Tonic Water and corn syrup??

And this uses....wait for it....sweetener! Dammit!

I was going to make a homemade soda for the kids the other day - tonic water and homemade prickly pear syrup that I picked from the cactus and washed and juiced and made with my own little thorn prickled hands. (Go, me! Another point for Yuppie House on the Prairie!)

My husband asks if I can have it, and I'm not sure, but he's already looking at the label to see and let's out a 'You've got to be kidding me.' Or something cooler and geekier, but essentially the same.

Turns out, our Tonic Water has corn syrup.

WTH? Seriously? How did I not know this had a sweetener of any kind? And it always has, far as I can tell.

Definition of Tonic Water: a carbonated beverage that derives its somewhat bitter taste from the addition of quinine. It is usually flavored with lemon or lime, lots of sugar, and often contains caffeine. (wisegeek.com)

Guess this is my 'learn something new everyday' moment. Just kind of blows my mind. So, what do the brands that we used to buy have as their sweetener? Corn syrup, of course. Sigh.

Canada Dry Tonic water: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Quinine, Natural Flavors.

Schweppes Tonic Water: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup and/or Sugar, Citric Acid, Natural Flavors, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative)Quinine.

This (more expensive, of course) Tonic water doesn't use corn syrup, however!
Q Tonic: Triple-purified water, Organic agave (sweetener), Peruvian quinine (hand-picked in
the Andes Mountains)[as opposed to elbow-picked like we poor schlubs usually get), Lemon juice extract [woo hoo, no citric acid!], Natural Flavors [Aaaaand, have to go and research the gluten and corn part again now. The fun never ends, LOL. I think I may just stick with the juice!]

But for those avoiding corn, beware with any of the mixed drink with tonic water, eh? Be safe!

Getting Glutened - what a surprise

Two weeks ago, I believe I had what I can really described as my first experience getting 'glutened.' For those who are reading this but aren't Celiacs, getting glutened is just an easy way of saying I ingested gluten. Yes, I am a hip part of the Celiac in-crowd, using the lingo and everything. Look at me go. Yee ha.

Before this? There's been the possibility that I accidentally got gluten contamination in tiny amounts, but nothing that stuck out as a definitive 'gluten reaction.' And for the record? It sucks. It sucks long and hard, like a broken, whirring hoover.

I couldn't say for sure that eating gluten is what happened, considering that this reaction hasn't happened before, but...it's the best I can come up with, and it matches the reactions of other celiacs, so I'll assume this is it. Otherwise, it's just another wacked out thing going on with my body, and I'd rather like those to stop some time soon. I'd prefer to assume this is something already known.

And what, you might ask, happened?

I ate some pistachios. Who would think this would be an issue? They were mixed in with newer nuts that I know are gluten free, and I forgot there might be other brands of nuts in our container (processed in a facility that contains wheat, the bastards). My daughter had some, and 15 minutes later her stomach was hurting something fierce. Five minutes after that, I attempted to stand up from the couch bed and had such horrible vertigo that I fell back down onto it. Couldn't get up the next two tries, either. Started having horrible nausea, then vomiting and the shakes and the sweats.

The vertigo wasn't enough to keep me down after that as long as I walked and moved very slowly for the next 4-6 hours. Vomiting died down to mere nausea. And a few days later, the dizziness was finally starting to fade completely away.

I haven't cheated on my gluten part of the diet over the last year. Been really, really good on that front, which I'm a little proud of, actually. I'm as human as the next guy, possibly a bit more lazy than some and clumsier than many, and I tend to obsess and screw up a lot, but at least on that one tiny slice of my life's pie, I did good. I didn't try to cheat and sneak gluten.

Go, me.

However, at this moment, I am amazingly even more motivated to avoid gluten. That reaction was truly nasty and very unexpected. I never HAD reactions to gluten, that I recognized, before all this started. I knew I'd been getting more sensitive to foods as time has gone on, and I have felt very bad eating many foods this last year, but this? Nope, that's new. Guess now I know what most Celiacs mean when they report that they are more sensitive to gluten after they avoid it for a while.

Let me just say, my fellow Celiacs, that I am right there with you in the nauseating trenches, dodging gluten bullets and hoping like hell I don't get hit with one again. Once was quite enough, thank you very much. Too bad gluten isn't looking like it's up for peace talks any time soon so I could stop ducking. I'd be all for that.

So, Gluten Free Tip for the day!
1. Watch out for plain, unflavored nuts. They may look safe, but many of them are processed in facilities with wheat.

Tea Bags - urban legend?

Now if you're gluten free like I am, you've probably come across safe tea as well as the evil unsafe tea that contained barley or oat products or, every once in a while, wheat products as well. If you've been gluten free for some time, you've probably also heard about tea bags as a potential gluten contamination issue.

Some tea bags are sealed with gluten (wheat paste) - at least, that's what I've read, on multiple sites. But I started getting suspicious about this when I noticed that of all the tea companies I've checked with, none of them used gluten. They used heat crimping to seal their bags. All of them.

