Any grain-free vegans out there? Vegans who dont eat wheat, oats, barley, rye...

[Apple_Blossem]

Hi, I'm a vegan and about to embark on a grain-free diet as well (hopefully I'll be able to include potatos and rice).

After becoming a vegan 2 years ago, I found I was allergic to meat and dairy. I've had non-stop acne for years, and when I stopped eating wheat my acne disappaited by 25%. I've been reading online that a grain-free diet can get rid of acne in about 2 weeks, so I'm embarking on a vegan grain-free diet for 2-3 weeks.

I am beginning to feel pretty "limited" food wise, but have no other choice since the acne on my face has driven me crazy for 12 years.

Any others who are on this same diet out there? Or am I alone on this mission :P

[absentmindedfan]

Look for raw vegan sites as they are focussed around fruit and veg mainly.

[Pisces]

Hi, Apple_Blossem.

I'm a wheat-free and gluten-free vegan. There are still so many choices of food to eat. I do eat grains (rice, quinoa, wheat-free & gluten-free buckwheat) as well as sweet potatoes, corn, and other starchy veg. I agree with absentmindedfan that you should check out raw vegan sites. Here's one about a raw vegan family that comes to mind. www.thegardendiet.com It's pretty cool. You may also want to check out the raw vegan sub-forum/threads.

[lozza]

Aaaah, oh my god, I could not give up on my grains! I dont have acne, although I do have spots, which never go away. I wonder if this would help me too? Cos I pretty much eat couscous & porridge oats every single day, I practually live off that!

Ohhh

[thecatspajamas1]

That is interesting how giving up grains got rid of your acne. Is it refined grains in particular?

I eat grains, but I gave up eating refined grains recently (white bread/pasta type stuff). I eat sprouted, whole grain bread, and other whole grains like quinoa and popcorn, etc., and I feel healthier so far.
You can find a lot of grain-free recipes in raw food recipe books or raw websites, although raw foodists eat some sprouted grains.
You could make mock "rice" by crumbling up soaked almonds or cashews, just get creative.

[Robert]

I am gluten free and generally grain free - on very rare occasions I will eat soaked spelt in salads but otherwise never see grains (or potatoes for that matter).

[Astrid]

I'm pretty much grain-free, as I am gluten intolerant. I do eat wheat starch and gluten free oat. I would think that you could eat buckwheat, quinoa and amaranth, as they are seeds and not grains.

[bryony]

i am grain free exept the oats. i also eat quinoa because: a- its not technically agrain and b: its so damn good for you - weight for weight more protein than meat, quick to cook and very adeptable

[looch]

Astrid, i don't understand, how can you eat wheat starch if you're gluten intolerant?
And where do you get gluten-free oats from?
both wheat and oats make me really sick, not sure if i'm gluten intolerant, sometimes i can eat a bit of rye.

[Astrid]

Wheat starch is basically wheat flour that they've removed the protein part (the gluten) from. It still contains a small amount of gluten though, and some coeliacs are more sensitive than others and have to limit their diet to naturally gluten free foods.

[AlexKunzill]

I read on a packet of Japanese rice crackers yesterday that the Wheat in their Shoyu (japanese soy sauce made with wheat) wont do any harm to coeliacs or people avoiding wheat as the wheat has changed so much.

It said is was approved by the UK coeliac people (Cant remember the name!!) who regulate wheat/gluten in foods.

So....Dont worry about Shoyu then. I prefer Tamari anyway, its nicer and made without wheat.


I always thought as well that like its better to just avoid any grains altogether than to have gluten free white flour, well, for me personally anyway.

[Nikheil]

I'm celiac, but I haven't found it to be a problem. I eat brown rice, brown rice pasta, quinoa and amaranth. I also occasionally bake using rice, buckwheat, arrowroot and tapioca flour. My local health food store also has vegan GF cereal bars, rice crispie squares and ginger cookies. Oh, and GF vegan waffles!

For brekkies I eat waffles or rice bread with cashew butter, scrambled tofu or fruit.

For lunch I eat leftovers, or homemade soup with ricecrackers, a small salad, and a cereal bar

For snack - a fruit smoothy with protein powder or some brown rice crackers or raw veggies.

For some reason I've found it WAY easier to be gluten free since becoming Vegan

For dinner: some combo of veggies, a protein (usually lentils, chickpeas or beans), and either brown rice, quinoa or amaranth.

[treaclemine]

I am gluten free and generally grain free - on very rare occasions I will eat soaked spelt in salads but otherwise never see grains (or potatoes for that matter).

Just FYI: Spelt is a source of gluten.

[Elahiya]

it is. spelt is the primal form of wheat, although a lot of celiacs get along with it. my father does not tolerate wheat, however, but he does tolerate spelt. spelt is usually better tolerated. he also gets very good along with seitan made of spelt.

