Gluten free backpacking meals

[Coyote Commander]

My wife is a celiac (allergic to wheat gluten) which makes finding processed foods a bit difficult. You know what foods have gluten in them? ALL OF THEM! Especially the best ones, according to her, hhahaha.

Ive done a little snooping for freeze dried or dehydrated backpacking meals that are gluten free and cant find anything. Anybody ever see em around?

If I cant find something prepared, I need to start experimenting with making our own, she's gotta have a good evening meal (daytime snacks are easy to find) that doesnt make her sick.

Thanks

 

[muleman]

Commander,

Here is a thread I started on GF.
http://www.rokslide.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1650

As stated in that post Alpine Aire and Richmoore both have a few GF meals. I have used them extensively and they are OK.

This year I will be dehydrating most if not all of my meals and would love to swap recipes. If you only want prepared meals and cant find them, I would be happy to order them for you.

 

[muleman]

Here are most of the GF varieties I've found.

 

[Coyote Commander]

Awesome info Muleman! I appreciate it.

We'll be sure to check those out, and probably fool around trying to make some of our own. if we come up with some tasty concoctions we'll be sure to share them.

Im still learning this gluten free thing. I sympathize with you guys a lot, I think if I couldnt have bread id just kill myself. Sure makes finding food hard (especially at restaurants).

 

[Ironman]

Is gluten that bad? Seriously, I'm curious. I have seen a lot about gluten recently. Is this similar to dairy intolerant? I am aware that the witch hunts in Europe, as well as Salem Mass., was contributed to molded wheat. Is wheat that bad, or is this a mental plague?

 

[Jdog]

Here are most of the GF varieties I've found.
View attachment 8577

how are they?

 

[muleman]

Is gluten that bad? Seriously, I'm curious. I have seen a lot about gluten recently. Is this similar to dairy intolerant? I am aware that the witch hunts in Europe, as well as Salem Mass., was contributed to molded wheat. Is wheat that bad, or is this a mental plague?

If you have Celiac disease or gluten intolerance it's the real deal. In my case if I get gluten on a hunt, my hunt is over! There is also a gluten free fad undermining support for those who have a true medical need to eliminate gluten from their diet.

 

[muleman]

how are they?

They're just OK. All of them give me heart burn though.

 

[Ironman]

If you have Celiac disease or gluten intolerance it's the real deal. In my case if I get gluten on a hunt, my hunt is over! There is also a gluten free fad undermining support for those who have a true medical need to eliminate gluten from their diet.

Understood about the band wagon, but how does gluten legitimately affect the human body? I truly am interested.

 

[Solitude]

Celiac disease impacts people at different levels. My wife has it and last weekend was puking within 30 minutes of getting a trace amount. It truly sucks when she gets some on accident and makes travel very difficult.

In short, vomit, diarrhea, stomach aches that can last 24-48 hrs and skin rashes that last roughly a week are all side effects that my wife and severe Celiacs have to deal with. The fad people that pretend to be celiac or gluten free drive us nuts. They have no idea.

Thanks for the GF meals links above. Much appreciated.

 

[muleman]

Understood about the band wagon, but how does gluten legitimately affect the human body? I truly am interested.

A huge part of the problem is associating gluten to your symptoms. I have Celiac's and it is an autoimmune disease. When I eat gluten I have extreme abdominal pain lasting about 12 hours. Behind the scense the small intestine is being attacked and killed by your own body. My longterm symptoms are fatigue, chronic knee and back pain, and migraines. After being gluten free all of my symptoms go away.

Studies say there are over 250 symptoms that susceptible people can exhibit when exposed to gluten. Gluten intolerance is basically the same as celiacs, except for the small intestine being killed.

If someone thinks they have a gluten related problem. The best way to prove it is gluten; is to go %100 gluten free for a month and evaluate how you feel. You can't cheat when doing the gluten free trial. Unless they are really sick most people won't do a gluten free challenge because it is a major lifestyle change and difficult to commit to.

All grains have gluten proteins, the dated medical studies say that wheat, barley, rye, and wheat hybrids are the grains to avoid. Newer studies say all grains including corn should be avoided.

This is the 10,000 foot overview, hope it makes sense.

