Diabetic needs are fairly easy to find.  What about some of the other diet issues like celiac disease etc?  Can they be found easily on the road?  I know there are other special diet needs how does every one handle finding the special things they may need?   Anna

If you are full timing I would suggest that you stock up on what you will need for the time down the road and try to be in some area where it would be possible for you to restock at times. Although I do not have this disease I have been diabetic for 42 yrs now and am coping well in our 4 months of traveling in full timing.

There are many health food stores in many places and more are growing all the time.

Again use the internet for places it gives us a world of info out there.

southwestjudy & Bob & 2blackdogs

galeanna wrote:

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Thanks for the info.  Celiac (as we are learning now) is an allergy to gluten (from wheat, oats and rye mainly) I was curious because my other half was just diagnosed with it.  By the time we can full time we should hopefully have a good idea of where we can find the special flours and things made from flour.   Anna

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Well, I'm another Celiac case!  I found out 7 years ago and have been trying to avoid wheat, barley and rye ever since!  I had never heard of the disorder until I was diagnosed.  When I learned I would have to give up beer, pizza, cakes, cookies and donuts I thought I would die of starvation! 

To be specific, Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disease, it's not an allergic reaction to gluten.  The only cure is to avoid gluten which is the protein in wheat, barley, rye and other grains.  Fortunately, rice and corn are safe.  It's amazing what they put wheat into so read the labels as even some vitamin pills have gluten in them!

We aren't fulltiming yet, but hopefully we will be able to find a Trader Joe's or a Wild Oats Natural Marketplace frequently in our travels.  Most any good health food store (not GNC) also has many gluten free products like cookies, crackers, cereals, etc.  More and more gluten free items are now being carried in regular supermarkets as more people are being diagnosed with Celiac. 

I make my own gluten free bread in a bread machine using white and brown rice flour along with corn meal flour and other safe ingrediants.  We're looking for a fifthwheel to replace our motorhome so there will be enough space for the bread machine, mixing bowls, etc.  

Good luck to your other half who was just diagnosed with Celiac.  It's a pain, but certainly something that you can learn to live with through education and trial and error.

Now if I could just find a gluten free beer life would be good again!

Yes Virginia there is a Santa Clause, er, rather, yes Wmalefyt there are gluten free beers! I have a very dear friend with Celiac and she has been able to support her well developed taste for malt and barley with some rather tasty brews available locally thru specialty abc stores. You might try http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art30583.asp and http://www.mrgoodbeer.com/gf/ both sites have a brew listing and I'll ask my friend for more scoop. Celiac is a long educational journey but in the end once you learn where gluten hides (just about everywhere) things really do become rather simple - but you'll always be visiting friends carrying a bag full of supplies and having deep conversations with the chef at every restaurant!

Thanks RVDude, I'll be checking out those links for the gluten-free beer!

To galeanna, there is a good book you should probably buy:  "The Gluten-free Gourmet Cooks Fast and Healthy" by Bette Hagman.  It has lots of bread, cake, cookie and other recipes in it.  You might also try this link:  www.celiac.com.

Rice flour is the basic gluten-free flour, but it's much better when combined with other flours like potato starch, tapioca, millet, cornmeal.  You also have to use other ingrediants like xanthan gum to help improve the taste.  I prefer brown rice to white rice, but usually use a mixture of both along with one or more of the others mentioned.  I don't think you can substitute the gluten-free flours in the same amounts that a recipe calls for wheat flour, but this requires some study, that's why I follow a simple Bette Hagman recipe from her book. 

Hi Anna,

Let me know how your husband likes the beer!  Glad you found the book, I think you'll like it.

Hey, maybe we need a "RVing for Celiacs" forum!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Sandra,

I can usually find rice crackers in most supermarkets now.  Look in the dietary section or wherever the diabetic foods are located.  There is a brand of rice crackers, I think called Savory that are pretty good.  They are small round rice crackers. Another one is Blue Diamond Natural Nut and Rice Crackers.

In Florida, Publix and Sweetbay carry many gluten-free crackers, cookies and cereals.

Sandra,

See if you can find a health food store (not GNC), but one that carries organic food.  They should have many gluten-free procucts on the shelves.  Trader Joe's or Wild Oats are good too.  We had success with Fry's in Arizona, but don't know if they're in Texas.

Today we were at Ethel M Chocolates in Henderson, NV (Las Vegas) and a woman and employee were going through the ingredients list on a box of chocolates.  Turns out the woman was worried about gluten and wanted to make sure there was no barley, rye, oats, or wheat in the selection.  She said Hershey's adds wheat to their chocolate to stretch it and wanted to make sure there was none in these. 

Another tip for stores is to go to grocers around colleges and universities, they seem to attract more healthy and alternative foods.  Just because one store in a chain like HEB doesn't have gluten-free products doesn't mean another doesn't, they stock what the local customers buy.  Whole Foods (http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/ ) is in the major cities in Texas (Houston, DFW, San Antonio), but be warned that they have a nickname, "Whole Paycheck" due to some of their prices.  Wild Oats (www.wildoats.com ) is a direct competitor but has no stores in Texas according to their website.  Trader Joes locations are in a PDF - http://www.traderjoes.com/Attachments/all_locations.pdf , but none in Texas.