[Elahiya]

ah, I forgot to say that I found a blog of gf-vegans, but unfortunately I lost the link. it was something with "hippie" in it I think...

[Haniska]

Seitan from spelt?!?!

[childofthetrees]

Wheat/gluten free here too !
I eat a lot of quinoa, brown rice. don't really touch anything that's 'white' so to speak. no processed stuff.
I find it liberating to be honest. All those other grains/seeds out there that I can eat which I probably wouldn't have if I still ate wheat.
quinoa rocks though !! totally yummy !

[Elahiya]

@ haniska: yes, seitan made of spelt. you can easily make it on your own, just the way you make seitan of wheat. you probably just need less water. it does work as well very very good!

[Tigerlily]

I'm not grain free...but I have experimented with various methods of eating. Like wheat-free, gluten-free, low grain (but not g-f), and whole grains. I was at my healthiest when I was eating a low amount of grains (mainly in the form of brown rice, sprouted grain bread, and whole grain breakfast cereals). I'm very high grain right now, especially high wheat, and coincidentally, I'm also at my unhealthiest (heaviest weight, absolutely no energy that several doctors cannot find the reason for, constant colds, etc).

Interesting isn't it?

I'm trying to go back to my low grain eating but wheat is so addicting!

[august]

I had moderate acne most of my life before going vegan 5 years ago. It took about 3 months after going vegan for my acne to go away. Now, I rarely get any bumps and it's usually when I eat something with oil in it. I ate brownies made with oil last week and sure enough a day later I had a big bump on my forehead. I usually substitute applesauce or bananas for oil in baked food but couldn't resist the brownie since I was at a veg event. I've never given up grains- I love them so!
I'm curious to know if this works- Good Luck!

[ellaminnowpea]

I've tried a lot of different alternative "diets", along with eating wheat free. I actually think I'm somewhat intolerant of wheat/ wheat bran. But I'm okay with oats and tricilate. I've never had seitan or other "althernative" grain products, but I'm thinking about trying amaranth. Oh and I eat quinoa. Love quinoa. I also avoid potatoes and oils.

[Kitteh]

ah, I forgot to say that I found a blog of gf-vegans, but unfortunately I lost the link. it was something with "hippie" in it I think...

I googled 'gluten-free hippie blog' and found this http://glutenfreehippie.blogspot.com/

Also, this is an Australian one http://glutenfreevegan.wordpress.com/

I'm gluten free, have been for years. I haven't been tested, I just read a book a friend told me about back when I was omni and it all sounded like me. So I cut out gluten and felt a lot better. I have had times where I went back to eating gluten, usually bread or something and I always feel awful and agree that wheat is almost addictive. Once I eat some I want more, v.bad!

So I love brown rice, quinoa and I bake w/ rice, quinoa, arrowroot and buckwheat flours. I used spelt a little bit but I prefer not to.

Recently I purchased The Gluten-Free Vegan from Amazon, it's a great book.

[Elahiya]

oh thanks kitteh!!! that was the blog i meant! i found it was gorgeous!

[Sugar Plum Vegan]

Apple Blossom,

Flax crackers are excellent, gluten free. You can also come up with a muffin from brown rice flour and garbonzo bean flour. My wife's carrot cake muffin uses those two to be gluten free and it won 2nd place in the Hollywood Farmer's Market Annual Carrot Cake competition -
and that was up against non-vegan, white-sugar, wheat-filled decadent cakes!
It is possible.
Get a gluten free cook-book and see if there are allergies you are working with for certain grains. For example, you may need to avoid all grains containing gluten, but still be able to eat quinoia, and a few others. You may want to see an allergist or a kinesiologist.
Consider doing a raw food diet, some fasting, and a juice cleanse.
Jojoba oil is the only oil to put on your face that clears acne.
But I get the sense that you have a 'trigger'...
Hope that helps.
Check out 'Mucusless Diet Healing System' by Arnold Ehret.

Love,
Khy'em Amri
The Sugar Plum Vegan Man.

[moggy]

I've been gluten free for about 8 years- I found out I was gluten intolrant, turned out to be due to thyroid problems that were still at that time undiagnosed. I miss wholemeal bread, and wholewheat pasta, they were some of my favourite foods, but I still find loads to eat. I'm a recent convert to quinoa.

[Kitteh]

oh thanks kitteh!!! that was the blog i meant! i found it was gorgeous!

Yes, I like it too! And I like that you write your blog in English and German

[songlife]

Gluten-free here! I slip up sometimes so I guess I'm not really gluten-free but I do go for months on end without any and I definately don't have it at home.

I was never "celiac" specifically... but isn't everyone?

