Gluten free snacks

GP2 · Post by **GP2** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 4:35 pm

Ok I'm seeing some real benefits to strictly following a gluten (not just wheat) free diet. Hard work sometimes but unless its the occasional valium I take symptoms have been very manageable as a possible result.

I'm ok in the evenings - potatoes, rice, home made sauces with rice flour to thicken, cider instead of beer, no bread or pasta.

BUT in the day lunchtime snacks are more difficult!

Any advice GF dudes?

Post by **webslave** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 7:21 pm

There are a lot of GF flours you can use to make cookies, pancakes, bread etc

GF bread is available from Whole Foods and many other health stores.

You can make rather nice rice pancakes:

120g white rice flour, Â½ tsp baking soda, 2 tblsps sugar, 2 eggs with little water (total 712 cals) Mix ingredients and add water till slightly runny. Makes about 4 pancakes, use low heat on pan. If using a s/steel pan (which I recommend, non-stick is toxic), wipe with oil before each pancake.

Gav · Post by **Gav** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 7:31 pm

I used a GF Diet when I was initially diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis. The best place to go (as you are in the UK) is Tesco as they have a massive "free from" section where you can get gluten free snacks. Also, I believe Sainsburys have a gluten free brochure you can get from their website which lists all foods they have in store that are gluten free. They, like Tesco have a "free from" section, although it's never as big as Tesco.

Clay · Post by **Clay** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 11:24 pm

I don't know how available they are outside north america, but I'm going to try Lara Bars. They snack bars are made from fruit and nuts and nothing else, or so I'm told. I've found some decent rice flour cookies and can't wait to try those pancakes. Other than than, it's fruit and raw nuts.

The key for me has been leftovers. Last night's dinner is tomorrow's lunch. I'm off dairy, gluten, corn, legumes/soy, nightshades/tomato/potato, coffee, additives, most sugar since New Year's. It's taking a lot of time to shop, prep, cook, clean up.

GP2 · Post by **GP2** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 3:26 pm

Thanks guys. Pancakes look yummy Mark!

Pain free today pretty much. Could the GF diet have such a dramatic effect - occasional "mistakes" up until 3 days back where I've definitely not touched gluten or wheat?

We'll see - its probably too early to tell...

GP2 · Post by **GP2** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 11:39 am

Ok I had a bit of a wheat/gluten binge on the weekend and my past symptoms have come back really strong (stomach upset, tingling hands & skin, tiredness). Could it be that as I wean myself off wheat / gluten the tolerance levels of my body decline? I read this somewhere on the forum.

Onions also make my perineum pain worse. I also think I'm lactose intolerant!

Post by **webslave** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 2:41 pm

Once mast cells have proliferated in your genitourinary tract, due to the neurological stimulation (see research showing that mast cells increase near nerve endings that are chronically stimulated in other animals), they can react to circulating food antigen-antibody immune complexes as well.

"Food allergies are usually due to the protein component of the offending food. For some reason some of the food protein is absorbed from the intestine intact, instead of being digested as most proteins are. Once the intact protein is in the blood stream, it is recognised as a foreign protein to the body, or in other words as an antigen. The body produces antibodies (usually immunoglobulin E) to this antigen, and the immunoglobulin binds the antigen to form an antigen-antibody complex.

This antigen-antibody complex travels around the body and stimulates certain cells, called mast cells, to burst open and to release substances which mediate an allergic reaction"

GP2 · Post by **GP2** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 3:14 pm

Ok thanks but wouldn't that mean that if over time the neurological wind-up reversed and the nerves became less stimulated which in turn reduced the production of mast cells (through the SP for example) wouldn't dietary issues in relation to chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome cease (or become less of) a problem?

Wouldn't there be no mast cells for the antigen-antibody complex to react with?

Or are we as sufferers more prone to mast cell production now indefinitely?

Obviously wheat for example plays people up in other areas i.e the stomach but that's not what you are saying is it Mark? In terms of dealing with chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome gluten / wheat avoidance becomes necessary for life period?

Post by **webslave** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 3:23 pm

My understanding is that mast cells, once there, are there for good. I'm open to correction on this by an expert in the area. This may be one of the key reasons why pelvic myoneuropathy/CPPS is reversible to a large extent (99% people often say), but not 100%. In my own case, the continued reactivity of these mast cells has meant a permanent change in my diet.

Post by **webslave** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 3:30 pm

Re: life cycle of mast cells. This is from an ancient study. Feel free to correct me with new data:

Blenkinsopp wrote:As the mast cells in rats appear to increase in number at a rate much slower than the rate of increase in body weight, probably a small proportion of them divide and the others survive as long as the animals. It is unlikely that they have a turnover (which implies an orderly process of discard and replacement). Similar conclusions were reached in a study of mast cells in mice (Blenkinsopp, 1967).

http://jcs.biologists.org/cgi/reprint/2/1/33.pdf

Post by **webslave** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 3:38 pm

Christine MÃ¶ller et al wrote:One characteristic feature of mast cells is their longevity.... Mast cells are long-lived multifunctional effector cells of the immune system ...

From Blood, 15 August 2005, Vol. 106, No. 4, pp. 1330-1336.
Stem cell factor promotes mast cell survival via inactivation of OXO3a-mediated transcriptional induction and MEK-regulated phosphorylation of the proapoptotic protein Bim
Authors: Christine MÃ¶ller, Jessica Alfredsson, Maria EngstrÃ¶m, Hanna Wootz, Zou Xiang, Johan Lennartsson, Jan-Ingvar JÃ¶nsson, and Gunnar Nilsson

GP2 · Post by **GP2** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 4:01 pm

Interesting stuff. It seems like they dont increase over time or get out of control at least even if they do not disappear entirely. however many things can trigger mast cell production (i.e. exercise, temperature, diet). Aside from gluten and possibly exercise many men dont seem to complain of problems with other mast cell provocateurs. Particularly after becoming symptom free for years. Maybe gluten is a bigger provoker than other simulators? Maybe those who dont alter the state of their muscles / nerves continue to produce more mast cells but instead block them though other methods (stress relief, medication, anti-hists, dietary changes)?

Not to cause alarm and I may be very wrong but I have heard that mast cells can be linked to the development of cancer? who knows? Hopefully I am wrong but I'm not gonna worry about that now

Post by **webslave** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 4:15 pm

GP2 wrote:many things can trigger mast cell production (I.e. exercise, temperature, diet).

Don't confuse production with degranulation.

Maybe gluten is a bigger provoker than other stimulators?

Certainly for me, yes.

Not to cause alarm and I may be very wrong but I have heard that mast cells can be linked to the development of cancer? who knows? Hopefully I am wrong but I'm not gonna worry about that now

That's still in the realm of speculation, I think.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 151021.htm

Ginty · Post by **Ginty** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 9:58 pm

Interesting stuff, if not exactly good news.

Surely this is an area where the pharma companies could get involved and actually provide something useful - a mastcell destroyer.

carld · Post by **carld** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 10:30 pm

It seems to me that any thing that can or would target mastcells I would think can target healthy cells. Cells in general die off every day right? So is it proved that mastcells have a longer life than regular cells or healthy cells? or for that matter cancer cells? I would think that mast cells develop, degranulate and release the nasty stuff and die off. The problem is, the body remembers what was causing these mast cells to develop in the first place. That's maybe why we have to change our diets and life styles so they don't trigger the body to produce more mast cells??? Just a thought and I'm not a doctor or in any way qualified to make this statement, but I just can't conceptualize a cell that doesn't split and multiply. That a cell would just live for a long duration in the body??