And I called a lot of tea companies, let me tell you. I was the tea company calling dervish of doom. Telemarketers would have wept at not having me on their team.

So I queried the folks at celiac.com and no one else had actually come across a tea bag that had been sealed with gluten, either. In fact, I got the following reply from one David, a fellow forum member:

[Gluten sealed tea bags are a] Myth!

The tea bag fabric is crimped under extreme pressure causing it to bond.

My father was a production manager in Allied Suppliers (Liptons) and installed and set-up the first tea bagging machine in Ireland 40 + yrs ago.

Very interesting answer. I must admit, though, I am more cynical these days if I don't have the information straight from the horse's mouth. So I believe the first tea bagging machines in Ireland didn't use wheat paste, but part of me wonders if some modern, super-organic, back-to-nature company might think it was more 'natural' to seal their bags with wheat paste.

Weirder things have happened.

Still, the non-existence of gluten-sealed-tea-bags jives with what I've managed to research, so I'm slowly but surely beginning to lean in the direction of 'urban legend' for a wheat paste sealed tea bag. I know I'll still be calling tea companies and asking periodically; a bit more work is very much worth avoiding the reaction I'll get if I get gluten. But for those of you who have been worrying about this, maybe this information may be of some comfort.

However, if anyone knows of ANY tea bags that actually seal with gluten? Please, let me know! I'd like to put this legend to bed.

Comic Time

Some humor for all us Celiacs. All you need to know to get the entire punchline is that Mal (a character mentioned) is a very violent individual.

http://headtripcomics.comicgenesis.com/d/20071109.html

What We Can Eat

My 'what we can't eat list' was for my mom, and this new list goes out to my mom-in-law, who thought it might be more useful to get a 'what we CAN eat' list. She's probably right. :-)

So, here we go!

What We Can Eat List
(A gluten free list for our family that incorporates our other food issues, as well. It should be safe for most Celiacs, although as always, those who are more sensitive might have issues. Products' ingredients and processing can always change, so this list can become out of date at any time.)

Whole, fresh, organic veggies and herbs- Whole, because veggies cut up in the store tend to present cross-contamination issues. Fresh, because frozen, jarred, and canned veggies typically have citric acid or other ingredients on our 'no' list.

Pre-peeled baby carrots (if they are NOT by cal-organic) - seem to be okay.

Whole, fresh, organic fruits, in moderation - Whole and fresh for the same reasons as the veggies, although if the kids eat more than 2-3 fruits a day, it seems to be a problem. Kiwi and peaches are currently on the 'no' list, however.

Organic unprocessed meats (red meat, poultry, wild caught fish, wild caught shellfish) - If there is not organic meat, grass-fed will work too. No hormones/no antibiotics meat works in a pinch. No sausage, hot dogs, salami, or cured meats usually. Stores like Smith's and Fry's recommend that people not get anything made or sliced in their deli, including meats, if we are trying to avoid gluten. Applegate Farms has some luncheon meat that we can have, like their sliced roastbeef.

Whole Grains, flours, and Starches - Barry Farm Foods, Lundberg Family Farms, Purcell Mountain Farms, and Bob's Red Mill brands seem to be okay, currently. These might change as we test them out more. Ancient Harvest is okay for Quinoa grain and flour. Grains and starches we can have:
Amaranth
Arrowroot
Buckwheat
Cassava
Millet
Potato
Quinoa
Rice
Sorghum
Soy
Tapioca
Teff

Any Organic nuts, beans, and seeds - Whole or as a flour or meal, like Almond meal. Barry Farm Foods, Lundberg Family Farms, Purcell Mountain Farms, and Bob's Red Mill brands again. Many nuts are processed in facilities that process wheat, but I think any brand that said its nuts/beans were GF and weren't processed in a shared facility would be okay.

Pre-made foods:
Bariani Olive oil
Whole Foods (365 brand) Extra Virgin Olive Oils, Sunflower and Safflower oils.
Whole Foods brand grapeseed oil.
Let's Do...Organic brand organic coconut - dehydrated flakes or shredded
Edward & Sons Rice Snaps (crackers) - flavors we can have: Toasted Onion, Unsalted Plain, or Onion Garlic
San-J Organic Gluten Free Soy Sauce
Coconut Secret's Coconut Aminos (soy sauce substitute)
Lundberg Family Farms brown rice cakes
Earth Balance organic peanutbutter, smooth or crunchy
Sunbutter Sunflower Seed Spread
Bragg's apple cider vinegar
McCormick Spices will do in a pinch, although we are going to be trying Penzeys and American & Organic Spices as our regular GF brand. (Last I heard, Penzeys has a GF facility, and A&O Spices gets their products certified GF).
RealSalt sea salt or kosher sea salt - we grind it up smaller ourselves.
Hain Featherweight baking powder with potato starch
Arm & Hammer baking soda
Organicville organic Ketchup (trying this out)
Madhava agave nectar
Tinkyada rice pasta
Crown Prince Brisling Sardines in Spring Water
Santa Cruz Organic lemon and lime juice
Amy's Family marinara sauce
Simply Orange orange juice, calcium added, pulp free

A few things are being used every once in a while that I'm not completely certain about. Haven't heard back from the company on their GF status, or the kids might have had a mild reaction, but we're not certain. We'll use them in a pinch:
Organic Red or white wine vinegars of different brands - haven't found one that we completely like, yet. Going to try Annie's brand next.

