What I Can and Can't Eat

I'm blogging this list for people who are cooking a yummy dinner for me and the husband, and have kindly asked what I can eat. The hubby can just refer the lovely people to this post, easy peasy.

On basic terms I cannot eat wheat or gluten. Some items will claim to be wheat free, but not gluten free, or visa versa. I cannot eat these as I cannot eat both wheat and gluten.

What I can't eat: The obvious stuff

Wheat flour
Spelt flour
Bread
Cake
Biscuits
Pastry
Breadcrumbs
Wheat pasta
Pastries
Barley extract and flour
Bulgar wheat (and tabulah)
Couscous
Durham wheat
Rye flour and wheat
Oats
Semolina
Bran
Rusk (in sausages)

Wheat noodles

What I can't eat: The not so obvious stuff

Normal soy sauce (and some other sauces, like teriyaki)
Most sausages
Gravy thickening
Most packet cereal, as they put barley on it (thanks kellogs)
Pre-made or packet sauces
Hams with breaded outside
Salamis and meats with breadcrumbs/rusk in
Some crisps and nachos
Some marinades
Some salad dressings
Some fishcakes
Some sauces, like american mustard
Ice cream with brownies in and things
Chocolates with wheaty bits in or fillings
Some caramel, toffee and fudge sauces

What I can eat

Well anything that's not on the lists above, so meat, fish, veg, fruit, dairy and....
Rice flour
Potato flour
Gluten free flour (dove farm is good - but behaves different to normal flour)
Gram flour (chick pea flour) (this means I can eat popadoms and onion bhajis if not contaminated)
Rice
Potatoes
Polenta
Gluten free soy sauce
Corn products (corn tortillas, nachos, tacos)
Corn flour (this is what I use as an alternative gravy and sauce thickener, or dove farm flour)
Buckwheat
Quinoa

Rice noodles

Also worth noting is I can't drink beer/larger, so drink cider instead, or wine.

Some people struggle with dessert for me, but I can eat meringues, ice cream, sorbet, panacotta, creme brulee, fruit, cream and chocolate, so there are things I can eat! One of my friends makes a lovely gluten free apple crumble :)

What happens if I eat something on the bad list? Well a couple of days later my stomach will be very poorly, and will remain that way for a few days. I also get a sort of wheat hangover, puffy face, headache and aches. On the inside my body is making antibodies to 'kill' the gluten, but these antibodies are eating my stomach villi too. Even a little bit causes my body to make these antibodies, so its very important to not contaminate the food by mixing spoons and things too. It takes about 2 months to fix itself again fully. So yes, even a little but can hurt. Good news is it takes a while to kick in, so I won't vomit over the dinner table if I sniff a breadstick.