Visit the Microscopic Colitis Foundation Website
Hi y'all, I really hope that one of these days I will turn from an information leach to a information sharer, you folks are so great at offering ideas, information and suggestions and one day (when I'm healed and moving forward) I hope to be one of you!
But, until then..... ;-) I have yet another question. I am 5 months into my healing diet. I am not making as much progress as I'd hoped I would. In reading more on this forum I realize that I could/likely am sabotaging myself with gluten......I need to do hours of research into all my skin/hair/makeup products to see if they are GF, SF, DF, EF...... But, it has recently occurred to me that I give zero thought to handling many products including: my dogs kibble, food for my husband (who is not GF), foods my granddaughter hands me; gluten products.... I'm wondering how much I need to worry about accidental exposure to Gluten?? I have posted my results below for reference. Thank you all, I can't tell you how invaluable this forum is (though I suspect you all know. :-) ).
Quantitative Microscopic Fecal Fat Score Less than 300 Units (Normal Range is less than 300 Units)
Fecal Anti-gliadin IgA 16 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)
Fecal Anti-casein (cow’s milk) IgA 13 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)
Fecal Anti-ovalbumin (chicken egg) IgA 13 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)
Fecal Anti-soy IgA 11 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)
Mean Value # Antigenic Foods 10 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)
Mean Value 11 Antigenic Foods 10 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)
Gluten Free question
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Gluten Free question
Karen
Karen,
This site makes it easy to check hair/skin/makeup products:
https://www.skinsafeproducts.com/
This site makes it easy to check hair/skin/makeup products:
https://www.skinsafeproducts.com/
Some days there won't be a song in your heart. Sing anyway. —Emory Austin
If you touch anything that contains gluten, or a contaminated countertop that contains bread crumbs, and then touch your own food, or a dish you're using, or your mouth, you will be exposing yourself to gluten. If you accidentally use the same spoon, fork, or knife that touched anything containing gluten, it will transfer gluten to you. If someone passes a slice of bread, or a cookie, or anything that contains gluten above your food (even though they do not touch your food), your food may be contaminated. If someone opens a bag of wheat flour anywhere in the kitchen, gluten-containing particles of flour will settle out of the air onto everything in the kitchen, sometimes even onto dishes in cabinets. It's extremely easy for your food to accidentally become cross-contaminated with gluten if there is any significant amount of food that contains gluten in the house.Karen wrote: it has recently occurred to me that I give zero thought to handling many products including: my dogs kibble, food for my husband (who is not GF), foods my granddaughter hands me; gluten products.... I'm wondering how much I need to worry about accidental exposure to Gluten??
If you handle a sack of dog food that contains gluten, wash your hands before handling anything that you will eat, or use to hold, or cook, or whatever, your own food.
Some of us are not as sensitive as others, and we can get away with things such as that if we're careful. Some of us are so sensitive that if there is any gluten in the house, we may not be capable of being careful enough (despite the best of intentions) to keep our food pure. At least that's how I look at it.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Trace amounts of gluten make us more sensitive than eating larger amounts, as strange as that might sound. IOW, trace amounts increase the sensitivity of our immune system when we're trying to avoid gluten. The numbers on our anti-gliadin antibody test results don't reflect our sensitivity levels. Instead, they're an approximate representation of how long we've been reacting to gluten. The longer we react, the higher the antibody level climbs, but there are also other factors involved, including calibration parameters for the chemical reagents used in the test.
Tex
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Hi Karen,
Here’s an example from my own household. I was glutened during a week where all I ate were foods I cooked at home along with some Simply Ruffles chips, so I was stumped as to how it happened. My husband had grilled burgers and wanted his on buns so he bought some. We have an area in the kitchen that is his prep area. He’s not to prep any foods anywhere else but in that one spot. We also have drawers designated as gluten free (which is most of them). We remodeled our kitchen 3 years ago and truly have drawers and cabinets that have never had gluten-containing foods in them. He has a cabinet that is his alone for any snack foods.
