A conversation about celiac, and the struggle to thrive as a homesteader.

I've come to realize that it is nearly impossible to thrive in most of America with celiac disease. The contamination is everywhere. Gluten is in everything. It's not possible to grow 100% of a households food supply in a temperate environment, especially if you are vegetarian or pescatarian. There is gluten in everything from salt to organic produce from the grocer. It's on frozen fish, it's in food industry sanitizer, it's in the wax coating sprayed on vegetables, and it's even in bt; it's in toothpaste, soap, drywall, glue, medicine. It's in the mosquito spray that is sprayed from the air for mosquito control. It's in milk and meat from animals fed gluten. The struggle is real. How do we overcome this and take control of our health when we are bombarded from every angle. It's not possible or feasible for everyone to live in a bubble. Anybody else struggling with these issues, and not just celiacs but hashimotos, and any other autoimmune diseases exacerbated by gluten and/or chemicals?

YES I'm struggling with the same issues. Reading your thread at first made me feel the same way I do when I struggle to read the fine print in the ingredients as I pull items off the shelf one by one, tossing the majority back in disgust. There is a lawsuit now against my old favorite Quaker Oats, which states clearly and proudly that this is a non-GMO product. Regardless, there is test after test showing heightened glyphosate in their oatmeal.   glyphosate-oat-products-ewg-study Besides the betrayal of trust for the Non-GMO stamp I now have, a real bummer for me was Oats were one of the few grains I could still eat. Of course there is trace amounts of gluten in their products. Now on top of the fictional Non-GMO stamp they make a product proudly promoting Gluten Free.
In (TV) law if you can show that a suspect has a pattern of deceit they are more likely to show bad behavior across the board.
I'm glad you brought up this real issue and by real, I mean depressing.    
It's no wonder that after being so strict about cutting out gluten I still have inflammation pretty much daily. I crave the days when I could go out to dinner with my wife and friends. Now, that is made more difficult since I learned four months ago from an food sensitivity that I am lactose intolerant as well as highly allergic to eggs!
Supermarkets too are becoming smaller every day.
Brian

I'm not celiac but my mother has hashimotos and I talk to her a lot about the struggles she faces (and I tend to almost never eat grains or sugars anyway). It's sad to say but I think the homesteading lifestyle is really the best/only way to deal with this. It almost requires an entire shift in paradigm, which kind of sucks, but you are right it is SO pervasive. I also think that it isn't entirely the gluten to blame, I suspect that all the tampering with our food supply creates a perfect storm that causes all these diseases to crop up in such an unprecedented frequency. Like I said I'm not celiac but I've had a lot of other issues in my health that I think I'm finally getting a handle on, dietarily speaking, but it feels like a minefield sometimes.

Being able to do as much of your own food production as possible is almost the only way to be 100% sure you don't have cross contamination. And then you have to avoid people bringing food over, and forget about eating out anywhere.

Taking care of as much of your own food as possible is key.  Fortunately we have tied it into some hobbies. Husband loves to fish, he is allergic but I benefit and we can trade with some friends who hunt.  There is a protein in most dairy that is similar to the one in gluten, so both problems often go together.  Frozen vegetables to supplement my garden efforts seem to be better as far as not having coatings or additives if you get the plain kind.  Having a simple eating plan helps me.

As far as eating out, I have a couple options at local places. My friends are kind enough to always suggest them for going out. If invited out, I usually bring my own food so as not to stress my host out. I just tell them I have food allergies and the important part is the friendship not the food.  It was weird for them at first, but now it is appreciated.  

It is a challenge but better health is well worth it.  In a strange way, it has even been a help. It has helped me simplify my life in different areas and is what led me to permaculture.  I would even say it is worth it!

Brian Rodgers wrote:YES I'm struggling with the same issues. Reading your thread at first made me feel the same way I do when I struggle to read the fine print in the ingredients as I pull items off the shelf one by one, tossing the majority back in disgust. There is a lawsuit now against my old favorite Quaker Oats, which states clearly and proudly that this is a non-GMO product. Regardless, there is test after test showing heightened glyphosate in their oatmeal.   glyphosate-oat-products-ewg-study Besides the betrayal of trust for the Non-GMO stamp I now have, a real bummer for me was Oats were one of the few grains I could still eat. Of course there is trace amounts of gluten in their products. Now on top of the fictional Non-GMO stamp they make a product proudly promoting Gluten Free.
In (TV) law if you can show that a suspect has a pattern of deceit they are more likely to show bad behavior across the board.
I'm glad you brought up this real issue and by real, I mean depressing.    
It's no wonder that after being so strict about cutting out gluten I still have inflammation pretty much daily. I crave the days when I could go out to dinner with my wife and friends. Now, that is made more difficult since I learned four months ago from an food sensitivity that I am lactose intolerant as well as highly allergic to eggs!
Supermarkets too are becoming smaller every day.
Brian

It might not be the milk and eggs but rather what is in them. I find that I can have eggs or goat cheese produced myself without issue but from the store instant misery.

Almost all of our food have wheat/gluten in it.
I really think that it is super weird that we are still eating famine/war food, that is grass seed.

I prefer a tuber+fruit+nut+honey diet.

Honey for sugars/syrups/jam
Nuts for oils
Beans/eggs/milk for protein
Nuts for oils
Tubers
Fruits
Vegetables.

