<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
About 4 months ago a number of families in our local celiac support
group began buying flours and noodles at the local oriental grocery
store. We were delighted because the rice flours weren't grainy and the
price was right.
After that, every 2-3 weeks my son and I would have the characteristic
pain and brain fog associated with gluten. We were puzzled because I
could rarely pin our exposure to anything.
Meanwhile another family in the group was using more Asian flours and
noodles than we were. They did not have their characteristic problems
associated with accidental gluten. But after a few months their daughter
had more days crying than "happy" days. One son began to loose weight.
The husband seemed to be slowly sliding into a fog of depression. Over
time they saw more of their old ADHD and asberger (SP?) type problems.
The mom had a bit more stomach problems than usual. Their other
daughter's stomach started to "pooch" out a bit, but not as bad as it
had been when they were on gluten. But, this "couldn't be" gluten
because some of them were EXTREMELY sensitive and none of them had done
the "bathroom thing." Finally after 3 months they did a blood test on
the crying daughter. Out of the 100+ items they sampled there was only
one that tested positive -- wheat. The lab said that there was NO doubt
that she was getting wheat. They decided it had to be the Asian flours
or noodles. After 4 days off the Asian flours and noodles all 7 people
in their family are doing fine.
Meanwhile I made a wonderful light rice bread from the Asian flours. The
next morning my son had severe leg pain and couldn't do math (that is
his gluten reaction). I felt like I was drugged (my typical gluten
reaction). I sure suspected that bread because we had not had ANYTHING
the day before that could have been a problem. A few days later I made
brownies. I guess I still wasn't completely convinced it was the Asian
flours so I used less than 1/2 cup in a double batch of brownies. I
didn't react. I had never thought of my son as EXTREMELY sensitive to
gluten, but he had a mild reaction even though he only ate a couple of
bites.
I don't think there was "much contamination", since no one had strong
reactions, but it was enough to make more than 10 of us have reactions.
Some of the reactions were not obvious at first. The people who used the
flours regularly had the most difficulty telling because their reactions
began so gradually that at first it was unclear that it was even a
gluten reaction. One of these people is EXTREMELY sensitive to gluten
so we did not suspect the flours. We thought if she didn't have diarrhea
the first time she had the flours they must be OK.
The other day someone on this list talked about "casual celiac." I think
all of us became "causal celiacs" without planning to. We found we
didn't like the results. It was interesting that so many of the problems
were neurological. I also thought it was interesting that the problems
started out mild and got worse as time went on. I suppose this makes
sense because as the villi became more and more damaged there were more
and more problems. This accidental venture into the "casual celiac"
world convinced me that no amount of gluten is OK for us.
Since we quit using the flours I have only had one puzzling case of
gluten reaction. I went to a celiac meeting and we were discussing GF
flours. I ask where you could buy uncontaminated, Asian flours. I was
assured that I could buy clear, 1 lb packages from their local Asian
market and be just fine. The folks at the meeting thought that any
problems I had from my Asian market were do to cross contamination from
the outside of the bags. I ate 1/2 of a homemade cookie there. It was
very good. I reacted. I can't help but wonder if it was made by one of
those ladies who got flours from an Asian market.
Because I mixed flours it is unclear which of the following are the
problem. At this point I am not going to try the different products to
see which have gluten. It is possible that some batches may have gluten
and others don't. If there is anyone here who can shed more light on the
subject I would be very interested in hearing from them.
Here are the brands...
* Flying Horse brand Rice Flour from Thailand -- (ingredients
listed: rice flour, water) It comes in 1 lb packages. The bags are
clear with a red, square border around the label.
* Flying Horse brand Glutinous Rice Flour from Thailand --
(ingredients listed: glutinous rice flour, water) It comes in 1 lb
packages. The bags are clear with a green, square border around
the label.
* Erawan Marketing Co. Glutinous Rice Flour -- (ingredients listed:
glutinous rice flour, water) It comes in 1 lb packages. The bags
are clear with a green, square, lacy border around the label.
* Tapioca flour (I don't have any left so I don't know the brand,
however it came in a clear, 1 lb package and had a picture of a
drinking glass on the front.)
Finally, does anyone know a safe source for nongrainy rice flours?
Ideally, I would like it to be inexpensive like Asian flours.
Deborah Martin
*Support summarization of posts, reply to the SENDER not the Celiac List*
|
