Help - gluten & wheat trialing

[*Kara*]

So Alexandra had some bad constipation problems back in July - was on Miralax and started to have explosive poops.  Took me a few weeks after stopping the Miralax to figure out it might be grain related... stopped all grains and almost overnight, she was back to normal poops.

It's been almost a month with no issues at all, so time to start to figure out if it is gluten or just wheat that caused the issues... or if it was just that her system wasn't ready for grains like wheat at all...or if she wasn't healed from the whole killer constipation issues...

I was giving  her a baby rice cereal labelled as gluten free - I was told that gluten free is always wheat free... apparently not in this case.  I was looking for an allergen list on the baby food company site and found one - the baby rice that is gluten free may contain traces of wheat.

Where do I go from here?  It may contain wheat, but it might not... so I don't know if she has been exposed or not!  Do I start with a grain that does contain gluten - and which one?  Giving her wheat won't tell me if it is the wheat or all gluten..

And, to make it even more complex - I can't find anything like a flour, cracker etc that is labelled wheat free but will contain gluten... Can you assume that processed with wheat has to be disclosed??

ARGH!

[deb]

There are grains other than wheat that contain gluten, including barley and rye, so being wheat-free doesn't mean being gluten-free. And many grains are processed in facilities which process wheat, so even if you get oats or rice (which are gluten-free in and of themselves), if they've been cross-contaminated with the wheat, they may contain traces of gluten, in which case the processors have to report that. It's like when something is processed in a facility that processes nuts, they have to say it *may* contain nuts or traces of nuts, even if it might not, so you have to be super-careful to avoid any cross-contamination if you know you or your LO is super-sensitive or highly-allergic to something that *might* be in there.

As to what needs to be reported, in the States they have to disclose certain things like nuts, dairy, soy, and wheat and eggs, but I don't know what needs to be reported in Canada. I imagine it's mostly the same stuff, though.

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Canada has the same as the states top 8 plus 3 more, so wheat def should be labelled. I came across a dog treat the other day that had wheat starch as the first ingredient but was gluten free, not really sure how that works.

I  think "may contains" are a grey area here and in the states and there are no laws for labelling those afaik. They have to label for things that are in their product, but not otherwise.

[*Kara*]

This one is labelled as gluten free with no mention of potential wheat contamination on the packaging at all... I found the info that it may contain trace amounts on the company website - and it wasn't something easy to find either.  Ugh.

As for containing wheat but being gluten free - I believe that I read somewhere that the gluten can be removed from wheat

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Here, I found what I was trying to say about labelling:

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/invenq/inform/allerge.shtml

In particular this part about precautionary labelling:

"This policy allows the food industry to voluntarily label products which may inadvertently contain substances capable of causing severe adverse reactions. Precautionary labelling, however, must be truthful and must not be used in lieu of adherence to legal requirements. When an allergen is likely to be present in a product, the use of precautionary labelling is not acceptable and the presence of the allergenic ingredient should be accurately declared on the label."

So, it is all up to the company as to "may contains" and you really can't know unless you call the company!  But for something to be calling itself gluten free and having wheat x-contam, that seems odd. 

[*Kara*]

But for something to be calling itself gluten free and having wheat x-contam, that seems odd.

Thanks for the link Heidi!  I will read it ASAP. 

I totally agree with your thoughts on this too!  So odd.  Since it isn't on the packaging at all - I would hope that the chances are pretty much nil - but how would you ever know?

[EloysH]

Has she been eating wheat and dairy?

If not, and she is constipated on rice cereal and wheat free grains I would assume it is an issue with digesting grains in itself, as you discovered when taking her off the grains.

I would try a gluten and dairy free diet together,  it it were me starting on a gluten free grain I would go for Quinoa or else buckwheat.  Buckwheat cooked in rice milk simmering for 20-30 mins is a lovely proridge with bannana mashed into it. Quinoa cooks like rice and and very forgiving and high in protein.

