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[2clueless]

Over the past few months, I've been adjusting to a gluten-minimizing diet, but I think that I need to go all-in based on recent experiences. I know that I'm not the only forumite attempting to live gluten-free, so I thought I'd start a thread to share experiences, swap recipes, discuss substitutions, and - of course - vent when necessary.

Does anyone have a suggestion for a gluten-free cookbook or resource that takes a food science approach? I'm thinking of the "Best Recipes" line of cookbooks, which includes a section before each recipe discussing how eggs contribute to a texture, etc. I'd like to learn how to substitute into recipes that I already make, but I'm not sure how to best replicate the functions of gluten or wheat in a given dish. (For example, I love German pancake, but I'm not sure if I can substitute something like rice flour one-to-one for wheat flour, etc.)

[collegekidsmom]

What is going on with gluten-free? I know that a very small number of people have celiac disease, and there are some with other issues. Some of my younger relatives were telling me that many young people are now using "gluten free" as a way to avoid eating much in front of other people-and that these people are extremely thin.
Now I see all kinds of mainstream foods are gluten-free and yesterday I was reading an article in a popular magazine about women who feed their young children very healthy foods, and one was saying she feeds her children definitely gluten free. Can someone shed some light on what is happening all of a sudden with this trend? So many TV commercials are even talking about popular foods coming in gluten-free varieties. I know that some people require a gluten free diet but many others are just adopting this diet.

[atlchemist]

What is going on with gluten-free? I know that a very small number of people have celiac disease, and there are some with other issues. Some of my younger relatives were telling me that many young people are now using "gluten free" as a way to avoid eating much in front of other people-and that these people are extremely thin.
Now I see all kinds of mainstream foods are gluten-free and yesterday I was reading an article in a popular magazine about women who feed their young children very healthy foods, and one was saying she feeds her children definitely gluten free. Can someone shed some light on what is happening all of a sudden with this trend? So many TV commercials are even talking about popular foods coming in gluten-free varieties. I know that some people require a gluten free diet but many others are just adopting this diet.

Read the books Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes and/or Wheat Belly by William Davis (who is a practicing cardiologist).

In the early days of Atkins, I too thought it was faddish and unhealthy. But these books are starting to convince me that a diet low in all sugars, and therefore necessarily higher in fat, is the way to go. Even my cardiologist husband agrees (but don't tell the American Heart Association! haha).

[groundhog]

What is going on with gluten-free? I know that a very small number of people have celiac disease, and there are some with other issues. Some of my younger relatives were telling me that many young people are now using "gluten free" as a way to avoid eating much in front of other people-and that these people are extremely thin.
Now I see all kinds of mainstream foods are gluten-free and yesterday I was reading an article in a popular magazine about women who feed their young children very healthy foods, and one was saying she feeds her children definitely gluten free. Can someone shed some light on what is happening all of a sudden with this trend? So many TV commercials are even talking about popular foods coming in gluten-free varieties. I know that some people require a gluten free diet but many others are just adopting this diet.

Leaving aside eating disorders, as a celiac who just celebrated (yes!) five years gluten-free, here's why you're seeing so much gluten-free articles, food, testing, emphasis:
1)   Celiac is woefully under-diagnosed.  Approximately 1 in 10 Americans and Europeans of non-Asian decent have celiac but only 3% of celiacs know that they have celiac: This is because the medical tests are not fool-proof.  The blood test has a high level of false negatives and the biopsy – which is a pretty invasive test done via upper GI endoscopy –  also has problems because it is hit-or-miss.  For example, my blood test was negative but my endoscopy done for other reasons was positive.  My gene test was positive and based on that, my brother went gluten-free at the suggestion of his M.D. even though his blood test was negative, and he had a resolution of symptoms on the GF diet.  Doctors are not well-versed in celiac, which has over 300 possible symptoms and then add in people who are gluten-intolerant but not celiac and that is a lot of people who may need to be gluten-free who didn’t know about it 10 or 20 years ago.  Add in the fact that there is no drug to treat gluten-intolerance, so there is very little research into celiac.  So there is a huge untapped GF market out there.  And many people go GF without a diagnosis for these reasons.  
2)   It is incredibly hard to follow a strict GF diet in the modern world.  Wheat flour is everywhere in the commercial kitchen - it’s very hard to eat out and impossible to eat without reading labels, cross-examining wait-staff.  So there are many people like me who have to call the manufacturer before eating TUMS, before buying a new version of Haagen-Dazs, before taking a prescription drug. Having the "magic words" Gluten-free on a product is a time-saver and makes me a very loyal customer.  Manufacturers are getting a clue and see $$$.  For example, Corn Chex is a product that has been around since I was a kid and the only reason it wasn’t GF was it had barley malt in it as a flavoring.  Five years ago, there were no main-line cereals that were GF.  Corn Chex’s manufacturer saw a market, changed barley malt to molasses and voila – Corn Chex is now gluten-free and is eagerly consumed by GF folks who were so tired of not having any cereal choices.  It didn’t hurt non-GF people, didn’t raise the price – just made my son deliriously happy.  
3)   Celiac is an autoimmune disease and people with other autoimmune diseases may see a remission of their symptoms on a GF diet.   Celiac is the only autoimmune disease with a proven trigger but there is some evidence of interaction with RA, MS, Type I diabetes, Sjogrens and Crohns/colitis.  
4)   There is some evidence that many people can’t digest the protein in wheat and some health-conscious people who aren’t gluten-intolerant feel better going GF.  My MD – who is herself GF but not celiac – says that she thinks most Americans shouldn’t eat wheat, rye, barley.   The parents that feed GF may be reacting to this or may have found that reducing wheat (like reducing sugar or processed foods) may make their kids feel better.  