An adult can get all the calories they need for an entire year with just 10 hazelnut trees.
So I think that you can produce all your required nutrients onsite.
The hard part is storing it for the winter.
You can store honey, dehydrated fruits/herbs/mushroom, air dried tubers/popcorn/nuts/dry beans easily.
The hard one is vegetables, alot can be stored in the ground until Dec or later and then stored in water kefir in containers. It might be possible to dehydrate/powder some greens, but i don't know. And freezing is always an option.

But while all this growing+harvesting is possible. And solar dehydration of non-vegetables doesn't take up alot of time. Where will all of this food be stored?

found this info:

Gluten-Free Whole Grains
1. Quinoa
2. Brown rice
3. Wild rice
4. Buckwheat
5. Sorghum
6. Tapioca
7. Millet
8. Amaranth
9. Teff
10. Arrowroot
11. Oats

Fruits and Vegetables to Eat
All fresh fruits and vegetables are naturally gluten-free.
Although the list below is not comprehensive, it provides some examples of fresh fruits and vegetables that you can enjoy on a gluten-free diet.
12. Citrus fruits, including oranges and grapefruit
13. Bananas
14. Apples
15. Berries
16. Peaches
17. Pears
18. Cruciferous vegetables, including cauliflower and broccoli
19. Greens, such as spinach, kale and Swiss chard
20. Starchy vegetables, including potatoes, corn and squash
21. Bell peppers
22. Mushrooms
23. Onions
24. Carrots
25. Radishes
26. Green beans

more list of food items and info located here

gluten free foods

My husband has Crohn's and so avoids ALL starches. So no wheat or potatoes or rice or tapioca or anything. We pretty much cook eveyrthing from scratch. Lara bars, kippered fish, dates, and certain pepperonie sticks are our travel/snack foods. Eveyrthing else is cooked from scratch.

It's exhausting, especially with two little kids. I'm always cooking or cleaning up after cooking. There's no "let's just cook a frozen dinner" or "eat out" or "order take out." It's hard, but it's worth it to have him in remission, and to keep my kids from getting Crohn's too. I mostly eat the same way, too, for my psoriasis and PCOS (polycystic ovaries) and because it seems to really help with my mental and emotional states.

Sometimes I wonder how other families have such clean homes, or have time to do activities...then I remember they don't have to spend 2+hours/day cooking and cleaning up after their food, or spend time growing it!

Dan Allen wrote:
It might not be the milk and eggs but rather what is in them. I find that I can have eggs or goat cheese produced myself without issue but from the store instant misery.

Unfortunately I had an immediate inflammatory reaction to eating our own eggs too.
They are killing us with our food and they don't seem to have any empathy for people.  
By the way Las Vegas NM is  a food desert, so healthy choices are non existent here. We have to drive sixty miles to Santa Fe to get a store with an organic food section. Grr.
Brian

Brian, would one of the companies that do freeze dried items be an option to fill in your grocery runs? I think I have seen some forum members mention Thrive as a place they liked.  I have never used them myself.  In your case, getting canned organic items shipped from Amazon or Walmart might also help between trips. At least some have free shipping. Again, I have never used these, just seen them. This is partly why I grow what I can because I'm 18 miles from store.  You have it way more challenging!

Cool thank you Tina I'm looking now  https://thrivemarket.com/myaisle/ We also use https://www.azurestandard.com/ but nothing compares to seeing, smelling and touching the food and picking something that fits our needs. Walmart in Las Vegas NM has a little corner shelf with "Organic" food. Sometimes I worry WalMart has trademarked the word "Organic" and they throw it on foods willynilly. I have thought about the country of origin of foods we buy, and at one time the food produced in the US was of a higher standard, but recent deregulations in food productions are making me think twice about food coming from Mexico being full of banned pesticides as the worst.  
Spring of 2019  for certain we are doubling the size of our greenhouse so we can grow even more of our own food. On the other hand we're fighting with mold issues here at home and in the fish/greenhouse so sometimes it seems like a no win situation.  I worry that only the fittest will survive what is rapidly coming upon us.
Brian

On the other hand we're fighting with mold issues here at home and in the fish/greenhouse so sometimes it seems like a no win situation

amazon sells ladybugs! they eat mold!! and there cheap. might be worth trying.

bernetta putnam wrote:

On the other hand we're fighting with mold issues here at home and in the fish/greenhouse so sometimes it seems like a no win situation

amazon sells ladybugs! they eat mold!! and there cheap. might be worth trying.

Nice to know lady bugs eat mold. I add 1500 two times per year. Thank you Bernetta
Brian

Interesting article, but looks like it leads to a sales pitch which always makes me a bit suspicious.

For me, cutting gluten was the first part.  The constant sickness cleared, but there were still problems.  I had to cut dairy too.  Also I avoid the fake gluten free foods and try to stick to real food.  That gave me my real improvements.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233651259_Effects_of_Alkaline_Gluten_on_the_Insecticidal_Activity_of_Bacillus_thuringiensis/amp&ved=2ahUKEwj5tL3Qo8jfAhWJ24MKHVuEDiAQFjAPegQIAxAB&usg=AOvVaw0YJIa4_yD_Dne-UxdX5R48&cf=1&cshid=1546197925668

This is evidence of gluten contamination of organic produce. This is not the original paper that I read, the original discussed its current effects in commercial use but I can't find it again.

My son has celiacs and Hashimoto's . He is in college and the food service kept poisoning him but required to pay into the meal plan which cost $12 a meal for prison food.
I noticed on a trip to Europe he want getting sick. Food that said celiacs safe was. I'm gluten intolerant but have no problem eating wheat in Europe.
I think the whole GMO issue is actually causing the activation of the the celiacs gene. It is also causing more and more food intolerance .