 Once she is established on gluten free grains then you can try oats, (technically only teeny tine amounts of gluten) then you can try rye - but it is very hard to find a rye bread that is 95% rye.  We have a rye and chia bread in supermarkets in the health food section.    She may tolerate selpt down the track - it is an ancient for of wheat but is low in gluten content.

If she doesn't tolerate gluten free grains then  you are looking at a grain issue and she probably needs some gut healing and gut flora to be balanced. So a multi-strain probiotic would be a start.

[*Kara*]

Thanks Eloise -

I took her off of all grains about 4 weeks ago and she was totally fine the day after the change in diet.  She does eat dairy as well, but not much and not every day.  No issues with constipation or the other way since the change - with the exception of the day before a tooth cuts   Otherwise - she is as good as gold!

i started her on a quinoa cereal a week ago (it's an adult o-style cereal), I grind it and use it like rice cereal   She loves it.  It is wheat, gluten, dairy, soy and a whole bunch of other things-free!  I am just about to start her on other grains again... I think she really just needed to heal her gut as you mentioned.  She was on a multi-strain probiotic for 3 weeks.

I was wondering what to start her on first - my SIL suggested spelt since it has gluten but is wheat free - this would tell me if it was a gluten issue or a wheat only issue... if there even is an issue and it wasn't just a gut healing issue   I thoughts oats too but they are very likely to be cross contaminated with wheat... they are next though!  This kid misses her Cheerios

[EloysH]

Glad to hear she went so well off the grains.  The advice from my naturopath and others that I have heard around the traps is that probiotics take many months to take full effect (for colonies to build up and crowd out the nasties) and should be rotated every 3 months so that different strains get a chance to establish. We have been advised to stay on the probiotics till he is at least 2.    


See how she goes on the spelt - But I would hestitate as it is a clos relatve to wheat.  I guess it might be nice to know what you are dealing with.  I could give at least a slice of spelt bread a day for a week  if you are treating it as a food challenge.

My Kai has been off gluten and dairy since day dot but still has gut issues - it's so annoying.  He has been on a broad spectrum probiotic for over 10 months and his gut is still lacking in lactobacillus (we got a gut analysis done).  He also has overgrowths of some nasty bacteria. We suspect that his is holding him back and still giving him reflux. We also some mineral imbalances, waiting for blood tests back - you need a normal zinc level to be able to produce digestive enzymes  and reflux meds hinder absorption of minerals and vitamins in general. Anyway, just a note to say that it can take some time to fogure out, your LO sounds like she is doing really well though  

[deb]

Spelt is actually a type of wheat, so using that for a trial may or may not work. I think barley has gluten though.

[EloysH]

I guess it will only tell you if you are tolerating spelt then?

[weaver]

Definitely look carefully at spelt - it is an older type of wheat and is not gluten-free though the number of bakeries that think it is, is shocking.   Barley has gluten so does rye.  If you are going for gluten-free then you shouldn't be eating oats and should be careful about malt as an ingredient (often in cornflakes, inconveniently enough).

I'm not entirely clear if you're going for gluten-free or not but if you are, then this website is very informative and clear. And it's really good on food labelling.
http://www.coeliac.ie/

And here's a really good informative blog.
http://glutenfreeeasily.com/

HTH.

[*Kara*]

Thanks ladies - we have been gluten free for 4 weeks now and are just going to start to reintroduce... we need to determine if it is gluten as a whole or just wheat that was the issue... spelt is fine for wheat free diets and does contain gluten.. I know it sounds odd, but it's true

Barley is another one that we could use to test gluten but keep wheat free...

If all goes well with the gluten trials, we will test for wheat issues...

I don't suspect gluten as a whole - she ate barley cereal for two months without an issue... if anything, it could be wheat...

[Buntybear]

Well I never! So spelt IS wheat - but is OK if you have a wheat allergy or intolerance? I have steered well clear as it normally says wheat on the packaging.

[deb]

Spelt is often used by people with sensitivity to gluten as its gluten is much lower than regular wheat - but it does still have some, yes.