Comments on: Shopping Tips for the Gluten and Corn free Diet http://healthy-family.org/caryn/81/shopping-tips-for-the-wheat-free-corn-free-diet Staying healthy in our modern world Sun, 06 May 2012 08:03:34 +0000 hourly 1 By: Tomas Mackevicius http://healthy-family.org/caryn/81/shopping-tips-for-the-wheat-free-corn-free-diet#comment-1908 Tomas Mackevicius Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:11:21 +0000 http://healthy-family.org/caryn/81#comment-1908 There are two articles about pizza: http://healthy-family.org/?s=pizza+crust And some about bread: http://healthy-family.org/?s=bread Hope this will help ;) There are two articles about pizza:

http://healthy-family.org/?s=pizza+crust

And some about bread:

http://healthy-family.org/?s=bread

Hope this will help ;)

]]> By: Angie Cote' http://healthy-family.org/caryn/81/shopping-tips-for-the-wheat-free-corn-free-diet#comment-1907 Angie Cote' Fri, 21 Oct 2011 19:37:02 +0000 http://healthy-family.org/caryn/81#comment-1907 I have not had the chance to read the entire web site but I have read some and know this is the place I need to be. Found out my 11 yr old son is allergic to wheat and corn and this past week went on a very strict diet. I feel so overwhelmed and I know this is what he needs it was am immediate change and he's already improving. However he is very angry and upset and has a great deal of attitude. I see making stuff from scratch is a must but where I am stuck is bread and pizza crust. I need to get it together to make this process a much easier one for him. Any help or suggestions is greatly appreciated. I have not had the chance to read the entire web site but I have read some and know this is the place I need to be. Found out my 11 yr old son is allergic to wheat and corn and this past week went on a very strict diet. I feel so overwhelmed and I know this is what he needs it was am immediate change and he’s already improving. However he is very angry and upset and has a great deal of attitude. I see making stuff from scratch is a must but where I am stuck is bread and pizza crust. I need to get it together to make this process a much easier one for him. Any help or suggestions is greatly appreciated.

]]> By: Vicki http://healthy-family.org/caryn/81/shopping-tips-for-the-wheat-free-corn-free-diet#comment-1675 Vicki Tue, 16 Aug 2011 17:33:50 +0000 http://healthy-family.org/caryn/81#comment-1675 I am so thrilled and grateful to discover your website in regards to a combination of wheat and corn allergy. Sometimes it feels daunting to try to cope and eat well with these allergies. Few people truly understand the scope of having these two allergies. So again thank you for your support, understanding and suggested ideas. I am so thrilled and grateful to discover your website in regards to a combination of wheat and corn allergy. Sometimes it feels daunting to try to cope and eat well with these allergies. Few people truly understand the scope of having these two allergies. So again thank you for your support, understanding and suggested ideas.

