I am not gluten intolerant, but am allergic to wheat-- from a can/can't standpoint, I tend to eat like a celiac. It was daunting at first, but it's really not that complicated once you get the hang of things. The increased availability of GF foods makes things easier, but I will admit that I tend not to buy them very often. Some recommendations/warnings: Eating at Home * Rice pasta is a lot closer to regular pasta than any of the other pastas in my experience. * Most GF bread in stores is pretty awful. There are a few brands that are okay, but they're also expensive for what you get. * Try to focus on foods that wouldn't have wheat in them anyway-- there are plenty of non-GF foods in the regular aisles because those foods never contained gluten to begin with. * I haven't gotten into trying a lot of the GF packaged foods because a lot of them are on the junk food end of the spectrum and are expensive to boot. * Most of the from-scratch recipes for baked goods you'll see around require a lot of different kinds of flours. I don't do a lot of baking, but have taken to substituting All-Purpose GF flour for the various flours in the recipes. So far, the results have been coming out fine. Eating with Friends * Most of my friends are pretty willing to be careful and just make things that wouldn't contain wheat anyway when they invite me over * That said, I usually offer to bring a side dish that I know I can eat just in case. It's nice to contribute, plus they don't always know what to look for-- if I bring something, I know I'm covered and they don't have to feel badly if I'm allergic to the main dish. Eating Out * If you're eating out, always tell the wait staff. Problem ingredients aren't always obvious from the menu. * You may need to be careful about anything that's fried (e.g. french fries)-- if they fry gluten-containing things in the same oil, you could have a reaction. * Even if they assure you that there is No Way something contains a problem ingredient, trust your body's reactions to things. With celiac, you won't get the same immediate reaction that I do, but you'll know after the fact. If you have a bad reaction somewhere, don't go back. * I try to avoid Chinese restaurants because of how thoroughly soy sauce permeates the recipes-- anything that has normal soy sauce has wheat. And I also avoid Italian restaurants because of the pasta problem. * Mexican, Thai, and Indian restaurants tend to have better percentages of safe foods. * American food restaurants usually have a few things that are already safe or can be made safe by leaving off bread and sauce. Travel * I always bring some just in case food with me. Most airport food is not GF and I'm wary about cross-contamination. * I generally bring food not only to be covered during airport time/flights but also to provide at least 1 meal substitute wherever I'm going. I just feel more secure that way, and it means that if the plane gets in late or if I have a super-early start in the morning, I don't need to stress about food. Alcohol * I'm not really a drinker, but since you mentioned it- there are GF beers available. I have no idea if they're any good, but they exist. Other Products * I don't know if celiacs need to be careful about hair/make-up/etc. products or not, but some of them include wheat starch in the ingredients list. I have had reactions to them. Professional Help * I would recommend getting a referral to a nutritionist and having at least a couple of appointments with a good one. I see one periodically who makes suggestions that I wouldn't know about on my own. * That said, the first nutritionist I saw after my diagnosis was someone who was so unhelpful I still wonder if she was really a nutritionist. If the person you see doesn't give you helpful advice, suggestions, and recipes, try to find someone else. And one more thing-- even if you don't want to fully commit to trying the GF diet while you're in hotels/restaurants this weekend, it might be worth experimenting with it a little. More and more often, I see menus that either flag the GF items outright or say that they have a GF menu that can be provided upon request. See if there's anything with the GF label that you might want to try just because it sounds good! It can't hurt!