 

[Brodie]

I started going gluten free in march, after years of dealing with some issues and having a surgery in February I decided to try it after the recovery wasnt coming along like I was lead to believe and the symptoms were not clearing up.
Now I cannot say for certain that I have a gluten intolerance as I have never been tested but I can say that I feel a hundred times better after changing my diet. Whether this is just because of the much healthier choices I make (fruits, vegetables, etc) I am not sure. It is a lot of work and more expensive. Luckily my girlfriend has adopted my diet and cooks delicious meals for us with gluten free ingredients.

I feel for people with celiacs, it is an incredible inconvenience. I am always checking ingredients but know that I'm not 100% avoiding as it is in some foods that you would never suspect.

 

[unm1136]

Gluten is a protien formed when two lesser protiens are agitated together in the presence of water. It creates a plastic/elastic mesh, making pockets that traditionally hold the carbon dioxide produced by yeast. Depending on how it is handled you can get sheets of membranous dough for making strudel, a little thicker with a slightly different flavor profile and you get pasta. If you have a leaky gut and/or IBS or are excessively gluten intolerant you can develop microtears in the lining of the intestines, allowing the protiens to enter your bloodstream where your immune system overracts and produces antibodies that attack the gluten leaking into the bloodstream. The immune system also attacks chemically/physicall similar protiens already inside the body, which can compromise the gut even more allowing more under processed food bits through into the bloodstream. Some celiacs can have a reaction from a piece of meat sliced on a board that had previously held a breaded piece of meat on it. There is a blood test for celiac's.

Based on some reasearch I have done 1/3 to 2/3 of the people who avoid gluten , particularly those who diagnose themselves by the "lay off it for a month" approach seem to loudest about gluten being a poison. My doc was concerned about some test results tested me from celiac. It was negative, but she endorsed this whole paleo/primal diet as a way to get my weight and blood lipids into a little better shape. I laid off the grains and noted an increased endurance in my workout. I started calling myself subclinical, and gluten sensitive, but I am coming to believe that the answer may be more complex than that. Gluten is used as an additive in many processed foods, the same foods that are rather nutritionally low anyway. My body has always felt better when I worked out while eating a 40/30/30 ratio, which you get to with paleo/primal. Rob Wolf and Mark Sissin's books do a reasonable job explaining the physiological and political reasons for the prominance of grains in our diet. I don't buy the whole gluten is poison issue, based on how many people have no problem with it at all. I am beginning to suspect that idiots like me being bandwagoneers claiming to be "subclinical" or "gluten sensitive" are really likely undernourished from from specific micro nutrients found in the veg that they replace grains with, and/or are simply over relying on grains for too large a portion of their diet. I think the non celiacs that notice improvement based on cutting out grain just need to find the best balance for them, and eat accordingly. There are many,many items in our diet that are harmful in certian quantities, and permissable, and even essentail in smaller quantities. Look at salt. A poisonous, toxic gas and a metal that reacts violently and exothermically with water combine to create an essential mineral nutrient that we cannont survive without, to the point of evolving specialized chemical detectors to locate this rock in our environment to eat, and in todays world those with compromised kidney function cannot excrete the excess fast enough and develp sodium driven hypotension.

I am not a doctor, but have had training in nutrition and food preparation. I belive that our nutritional guidelines are skewed by politics, not evidence, and I work near and occasionally in a med school and I am regularly surprised by what Docs aren't taught during thier training.

I guess I better hop off this soapbox now...

pat

 

[2ski]

I don't have anything to add as far as backpacking meals, but don't know where in MT you are at. Anywhere near Missoula, if your wife likes beer, the Kettle House Seeley Axe(get it, Seeley Axe/Celiacs, Seeley is a lake by Missoula) White isn't too bad. Not as good as Beltian White, but nothing from Harvest Moon is gluten free.

This comment isn't for any of you that do suffer from this disease, just a comment on the "self-diagnosis" of some that has been talked about. My brother dated a girl who hid her bulimia under the guise of Celiacs. Gave her an "excuse" to go throw up. Sad thing.

 

[muleman]

If someone thinks they have a gluten related problem. The best way to prove it is gluten; is to go %100 gluten free for a month and evaluate how you feel. You can't cheat when doing the gluten free trial. Unless they are really sick most people won't do a gluten free challenge because it is a major lifestyle change and difficult to commit to.

What I should have said is the cheapest and DIY way to see if you have a problem with gluten is a gluten elimination diet challenge. As far as self diagnosis, we are the only ones that know how we really feel. If eliminating gluten make you feel better then I say go for it. I'm not quite sure why anyone would impose on themselves being gluten free. Being 100% gluten free is a PIA and I have to think about it constantly everyday.