]]> By: Caryn Talty http://healthy-family.org/caryn/81/shopping-tips-for-the-wheat-free-corn-free-diet#comment-894 Caryn Talty Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:19:39 +0000 http://healthy-family.org/caryn/81#comment-894 Julie, Oh my gosh-- Dairy..... Almost all dairy products are infested with corn by-products. You really have to learn your brands and how to read labels. Here is my 'safe products' list: <a href="http://healthy-family.org/safe-products">http://healthy-family.org/safe-products</a>. It is certainly not complete and manufacturers often change their formulations so do read the label before you buy, but this list was born out of necessity when my son was first diagnosed. I also thought my son had a dairy allergy problem and was even told by my doctor to take him off of all dairy. Funny thing he improved after that a little bit. A couple years later when we did allergy testing he was negative for dairy. He can now eat any dairy that is also corn free without problems. If it has corn in it he will start grinding his teeth. It is weird. Usually we see it with cheese products more than anything. We only buy organic dairy products. Most cheeses are dusted with corn starch to keep them from sticking to the plastic wrap. Sliced cheeses and shredded cheeses are 'all' contaminated as far as I am concerned. We buy blocked cheese and shred it ourselves. We are not in the habit of eating cheeses, though, because we have had such bad luck with it. There was only one brand of cottage cheese (Friendly Farms from Whole Foods) that turned out okay for my son. Ricotta, forget about it. I have yet to find one. Avoid the deli due to cross contamination and only buy in prepackaged containers. We use only Daisy Sour Cream and rely more on kefir than on milk in baking and in our morning health shake. For the longest time my son never even drank milk. He might do it occasionally now. Salt. Table salt uses maltodextrin to stick the iodine to the grain. Maltodextrin is made from corn. We only use sea salt at home. I am sure he gets it in minute doses when we eat out or in some packaged foods. So try to think 'low sodium' in packaged products and hopefully it won't be a problem. My son's symptoms 'were' neurological. So we saw the reaction almost immediately after the food. Now it has been so long since we started the diet that he doesn't react like that anymore. He tolerates more but we still don't 'allow' it because we don't want him to regress and get sickly and reactive again. I can get a lot of frozen products at my celiac store. Breads, rolls, donuts, soups, mini meals. I shop at Lil's Dietary Shop. If you find a store that is willing to order a product for you that is helpful. We have ordered in bulk through her store. Julie,
Oh my gosh– Dairy…..
Almost all dairy products are infested with corn by-products. You really have to learn your brands and how to read labels.
Here is my ‘safe products’ list: http://healthy-family.org/safe-products. It is certainly not complete and manufacturers often change their formulations so do read the label before you buy, but this list was born out of necessity when my son was first diagnosed.
I also thought my son had a dairy allergy problem and was even told by my doctor to take him off of all dairy. Funny thing he improved after that a little bit. A couple years later when we did allergy testing he was negative for dairy. He can now eat any dairy that is also corn free without problems. If it has corn in it he will start grinding his teeth. It is weird. Usually we see it with cheese products more than anything. We only buy organic dairy products. Most cheeses are dusted with corn starch to keep them from sticking to the plastic wrap. Sliced cheeses and shredded cheeses are ‘all’ contaminated as far as I am concerned. We buy blocked cheese and shred it ourselves. We are not in the habit of eating cheeses, though, because we have had such bad luck with it. There was only one brand of cottage cheese (Friendly Farms from Whole Foods) that turned out okay for my son. Ricotta, forget about it. I have yet to find one. Avoid the deli due to cross contamination and only buy in prepackaged containers. We use only Daisy Sour Cream and rely more on kefir than on milk in baking and in our morning health shake. For the longest time my son never even drank milk. He might do it occasionally now.
Salt.
Table salt uses maltodextrin to stick the iodine to the grain. Maltodextrin is made from corn. We only use sea salt at home. I am sure he gets it in minute doses when we eat out or in some packaged foods. So try to think ‘low sodium’ in packaged products and hopefully it won’t be a problem. My son’s symptoms ‘were’ neurological. So we saw the reaction almost immediately after the food. Now it has been so long since we started the diet that he doesn’t react like that anymore. He tolerates more but we still don’t ‘allow’ it because we don’t want him to regress and get sickly and reactive again.
I can get a lot of frozen products at my celiac store. Breads, rolls, donuts, soups, mini meals. I shop at Lil’s Dietary Shop. If you find a store that is willing to order a product for you that is helpful. We have ordered in bulk through her store.

]]> By: Julie http://healthy-family.org/caryn/81/shopping-tips-for-the-wheat-free-corn-free-diet#comment-886 Julie Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:23:24 +0000 http://healthy-family.org/caryn/81#comment-886 Thanks for the suggestions. I did not consider dairy being a problem. Is it because the cows are corn fed? He tested negative to a lactose intolerance, which was a surprise to me. He has never had much luck with dairy. It seems to trigger alot of IBS attacks. Also, why sea salt vs. regular salt? Do you buy the frozen products at your local Celiacs store? Thanks for the suggestions. I did not consider dairy being a problem. Is it because the cows are corn fed? He tested negative to a lactose intolerance, which was a surprise to me. He has never had much luck with dairy. It seems to trigger alot of IBS attacks. Also, why sea salt vs. regular salt? Do you buy the frozen products at your local Celiacs store?