I think that's about all we have, currently. No desserts look 100% good so far, although Purely Decadent makes coconut milk based ice cream that tends to be the closest the kids can have to a safe desert. And honestly? Every once in a while I'll cheat. Get a meat or other food that isn't completely organic. Get a food that says it's gluten free but might have a teensy bit of really processed corn ingredient or something. But typically, we regret it as the kids go crazy-bird on us the next day, so we're trying to be as good as we can.

We do have more foods we eat, we just tend to make them ourselves. Home made vanilla extract from potato vodka, homemade chicken broth and veggie broths, home made mustard, that sort of thing.

Something Weird This Way Comes

Life is weird. Really weird. I need a theme song to that effect, honestly. The weird life buffalo theme song. Of course, it's hopefully getting better, too, so my theme song would be having a happy crescendo right about now.

So what's going on in my world right now?

The Throat
I found a marvelous allergist who figured out WHY my throat was swelling up, and it's really odd. Odd enough that I'm very impressed he figured it out. Turns out, I have something called Paradoxical Vocal Cord Dysfunction. There are different triggers for this, but mine falls into the category of 'irritant induced.' When I come across certain smells, foods in my mouth, or food particles in the air, it makes my vocal cords all of a sudden try to shut when they should be open. Like when I need to breathe or talk. Not swelling at all, although it certainly hurts and you have trouble breathing, so you can imagine why it feels like it's swelling up.

Good news is that there are exercises that can help calm the vocal cords down after they trigger, so I can breathe a bit easier. I have to see a physical therapist for them, but even the very mild ones I've used to date have helped some. My voice will stay hoarse after I'm triggered, but I can breathe a little more, phew.

I've actually gone into a store twice now without a paper mask. I feel nearly naked, seriously. People can see my face for the first time in almost a year. It's weird. I don't think I'll be doing it again for a while, as it really does hurt when this triggers and I like to, oh, breathe normally, but to know that I CAN go without the mask? Wow. Simply wow.

And for anyone who has asthma - you should check this condition out. Depending on the study, between 40-56% of asthmatics ALSO have vocal cord dysfunction. It often gives symptoms that are very similar to asthma and so is overlooked. Also, about 10% of asthmatics who don't respond to treatment actually have vocal cord dysfunction instead, and NOT asthma. So, it's worth checking out!

The Reactions
So my allergist said he thought that the dysfunction should explain things on the 'scary' allergy front. None of my foods has given me hives, just the throat stuff, gut issues, and headaches and such. He's not sure why I'm getting other reactions from foods (we're going with celiac-related, at the moment), but if my vocal cords are the reason my throat has issues, then I should, theoretically, be able to chuck the epi-pen. My throat wasn't swelling up, just doing this and feeling like it swelled, so that should be good, right?

Unfortunately, looks like perhaps not. This week, after the diagnosis, I was, well....kind of insane. Like someone who is handed an unlimited credit card they never have to pay back and released into a mall.

I ate a bowl of ice cream. I ate a few handfuls of chips. I drank an entire glass of soda (all Gluten Free, of course). It was beyond awesome. And beyond stupid, but I kind of lost my head. Do you know how freaking LONG it's been since I had something different? And to find out that maybe some of these foods are okay to eat? There are no words. Winning a ferrari or the lottery or a whole month of babysitting are nothin' compared to this.

The ice cream made my insides about die, of course, but my throat didn't bite the dust, which is what I wanted to check when I ate it (Yeah, really. It was. And yes, I can lie to myself with the best of them.). I had the chips and the soda, and the same thing happened. And then, because one answer would be too simple, I got hives later in the day.

Son of a b!@$#.

Sigh. So much for completely chucking the epi-pen.

In some ways, I suppose this makes me think about my own body and trusting it. Yeah, my throat is doing this weirdo thing that I'd rather it didn't. But so far, out of the three things I've tried that I couldn't have, two of 'em did bad things to me. My throat feels a bit like it's my body's first line of defense. It's that asshole marine in the movies who curses and sneers but saves everyone's butt in the end by dying heroically as he holds off the horde of aliens so the other less irritating heroes can escape.

My throat is sacrificing itself so the rest of my body can dodge the bullet. Way to go throat. If only you could clue in that there are better ways to keep me away from the food. A letter would be a good start.

Dear body,
The following is a list of foods that will make you terribly ill. Don't eat them. You don't want the drama. I will text you when something good is sitting on the table and you can chow down.
Sincerely, your mouth and throat.

That would make it all so much simpler, wouldn't it?

Saving money - coupons for organic foods

Just found this lovely site, which had coupons for foods that we actually USE. Recommended by a nice article on finding coupons on organic foods.

http://www.mambosprouts.com/

Had Arrowheadmills coupons, as an example. Always good for us celiac folk!