Celiac disease and new parents

Keep calm. Gluten (celiac disease) is the order of the day. There are more and more products labeled gluten-free and it costs nothing to find them anywhere, even here, in our online parapharmacy

Today I have the honor of being able to write an article on our blog about celiac disease from my own experience, and I'm talking about almost 20 years ago, so before there was almost no information about celiac disease.

I still don't know if my child is celiac. When should I worry?

Normally, around 6 months, the element of gluten is introduced into the diet of babies. This is when you should start paying attention.

When a body does not tolerate gluten, the body defends itself against it, because it 'confuses' it as a threat and acts accordingly by attacking it.

FIRST VISIBLE SYMPTOMS OF OUR CELIAC SON:

• Persistent constipation or diarrhea
• swollen belly
• Abdominal pain
• gas or indigestion
• Decreased appetite
• nausea and vomiting
• Weightloss
• Growth curve below average

It is necessary that the follow-up be done by your pediatrician and comment on these observations if necessary. If your pediatrician considers that he may be celiac, he will proceed to refer him to carry out the relevant tests and rule him out. If after a reasonable time your pediatrician does not pay any attention, I recommend you seek a second opinion with a doctor specialized in the digestive section.

Although it may seem like a mistake, it is very important not to withdraw the gluten diet while the tests are being carried out. Otherwise they could give erroneous results.

The control with the pediatrician should be done annually, where with a simple blood test you can see if your child is within normal parameters. If all these tips are followed, there should not be any kind of problem.

If in the end they confirm that he is celiac, don't get nervous. With these tips that I will give you, you can lead a normal and ordinary life:

• Look for labels of PRODUCTS GLUTEN FREE. These products, today, can be found anywhere, you just have to look and read the ingredients if necessary. In the past, parents had to go with a book listing manufacturers and products that were gluten-free, and this book was constantly updated. Today, and luckily, this is no longer the case, and it is well regulated. We have created a specific category of CELIACS/GLUTEN FREE on the web. At the end of this article you will find the link.
• When you cook at home, you can cook in different containers to differentiate products with and without gluten, always separate from the container. It is very important NOT TO MIX THE KITCHEN UTENSILS that we use to stir the food in the container. We will use one for the container that contains gluten-containing foods and the other utensil for the container with gluten-free foods.
• The same goes for when we have to drain the pasta. It is as simple as first draining the GLUTEN-FREE pasta and then we can use the same container to drain the pasta with gluten.
• When we have to cut food, take care of knives that have been contaminated with gluten. The usual, a knife for foods with gluten and another for those without gluten.
• At birthday parties, let us know before you go, because the most likely thing is that they will prepare something special for your child. From years of experience, there is no problem at birthday parties. You just have to watch that children do not share food, because it is normal that they want to share a cookie with their friends, for example.
• For the issue of the dining room at school, do not worry either. All the ones I have seen are the order of the day and super controlled.
• Perhaps the most delicate thing at the time of cooking is the flour, since being a powdered element, it can easily contaminate everything around it. Perhaps it is where you should be more careful, and if you get into the habit of cooking first what does not contain gluten and then the rest, life will be much easier, I assure you.
• When you finish cooking, you must clean both the utensils and the surface well.
• Remember to always have CORN FLOUR. It is the normal substitute for normal flour for almost any meal, and the whole family can eat it without problems. It is important to note that it does not contain gluten.
• As a curious fact, play dough is usually edible (for safety), but it usually contains gluten. Many schools choose to use gluten-free play dough. Find out at school.

* With the subject of kitchen utensils, we do not have to go to the extreme of physically separating the utensils forever, because when we wash them or go through the dishwasher, we eliminate any traces of gluten.

RESTAURANTS AND CELIAC. KITCHEN GLUTEN FREE

Restaurants seem to be the most sensitive issue, but don't worry, it's not an impossible mission:

