Gluten free products

[ammonite]

Hi kitty2,


Any gluten free products you are looking for in particular and how strict do you need to be?

For certified gluten free products, brown rice paradise (Tanglin mall) is probably one of the most established stores in Singapore. It has been around for a long time and cater to various specialized diets. It also carries gluten free oats and a variety of alternative flours.

Fortunately, you can also get a selection now from the major supermarkets (cold storage, ntuc finest, the marketplace) and even many of the smaller health food stores. Just ask if you are not sure where to look. Recently I just saw gluten free soy sauce at Ntuc finest (bukit timah branch). I have also seen gluten free pizza at cold storage.

Besides that, many asian food is also gluten free, as long as you don’t use soy sauce or oyster sauce.

The biggest challenge I have found is snacks for kids and birthday cakes. But if you can have eggs, dairy and soy, it is not so hard.

[kitty2]

ammonite:

Hi kitty2,


Any gluten free products you are looking for in particular and how strict do you need to be?

For certified gluten free products, brown rice paradise (Tanglin mall) is probably one of the most established stores in Singapore. It has been around for a long time and cater to various specialized diets. It also carries gluten free oats and a variety of alternative flours.

Fortunately, you can also get a selection now from the major supermarkets (cold storage, ntuc finest, the marketplace) and even many of the smaller health food stores. Just ask if you are not sure where to look. Recently I just saw gluten free soy sauce at Ntuc finest (bukit timah branch). I have also seen gluten free pizza at cold storage.

Besides that, many asian food is also gluten free, as long as you don't use soy sauce or oyster sauce.

The biggest challenge I have found is snacks for kids and birthday cakes. But if you can have eggs, dairy and soy, it is not so hard.

:thankyou: trying to look for gluten free bread and noodles.will find out from all the places which you had mentioned

[kitty2]

ammonite:

Hi kitty2,


Any gluten free products you are looking for in particular and how strict do you need to be?

For certified gluten free products, brown rice paradise (Tanglin mall) is probably one of the most established stores in Singapore. It has been around for a long time and cater to various specialized diets. It also carries gluten free oats and a variety of alternative flours.

Fortunately, you can also get a selection now from the major supermarkets (cold storage, ntuc finest, the marketplace) and even many of the smaller health food stores. Just ask if you are not sure where to look. Recently I just saw gluten free soy sauce at Ntuc finest (bukit timah branch). I have also seen gluten free pizza at cold storage.

Besides that, many asian food is also gluten free, as long as you don't use soy sauce or oyster sauce.

The biggest challenge I have found is snacks for kids and birthday cakes. But if you can have eggs, dairy and soy, it is not so hard.

:thankyou: trying to look for gluten free bread and noodles.will find out from all the places which you had mentioned

[Nebbermind]

Ammonite, your kids are allergic to gluten? It is quite rare, isn’t it? How did you find out?

[FantasyLandDreams]

Nebbermind:

Ammonite, your kids are allergic to gluten? It is quite rare, isn't it? How did you find out?

According to someone I know who cannot take gluten at all, she went for a checkup and did some tests after prolonged period (about 2 years) of bloatedness, wind and severe constipation despite eating very little for every meal. Even after she was diagnosed as not suitable to take gluten, she avoids bread and cakes and even a little dose of such makes her feel very miserable the next day.

[ammonite]

kitty2,

for gluten-free bread/baked products, Cold Storage is much more likely to have it than NTUC. Go to the bigger outlets and remember to check not just the health food/organic section, but also look inside the fridges. Outlets that have more Caucasian customers will carry them.

for dried gluten-free noodles/pasta, many supermarkets retail them now, not too hard to find. However taste and cost wise, I still prefer using traditional rice noodles or Korean sweet potato noodles.

Gluten-free products taste and feel different, which is okay, just don’t expect them to taste exactly like wheat based products. Another way is just shift your diet to other traditional cuisines that are not heavy on wheat.

Nebbermind,
I had previously put my ds2 on a gluten-free diet to see if it would help with his eczema. It didn’t make that much difference to his eczema, but to my surprise, it made a big difference to his digestion and he began to thrive. He put on weight very quickly despite being on the most restricted diet he ever had, and had rosy cheeks. He was previously skin and bones as he would be in the toilet at least twice a day, and that was already an improvement from the time when he had chronic diarrhoea because of egg in his diet.

I removed gluten from his diet for 6 months, and I was able to reintroduce it in limited quantities after that. Basically he didn’t thrive on wheat, but we had to balance his feelings of being so different from the rest (with ugly eczema that other kids point at, and having to pack his own food all the time) with his physical needs. He is older and his tolerance is better now, I just make it a point to provide enough gluten-free food over the week for his growth.