Is it like dairy, where it's bad for everyone but only certain people are hyper-sensitive to it?

That's kinda what gluten looks like to me. bad for everyone, but only certain people are hyper-sensitive to it. I don't want to eat something just because it won't kill me as much as it will kill the next person... if it's still bad for me there's no way I want it in me.

[moggy]

Coeliac is a very specific disease, and the following quote is from the Coeliac Society.
'Coeliac disease is not an allergy or simple food intolerance. In fact it's an autoimmune disease, where the body's immune system attacks its own tissues. In people with coeliac disease this immune reaction is triggered by gluten, a collective name for a type of protein found in the cereals wheat, rye and barley. A few people are also sensitive to become damaged and may affect other parts of the body.oats. In coeliac disease, eating gluten causes the lining of the gut (small bowel) to become damaged and may affect other parts of the body.'

Many people are gluten intolerant, but coeliac is something very specific. I have a friend who is coeliac, and I would not insult him by comparing my intolerance to his coeliac.

[PeacePape]

Right here! I mean, my body can't handle many types of grains/oats & all manner of natural, difficult-to digest foods, but I don't do a very good job of listening. Thus, I'm frequently unhappy due to the sequelae of my poor food choices. I don't know if I'm officially allergic to any of these foods or if it's a spleen deficiency (I'm a student of Traditional Chinese Medicine & get free treatment from interns in the clinic at my school & have been diagnosed with spleen qi deficiency). In TCM, we say that the spleen does most of the work of food digestion & sending nutrients to the rest of the body. If one eats too much raw, cold (in nature &/or temperature) food, the spleen qi (energy) gets depleted. Also, overthinking, stress, studying while eating, and overexercise are a drain on spleen energy, all of which I have problems with. It's hard not to overthink when you're taking 17 credits. There's hardly any breaks during the year, either.

So anyway I really need to work on building my spleen qi up and quit resisting cooked food & figure out how to stop relying on raisin bran, couscous, trail mix, & "natural" toaster pastries (intestinal DISASTERS that I swear I'm addicted to). The rest of my diet is rice milk, carrots, fruit, peas, & tofu. It probably sounds ridiculous, but I just hate to bother with food & cooking & such. It's all part of being vegan & I've been one for 14 years, but I have a lot to learn about baking, cooking, and getting around without damaging grains. Another problem is that I'm a recovered anorexic/bulimic and have a tendency to relapse if I put too much focus on food. School takes up so much of my time & energy, anyway, that I don't feel like I have room for dealing with the myriad restrictions of my chosen lifestyle + the intolerances of my digestive system.

In conclusion, I feel your pain. Between what I can't eat, and won't eat, it seems there's nothing left!

[songlife]

Wheat/gluten free here too !
I eat a lot of quinoa, brown rice. don't really touch anything that's 'white' so to speak. no processed stuff.
I find it liberating to be honest. All those other grains/seeds out there that I can eat which I probably wouldn't have if I still ate wheat.
quinoa rocks though !! totally yummy !

That's good point, when I'm eating gluten free, I'm eating all this other good stuff that I probably wouldn't be if I was eating wheat. It's kind of like how I only discovered vanilla rice milk and started blending it up with strawberries (yay) and garlic/cranberry veggie patte and rawlafel when I went vegan... lol.

People think my food selection is limited until they actually see what I eat... I think *their* selection is limited!

There are lots of bakedish things that are gluten free too. The best tasting stuff I've found is raw food. First off, energy balls... made with a base of dates. Add carob or cacao and spirulina, goji berries, maca, whatever else you want. You can make energy balls out of whatever you want of course, you can use cashew butter to make it all stick. Then there are things like chocolate pies and cakes that can be made incredibly and raw. I don't know how though, I've only eaten it, teehee. I'm sure you can find a recipie online. There is also this one company who makes really good gluten-free vegan bars, with a very interesting and pleasurable texture. I can't remember the name but I'll go check them out tomorrow and let you know. I've also tried out a range of gluten free breads... some of them are REALLY good, and some REALLY suck. I haven't found anything that comes close to the softness of wheat.. buuuut... I once had a flatbread made with chickpea flour so that might be something to check into. brown rice flour also makes good soft tortillas, even if they're not as soft as the wheat ones, they're still edible. I found a flax rice bread that had the seeds all throughout the bread itself. It was frozen though so you had to toast it... it was awwwesome. I also found a good brown rice raisin loaf and a nice (if you like harder darker breads) buckwheat loaf.

There were a couple rice breads, I can't remember their names, but I thoguht they really sucked. Oh and corn can be REALLY yummy but I think it's supposed to be bad for you.

I had a raw lime mousse pie the other day where they used coconut in the crust.... OH, WOW, WOW. It was so good, it was even as good as chocolate.

