Gluten-free diet: What has worked? Your tips

It does get easier over time, but I don't think I will ever get over the jitters whenever I eat out (unless it is a trusted restaurant) or when I eat at a friends. The first time I ate at a friends, was a lady who loved to cook and who knew I was gluten free. To make it easier for her, I brought my ingredients for her to use. For whatever reason, she did not want to use my ingredients, she bought her own. They were gluten free, but they also had flax in them, and flax makes me just as sick as gluten. Needless to say, her food did not go over well with me. Now I've learned to eat a bit before going to a friend's house, then I can say "I'm not very hungry."
Another time, I was going to travel. I did my research and picked restaurants that advertised they were gluten free or had a gluten free menu on their websites. However, when I arrived I found out that one of the restaurants was not really gluten free. Needless to say I was mad and they lost my business. My most trusted restaurants are any Mexican restaurant (and the South is full of them), plus Jasons Deli and certain foods at Chick-fil-a. They are my trusted ones that I've never had problems with.

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I’m curious why you mentioned that Mexican restaurants are “trusted” to be gluten free. What menu items do you order? I know that they often use corn products instead of wheat but certainly any burritos would be
no no’s since they are made with wheat flour tortillas. And I wouldn’t trust some of the sauces.

Because corn tortillas are used in most true Mexican restaurants (not always Tex-Mex style). The ones i eat at say what tortillas they use for the items and those are the ones I get. Tacos are always corn tortillas, flautos are corn tortilllas, enchiladas often (not always). I eat at them often enough that I've learned what dishes are made with what tortillas And they always come with refried beans and rice (both are always safe no matter where I eat). I never eat the chips and salsa appetizer because i don't want to ruin my appetite for the main meals. I'm talking about the sit-down style of Mexican restaurants being more trustworthy than the fast food style.

Hello, just FYI MSG, while some may react to it, does NOT contain gluten and in fact is not made from it either. Perfectly safe, celiac wise. It is a salt combined with an amino acid. This particular amino acid is one our own bodies makes itself!
Also, the run off from a field of gluten grains getting into a veggie field can't make them contain gluten. How?? I am sorry but that doesn't even make sense.
Anyone who reacts to shellfish or pork as you mention, again this is a completely separate issue. Impossible for those foods to contain gluten as they are meat, which never has gluten. Gluten is plsnt-derived. Now if those items were cross contaminated during food prep or packaging, that's a different thing.
You have provided some very useful info in your post but also some confusing and just plain wrong info too. With respect, please do your research. This gf thing is hard enough for us Celiacs as it is.

It so happens that the particular knowledge you spread here is not necessarily totally correct. When water runs off the plants having glutens in them it brings with it those glutens. Any field of oats planted side-by-side with wheat products will incorporate the glutens.

Pork and shellfish allergies can be suffered by anyone who has gluten problems as well as those who don't. A gluten intolerant/allergic person may also have multiple allergies and pork/shellfish allergies can be a part of the picture.

Your life got far easier when there was greater demand for gluten free foods. Aren't you happy about that?

We shall have to disagree on the gluten somehow coming out of the grain and running with water into crops etc nearby. Processing of other crops like oats planted near wheat crops can result in cross contamination due to shared processing equipment. I get my info on these things from the Canadian Celiac Asscn, which is a very reputable source. They do a lot of research and are up to the minute on all the latest studies and recommendations.
I agree ppl can have allergies as well as autoimmune issues like Celiac, but my comment was more that you made it sound like these things are part of being Celiac when they are not. Just could be confusing for the newbies! You are totally on the money with saying the gf life has gotten easier with all the newly available foods and info! Soooo much better than 10 yrs ago

I’d like to welcome you to Connect, @therjes, and thank you for a very informative first post. @eileena, thank you for your participation in so many discussions–I truly appreciate how you offer great information and support to Connect members.

MSG is gluten-free. Glutamic acid is naturally present in our bodies, and in many foods and food additives–monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the sodium salt of the common amino acid glutamic acid. I was even surprised to learn that MSG occurs naturally in foods, such as tomatoes and cheeses!
https://www.fda.gov/food/food-additives-petitions/questions-and-answers-monosodium-glutamate-msg

However, cross-contamination is a very challenging issue for people who've been diagnosed with celiac disease–many are surprised to learn just how little gluten it actually takes to make them sick. Here are some examples:
– foods cooked in oil where battered foods have been fried
– meat and other food cooked on a grill which is also used for cooking regular food with gluten
– gluten-free pasta that may be cooked in water used for regular pasta, or rice that may be cooked in liquid containing gluten

I’d sincerely encourage you to view the "Gastroenterology & GI Surgery Page" on Connect, https://connect.mayoclinic.org/page/gastroenterology-and-gi-surgery/ and browse through a few articles and videos by Mayo Clinic experts:
– Tips to Avoid Cross-Contamination in Gluten-Free Foods https://connect.mayoclinic.org/page/gastroenterology-and-gi-surgery/newsfeed-post/tips-to-avoid-cross-contamination-in-gluten-free-foods/
–Celiac Disease: Review of Current and Future Recommendations: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/page/gastroenterology-and-gi-surgery/newsfeed-post/celiac-disease-current-recommendations/

@eileena, @therjes, both of you have raised a noteworthy issue that celiac disease patients often face: Cross-contamination while adhering to a gluten-free (GF) diet. The important point of this conversation is that there is a conversation taking place–even if you don’t agree with everything, I applaud you for your efforts to further the discussion.

@therjes Welcome to Connect. You have come to a good place for sharing valuable information with like-minded people. I wish this forum had been available 12 years ago when my family first began dealing with gluten issues on top of the many food allergies we have had for a lifetime. It has become much easier to find good information about gluten-free foods, but confusion still exists.
@eileena Do you have any research-based information to share showing crops were tested and found to be contaminated in the field with gluten by runoff water? I would be interested to see that, because every time I have seen the claim, it was based on the theory that if plants could be contaminated with pathogens or pesticides from runoff, they could also be contaminated with gluten.
The primary causes of oat contamination are using shared farm equipment or transporting in trucks which carried wheat, that were not adequately cleaned and/or processing in a facility that also processes wheat or barley and is not completely cleaned or storage in bins that are contaminated.
Cross-contamination of frozen vegetables may occur if they are processed in a facility that coats some of their items with flour to prevent sticking together. Wheat coating was a problem in my family's early food allergy days (and we have many among us - some life-threatening) and most manufacturers have stopped using wheat flour or cornstarch for this purpose because of action by food allergy networks and activists. For example, commercial shredded cheese used to be coated with flour as an anti-caking agent, making even nachos unsafe for gluten-free people. The big producers stopped doing this years ago.
In my experience, contamination with gluten and other allergens (a big one for my family is tree nuts) is most likely to occur unintentionally by transfer on food-prep surfaces and utensils. Or by manufacturers who change their recipes and add a dangerous-to-me ingredient without making note of the change on the front of the package. Or by restaurant cooks and servers who think food allergies are "not a real thing." Or by well-meaning friends and relatives who just don't understand a little bit is not OK.
I look forward to hearing more from you about your journey with gluten-sensitivity.
Sue