There are two extremes on the gluten free diet scale. Eating super expensive highly refined packaged gluten free food or going to a whole food diet. The refined gluten free food is packed with extra sugars and fats to make up for taste and texture. For those that choose the whole food approach it's no wonder why this type of diet makes you feel better. Whole foods is the approach I have tried to take. Typically I eat eggs for breakfast, leftovers from dinner for lunch, and a meat, vegetable, carb /starch (quinoa, potato, rice), and salad for dinner. The eggs, vegetables, and salad ingredients all come from my own ducks, chickens and plants. As for the meat we raise meat chickens and ducks, eat venison, and buy a little pork and beef. I'd love to raise my own hogs and cattle but don't have the time or space to do so. I truly believe that if people ate more whole foods and less refined foods we would see a drop in disease, prescription pill use and people would feel better overall.

The best way to diagnose a gluten issue is to have a genetic test that looks for genes ( HLA-DQ alpha 1 and beta 1) that predispose you to issues with gluten. If you have these genes you should avoid gluten even if you are symptom free. Blood tests typically only measure 2 out of 7 known immune responses to gluten (most of them only measure the gluten in wheat – gliadin). Gene testing gives a definitive answer as to whether or not one should avoid gluten.(1)

(1) Gluten Free Society

 

[ssliger]

This is a good topic. I do not have Celiacs disease, but I do have a sensitivity to gluten. I get stomach cramps, intestinal issues and develop sores on my midsection. My Dr suggested going gluten free and it made a huge difference. On occasion I throw caution in to the wind and drink a few beers and eat pizza, then end up feeling horrible for a day and a half.

 

[unm1136]

Muleman, I agree with you that consuming fresh, whole foods with as little proscessing as possible is key. I certianly did not mean to belittle the condition. We tend to lack objectivity and common sense when we self diagnose. I make a point when I talk to my doc that I point out that I have a fair amount of intelligence, some medical and nutritional training, a wide a varied reading list, and just enough knowledge to be really dangerous to myself when I try to self diagnose with errornet assistance. When I was growing up I had a friend who was a diagnosed celiac, and it was commonly dealt with by allergists as an allergy. Within the last 20-25 years the autoimmune issue was noted, and has become the primary explanation, due to different antibodies produced during the reaction.

By definition grain products are processed. Steamed,parched,milled,ect. Grains tend to be calorie dense, and micronutrient poor compared measure for measure with other food sources. They store well, and are a great source of simple calories, even with the craze for whole grains. It makes little sense that our government should advocate up to 65% of our daily calories coming starches, and their components, sugars.

I carry along a suppressed .22 when I hunt. Patrick Smith's rambling approach to hunting by harvesting nongame critters for camp meat has the potential of lightening the pack and providing minimally proscessed, free range grass fed foods for a lot of your caloric needs while in the field. Check out his essays on the K site.

Also, thank you for the testing information, I did not realize how poor the blood test was. The older I get the more leery I am of any group issuing blanket statements about eradicating any groups of foods. Folks with a diagnosis or professional medical advice should follow their healthcare provider's instructions, of course, but my greatgrandparents and grandparents (wheat farmers) lived into their 90s (with no weight or cardiovascular issues) on diverse diets that excluded very little, and balanced everything else. I cant recall any meal with them where any food group approached 50% of calories consumed, and if it did it took days/weeks for that particular ratio to show itself again.

pat

 

[LostArra]

Not to interrupt but my celiac daughters say Omission beer is the only way to go for gf beer.
They make a lager and a pale ale.

 

[muleman]

Muleman, I agree with you that consuming fresh, whole foods with as little proscessing as possible is key. I certianly did not mean to belittle the condition.

No harm done. I appreciate your comments and filing in some details of my 10,000 foot overview.

 

[Eagle]

I'll add my two scents. I've been more or less gluten free for three years now, did the 30 days strict and noticed a considerable difference. While I'm certainly not celiac, I do have some intolerance. Mine is in the form of stomach irritation/issues, and joint inflamation/pain. I've found that tapioca flour is a great thing to use for baking, Chebe bread mixes have been great for my family when we want pizza or hamburgers with actual buns.

As for back packing meals, I stick to rice and potato based dinners, no need for any pastas or other high gluten food on the trail.