Shopping & Riding with Celiacs

Fogerson

Former Resident Nerd
Hello all.

I was diagnosed last week with Celiacs. 'Haven't been "confirmed" by a small intestine biopsy yet. 'Probably won't let them; some of my symptoms have been so consistent and "acute" lately that it will be obvious after I go gluten-free for awhile.

Anyway, I'm trying to find some places in North Jersey that have a good selection of gluten-free foods. I was down the shore yesterday and stopped by Wegmans...they were fabulous with a whole section of gluten-free foods. My local A&P...uh, not so fabulous in this regard.

Any pointers?

I guess the good news is that some GI issues I've had over the last dozen years (that nobody could diagnose) are likely related to this. There are some other oddities I've noticed over the years that could be explained as well. Why 4 GP's and 4 GI docs, until now, 'haven't tested me for this before is beyond me. Twits.

I've been gluten free for about 4-5 days now and I am feeling better and stronger on the bike. A lot of the lactic acid burn I usually experience has seemingly (almost) vanished. 'Probably in my head but interesting none-the-less. Celiacs also explains why some days I felt like I could hammer with the best of 'em, and other days I see stars, feel weak, and my heart feels like it is gonna' beat itself right out of my chest.

It is going to be a challenge, this gluten-free thing, with the family. I'll figure it out, though. The killer is that I am a cereal-o-holic. Love my corn flakes, cheerios, rice crispies, and chex. Yes, they all have wheat/barley/oat by products in them of some sort. My favorite thing to eat on long rides are Nature Valley Fruit & Nut bars--those are out now too :(

Anybody out there on a gluten-free diet? What do you eat before/during rides?

Thanks in advance.
Tim
 

jbogner

NYCMTB: President
JORBA.ORG
One of my co-workers has the same. There are a number of websites with great recipes and product information for celiacs. FWIW, she's brought in quite a few tasty baked goods that are all gluten-free! ;)

I've had to turn into a label-reader since my son was diagnosed with a severe peanut allergy. One slip and he could end up in anaphylactic shock. It's tough at first, but after a few weeks, it just becomes something you do without thinking about it. Labels these days are getting better and better about pointing out major allergens in their ingredients...
 

anrothar

entirely thrilled
aw man, that's tough.

the big question though:

does this mean no beer? if so, i highly recommend the spiced meads available at the a&p liquors. the whole range from dansk mjod(danish), and the cinnamon/vanilla bean one from redstone meadery(american).
 

Fogerson

Former Resident Nerd
aw man, that's tough.

the big question though:

does this mean no beer? if so, i highly recommend the spiced meads available at the a&p liquors. the whole range from dansk mjod(danish), and the cinnamon/vanilla bean one from redstone meadery(american).

Yes, this means no beer. But considering I haven't had a beer since 1989, well, not a biggie.

It is the Corn Flakes that are gonna' be a problem for me :(

(Corn Flakes have wheat/barley in them)
 

Fogerson

Former Resident Nerd
One of my co-workers has the same. There are a number of websites with great recipes and product information for celiacs. FWIW, she's brought in quite a few tasty baked goods that are all gluten-free! ;)

I've had to turn into a label-reader since my son was diagnosed with a severe peanut allergy. One slip and he could end up in anaphylactic shock. It's tough at first, but after a few weeks, it just becomes something you do without thinking about it. Labels these days are getting better and better about pointing out major allergens in their ingredients...

Yeah, grocery shopping has slowed a bit here all of a sudden. Some companies (like Kashi) make it easy; they have in bold letters saying things like "this product contains wheat, nuts, etc.". Others, well, not so easy...gotta' read the whole damn list. Too bad that Kashi doesn't seem to make anything I can eat.
 

Shaggz

A strong 7
tim, our friends son has major food allergies. his diet is very limited, and it seems like the only grains he can eat are quinoa, bulgar and rice. they do have luck shopping at Trader Joe's. The closest one to us is in Wayne. There are also locations in Westwood and Springfield. Best of luck. That really sucks....
 

Fogerson

Former Resident Nerd
tim, our friends son has major food allergies. his diet is very limited, and it seems like the only grains he can eat are quinoa, bulgar and rice. they do have luck shopping at Trader Joe's. The closest one to us is in Wayne. There are also locations in Westwood and Springfield. Best of luck. That really sucks....

Thanks; I know where that Trader Joe's is. There is a health food store in Denville that I'll check out too.

In a way it sucks and in another it doesn't. If some of the weird shit that happens occasionally with my body goes away, this is one of the best things that has ever happened...
 

clutch

New Member
Yes, this means no beer. But considering I haven't had a beer since 1989, well, not a biggie.
...

Well, if you ever feel like getting back into beer drinking, there are a few gluten free beers available on the market.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art30583.asp

A couple of friends of mine are on gluten free diets and they drink Redbridge. I can't remember what liquor store they get it at though.