There is no doubt that some individuals, sadly, may have eating disorders that they try to hide behind gluten-intolerance or who have eating disorders that they make worse by eating gluten-free, but that doesn’t mean that the explosion of GF eating isn’t a positive thing.  I have done a lot of research on this, so if you want citations I can probably get those for you.

[groundhog]

Does anyone have a suggestion for a gluten-free cookbook or resource that takes a food science approach? I'm thinking of the "Best Recipes" line of cookbooks, which includes a section before each recipe discussing how eggs contribute to a texture, etc. I'd like to learn how to substitute into recipes that I already make, but I'm not sure how to best replicate the functions of gluten or wheat in a given dish. (For example, I love German pancake, but I'm not sure if I can substitute something like rice flour one-to-one for wheat flour, etc.)

When you talk about a German pancake, are you referring to a Dutch Baby or Puffy Pancake?  If you figure it out, let me know.  I've been trying for about five years and have not succeeded yet.  I have succeeded with Yorkshire Puddings, which is a similar concept, when cooked in muffin tins but not in a big pan.    

What I've learned for baking is that the weight of flour in grams is the key to substitution.  For example, wheat flour (not baking flour or whole wheat) weighs about 140 grams per cup.  So if I substitute GF flour cup-for-cup, the recipe won't work: I have to substitute the right amount of grams.  Second, the ratio of flour (e.g. rice, millet, sorghum, buckwheat) to starch (e.g. corn starch, tapioca starch, potato starch) is 2/3- 1/3 for most recipes (meaning that you can't just use rice flour, you have to use a blend).  On her website, the Gluten-Free Girl talks a lot about baking and the functions of gluten in baking, and the substitution of xanthum gum, guar gum and other things for the structure that gluten previously provided.  

For books, I have Rebecca Reilly’s Gluten-Free Baking and she has a primer about baking and each recipe section has an explanatory section: She was a gluten pastry-chef before going GF.  

I’m not an expert, but I’ve been baking things that my non-GF daughter will eat, and that’s a compliment in my book.  A lot of my recipes come from the Gluten-free Goddess’s website.

[collegekidsmom]

Thanks for the detailed information, groundhog. I have just noticed many people around me all of a sudden going gluten free so I was wondering what was going on. I had only heard previously about those with celiac needing to be GF so have been surprised that everyone is talking about it. thanks.

[ucprof]

I am not diagnosed celiac but I have some reactions to wheat so I do a fair amt of gluten free or wheat free cooking.  You can PM me for some ideas about cooking without wheat flour.  I do not use a special cookbook but rather have figured out various substitutions for various things I like to cook.  PM me with the kinds of foods you like to cook and I will try to respond.  There is nothing out there with the same cooking properties as wheat flour so one has to get a little creative.

[profreader]

Just chiming in here. I've been eating primarily gluten-free for about a year now, and feel much better when I do (so does my partner.) It is amazing when you start to read labels how challenging it is to find things that are gluten-free - I was also trying to avoid corn if possible, so that made it even tougher.

I do a fair amount of baking - I use the Joy of Baking website as a starter, since their recipes list the ingredients by weight (which is just easier all the way around, in my opinion.)

I've read various GF baking websites - the basic idea seems to be 70% flour, 30% starch. I've been reading some sites which are exploring ways to do without the gums (which apparently people can be sensitive to as well.)

It's certainly a challenge to bake well GF, but it has been interesting learning about the chemistry behind it all. I have always baked, and knew the general principles, but taking on this challenge has gotten me to dig deeper.

[lohai0]

I have a pretty good recipe for macadamia pancakes that is GF and vegan if anyone is interested. I have no idea what a German pancake is, so I don't know how close it gets to that.

[tenured_feminist]

If you can get it in your area, King Arthur has a very good GF flour that works nicely as a straight-up substitute for regular flour in most of my favorite recipes. Red Mill's blend is not bad either, but it includes chickpea flour, which my son can taste discernably and hates.

[ucprof]

If you can get it in your area, King Arthur has a very good GF flour that works nicely as a straight-up substitute for regular flour in most of my favorite recipes. Red Mill's blend is not bad either, but it includes chickpea flour, which my son can taste discernably and hates.