I think this is one of those cases of where one thing that works for somebody doesn't work for the other. The no dairy has made no difference to my complexion whatsoever. I also have adult acne (was spared as a teen though) for me it is very hormone related in what makes a difference in my monthly cycle. Of course the majority of all dairy I consume are of the organic hormone free kind so maybe the hormones in normal dairy is the cause there for others. Also read the label on the cheese you buy some of it has ingredients I would not expect to see such as Aluminum. Organic if you can find it also tastes so much better imo. Dairy such as milk and butter are large ingredients in many foods. My daughter is allergic to the proteins such as caseins and whey in dairy, but we don't take any chances with anything that contains milk or those proteins. Goat products still contains caseins and whey and are thus not in our household. Also our pediatric allergist recommends to not have any exposure to the allergen to hopefully allow her body to stop producing antibodies against it so maybe she can eat dairy later. I do drink milk and yoghurt (organic on both) at home and my daughter drinks rice milk enriched with Calcium. I try to avoid soy and adding extra estrogens with soy substitutes for her, but there are some things we buy pre-made that is dairy free and often there is soy in that instead. Don't want to add soy milk unless I have to in things. Coconut milk and Almond milk are both great for cooking when I need something, but I usually stay away from recipes calling for milk. I wish I could say eating dairy free for 2 years (I continued for about 8 months after stopping BF) did or didn't do anything for my weight, but dairy hasn't seem to have had an effect there either. Probably because I don't eat much different calorie wise. If I don't have dairy I need some other source of protein so the calories gets replaced one way or another. Of course I have to stick to around 1500-1800 calories a day to maintain weight. If I go above as in eating out where it can really blow up then I gain in no time - dairy or not. I'm personally of the belief that none of the natural foods (ie non-processed) foods we eat are necessarily bad for us (unless you have an allergy), but that moderation is the key and eating too much of anything your body doesn't need will cause you problems. However the question for me is how do I figure out what my body really need. I try to listen to food cravings when they don't relate to french fries or junk food, but not sure if that is really the key. I started with this when I noticed that I got cravings for salt (not just salty food) when my blood-pressure was on the low side of my already low-blood pressure. Since I have type 1 diabetes (very well controlled) I also try to limit my daily carb intake and eat less refined carbs since there really isn't much difference to your blood between a spoon of sugar or a slice of white bread. It both turns in to glucose and for me at the same rate as far as spiking my blood sugar vs. a whole grain bread with lots of fiber. I guess with all this blabbering my personal choice is try for moderation and avoid too much processed foods, get some exercise, and eat at home and I seem to feel and do better weight wise too.

My peach torte with peach gelato turned out to be a huge hit. It was so successful, I decided to go ahead and see if a savory version would turn out for me. It's in the oven right now, so I have to wait 45 minutes to discover if it will be a ''hit'', or I ''missed''! Here is what I did: I substituted the sugar for parmesan cheese I ground in the food processor, and added about 3 T. of chopped chives to the softened butter. After adding the eggs, flour, salt and baking powder, I spread the batter into a greased tart pan, evening it out with an offset spatula. I covered the batter with a thin layer of some French onion sour cream I made yesterday (by carmelizing the onions until they were deeply browned, and stirring them into the sour cream). To that I added a 1/4 lb. of browned sausage (Des Moines finest, Graziano's!), and about 1 Tablespoon of parmesan, which I reserved for the top. I hope it tastes good... Even if it doesn't, the French Onion dip is to die for. I may just have to console myself with that!

My husband was diagnosed with Celiac about 18 months ago. He has always been extremely active and healthy but went downhill for a couple of years until he was a wreck. Within 48 hours of his diagnosis the changes were amazing. I bake his "daily bread" using recipe's from the Gluten Free Goddess blog. We live at higher altitude- she used to live in New Mexico and many of her recipes work for us. One of our close friends is Celiac and casein free & Goddess recipes also work for her. If I can't bake for some reason I buy Canyon Bakehouse bread. I don't buy much that is prepared/processed but the Kinnickkinnick donuts are too yummy to resist. We especially like the cinnamon donuts with hot apple cider. I also like the Pamela's chocolate chunk cookie mix and Arrowhead Mills brownie mix. Martha Stewart's "Best Buttermilk Pancake" recipe works well for us with Gluten Free Pantry or Bob's Red Mill GF all purpose flour. This is the only recipe where I like using one of the flour mixes. I serve this to guests and they have no idea that it's gluten free. We rarely have pasta at home any more. I serve things over polenta, shaved zucchini, shaved carrots or spaghetti squash instead, and I make risotto more often. Martha Stewart also has a nice gluten free lasagna recipe using shaved zucchini. When I need to use GF pasta DH prefers DeBoles corn pastas. I received Elizabeth Barbone's Easy Gluten Free Baking book as a gift and have found that some of her recipes work beautifully and others fail completely. My kitchen is not completely GF but I do completely segregate my equipment and storage. Most of our meals are GF but I do make gluteny special occasion and holiday treats (I am the holiday hostess in our family these days), and the children and I still have granola and some other things. I was thrilled to see my husband's health return but there were times shortly after his diagnosis when I felt overwhelmed at learning how to bake without gluten, especially at higher altitude. if you are just starting out, don't get discouraged, you will probably have to kiss some frogs on your way to your prince charming recipes. Keep notes and keep your sense of humor! I am linking to the Gluten Free Goddess Blog's tips for success section- lots of good information there. I make her Delicious Gluten Free Bread and Gluten Free Multi Grain sandwich bread every week. I use white wine vinegar rather than apple cider vinegar. Here is a link that might be useful: Gluten Free Goddess Tips