The wheat & gluten, dairy free/organic diets on the cheap thread

mrsd

For those of you who need Gluten/wheat free diets and are on benefits/low incomes/just cant afford it, there are biscuits, flour, bread mixes, bread, rolls and pasta all available on prescription (even someone on a low income may be able to afford a pre-payment certificate which keeps costs down). My mum has been coeliac all her life so I am well versed in gluten/wheat free foods though am very fortunate not to suffer myself. Admittedly some of the prescription stuff isnt as good as the expensive shop bought products e.g. only rich tea or digestive type biscuits are available but they can be jazzed up to make cheesecake base or fridge cake type things. The pasta with a good sauce is very palatable and the bread mix makes a reasonable loaf in a BM and is better for cakes and pastry than the regular gluten free flour. For those who cannot have gluten/wheat and dairy its worth reading the free from packets as sometimes egg is classed as dairy there is no milkproduct in them and some people can tolerate it. Finally A$da do Smartprice soya milk for less than 60p a litre my lactose intolerant neice has no problems drinking this. Bisto Best gravy in the jars is gluten free often on offer (even in L1dl) and nicer than the "proper" gluten free ones. Hope this does not sound patronising just want to pass on my 40 years of experience!

rising_from_the_ashes

Hawthorn wrote: »

Because sometimes you just really crave a biscuit/pizza/pack of crisps/slice of toast.

Hawthorn wrote: »

Anyway, I found a lot of what I found difficult in no longer being able to eat most processed foods, was the ability to say stuff it, I'll grab a hotdog for lunch, or hey I'm tired, let's have a chipshop for dinner, or a can of tomato soup and a sandwich.
Sometimes, the thought of having to cook everything from scratch wears me out.

Yup, agree with you there 100% - I also miss eating out. Although I didn't do this hugely often, it's nice to be able to go out with friends / colleagues and pick something off a menu without worrying about it.

I never go to things like work lunches / Christmas party nights etc as it's just impossible to get something off the menus and lots of people don't understand why you're not going - they just think you're making excuses.

brenda50

Many people like me cannot get prescriptions as they test negative for the celiac test but are still unable to take gluten.

miss_minx

Thank you to the person who started this thread. My lo is 17 months old and from 4 weeks old we knew something was right, he vomited most feeds back, across the room and nappies were just awful. After 3 weeks of arguing with my gp my health visitor suggested a perscription milk. worked well for a while but had to be changed again. Finally after tests at the hospital they decided he has allergy to lactose and soya and is only able to tolerate gluten in small amounts.

we use vitalite butter in baking and as a family eat lots of soups and stews. We all eat healthier as a result. Also found a slow cooker was a god send as could use cheaper cuts of meat, bulked with veggies and would feed a family of four with 1 or 2 portions for the freezer.

The hardest thing is when he's around other children as they find it hard to understand, especially his 6 yr old brother who always wants to share his treats and lo wants to try what you have.

mrsd

brenda50 wrote: »

Many people like me cannot get prescriptions as they test negative for the celiac test but are still unable to take gluten.

That seems unfair especially as your health must suffer as a result of the intolerance. Would the chemist be able to sell you the products? From what I have seen on my mums stuff the products are generally cheaper than supermarket biscuits for instance 99p rather than 1.99 I realise thats still a lot more than regular stuff but it might still be a saving.

adamantine

misskool wrote: »

Sorry, you're a bit confused here.

Lactose is made up of one molecule of galactose and one molecule of glucose (2 different types of sugars). Most people lack an enzyme called lactase to digest that specific sugar.

When lactose is digested, most people can digest the galactose and glucose.

I'm lactose intolerent, I can't drink a whole glass of milk but I can nibble hard cheeses as most of the lactose has already been digested (by fermentation) for me before I consume it. Butter is not a problem as it's mostly fat and the sugars are water soluble, thereby the process of making butter removes the lactose.

Also, something to watch out for those who are very sensitive to lactose is that many medicines are made with lactose to bind it together.

i am aware of how lactose is made up and how its broken down i dont need a biology lesson. you are just saying exactly the same as i did but in a more complex way. i was keeping it simple for those who have not studied biology at a higher level.

misskool

brenda50 wrote: »

"I eat a lot of soy products, tempeh and tofu as have many people in Asia"

Asian diets contain small amounts of soy products. It is a misunderstanding that there is a large amount eaten.

There are many reports such as this one

http://www.naturalnews.com/022630.html

which show that soy is harmful especially in its genetically modified form which was of course not the form traditionally used in Asia.

As for sugar, it all depends on how sick one is whether ones system can deal with what is a highly refined and unnatural form of food and one which sends the blood sugar levels of ones body haywire.

Having been brought up in South East Asia, I certainly know how much soya products are eaten .

