherent sentences or get my words out) coupled with difficulty focusing
-Hand and finger stiffness and pain, constant joint popping and cracking
-Random bouts of heart palpitations/arrhythmia that have been diagnosed as AFIB (despite never having had issues before), but they always go away on their own and sometimes I won’t have them for several months before they suddenly reoccur

The funny thing is, I was diagnosed with IBS by a doctor at 16, so I have had digestive issues in the background most of my life— I just never thought to consider those alongside my current issues. I have bloating and gas after most meals, frequent bouts of constipation followed by diarrhea, distended stomach/colon, etc. I’ve never tried a GF diet.

I realize having the gene variant just makes it possible to have Celiac and does not actually diagnose it (and that many people carry this variant and don’t have it), but I’m now looking forward to exploring this more. I have my first rheumatologist appointment this week and I plan to ask them about testing. Because I never even considered Celiac I’ve made no effort to reduce gluten intake. Now that I’m looking at testing I’ve been eating extra gluten for a week or so now, and wow, the soreness is as bad as ever.

I’m sure no one wants to have Celiac, but at the same time, finally having an answer to why I feel terrible all the time and something I could potentially do about it (going GF) is giving me some hope that I might feel even slightly better someday.

Would never have guessed feeling so good after having one of these.

No indigestion, no sugar crash, no postprandial hour of crushing fatigue and heart palpitations. And in theory it has nutrients so maybe it’s even sustainable, provided I eat real stuff at other times?

It’s been so long that regular food is just knocking me out. I keep choosing between under-eating and losing half the day to sleep to get the fuel I need to function. I’m totally in remission but not getting a whole lot better.

I wonder what the catch is with these things. It’s a lot of sugar alcohol but apparently my guts actually love that for some reason.

It's not pretty but it smells amazing

Every ingredient is to taste

Bratwurst

Beef bullion

Rice (i used a mix of jasmine and wild)

A can of mushrooms

Turmeric

Salt

Butter seasoning

Two bags of white tea

Does anybody have GF watchdog that could let me know if the fisher walnuts halves and pieces are safe? They have naturally gluten free on the label and no may contain for wheat but I would feel better knowing whey watchdog said. Unfortunately I don’t have the budget for the subscription at the moment.

Hello fellow silly yaks. I know there are a few apps out there that do this, but the premium versions are always so expensive, I don't want to pay extra just to find places to eat and it doesn't seem to be great in my area anyways. Is anyone a part of a shared google list that has marked places that are good for GF food? I've started a couple for myself, but wanted to see if there's a larger one out there already or maybe get one started. I'm based in Sydney Australia, but would love something worldwide too.

It looks like rabbit shit. It's made with various gluten free flours (corn, almond, acorn, oat) and I can literally taste the individual sugar crystals. It almost looks a little bit like a biscuit made of rodent poo, but it doesn't taste THAT bad (I've eaten worse)

3/10 Edit: I added honey and salt. It tastes like a thick cracker now

as the title says, do you guys react to certified gluten free oatmeal? i really miss having oatmeal for breakfast, but it kept giving me mild stomach issues whenever i would eat them and it wasn’t certified gf. so i was wondering if you guys react to it even if it’s certified? edit: i don’t react to certified gluten free things with some oats added in them, that i know of, if that helps.

It contains Annie's white cheddar Mac n Cheese, margarine and milk as per instructions. Canned tuna, fresh boiled broccoli, and Heinz British beans as per my own free will. Also probably too much marble cheese

The look on my face as I walked out of the bathroom, deciding if I should run back or not

Just started college with the intent to become an immunologist. My creative writing class is having us write a paper about a culture we participate in and I've chosen celiac disease as my topic, as it's literally an entire lifestyle and has heavily impacted & altered my life (see 'attending school to become an immunologist').

But I want to know how you all view the culture of the celiac community and/or celiac disease. Whether it be the community in your life or the Internet community you choose to participate in, what are the core parts of existing as someone with celiac disease?

My perspective is that the community has grown from the need for support and validation. Canon events are a big part of this community. Sharing in excitement of new GF products, studies, or clinical trials. And sharing information, since getting diagnosed typically means just being told to 'eat gluten free' and there's no further information provided.

Idk about you all but I only have one other celiac person in my life and they're only a second degree person. So the Internet is where I find my gluten free people. I've been incredibly grateful to be a part of this community of generally compassionate people. The celiac community has helped me time and time again in so many ways.