Fantasylanddream,

Yes, you are right. Gluten-allergy can show up as celiac, which is an auto-immune condition and takes years to determine, usually after a long period of stomach problems and low energy levels because the villi in the intestines are being destroyed. There are generally 2 ways that doctors use here - doing a before/after scope to take tissue samples. In between, the patient has to eat a lot of gluten. If the patient has celiac, the second sample should show villi destruction. However this is very invasive. The allergist was reluctant to do it for ds2 and I agreed with her.

Another is to go on a strict 3 week gluten-free diet and see if it makes a difference. I have read that there is also a blood test available overseas, but I am not sure if it is a definitive result, or an indication of likelihood.

Gluten allergy can also show up in other forms - rashes or anaphylaxis. But these are much more acute and detection usually takes place earlier. This also shows up more easily on a typical skin prick test. However for celiac, a skin prick test does not apply.

[Nebbermind]

ammonite


Thanks for sharing!

[kitty2]

ammonite:

kitty2,

for gluten-free bread/baked products, Cold Storage is much more likely to have it than NTUC. Go to the bigger outlets and remember to check not just the health food/organic section, but also look inside the fridges. Outlets that have more Caucasian customers will carry them.

for dried gluten-free noodles/pasta, many supermarkets retail them now, not too hard to find. However taste and cost wise, I still prefer using traditional rice noodles or Korean sweet potato noodles.

Gluten-free products taste and feel different, which is okay, just don't expect them to taste exactly like wheat based products. Another way is just shift your diet to other traditional cuisines that are not heavy on wheat.

Nebbermind,
I had previously put my ds2 on a gluten-free diet to see if it would help with his eczema. It didn't make that much difference to his eczema, but to my surprise, it made a big difference to his digestion and he began to thrive. He put on weight very quickly despite being on the most restricted diet he ever had, and had rosy cheeks. He was previously skin and bones as he would be in the toilet at least twice a day, and that was already an improvement from the time when he had chronic diarrhoea because of egg in his diet.

I removed gluten from his diet for 6 months, and I was able to reintroduce it in limited quantities after that. Basically he didn't thrive on wheat, but we had to balance his feelings of being so different from the rest (with ugly eczema that other kids point at, and having to pack his own food all the time) with his physical needs. He is older and his tolerance is better now, I just make it a point to provide enough gluten-free food over the week for his growth.

Fantasylanddream,

Yes, you are right. Gluten-allergy can show up as celiac, which is an auto-immune condition and takes years to determine, usually after a long period of stomach problems and low energy levels because the villi in the intestines are being destroyed. There are generally 2 ways that doctors use here - doing a before/after scope to take tissue samples. In between, the patient has to eat a lot of gluten. If the patient has celiac, the second sample should show villi destruction. However this is very invasive. The allergist was reluctant to do it for ds2 and I agreed with her.

Another is to go on a strict 3 week gluten-free diet and see if it makes a difference. I have read that there is also a blood test available overseas, but I am not sure if it is a definitive result, or an indication of likelihood.

Gluten allergy can also show up in other forms - rashes or anaphylaxis. But these are much more acute and detection usually takes place earlier. This also shows up more easily on a typical skin prick test. However for celiac, a skin prick test does not apply.

:thankyou: do you mind to share his diet plan?

[ammonite]

Kitty2,

Do you mean weekly menu for him? I just have a collection of recipes and websites that I used with modification. (Eg gluten-free girl) I am not a natural cook. I was very lost initially. Fortunately another mother with an allergic child gave me a cookbook.

This is the cookbook she passed me:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Allergy-Free-Co ... 1405312602
I have seen a copy at NLB as well and an increasing number of cookbooks for different specialized diets - another reminder of how amazing our NLB is! If I remember correctly, it had some tips on replacements inside. Potato starch and cornstarch are helpful.

it also comes down to how strict you need to be and what is off limits. If you only need to avoid gluten, the easiest thing to do is just have a rice based diet and cook with salt/butter/herbs/chilli/ seafood. If you only need to avoid large quantities of gluten, you will still get away with using soy sauce etc which will open up your options too.

Ds' mainstays are fried rice, beef stew (western style), shepard's pie (without dairy), roast chicken in different marinades, chicken noodle soup (rice noodle or sweet potato noodle). He also takes all veg, sesame seeds, cashews and almonds. I give him chinese soups at least once a week to build up his stomach and lungs, using bones with marrow in them. (You can google on the benefits of bone marrow broth for stomach.) he also likes Nasi lemak and Indonesian yellow rice.

Hope that helps!