Wheat-free? Is it worth the hassle?

rls1973

ladyfuschia i too am a veggie that's trying to avoid wheat due to tiredness etc. dont know what i would do if i didnt like quorn though! i've been to the doctor about it, they seem to have the attitude that it's your imagination, however i have been tested for ua thyroid, hormones you name it, all ok/borderline apparently. but i CAN see a difference straight away when i've had or not had wheaty foods. there is definitely something in that theory. apparently the reason we were ok for thousands of years etc etc is that we didnt used to eat so much wheat as we do now: a small amount spread over the week could be ok, but we overdo it?

are you vegan or just veggie? for meal ideas, sometimes i leave out the 'filler ' bit altogether, just have the protein bit (omelettes, for example)and just have more veg. (which is no bad thing!)


what about pototoes dauphinoise if you like garlic? (yes its still spuds but a bit different!)sliced,poached with cream/milk mix, layered in a dish with garlic,salt&peppper, rest of cream/milk mix, roast in oven till browned.

if you dont like quorn, what about the other meat-replacements that are in health food shops? or is it meat-replacements in general you dont like?i find they're a lot better than they used to be, especially with a strong sauce on!also, i could not eat lentils myself on their own, but mixed in bolognaise sauce they dont taste, you just taste the sauce!

also with the tiredness, could it be anaemia, i always take a multivitamin with iron as a sort of insurance. a lot of us veggies are supposedly short of zinc too which causes tiredness. have you looked at the vegetarian society, they might be able to supply recipe ideas. ? https://www.vegsoc.org.uk

hope you get some inspiration to keep up with the wheat-free, it does make a difference to how you feel!:)

pudding06

I have to say I dont have achoice as my son is coeliac and he cant have wheat/ gluten at all. Its taken him a while to get diagnosed but he feels so much better now his diet has changed.

If you suspect you are gluten intolerant then before you change your diet go to the doctor and ask for a test as thats the only way you'll know. If you change your diet then go you'll never know as the result will be negative.

We use rice flour, which is gluten free rather than the wheat one - go to doves farm gluten free website for veggie recipes using gram and rice or gluten free flour. The rice flour I buy is 48p for 5oog, rather than the £1.42 for a 1kg bag of gluten free. gram four is about 69p for 500g but you can make onion bhajis as a big bonus. YOu can cook pastry etc with these flours.

the pasta is expensive so we do ration it. - but it does seem to go futher than normal pasta. 125g make a big portion for one!! sometimes he has trouble fitting it on the plate. so it may be less expensive than it at first appears,

pudds

lady_fuschia

This is all really interesting. I think I may make an appointment with the doctor- last time I went complaining about my tiredness he pretty much said "well you just need to get a bit more sleep then don't you?" (Jesus how much sleep can one person need?!) and I detected a bit of an undertone of "well if you're gonna be vegetarian what do you expect?" (though I've been tested for anaemia and I'm not even borderline) But I'm with a different doctor now so maybe its worth another whirl.
Thanks for all the suggestions for food, I might give the pototoes dauphinoise a try tonight. (Do you reckon it'd work with soya milk? I'm not vegan but not too keen on dairy).
The thing with the meat substitutes is that the main reason I'm veggy is to do with not liking meat- I find quorn just tastes far too much like meat for comfort! I don't mind TVP too much as it doesn't taste quite so "meaty" (although my OH claims it smells like dogfood!)
Anyway, thanks again for all the help.

Sunny_Angel

PUDDING 06
Do you have a recipie for pastry you could post up, i would love ot be able ot make mince pies for Christmas?

Addiscomber

I can see why you are unwilling to pay what amounts to 75p per meal for the buckwheat or rice flour spaghetti :eek: but if a suitable pasta would enable you to add a far greater variety to your meals, would it be cheaper to make your own, I wonder? Doves Farm Buckwheat flour is £1.19 kg at Tesco, and that must make quite a bit of pasta. Recipes for Buckwheat pasta seem to include about a third ordinary flour but Doves Farm Gluten free flour might be OK to use. It would be a bit fiddly but you could try making it by hand to see how you got on with it. Then, if it suited you, if you have a Kenwood Chef, there is a pasta maker attachment that is under £30 at Amazon for them that appears to make several shapes.

lady_fuschia

I could have a go at pasta making actually. Is it very difficult? Does it store OK (so I could make a big batch at the weekend when I have the time and use it later in the week)?

SusanCarter

I'd recommend going to the doctor again. I got really tired even though I was having plenty sleep in my final year of university. First time I went to the doctor they said it was probably a virus and to go back in a week if I was not better. I ended up going back after five days and they did tests which found I was slightly low on iron. She gave me iron tablets and they made a huge difference. A year later when I was telling my friend about it she was amazed at how ill I'd been as when she'd had anaemia she'd had much lower iron levels than mine but not been anywhere near as tired. Even when the doctor gave me the iron tablets she didn't seem to convinced as my iron levels weren't excessively low so shouldn't have made me so tired. I'm not saying that this is what you have but if you are persistent in going to the doctor then they should look into it more. I've found that some doctors almost always send you away the first time when it is something unclear like this and only do something if you go back.