Eating gluten free while not at home

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This is a seriosuly difficult challenge sometimes. Here in the UK more restaurants and shops are taking gluten free eaters into consideration but there's still a long way to go.

I've found out something interesting though. Tins of beans in supermarkets can be eaten raw. In future I might buy one, drain it and carry some salt to season the beans with, then eat them out of the tin. As unappetizing as that might sound it's better than eating something that might be contaminated with gluten and which will make me sleepy and agitated.

Another option is Tilda microwavable rice packs. They contain pre-cooked rice and I've bought them and eaten them raw too. It was hard not to spill some rice though and it looks quite awful when people see you doing it. I got a few comments and stares.

One of my biggest pet peeves is a lot of places that offer gluten free food think it's okay to include cornflour or corn-derived products in a gluten free option. For me, that isn't so unless the corn is definitely organic. Most corn these days is genetically modified and all genetically modified (GMO) foods have a very adverse affect on my mental and physical health too.

There's always the option of a lunchbox but for me carrying one around is a sensory intrusion on my peace of mind. I like to travel as light as possible.

Who else here has faced these dilemmas?

"All" GMO foods? then what do you eat?

Gluten has no effect on a persons' health beyond that of a placebo, except for a very small portion of the population.

Oh boy. You've opened a can of worms now! There's a lot to cover so I'll break my reply down into segments.

GLUTEN

At this moment in scientific progress, we are not able to detect that gluten has an effect on anything beyond a small portion of the population. We currently are able to discover if someone has Coeliac disease. However there are many people whose posts you can read on the internet who personally testify through testing themselves and keeping food diaries, gluten has a big impact on their physical and mental health.

I have kept a food diary myself and I know without doubt if I eat gluten I will have more meltdowns, lose my temper more, be more emotionally vulnerable and get physically tired and irritable. I've documented days I've had where I got into terrible situations after eating gluten. I mean, like, trouble with the police, fights in public - that bad! It makes me feel I've lost control of myself. Whatever you might say to counter that, I know myself better than you do. I've read at least hundreds of accounts by other people on the internet who have reported the same. Some people would argue we're all imagining it, which is so patronizing! Scientific advancement is not complete. There is still a lot for us to learn. Just because people like me cannot explain from a scientific point of view why it is gluten affects us does not mean it isn't so.

GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS

The 20 most common foods that are genetically modified (GMO/genetically modified organisms), and that I therefore make a determined effort to avoid unless they clearly state they're organic and therefore are decidely not GMO, are:

1. Aspartame

2. Corn

3. Sugar beets

4. HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup)

5. Soy

6. Corn starch

7. Tomatoes

8. Most sausages (I need to check the ingredients to make sure they are more or less pure meat as many of them contain corn or soy as a filler)

9. Ice cream (again corn is often added)

10. Non-organic and synthetic vitamins (many of these use corn and soy products as a base from which the vitamins are derived)

11. Infant formula. Ha, I'm too old to consume it anyway. I wouldn't give it to my child though (they contain soy)

12. Beef unless it's organic (cows tend to be fed GMO soy and corn)

13. Milk (the corporation Monsanto’s recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rGBH) can be injected right cows to increase milk output and often is used by farmers. Monsanto are the corporation who are pushing to try to force all farmers in the world to have to buy their patented genetically modified seeds)

14. Alfalfa (there has been genetically modified farm alfalfa and because it's an insect pollinated plant it will likely lead to cross pollination of GMO and non-GMO plants, threatening our natural habitat)

15. Corn, soybean, cotton and canola oil (all are genetically modified to withstand being doused by Roundup which is a weedkiller. Lazy farmers - well, corporations really - only care about profit so they want to instantly kill weeds an easy way even though it means having to genetically modify our food)

16. Margarine and shortening

17. Hawaiian papaya (this was genetically modified because of viruses that were affecting the crop)

18. Squash (also genetically modified to protect against diseases... but nevermind the impact to human health, huh?!)

19. Flax (GMO flax was grown - illegally, before discovery was made - in Canada. Since then cross-contamination will have occurred with flax from other areas. Be careful where you buy it from)

And a final thought to sum up. Generally buying organic food is the simple way to avoid genetically modification.

WHAT I CAN EAT

Finally you asked what can I eat then? Most foods that aren't on the list I placed above and that are gluten-free. Gluten is contained in wheat, barley, oats and food additives or products derived from these like wheat flour and breadcrumbs.