]]> By: Caryn Talty http://healthy-family.org/caryn/81/shopping-tips-for-the-wheat-free-corn-free-diet#comment-884 Caryn Talty Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:23:09 +0000 http://healthy-family.org/caryn/81#comment-884 Julie, Your son is really going to need to go cold turkey to feel better, just my experience. Corn is tough but not impossible to avoid if you know what you can have. We have a wheat and corn free house. All the members do not eat that way exclusively, but the food in the house is all safe for our allergic son. We eat a lot of whole foods and organics. I will tell you that my son's severity to corn has lessened over the last three years and I attribute that to strict avoidance. The longer you avoid the allergen the lower the antibody levels drop, and they drop slowly, over time. They do not fluctuate with every meal. It takes years to get them to go down. So if he eats just a little every day then it does nothing for his intolerance as the antibody levels will remain high. Many celiacs test positive for gluten antibodies up to two years after they remove it from their diets. I think corn is the same, to be honest. He is going to have to want to do it. At his age he should be able to do his own shopping too. Does he drive? Trader Joe's is great for gluten labeling, but corn is tricky. If the family doesn't want to conform to the diet, maybe you could clean out a cabinet for your son. Your son is not alone. Many folks are finding they are allergic to corn. There may be a support group at his school for allergies. You may want to look into a local MOCHA group too. (Mothers of Children Having Allergies). Your son will need a local support group of peers. Maybe call the school nurse and have a chat? My son has friends at his school with food allergies and it helps that he knows he isn't alone. In our house we are careful with our meats and do not buy meat that is fed from feed lots as they are mostly corn fed. We buy organic free range eggs and chicken. When the corn allergy dx was first discovered we didn't do these things and I thought that might be extreme but now feel it was worth it. Some things your son can do are eating at home before he goes out, keeping a bag of non-perishable snacks in his locker and the car for food emergencies-- (Larabars, etc...), and learning to cook. He's 16, and will need to do this for survival when it's time for him to move out, possibly when he starts college, and it will help you tremendously with your schedule, etc... In our house our son eats a big breakfast before heading out the door. He usually eats leftovers at lunch time (we rely a lot on crockpot cooking). There are some new gluten free ready made products now available that are also corn free. We are fortunate to have a good celiac store near us and they are always finding unique products. I have used frozen apple pies, frozen individual soups, and frozen ready to use pizza dough. But remember, if candida is a problem then the pizzas and pies are not ideal. I downloaded an applet on my iphone recently that helps me to keep organized with gluten and corn free products we buy from various stores. It even allows me to photograph the item for easy reference. This helps me when I have to send someone else shopping for me. This is just an idea I though I would throw out. Trader Joe's labels their gluten free well, but not all are corn free, as you know. If you visit www.cornallergens.com and click on the page that lists ingredients that are corn derived you will be able to navigate pretty well on the first shopping trip. We have had a lot of luck with Trader Joe's, but we also use our local celiac store a lot too. Things that you can do in the house for starters: do not buy salted butter or regular iodized salt. Get only sea salt. Try as best you can to eliminate all things with citric acid in them. Try to avoid dairy unless it is on my safe foods list. Dairy in general is loaded with corn by products. Especially shredded cheeses, sour creams, and cottage cheeses. Even regular milk is dodgy. We shred all our own cheese and are careful with our brands. The only ketchup we have found was muir glen. The only mustard was at whole foods. We only use spectrum canola mayo (not the light). I am not sure if you are aware, but there have been correlations found between celiac/gluten intolerance and depression, ADHD, OCD, and schizophrenia. This might be motivating for your son in light of your family situation. Wheat, peanuts, and corn are loaded with mycotoxins, and so the allergies to them might be a direct result of the candida/fungal issues he is struggling with. We eat Pamela's mini chocolate chip cookies. You can buy them in bulk through Amazon.com. We also get an Allerenergy bar that is gluten/corn free and tastes pretty good. I have to caution that a fungal issue really needs to be treated with a low sugar diet, especially in the beginning. Once the gut has healed then sweets in moderation are probably okay. Julie,
Your son is really going to need to go cold turkey to feel better, just my experience. Corn is tough but not impossible to avoid if you know what you can have. We have a wheat and corn free house. All the members do not eat that way exclusively, but the food in the house is all safe for our allergic son. We eat a lot of whole foods and organics. I will tell you that my son’s severity to corn has lessened over the last three years and I attribute that to strict avoidance. The longer you avoid the allergen the lower the antibody levels drop, and they drop slowly, over time. They do not fluctuate with every meal. It takes years to get them to go down. So if he eats just a little every day then it does nothing for his intolerance as the antibody levels will remain high. Many celiacs test positive for gluten antibodies up to two years after they remove it from their diets. I think corn is the same, to be honest.
He is going to have to want to do it. At his age he should be able to do his own shopping too. Does he drive? Trader Joe’s is great for gluten labeling, but corn is tricky. If the family doesn’t want to conform to the diet, maybe you could clean out a cabinet for your son.

