There's a distinction to be made between gluten-free and wheat-free. As a little kid, I was tested and diagnosed with a wheat allergy by an otolarynologist. I went there because I used to get nasty earaches often. Turned out if I ate bread or cake or pizza or cereal, I got super-painful earaches 100% of the time. So from the age of five, I ate just about no wheat, and if I strayed from the crappy circa-1975 health food store nonwheat substitute bread, I would get sick every time.The allergy "went away" in my teens, but lately has been back. Not with earaches, but with different inflammation (of the mucous membranes and joints). I recently unplugged wheat entirely from the intake and that shit pretty much doesn't happen any more.I'm thrilled that the tsunami of gluten-free products is here, because lame standins for wheat products were all we had once upon a time. (Rice cakes. Shudder.) Now we have expensive, not-anywhere-near-as-lame standins, and I'm into it. Well, to be clear, I'm not into a modest box of rice crackers carrying a $3.50 price tag. But I do recall having no such option in small times, and that sucked more than the expense.Something is absolutely up with wheat and inflammation for some people.-r

Thanks, rw - in the wake of posting, I've read a little more about this and appreciate the clarification. A friend of mine had a wheat allergy and as he got older it went away - sorry to hear it's giving you trouble again.

Well to hell with my 2014 posts.. a year or two after this thread my S.O. got thyroiditis and was advised to stop eating inflammatory foods like wheat gluten. I've had most of the substitutions at this point and it ranges from fine to very good (the simple things like plain bread & crust being the hardest stuff to replicate). Celiacs is a whole other level of checking for 'made in a facility that..' labels and asking about grills/fryer oils, etc.Traditional 100% teff injera at Ethiopian restaurants was a nice GF discovery. Doesn't even feel like a compromise! (except that they charge more for it)

Bumping the thread as my kid just got diagnosed with coeliac at the age of 17 months. He's fine, a little on the small side with a big fat bloated tummy ( that's what tipped us off...) but it looks like we're heading gluten-free for him and gluten lite for us ( apparently it's inherited so me or his mum have it, which would be a laugh considering that my diet is 90% bread and 10% pizza)I'd be super grateful to hear from anyone who's dealt with coeliac ( celiac) or who has creative ideas about gluten free living.

My wife has serious thyroid problems so has been advised by the doctor to go gluten-free, and I initially went along with her because I thought she would find it a struggle in the early days, but she's done really well and feels much better for it. Whilst I'm not in it for the long haul like she is, when I cram wheaty stuff into my system I do bloat like a bastard (I may have an intolerance too but the missus can be a tad melodramatic at times). Noawdays there are a lot more options available for people like her and the main benefits are that it's encouraged us to use more vitamin supplements and make much more of our own food. Store bought gluten-free bread is horrible though - make your own and put a pinch of cayenne pepper in the mix to give it more taste.I would add that if it wasn't for her diagnosis, we wouldn't have discovered the gluten-free vegan chip shop a few minutes away from us, as well as Suncraft with their mega-spicy Ethiopian goodness.