And yeah eat lots of quinoa. You can eat it with everything.

I'd start experimenting making my own bread and crackers. Look up how to make raw flax crackers, they are amazing.

I'd get a dehydrator. That'll help you make a lof of amazing gluten free stuff. Raw food is so great for non-gluten folk because it by default has no gluten and often no grains altogether.

I hope this helps!

[songlife]

Coeliac is a very specific disease, and the following quote is from the Coeliac Society.
'Coeliac disease is not an allergy or simple food intolerance. In fact it's an autoimmune disease, where the body's immune system attacks its own tissues. In people with coeliac disease this immune reaction is triggered by gluten, a collective name for a type of protein found in the cereals wheat, rye and barley. A few people are also sensitive to become damaged and may affect other parts of the body.oats. In coeliac disease, eating gluten causes the lining of the gut (small bowel) to become damaged and may affect other parts of the body.'

Many people are gluten intolerant, but coeliac is something very specific. I have a friend who is coeliac, and I would not insult him by comparing my intolerance to his coeliac.

Ah thank you. I didn't know that, I thought it was just an extreme allergy.

[samariah]

i really really want to go grain free for good. i did it for short periods of time and i always felt awesome, almost high on life. i want to focus on eating fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, and legumes.

[childofthetrees]

That's good point, when I'm eating gluten free, I'm eating all this other good stuff that I probably wouldn't be if I was eating wheat. It's kind of like how I only discovered vanilla rice milk and started blending it up with strawberries (yay) and garlic/cranberry veggie patte and rawlafel when I went vegan... lol.

People think my food selection is limited until they actually see what I eat... I think *their* selection is limited!

There are lots of bakedish things that are gluten free too. The best tasting stuff I've found is raw food. First off, energy balls... made with a base of dates. Add carob or cacao and spirulina, goji berries, maca, whatever else you want. You can make energy balls out of whatever you want of course, you can use cashew butter to make it all stick. Then there are things like chocolate pies and cakes that can be made incredibly and raw. I don't know how though, I've only eaten it, teehee. I'm sure you can find a recipie online. There is also this one company who makes really good gluten-free vegan bars, with a very interesting and pleasurable texture. I can't remember the name but I'll go check them out tomorrow and let you know. I've also tried out a range of gluten free breads... some of them are REALLY good, and some REALLY suck. I haven't found anything that comes close to the softness of wheat.. buuuut... I once had a flatbread made with chickpea flour so that might be something to check into. brown rice flour also makes good soft tortillas, even if they're not as soft as the wheat ones, they're still edible. I found a flax rice bread that had the seeds all throughout the bread itself. It was frozen though so you had to toast it... it was awwwesome. I also found a good brown rice raisin loaf and a nice (if you like harder darker breads) buckwheat loaf.

There were a couple rice breads, I can't remember their names, but I thoguht they really sucked. Oh and corn can be REALLY yummy but I think it's supposed to be bad for you.

I had a raw lime mousse pie the other day where they used coconut in the crust.... OH, WOW, WOW. It was so good, it was even as good as chocolate.

And yeah eat lots of quinoa. You can eat it with everything.

I'd start experimenting making my own bread and crackers. Look up how to make raw flax crackers, they are amazing.

I'd get a dehydrator. That'll help you make a lof of amazing gluten free stuff. Raw food is so great for non-gluten folk because it by default has no gluten and often no grains altogether.

I hope this helps!

Some excellent ideas there ! flatbeard huh ? Do you know of any recipes at all ? I also avoid yeast, which can be a bit of a rather large bottom at times !
I would love to get my hands on a dehydrator, can't afford though they cost sooo much , that and a decent juicer ! I do have a juicer but its a whizzy, centrifugal one ( if thats spelt right !)

[Daffodil]

what do you all drink (alcohol-wise?). I used to love a Budweiser but now I'm drinking Scrumpy Jack/Strongbow cider or vodka. I'm assuming these are wheat-free - does anyone know please?

[Daffodil]

[QUOTE=Apple_Blossem;309826]Hi, I'm a vegan and about to embark on a grain-free diet as well (hopefully I'll be able to include potatos and rice)./QUOTE]


I thought potatoes and rice were wheat-free? - hope so, I eat tons of them lol

[xwitchymagicx]

Potatos and rice are...

Old thread but I'm gluten free...but I do eat rice, quinoa and so on.

I'm possibly a ceoliac though, as I have all the symptoms but I never knew there was a test and to get tested now I have to eat gluten for 6 weeks and have horrible tests so I think I'll stick to the unofficial diagnosis! lol

[Daffodil]

turn out it's just wheat i need to avoid...ok with the rest of the gluten stuff.

finding it quite easy now...got used to it.