So while I’m racking my brain as to how I’d been glutened I turned around in time to see him handle his hamburger buns, then put his hand into a bag of my Simply Ruffles. He admitted he’d been doing that and had no idea that it would gluten me. That’s all it took and I felt like hell for a few days. He’s no longer allowed to bring bread into the house, since he is not a responsible bread owner. Now if he wants to eat anything packaged that is gluten free, he has to shake them out of the package or box. He can’t put his hands into them, ever!! He’s definitely more aware now. The day I found him eating a store bought sandwich out in our garage (rather bringing it in the house) I knew he was getting the message.
It takes surprisingly little to make us ill. I always wash my hands after handling the dog’s food and biscuits.
I hope you find the source that might be slowing you down.
Best wishes,
Carol
Here’s an example from my own household. I was glutened during a week where all I ate were foods I cooked at home along with some Simply Ruffles chips, so I was stumped as to how it happened. My husband had grilled burgers and wanted his on buns so he bought some. We have an area in the kitchen that is his prep area. He’s not to prep any foods anywhere else but in that one spot. We also have drawers designated as gluten free (which is most of them). We remodeled our kitchen 3 years ago and truly have drawers and cabinets that have never had gluten-containing foods in them. He has a cabinet that is his alone for any snack foods.
So while I’m racking my brain as to how I’d been glutened I turned around in time to see him handle his hamburger buns, then put his hand into a bag of my Simply Ruffles. He admitted he’d been doing that and had no idea that it would gluten me. That’s all it took and I felt like hell for a few days. He’s no longer allowed to bring bread into the house, since he is not a responsible bread owner. Now if he wants to eat anything packaged that is gluten free, he has to shake them out of the package or box. He can’t put his hands into them, ever!! He’s definitely more aware now. The day I found him eating a store bought sandwich out in our garage (rather bringing it in the house) I knew he was getting the message.
It takes surprisingly little to make us ill. I always wash my hands after handling the dog’s food and biscuits.
I hope you find the source that might be slowing you down.
Best wishes,
Carol
“.... people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou
That might explain why I've suddenly noticed tingling on my lips and mouth with a certain lipstick, and my hands have started to itch......tex wrote:Trace amounts of gluten make us more sensitive than eating larger amounts, as strange as that might sound. IOW, trace amounts increase the sensitivity of our immune system when we're trying to avoid gluten.
Carol, that is so incredible! I'm so glad you were able to figure it out. I can't even imagine how often I'm am exposing myself to gluten, I've only been careful in terms of what I've eaten. Heck I made gluten biscuits for the family the other day, mixed it myself! Agh!!
Karen
Hi Karen,
I also did that same thing- once. My daughter was coming home from college and I was making her some pumpkin bread to take back with her. I used wheat flour (this was years ago when I was new to all of this). I woke up the next day feeling horrid, as if I had actually eaten gluten. That was the last time I baked with wheat flour. Threw it all out of my kitchen and learned to bake with almond and other flours.
My family has embraced my gluten free recipes. I’ll bet yours will too. The first time I tasted Morning Glory muffins I though ‘I should have been baking like this all along’. They were so good!
Carol
I also did that same thing- once. My daughter was coming home from college and I was making her some pumpkin bread to take back with her. I used wheat flour (this was years ago when I was new to all of this). I woke up the next day feeling horrid, as if I had actually eaten gluten. That was the last time I baked with wheat flour. Threw it all out of my kitchen and learned to bake with almond and other flours.
My family has embraced my gluten free recipes. I’ll bet yours will too. The first time I tasted Morning Glory muffins I though ‘I should have been baking like this all along’. They were so good!
Carol
“.... people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou
I'm much like Carol, I am always telling my husband not to stick his gluten-filled hands in anything that I am going to eat! He did something the other day and I looked at him and said, "seriously?" They just don't think about how a tiny amount of gluten can make us ill. I wash my hands after touching dog biscuits, etc. You can't kiss someone who has eaten gluten, either.
Marcia
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My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor and some style. - M. Angelou
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My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor and some style. - M. Angelou
Note to self, I need to find this recipe!carolm wrote:The first time I tasted Morning Glory muffins I though ‘I should have been baking like this all along’. They were so good!
This is all so problematic....ugh, gluten seems like Kryptonite!
Ladies, what do you do for beauty, skin products? Any particular brands you like? Do I need to worry about household products? (dishwashing soap etc)
Karen
