Long COVID and gluten sensitivity
So we got COVID twice within just about 5 months. The first time was bad. The second we were mostly asymptomatic. Since the second infection my 8 year old has gotten terrible stomach cramps every time she ate. Finally got her pulled off gluten, and since then only a few issues, and they were with heavy lactose foods, which we went ahead and cut as well. All fine since then.
Has anyone else had the same issue? Are you still going through it? Have your symptoms lessened at all? We're still waiting to see GI, the waiting time is so long. And her Dr has been helping as much as she can, but we just don't know what to expect anymore. This has been going on since January 22 for reference on time.
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So far, there is not GF wheat hybrid, they have just decreased the inflammatory gliadin percentage. GF is 20 ppm or less in the US, so this would be gluten lite. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6470674/ I can drink (wheat, barley malt) whiskey because the gluten molecules are large so are filtered out in the distillation process. Soy sauce is high gluten (fermented wheat); GF is all fermented soy and named tamari. Going gluten lite is easy, GF, not so much.
I understand all. I was diagnosed with Celiac many, many years ago. There is a GF soy sauce. I have a bottle I bought years ago with the GF symbol. Actually, to be marked GF an item should be under 20 ppm.
Unless it is a Celiac Safe brand I don't believe white bread in the US is GF or low gluten unless made with a flour blend made from a mix substituted for white flour. I read a year or 2 ago on Celiac.com their is a possibility of growing a new strain of GF wheat. I never followed because I like and buy "B Free" bread in various varieties.
there is a blood test for celiac disease. you can easily order the blood test by yourself from most labs.
Traditionally, soy sauce is a mix of fermented wheat and soy. Soy sauce that excludes the wheat and only contains the fermented soy is called tamari sauce. Companies also call tamari sauce "GF soy sauce", but they are the same thing. Canyon Bakehouse has good bread as well. I make GF sourdough bread. The mix of bacteria and yeast changes the structure of the GF flours and makes them more elastic so not as crumbly as most GF bread.
A full celiac panel blood test does look for the inflammatory markers; it isn't 100% but a good test. https://celiac.org/about-celiac-disease/screening-and-diagnosis/screening/
also DNA testing. if you have a gene you might have celiac.
it is more a matter of diet. what works, what doesn’t.
an elimination diet worked for me. doesn’t take too long and it
helps define the issues.
digestive enzymes can help too.
I used to eat a dark sandwich bread from Canyon Bakehouse. With Long Covid I seldom have sandwiches because they tend to be more calorie laden and I'm struggling to lose some of the weight LC caused me to gain. Sandwiches had to go. B-Free has a pita so occasionally when I have hummus I will use the B Free for the full experience. Or make a pita/hummus sandwich with cucumber and lettuce.
A lot of corn tortillas are GF. We sometimes toast them on a grill until they are tostadas, and then add veggies and other stuff on top. Trumpet mushrooms, btw, taste like crab, so if a vegetarian misses the flavor, that fits.
Yes, Tamari. I used it in place of soy, but now I had to forego these salty items. Long COVID left me with damaged thyroid so endocrinologist put me on a low salt diet.
I remember Canyon Bakehouse. I used the dark but have foregone sandwiches due to weight gain. I only use the Be Free pita to use with hummus.
Old El Paso has a lot of GF items as does Goya. Mushrooms cannot be guaranteed to be GF. It all depends on their composting properties. Just like dried beans one must go through amount to be soaked to look for any piece of foreign material. 2X I found a wheat kernel.