Sandra,

I have never found any gluten-free stuff at Wal-Mart.

I just read that Anheuser-Busch is coming out with a gluten-free beer!!  It's called Redbridge with sorghum as the primary ingrediant and is safe for celiacs.  It will be sold nationally in stores carrying organic products and in restaurants.

The name of the store is Sun Harvest and it is on Airline beside a shopping mall across from a Sears stroe and near Jason's Deli.  My dad said there is a Wells Fargo on the corner.  He also said that any one in the Corpus could tell you where to find it..

Where are you at in the area?   You may be in the same park they are ..

Anna

galeanna wrote:

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A couple of things..  The TV show the View will have a segment sometime this next week about celiac disease and Busch has a beer  called redbridge http://www.redbridgebeer.com/?s_kwcid=18140027500000000493&clicksource=standard which is gluten free courtesy of the same tv show and my sister who happened to be watching it while taking her chemo in Ann Arbor MI and caught the info.  Anna

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galeanna wrote:

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Was the Redbridge in cans or bottles...trying to figure out how to do beer but chicken with beer - onion-garlic in can etc???

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I'd just like to chime in here and say I have celiac disease as well and I was a bit disappointed when I learned I'd have to give up some of my favorite foods including beer. On a recent trip to New York State I found Bard's Tale Dragon's Gold beer and Lakefront Brewery's New Grist beer which are both made from sorghum. The Bard's set me back $15 for a six-pack of bottles while the New Grist was $10 also for a six-pack of bottles. I found them both to be quite good with no weird aftertaste or flavors, and it was quite satisfying to be sipping a nice cold brew after going about 2 years without. Now I'm no beer aficionado but I can say both beers were a bit on the sweet side and the Bard's did not produce as much of a head as the New Grist. I found the New Grist a bit more robust in flavor and I seem to prefer it over the Bard's. I have also sampled Anheuser Busch's latest sorghum brew, Redbridge, which is the least expensive of the three at $8.50 for a six-pack of bottles. I obtained it locally and thought it to be a nice, crisp, clean tasting beer which reminded me of your typical mainstream American brew. (You'd think that since it's brewed only about 30 miles from where we live it would be easy for me to get. But due to its popularity, merchants are having a hard time keeping it on the shelf!) As mentioned above, it is a little tame, especially for someone who likes craft brewed or full flavored lagers or ales or the occasional stout. I used to really enjoy Guinness draught and Bass ale prior to my celiac diagnosis. It is nice now to be able to sip a beer in the evening while cooking dinner or be able to enjoy a "cold one" out at the campfire.

I, too, use Bette Hagman's cookbooks. And I've had very good luck finding gluten-free ingredients and products in our local grocery stores.

Having celiac disease is a bit of a challenge when attending the wonderful potluck dinners that are typically arranged at RV rallies. We always make sure to bring something gluten-free that everyone can enjoy. At one rally the theme was pasta (I used to eat a lot of that!). So we added the gluten-free lasagna that Linda had made to the buffet table. While we were allowing the others to go through the line since my choices were fairly limited, Linda jumped up when she realized if we wait, there may be no lasagna left for me to eat! So she ran up and cut the line, explaining, "I have to get some lasagna! It's the only thing my husband can eat!" I bet they were thinking, "yeah, right". She did manage to get me a nice big helping.

I’m very thankful that this disease is manageable with just a diet change.  Things could be a lot worse and I was very fortunate to have had a doctor who diagnosed the problem early.

Jim

Sorry it took so long to get back to you…  When it comes to lasagna noodles, Linda just buys whatever brand she can find – there’s not much available. However, for other pastas (spaghetti, elbows, etc.) I’ve found I prefer the corn pasta (vs. the rice pasta) made by Mrs. Leeper’s.  Fortunately, at least one of the three local grocery stores will usually have something in stock (they’re inconsistent). We may not be so fortunate once we’re on the road.  Not including pastas, we have found that many mainstream food products are okay by carefully reading labels. And the manufacturers are slowly coming around to labeling foods “gluten free”.

Jim and Linda wrote:

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Sorry it took so long to get back to you…  When it comes to lasagna noodles, Linda just buys whatever brand she can find – there’s not much available. However, for other pastas (spaghetti, elbows, etc.) I’ve found I prefer the corn pasta (vs. the rice pasta) made by Mrs. Leeper’s.  Fortunately, at least one of the three local grocery stores will usually have something in stock (they’re inconsistent). We may not be so fortunate once we’re on the road.  Not including pastas, we have found that many mainstream food products are okay by carefully reading labels. And the manufacturers are slowly coming around to labeling foods “gluten free”.

We buy DeBoles brand rice spaghetti style pasta and can usually find it in the regular grocery stores now.  It's not the same as real pasta but with lots of Newman's Own Marinara sauce it's not so bad!  Otherwise most health food stores or Wild Oats or Whole Foods Markets carry lots of gluten-free products.

-- Edited by Jim and Linda at 18:23, 2008-01-06

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