Your son is not alone. Many folks are finding they are allergic to corn. There may be a support group at his school for allergies. You may want to look into a local MOCHA group too. (Mothers of Children Having Allergies). Your son will need a local support group of peers. Maybe call the school nurse and have a chat? My son has friends at his school with food allergies and it helps that he knows he isn’t alone.

In our house we are careful with our meats and do not buy meat that is fed from feed lots as they are mostly corn fed. We buy organic free range eggs and chicken. When the corn allergy dx was first discovered we didn’t do these things and I thought that might be extreme but now feel it was worth it.
Some things your son can do are eating at home before he goes out, keeping a bag of non-perishable snacks in his locker and the car for food emergencies– (Larabars, etc…), and learning to cook. He’s 16, and will need to do this for survival when it’s time for him to move out, possibly when he starts college, and it will help you tremendously with your schedule, etc… In our house our son eats a big breakfast before heading out the door. He usually eats leftovers at lunch time (we rely a lot on crockpot cooking).

There are some new gluten free ready made products now available that are also corn free. We are fortunate to have a good celiac store near us and they are always finding unique products. I have used frozen apple pies, frozen individual soups, and frozen ready to use pizza dough. But remember, if candida is a problem then the pizzas and pies are not ideal.

I downloaded an applet on my iphone recently that helps me to keep organized with gluten and corn free products we buy from various stores. It even allows me to photograph the item for easy reference. This helps me when I have to send someone else shopping for me. This is just an idea I though I would throw out.

Trader Joe’s labels their gluten free well, but not all are corn free, as you know. If you visit http://www.cornallergens.com and click on the page that lists ingredients that are corn derived you will be able to navigate pretty well on the first shopping trip.
We have had a lot of luck with Trader Joe’s, but we also use our local celiac store a lot too.

Things that you can do in the house for starters: do not buy salted butter or regular iodized salt. Get only sea salt. Try as best you can to eliminate all things with citric acid in them. Try to avoid dairy unless it is on my safe foods list. Dairy in general is loaded with corn by products. Especially shredded cheeses, sour creams, and cottage cheeses. Even regular milk is dodgy. We shred all our own cheese and are careful with our brands. The only ketchup we have found was muir glen. The only mustard was at whole foods. We only use spectrum canola mayo (not the light).

I am not sure if you are aware, but there have been correlations found between celiac/gluten intolerance and depression, ADHD, OCD, and schizophrenia. This might be motivating for your son in light of your family situation.

Wheat, peanuts, and corn are loaded with mycotoxins, and so the allergies to them might be a direct result of the candida/fungal issues he is struggling with.