I eat most fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and beans. I eat lentils, rice, potatoes, buckwheat, herbs, spices, fish, shellfish and organic meats (there is a reasonable choice of them here in the UK). When I cook I use olive oil, goose or duck fat, or coconut oil. I've also found through research that regular white sugar is very bad for me and for other people too. It has had the minerals that are found naturally with sugar refined out of it. Through personal testing and diary keeping I realized white sugar is a big no no for me because it tires me out and makes me overexcited, causing myself to behave strangely. So I now eat demerara or muscovado sugar. Please be aware that not all brown sugar is healthier. Warning: If you're looking to buy brown sugar and it's not demerara or muscovado sugar it may simply be refined white sugar that has been dyed brown by the addition of molasses afterwards.

That was an obsessive reply, wasn't it? Nobody would guess I have Asperger's syndrome!

Oh dear... it seems I have nothing in common with anyone here... except Asperger's syndrome. It isn't enough. I wish someone was on the same page as me. Must I always be alone?

Actually corn, regardless if it is "GMO" or not is genetically modified by humans! Thousands of years ago humans would choose the best tasting corn/any other fruit/vegetable and keep modifying it that way.

Watermelons were originally very small and sour, but thanks to genetically modifying them we have super yummy, big and sweet watermelons.

Perhaps it's nothing more a coincidence but I have been feeling somewhat more clear-headed since abstaining from foods that contain gluten. Over the past four weeks I have eliminated gluten, vinegar and yeast from my diet, and I must say that I have been pleasantly surprised with the results thus far. But I should add that I am also taking an antidepressant, a plethora of vitamins and I have increased my intake of healthy fats and proteins, so they could all be benefitting me, too. However, I can say with a degree of certainty that gluten does affect my gut. Rather embarrassingly I am somewhat gassy soon after consuming anything that contains gluten.

I strongly recommend booking an appointment with a herbalist/nutritionist who can determine what you are intolerant to by running through some fairly straightforward tests.

Your belief and confidence in that gluten is not for you is very possibly a placebo.

A baggie full of organic nuts, all-natural meat jerkey, or a piece of fruit travels well in a pocket and isn't messy to eat. However, you are not correctly diagnosed--what you are suffering from is "orthorexia".

I am not convinced that can be conclusively determined one way or the other. But gluten does appear to have a direct effect on my gastrointestinal system, which can heighten my anxiety even further. Thus, its abstinence is beneficial to me, personally.

That's a slight misunderstanding on your part. Watermelons and the other examples you cited were not genetically modified, they were selectively bred.

But as I wrote in my original post in this topic science is not currently able to diagnose gluten intolerance. It either detects full blown allergy or nothing at all.

I could make an analogy. If someone who had no scientific or official recognition had sailed around the world before we discovered it was round and told people about it, everyone else would insist the world was still flat. That doesn't mean it was. Even scientists at the time wouldn't have believed.

What they did is called genetic engineering which is a low tech version of GMO. They changed and manipulated the foods that they grew, was my point.

Yes, I concede you are right on that point. I was wrong about that. Even selective breeeding of plants done by humans hundreds or thousands of years ago was indeed genetic engineering or genetic modification.

What makes the latest genetic modification (GMOs as they are known) different and dangerous is that foreign DNA are being introduced into organisms. In the early genetic modification where they were changing crops they didn't do that.

Dude, the mainstream is so clueless about health that it's ridiculous. You don't have to be full blown celiac to get god awful symptoms from gluten, and it's actually a bigger portion of the population (who have non-celiac gluten sensitivity) than people might think. This stuff can be found easily on places like Google Scholar and in numerous books written by medical doctors, but the mainstream still believes everything their local doctor tells them. Don't blame them, big pharma has a big hand in this as well.

You're also spot on about corn, as it creates the same inflammatory process as gluten; most grains do. Corn is a close cousin to gluten and casein, in that they're all 'filler' foods. It's great for birds, but wreaks havoc on humans.


To answer your OP: Man, it's so hard when you're away from home. I like to get hard boiled eggs from grocery stores, packs of nuts, raw fruit, etc. It's so hard to eat primal when you're on the go, especially if you're trying to avoid heavy preservatives and hormones in precooked meat.

Egg salad and chicken salad is always a good choice, aside from the high soy content. Unfortunately you have to take some bad with the good when you're unable to cook for yourself, but there are options. Canned sardines are great in a pinch, too.

Thanks. Those are some good ideas! Too many people are intellectually lazy. I was myself once. Thank the heavens I'm not so much anymore. Knowledge is power. Ignorance keeps people in their place.

Pretty much all food you see in stores is GMO.
Perhaps they are not "lab-build", but crossbreeding is also a form of gene manipulation, which is also how domesticated dogs and cows arrived.

Indeed, people that keep a diary in their food report an increase in physical and mental health, but there is no reason to assume that this is any more than a placebo effect.