As for gluten free granola to replace your Nature Valley Fruit & Nut bars check out these recipes:

http://www.teamglutenfree.org/recipes.html
 

anrothar

entirely thrilled
tim, there's also a health food store on rt 15 and edison rd(the other edison rd). it's right behind the post office and wendy's. at least, it was there for a long time. i haven't been there in a while.
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Do you have a Whole Foods near you? I think there is one in Verona, Montclair and Ridgewood, and they seem to have some stuff marked gluten free. Good luck.
 

bonefishjake

Strong like bull, smart like tractor
Team MTBNJ Halter's
hey tim-
not that it's real close, but there is (or used to be) a heath food store in morristown. it was in the same shopping plaza as cluck-u and burger king. yes, i used to be addicted to the cluck-u crack. good luck with things tim.
 

Fogerson

Former Resident Nerd
Well, this sucks...

Hi all.

First thanks for all of your advise and suggestions. Much progress has been made...

I've been gluten-free for a week now. Though, I think when I go to the GI today he's gonna' be annoyed. I've read that they want you to stay on gluten until they take the small intestine biopsy to confirm. Which I was thinking "bs" to...lets go GF and see what happens...keep your paws off my intestine. But, as I did more research, the idea is to absolutely confirm a Celiac's diagnosis...not so much for the sake of the Celiac's, but to confirm that my whacked out (and mine is WHACKED out!) antigen blood test is indeed caused by Celiac's. I'm going this PM to see the GI doc.. Sigh...

Anyway, I've felt blah since Monday. I figured it was my body adjusting to the different diet. Though it isn't *that* different: replaced my corn flakes with a gluten free cereal, started using rice milk (giving up milk helps in the early stages of recovery), replaced my trail and nut bars with bananas & apples for snacks, and started using flax seed bread (tasty as long as you toast it). As near as I can tell my caloric intake isn't that different, though it looks like I might be getting fewer carbs & sugars...not a ton less though.

Today, I felt okay (finally!) & the weather was grand, so I took the day off, mounted the Turner, and was off...

I hit the Cascade trail at MD to start. My legs felt good. I was getting more winded than usual on the climbs, but not terrible. The problem was it didn't seem like I was recovering very well. When I got to the end of Cascade (a whopping 2 miles on dirt by this point), I stopped. Usually, when I'm winded and stop, I start to recover in seconds and within 30 seconds (or less) I'm good-to-go. Not today. I actually got to the point of dismounting, taking my helmet off, and sitting on a rock. It probably took 3-5 minutes to get back to a normal respiratory rate. I rode a little farther, had little energy, and my resp rate was higher than it usually would be. So I bailed to Sparta Mtn Road and came home (grrrrrr!). At least that is a fun bomb!

I've had a few previous experiences similar, but they came with my heart feeling like it was gonna' jump out of my chest...and I even saw stars a few times. I've found other bikers in 'net land that had similar experiences prior to their Celiac's diagnosis. Kind of like a hard bonk, even though you've eaten well (Celiac's messes up your absorption in the small intestine, btw).

I'm not too worried that it is "something else"...recent physicals/ecgs/etc. have all been a-ok AND I didn't experience anything like this until the Celiac-type symptoms really started showing up a few months ago. The doc (GP) believes it is all related...

On a positive note, there are few symptoms I've had that have shown signs of improvement...

But still, what a waste of a beautiful day. This couldn't happen when it is snowy, rainy, or generally shitty?! Sigh...

We'll get 'er all figured out...

L8R
Tim
 
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Keroberos

Member
I've actually been gluten free myself for over a year now my girlfriend has been gluten free for close to 5+ years. Theres a realy nice gluten free store in Pennsauken, NJ. They carry raviolli, cerial, crackers, cookies, pasta, bagles, etc. Its called:


Water-To-GO
3501 Haddonfield Rd
Pennsauken, New Jersey 08109 - USA
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Bummer dude!

Have you lost weight in the past week? Like an inordinate amount (say 3-5 pounds)?
 

Fogerson

Former Resident Nerd
Bummer dude!

Have you lost weight in the past week? Like an inordinate amount (say 3-5 pounds)?

Maybe yes, maybe no. Lately, I'll be anywhere between 197 to 200 lbs when I hop on the scale. I just hit it at 197 ('haven't weighed myself all week). So it is *possible* I've dropped up to 3 pounds...or not. I'll have to weigh myself a few more times over the next couple of days to see if my window has maybe dropped from 197-200 down to 194-197.

I don't feel any thinner, but at 200 bills +/- 3 pounds can come and go fairly unnoticed.
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I know the feeling, since I'm right around there these days. I can go +/- 5 within 2 days, especially around the weekend.