We eat Pamela’s mini chocolate chip cookies. You can buy them in bulk through Amazon.com. We also get an Allerenergy bar that is gluten/corn free and tastes pretty good. I have to caution that a fungal issue really needs to be treated with a low sugar diet, especially in the beginning. Once the gut has healed then sweets in moderation are probably okay.

]]> By: Julie Mahaffey http://healthy-family.org/caryn/81/shopping-tips-for-the-wheat-free-corn-free-diet#comment-883 Julie Mahaffey Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:23:57 +0000 http://healthy-family.org/caryn/81#comment-883 My 16 year old son was recently diagnosed with severe allergies to corn and sesame seed. We also discovered that he test positive to mild allergies to wheat, peanut and walnut. For years he has suffered from headaches, fatigue, aching joints, Candida overgrowth in his intestines and mouth (Thrush), IBS, Esophagitis and Reynoids (sp) Syndrome. He always feels sick. His GI issues have been treated for a few years, but the other symptoms were always explained away. I was sure he must be from an auto-immune disease and finally insisted that he be tested. He tested negative for everything but the food allergies. My doctor feels that most of his symptoms could be the result of his newly discovered allergies. I wish I had discovered them years ago. I am anxious to make the necessary changes to his diet to see if he'll begin to feel better. I am overwhelmed though by the difficulty of finding products that are corn and wheat free. I was told to go with rice products, but most of them contain corn or sesame. I work full-time and my husband suffers from mental illness and is not able to help me with the kids. I rarely have time to cook during the week. My son works part-time and is out with his friends alot. His diet recently has consisted of hot dogs and soda at the gas station! I made a trip to Trader Joe's today and found some corn free snacks to get him started. I've tried to explain to him that if he wants to feel better he's going to have to make some serious changes to his diet. Is it realistic to expect him to change his diet without forcing the rest of the family to conform to his new food restrictions? Will removing some of the corn from his diet but not all make a difference? For example, I'm assuming that a chocolate chip cookie contains more corn syrup than corn starch (without even considering the wheat). If I find cookies with natural sugar but still containing corn starch is that helpful? I feel like it's going to be impossible to cut both corn and wheat out of his diet without making it a full time job! How is he supposed to eat when he's out or at school? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! I'm at my wits end. My 16 year old son was recently diagnosed with severe allergies to corn and sesame seed. We also discovered that he test positive to mild allergies to wheat, peanut and walnut. For years he has suffered from headaches, fatigue, aching joints, Candida overgrowth in his intestines and mouth (Thrush), IBS, Esophagitis and Reynoids (sp) Syndrome. He always feels sick. His GI issues have been treated for a few years, but the other symptoms were always explained away.

I was sure he must be from an auto-immune disease and finally insisted that he be tested. He tested negative for everything but the food allergies. My doctor feels that most of his symptoms could be the result of his newly discovered allergies. I wish I had discovered them years ago. I am anxious to make the necessary changes to his diet to see if he’ll begin to feel better. I am overwhelmed though by the difficulty of finding products that are corn and wheat free. I was told to go with rice products, but most of them contain corn or sesame. I work full-time and my husband suffers from mental illness and is not able to help me with the kids. I rarely have time to cook during the week.

My son works part-time and is out with his friends alot. His diet recently has consisted of hot dogs and soda at the gas station! I made a trip to Trader Joe’s today and found some corn free snacks to get him started. I’ve tried to explain to him that if he wants to feel better he’s going to have to make some serious changes to his diet. Is it realistic to expect him to change his diet without forcing the rest of the family to conform to his new food restrictions? Will removing some of the corn from his diet but not all make a difference? For example, I’m assuming that a chocolate chip cookie contains more corn syrup than corn starch (without even considering the wheat). If I find cookies with natural sugar but still containing corn starch is that helpful? I feel like it’s going to be impossible to cut both corn and wheat out of his diet without making it a full time job! How is he supposed to eat when he’s out or at school? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! I’m at my wits end.

]]>