• If you go to a restaurant, call ahead to find out if they serve gluten-free products, most of them are currently prepared. Many of them even indicate it on the door or inside the restaurant itself, and, as is now the norm, also on the menu.
• Many times they tell us that the French fries, for example, are natural and they peel and cut them themselves, and that they only put potatoes in the fryer, no batter (well, nothing, you already know that the French fries are gluten-free, but be careful with fried foods when it comes to a healthy diet).
• Grilled meats, as long as the plate is clean of any remaining gluten, there is usually no problem either.
• Salads seem to be that at first they should not cause problems, but many put pieces of toasted bread or other ingredients that do contain gluten. For your safety and that of your children, you better ask beforehand.
• For the rest of the menu, check with the restaurant.
• Today, in addition, we have Google Maps, where we can see the opinions and menus before going to the restaurant, and if not, ask them directly through the Google Maps form, because your query will help the next new parents who read it. and thanks to that, be informed. I take advantage as a computer technician to underline the importance of your opinions in the places you frequent or buy, such as our online parapharmacy. Your opinions are one of the most important bases to be able to help others and report on the quality or characteristics of a business, whether virtual or physical.
• It does not hurt to inform the waiter, as he will take note of it to pay special attention to those dishes that must be GLUTEN-FREE.

SPECIAL GLUTEN INTAKE

If your child ingests some gluten, don't be alarmed, the natural process of her body will gradually recover, there is no danger. You always have to keep it at bay, but if everything and so you want to make sure, for children over 12 years of age there is a natural product that can be taken in case of accidental gluten intake. (Not recommended in pregnant women without medical advice)

And what about grandma's croquettes? how do i do it now?

We have all tried those delicious grandmother's croquettes, what happens now? Will you have to change the recipe?

Well, we have several options:

• Change the recipe and for everyone the same, with gluten-free breadcrumbs and flour (or other ingredients)
• Make two runs, one with gluten and the other without gluten. They can be made at the same time, but with the flour and breadcrumbs separated, and each batch with its kitchen utensils so that the GLUTEN-FREE batch is not contaminated. Due to the use of flour, my recommendation is the same as always: first make the croquettes GLUTEN FREE and then the rest.
• Of course, with special attention to other extra ingredients (butter, etc…), make sure they are products with gluten-free ingredients.

The difference between grandma's new homemade croquettes and the ones from before? In taste, flavor and texture I can assure you that there is almost no difference and they come out delicious too. I recommend you do a test, even if you are not celiac.

Also add at this point of the croquettes that you can go to your trusted butcher shop, and ask them if they can make a gluten-free edition when they make croquettes. Ask for a good tray and freeze it, so the croquettes will last at home and without having to go out looking anywhere.

We already know that we can't resist grandma's croquettes, but as always, fried ones in moderation, it's better to eat as healthy as possible. Your body will thank you.

Should I be wary of products that ARE NOT LABELED 'GLUTEN-FREE', but according to the ingredients, are gluten-free?

There are products that your children could ingest without any problem, but several things must be taken into account:

• A product can be GLUTEN FREE, and not be labeled. The GLUTEN FREE label is received once the pertinent health controls have passed and they certify it. It may be that a product has not passed them but is perfectly GLUTEN FREE. In this case, it is better to look for an equivalent but that is correctly labeled.
• Gluten -free labels ensure that the product has been packaged in a controlled environment to avoid air pollution of products.
• There are products that, due to the ingredients, could seem to be gluten-free, but it turns out that in the same production chain, apart from this product, other previous ones that did have gluten have passed, so the foods that have come later, if the production line has not been conscientiously cleaned, they will be contaminated with gluten. Normally they indicate it on the packaging.

Your son will assimilate all this quite naturally, and you will be surprised when you see that his schoolmates will grow up with their celiac friends without any problem and will respect their behavior with complete normality. At that age everything is assimilated at breakneck speed.

Basically it comes down to changing our shopping and cooking habits a bit, but it is assimilated very quickly and becomes a natural way of day to day. When you want to realize it, you will be doing it without thinking. The products that you are changing for the new gluten-free ones will enter your memory and little by little you will not even have to think about it.

You have to keep in mind that many of today's products are labeled GLUTEN-FREE, but it's not that they are now GLUTEN-FREE, but that they always have been and we were already eating GLUTEN-FREE foods without knowing it, simply that they have added the label as sanity check. You see that it is not so difficult. With a little attention, everything is fixed.

At the end of this article I will leave you some links to products, where, in our house, for example, Dr. Schar has been present throughout my life related to celiac disease, so for me, on a personal level, it is my favorite. While it is true that gluten-free bread leaves the touch and aroma to be desired from normal bread, we hope that in the future something as similar as possible in texture and taste will be achieved. Everything and so, I recommend the gluten-free toast, even if you are not celiac. To this day they are the richest I have tried and I assure you that they have no point of comparison with gluten-containing toast. You will tell me.

* Image created with Stable Diffusion