The reason I ask is that if I cut carbs my body drops weight. Your body stores carbs with water, something like 4g of water for ever 1g of carb stored. This explains why people jump on the Atkins Diet and lose 10 pounds in a week, because they deplete their carb stores and drop all that water.

Anyhoo, if that's what you're doing your muscles will be ill prepared for any sort of biking as your carb reserves will be kinda tapped out, to a point, especially if you start with a climb.

Just a thought.
 

Cyclopath

Shop Owner / Employee
Shop Keep
Your body stores carbs with water, something like 4g of water for ever 1g of carb stored. This explains why people jump on the Atkins Diet and lose 10 pounds in a week, because they deplete their carb stores and drop all that water.

Agreed in part. The large water loss happens with any diet.

Your body uses glycogen to run. Carbs are most easily converted into glycogen. Carbs in the diet that are not quickly burned are easily converted into fat stores. Rapid conversion and burn of carbs as glycogen leaves lactic acid as a by product. In an endurance situation, once your body has depleted its sources of carbs it looks to convert the next easiest source of fuel, fat, which it then uses as a fuel source. Burning of fat leaves less lactic acid. Lastly, the body burns protein and even cannibalizes itself to get adequate protein if there is no easily attainable dietary source. It is generally agreed that dietary protein aids in recovery but if used as a source of fuel during an endurance event the body will opt to burn the dietary protein and not cannibalize thereby leaving the athlete with more of the muscle they worked so hard to get and less of the soreness, fatigue and recovery that would be expected of lactic acid burn coupled with muscle depletion.

Anyhoo, if that's what you're doing your muscles will be ill prepared for any sort of biking as your carb reserves will be kinda tapped out, to a point, especially if you start with a climb.

Agreed in part. The body will tire and be tapped out early as the glycogen is depleted. When the body learns and converts to burning fat, it taps into clean burning energy that is nearly limitless. The bonk during the switchover is minor and short-lived once accustomed. Fueling more on protein and less on simple sugars can allow longer and stronger events with less overall recovery time.

Or,that's how it works for me.
In my experience, less carbs and more protein is the fuel that will keep at it for hours and hours with less fatigue and better recovery in less time.

Either way, keep at it Tim.
The recent issues alone can wipe your body stores for quite some time, as you said, until the intestine is healed and proper absorption resumes, you'll be fighting an uphill battle. You won't know for sure what works or doesn't until the healing is complete and the body restored. Then, you'll find what's best for you.

Best of luck!
 
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Fogerson

Former Resident Nerd
I know the feeling, since I'm right around there these days. I can go +/- 5 within 2 days, especially around the weekend.

The reason I ask is that if I cut carbs my body drops weight. Your body stores carbs with water, something like 4g of water for ever 1g of carb stored. This explains why people jump on the Atkins Diet and lose 10 pounds in a week, because they deplete their carb stores and drop all that water.

Anyhoo, if that's what you're doing your muscles will be ill prepared for any sort of biking as your carb reserves will be kinda tapped out, to a point, especially if you start with a climb.

Just a thought.

Thanks Norm.

Since my weekday diet is *very* consistent, I picked it a part. I had made a mistake earlier as the serving sizes between the GF and regular foods I eat/ate are different.

Total carb intake is *the same*...to the gram. The shocking thing is that once I got the serving sizes normalized, the gluten free diet ADDS 80 calories a day (lesson here is don't glance and guesstimate in your head)! The cereal, rice milk, and bread are all higher in the calorie arena than their wheat\lactose packed counterparts.

Something really interesting is that more of the carbohydrates in the gluten-free come from dietary sugars. Easily by double and in some cases triple. For instance, a cup of corn flakes has 2g carbo from dietary sugars. The GF has 4g from dietary sugars, but for 3/4 cup. Normalizing to a cup that is 5.3 g per cup; 2.6 times that of "normal" corn flakes. The result is similar for the other GF stuff I have.
Edit: And when you eat nearly two cups of the stuff, that works out almost 7g more dietary sugar...just for breakfast.

Is this significant? I dunno'...but an interesting data point to keep an eye on as I buy GF foods...
 
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Cyclopath

Shop Owner / Employee
Shop Keep
more of the carbohydrates in the gluten-free come from dietary sugars. Easily by double and in some cases triple.
Edit: And when you eat nearly two cups of the stuff, that works out almost 7g more dietary sugar...just for breakfast.

Is this significant?

*Jumping up and down*
Yes, yes!! It is significant. It's simple sugar and burns like hershey's. It leaves you at a deficit. I'll bet those higher carb counts don't add fiber, just sugars which are easily converted to fat.. read empty calories.

If it's complex carbs, they are real food and will fuel you longer. With simple sugars, you'll need a nap as soon as you burn the energy.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
 
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