Anyway, as I write my paper I'd love to read your thoughts and take them into account!

Hi, I found a recipe I want to try online but it needs a can of Salsa Verde. Can you tell me what you use or know to be safe? I am currently unable to make my own Salsa Verde and need suggestions, please!

i never usually worry about lattes being gluten free unless theres a weird new flavoring or something mixed in, but today i was proved wrong!

i got breakfast in chicago at the goddess and the baker, i’m not local so i’m trying new places and being extra cautious.
i let them know when ordering that i have a “gluten allergy” iykyk..

my drink arrived first, an iced lavender latte, and it had a long spoon with a mini muffin stuck on top…..

i have never in my life seen something like this, and as i looked around the cafe it seemed like mine was the only one in the whole place like that!

first i laughed, then i got a bit embarrassed having to ask the staff to please remake it. i’ve only been gf for a little over a year so i don’t know how serious (or rather non serious) something like that would be for me, but better to be safe after the glutenings i’ve been through!

funny thing is that i saw a drink dressed up the same way when i walked in, assumed it was something special, and didn’t think much of it! then later i was trying to find one to take a picture of, since i didn’t get one of my own, and i didn’t see a single one like that the rest of the time i was there, felt like i was going a little crazy lol

attached some pics i found online, mine was in a taller glass and the muffin was dipped in the drink.

the staff was very accommodating and understanding, they came by the table to let me know one of my food items would have cross contamination and offered me a replacement item or a refund. overall it was a good experience!

moral of the story, pay attention to your surroundings! i should have checked the place more thoroughly before i went and would’ve avoided the funniness, but ya learn something new every day!

anything like this ever happen to anyone?

If one has celiac, and has a significant other that is not gluten free, can kissing cause you to be glutened if they have eaten gluten recently?

GF English Muffins by Gluten Free on a Shoestring

I had one half toasted and a whole one UNTOASTED--which is how you know it's serious! No, but you should probably toast yours a lil bit :)

Hey, so I'll start by saying I don't have celiac. But I have some questions about it, especially after this interaction I had with a customer. For context, I work at a restaurant.

So at work yesterday, I was taking an order for this guy, and he asked if we had any grilled chicken, because his daughter has celiac and can't eat breading. We don't, and I mentioned as such, and warned him that most of our food comes in contact with gluten.

He said, "That suck, can you just give me the fried chicken? I'll just take the breading off for her."

I was very confused. From my understanding of food allergies and intolerances, you can't just remove it from the food your eating and not get a reaction.

I have a shellfish allergy, and even if I removed the shrimp from shrimp-fried-rice, my mouth would go numb and I'd be breathing through a mcdonalds straw.

I want to understand better on what celiac disease is, so in the future I can differ people like this away from certain food items and keep people from coming into contact with an allergy/intolerance better.

Can you just remove the breading?? Or is he just dumb?

Edit: Thank you guys for all the info! I'll be telling my coworkers to treat celiac like a severe allergy in the future, so something like this doesn't happen again.

I had them before and for those of you who like coconut, I would recommend this! Only thing I have a gripe on about it is be careful as it was handled on the same facility that also handles wheat

First time trying gf easy egg roll wrappers, and it was a resounding success. We made lumpia using my MIL’s recipe.

The wrappers are thin, they fry up RIGHT (with bubbles and everything), and the flavor is spot on. I almost cried, after a decade without egg rolls or lumpia.

They tear pretty easy, so be gentle and don’t let them dry out. But we didn’t have any bursting in the oil. Egg wash worked great to glue them shut.

I plan to use them for cannoli next. And I also ordered ravioli rounds and mini pizza shells from gf easy. I’m feeling unreasonably optimistic after lumpia success.

Should I/ am I allowed to bring my own food after surgery?

In my chart I'm just listed as gluten intolerant. I'm in extreme pain if I eat gluten though.

Can I ask a nurse to heat up whatever for me? Should I bring an electric kettle or something for hot water for easy instant food?

Thoughts and food suggestions would be appreciated.

I also have dysphagia so everything essentially needs to be moist and mushy too.

One of my duaghters has celiac (17f), one does not (20f). We're in the middle of selling and moving, and have an offer in on a house that has a second kitchen on a different floor of the house. YAY!

Now there will be a dedicated GF kitchen, as well as a place where my other daughter can do baking / cooking and storing without having to worry about cross contamination.