I'm with your son.  The pea taste in the Red Mill is no good.  Try making tollhouse cookie dough out of it - ugh you can taste the peas.  When it is cooked it does not have much of that flavor but before - and this takes all the fun out of cookies.  I have not tried the KA flour I will have to look for that.  I've been using oat flour, rice flour, quinoa flour and other things instead.  Almond meal can be very nice in cookie dough for example but you have to be prepared to have a dough that is closer to marzipan in some way shape or form.  Oatmeal cookies can be made with oat flour and oatmeal they are very oaty and kind of crumbly.  Adding a dwallop of peanut butter can help stick them together without the gluten but be prepared for a bit of peanut taste.  This can work well with choc chip oatmeal.  And you have to be insensitive to Oats.  Rice flour is no good for cookies it is too gritty.  In general it does not work that well for baking.  Putting in some with oatmeal works OK because the Oats have so much texture already. 

There is also the peanut butter only recipe for PB cookies - one egg, one C PB, 1 c sugar; and you basically mix those together. You can add a bit of vanilla or some baking soda but that's all.  Then you cook them like the regular PB cookies where you smush them with the fork tines crossed at 90 degrees.  They are heavy but good.  Oddly enough they seem better with granulated sugar than with brown sugar.  Go figure.  These are very nice with butterscotch chips added.  Very sweet however.

I don't have a brownie recipe off the top of my head that is GF but I would expect it to be doable because they are so dense there should be some useable substitutes.

[profreader]

If you can get it in your area, King Arthur has a very good GF flour that works nicely as a straight-up substitute for regular flour in most of my favorite recipes. Red Mill's blend is not bad either, but it includes chickpea flour, which my son can taste discernably and hates.

I'm with your son.  The pea taste in the Red Mill is no good.  Try making tollhouse cookie dough out of it - ugh you can taste the peas.  When it is cooked it does not have much of that flavor but before - and this takes all the fun out of cookies.  I have not tried the KA flour I will have to look for that.  I've been using oat flour, rice flour, quinoa flour and other things instead.  Almond meal can be very nice in cookie dough for example but you have to be prepared to have a dough that is closer to marzipan in some way shape or form.  Oatmeal cookies can be made with oat flour and oatmeal they are very oaty and kind of crumbly.  Adding a dwallop of peanut butter can help stick them together without the gluten but be prepared for a bit of peanut taste.  This can work well with choc chip oatmeal.  And you have to be insensitive to Oats.  Rice flour is no good for cookies it is too gritty.  In general it does not work that well for baking.  Putting in some with oatmeal works OK because the Oats have so much texture already. 

My partner loves to "inspect the cookie dough" ... when I was making a batch of the Bob's Red Mill cookies, the reaction was basically "Blearrgggh" to the raw dough because of the chickpea taste - a sourness/bitterness. The cookies, once baked, are fine. I also have encountered the grittiness of rice flour when I was experimenting with GF biscuits.

One thing that worked for me was mixing a bunch of different types of flours together, and then using that in the 70%-30% ratio (with the 30% being made up of tapioca starch and potato starch.) It worked fine - minimized the rice grittiness and the chickpea sourness - but it was more involved than I would want to get on a regular basis.

What I've tried to do since then is look for recipes that aren't trying to mimic other things - just recipes that are normally GF free. I found a pumpkin muffin recipe that was flourless - it was great.

I do really enjoy toast, though - and a good GF bread is hard to find.

[kron3007]

Leaving aside eating disorders, as a celiac who just celebrated (yes!) five years gluten-free, here's why you're seeing so much gluten-free articles, food, testing, emphasis:
1)   Celiac is woefully under-diagnosed.  Approximately 1 in 10 Americans and Europeans of non-Asian decent have celiac but only 3% of celiacs know that they have celiac: This is because the medical tests are not fool-proof.  

This seems a little high, I've always heard 1/133 in North America.  A more recent study (http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/07853890.2010.505931) reports 1% in Europe.  Perhaps you are right and the medical establishment is wrong, but I really wonder where you get your 10% figure.

I personally believe it is a fad for a great number of people.  Obviously some people should avoid gluten, but that dosnt mean that everyone should.  Some people are allergic to peanuts, shellfish and eggs, but it dosnt mean that all of us should avoid them, they can be part of a healthy diet.

As for people reporting that they feel better not eating wheat, I know people that feel better after homeopathic medicine, energy healing, and an assortment of other questionable practices.  These anecdotal reports mean almost nothing and for all we know are placebo effects.  I would also point out that avoiding wheat would also cause you to avoid a lot of processed foods and eat more home cooked meals.  As such, there could be benefits to this change in diet that are completely unrelated to gluten.

That being said, it is good that there are more GF options for those who truly are afflicted.         

[groundhog]

Gah! You're right, it's 1 out of 100 not 1 out of 10.  That's what I get for posting when I should be sleeping.  (Or maybe I should have been posting on the Posting when Plastered thread.) 

[tenured_feminist]

I do really enjoy toast, though - and a good GF bread is hard to find.

Udi's, baby. It rocked my world!