In my previous post, I presented this review
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16571087

"Thus, collectively the findings provide little evidence that in euthyroid, iodine-replete individuals, soy foods, or isoflavones adversely affect thyroid function. In contrast, some evidence suggests that soy foods, by inhibiting absorption, may increase the dose of thyroid hormone required by hypothyroid patients. However, hypothyroid adults need not avoid soy foods."

For someone who advocates natural foods, xylitol is produced by hydrogenation of xylose, converting the sugar into a primary alcohol.
Cane sugar is produced by extracting raw sugar from sugar cane and then drying it for raw sugar.

Anyways, I don't want to take this thread off topic so I'm done for now.

adamantine

brenda50 wrote: »

Many people like me cannot get prescriptions as they test negative for the celiac test but are still unable to take gluten.

DS2 was tests for celiac but as he was already on a gluten free diet it obv came back negative and i refused to deliberatly make my son for a test which isnt that accurate so we cannot get anything on rx at all.

miss_minx wrote: »

Thank you to the person who started this thread. My lo is 17 months old and from 4 weeks old we knew something was right, he vomited most feeds back, across the room and nappies were just awful. After 3 weeks of arguing with my gp my health visitor suggested a perscription milk. worked well for a while but had to be changed again. Finally after tests at the hospital they decided he has allergy to lactose and soya and is only able to tolerate gluten in small amounts.

we use vitalite butter in baking and as a family eat lots of soups and stews. We all eat healthier as a result. Also found a slow cooker was a god send as could use cheaper cuts of meat, bulked with veggies and would feed a family of four with 1 or 2 portions for the freezer.

The hardest thing is when he's around other children as they find it hard to understand, especially his 6 yr old brother who always wants to share his treats and lo wants to try what you have.

DS2 is 2 years old now and has learned to check with me before he eats anything and his big bro (5) always asks people if its gluten or dairy free and whenever i buy him a treat he keeps saying "we need to get something gluten free for ****"

tryingtoruletheworld

I have found plain old brown rice flour to be just as good for pastry and biscuits as the lack of gluten makes it very 'short' and makes for a good crumb. It also works for cake if you can use eggs as they help to hold it all together. If you are avoiding wheat but not gluten rye sourdough bread is a bit of an acquired taste, but so delicious once you get used to it, Village Bakery do one, but I make my own as it is very easy and much cheaper.

I like the flavour of oat milk, but mainly use it for baking. I whizz up some oats in a mini chopper and soak in water for 5 mins, use the liquid 'milk' and use the leftover oats in the cake/pudding or add to porridge the next day. Ecomil make a powdered almond milk which whilst still expensive, means I can use a tiny bit at a time and keep it for a while.

Pure margarine is my fav, but vitalite is £1 at Asda at the moment and there is a 30p off coupon on the boards if anyone is looking to save money! I save the most money by having a good local box scheme with lots of organic fruits and veggies that usually work out pretty well compared to supermarket prices. They also sell grocery items, which are cheaper bought in bulk.

For different carbs quinoa is nice but pricey. Pearl barley is super cheap and very tasty, one that people often overlook as a staple grain. Buckwheat also works out pretty cheap. Pulses are a good way of avoiding pricey replacements seen as they are starchy enough not to need bread etc. If you have the time/energy making your own stock and freezing it can save quite a bit, and I make and freeze spicy potato wedges/southern fries to have as a quick fix. Crumbles are a great way of making a wheat/dairy/gluten free pudding as you can use gluten free flour or oats if you can tolerate them, dairy free margarine and sugar. Since I found out custard powder is essentially just cornflour and turmeric I have been making my own custard too, which works well enough with dairy-free milk if you have it along with stewed fruit/crumble/cake. I will dig out the quantities if anyone wants them! I also have a great recipe for dairy free chocolate custard.

brenda50

"Thus, collectively the findings provide little evidence that in euthyroid, iodine-replete individuals, soy foods, or isoflavones adversely affect thyroid function. In contrast, some evidence suggests that soy foods, by inhibiting absorption, may increase the dose of thyroid hormone required by hypothyroid patients. However, hypothyroid adults need not avoid soy foods."

misskool. there are many people who have hypothyroid symptoms yet do not show a raised TSH in tests, a significant number of whom, like me, are denied treatment by their GP`s and are having to buy thyroid hormones from countries where they are sold legally and treat themselves. It is known amongst them, exactly which foods slow down further their thyroid glands, including brassicas and millet through noting their symptoms, the method doctors used in the past, pre laboratory obsession days, once they educate themselves about the issue. Fluoride does this too. I don`t set much store on tests done by huge profit making corporations, after finding out how the tests can be manipulated to show just what they want them to show.

Barley is a gluten containing grain. Rice does not contain gluten, the rest are seeds including millet, buckwheat, and quinoa.