Gluten Free Diet and Surviving a Hotel Restaurant

The title of this entry suggests that I eat at the restaurant in question quite often. Actually, I don't. I was at the hotel for four nights, but only ate at the restaurant twice. That's how I survived it without compromising my gluten free diet.

The point of this article is not to rant against the hotel, but to illustrate what can go wrong at a restaurant, and how to deal with it and remain gluten-free.

The Problem with the Restaurant

I was a hotel attending an intensive course to help me with the direction of my life and my business. Because I have a gluten allergy and given that there would be no time to look for food outside the hotel, and expecting challenges in finding food to suit my allergy requirements, I mostly brought my own food. I ate at the restaurant twice, and this was not a happy experience.

Because the course I was attending involved a lot of people, they had a buffet arranged for us. Before buying tickets for the buffet, I told the hotel staff what my allergies are, and asked if I could be accommodated. I was told this was possible.

Luckily, I only pre-purchased the dinners. When I showed up at the buffet, it turned out that I could really only eat the salad! The first night, Cindy, a really service super-star, was able to arrange an alternate meal for me. The second night she was not there, and the staff came up with something that technically I could eat, but really was pretty unsatisfactory.

Bringing My Own Gluten-Free Food

Breakfasts and lunches did work really well because I brought my own gluten-free food.

I do not eat gluten, but I can eat oatmeal. I brought a one-cup immersion heater to boil water, and added that to a bowl of instant oatmeal. Adding walnuts and almonds made it a pretty good and complete breakfast.

For lunch, I brought rice cakes, and canned meat (which I found at an Italian store in my home town). The cans have pull-tabs, so they are easy to open, and don't stink like fish, so that worked very well.

Planning for Next Time

I have another similar trip coming up in March. This time I will bring dinner as well as breakfast and lunch.

I have not planed my meals yet, but I have purchased a single-burner electric stove which I can fit in my suit-case. Some camping pots and implements will complete my kitchen. I will probably have rice with something out of a can - not exciting but better than restaurant food. If I can, I will try to come up with something interesting, but it will all have to work as airplane luggage, so there will be challenges. I'll add more when I have worked out the details.

More About Immersion Heaters

A few people have been asking what an immersion heater is. You put it in to a cup or mug of cold water, plug it in, and it heats up. After a time, the water will boil.

Allergic to gluten? Find out more: Gluten Allergy

Read more about gluten-free diet

Copyright 2010 Douglas Samuel. May be republished providing above author information is included, and live links are used without the rel="nofollow" attribute.

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Barley and Barley Allergies

Of the main cereal crops (wheat, barley, oats and rye), barley is probably the least commonly used in day-to-day food. It is often used to make beer and whiskey.

As a food, barley is most often used in soups and stews. In Asia, is boiled to make barley water, a popular drink which is ideal for hot weather.

Barley can grow in cold conditions, which is why it is a staple crop in Tibet (they also grow wheat there, so if you are allergic to wheat, Tibet is not actually a perfect destination for you).

Barley is a flavorful, tasty, chewy grain. It can be cooked like rice and served on the side with meat and vegetable dishes, much like rice.

Health Risks
Barley contains gluten and must be avoided if you are celiac or allergic to barley.

If you are allergic to wheat, you may still be able to eat barley (I do).

If you have just discovered that you are allergic to wheat, it is best to eliminate barley from your diet for several months, then re-introduce it to see if it causes you trouble or not.

Health Benefits
Barley is a good source of fiber, selenium, phosphorus, copper and manganese.

Barley Relatives
Barley is a grass. Besides being related to your lawn and bamboo, grass is also related to the following food crops because they too are grasses:

Wheat
Maize (Corn)
Oats
Rice
Rye
Sorghum
Millet
Sugarcane

Further Notes
Barley is really in a lot of places one might not suspect. While it is very commonly found in beer or whiskey, and that is kind of known, it is also very commonly found in everyday foods like bread, cereal, cookies, etc.

The main reason for this is that most flour that you buy in the grocery store, lists malted barley flour as one of the main ingredients. Because of FDA requirements on labeling, companies are not necessarily required to specifically list that the flour they used to make their bread contains malted barley flour. Nor do most labels tell you that malt is made from barley (always), and/or corn.

I find barley in almost as many things as I find wheat in. Although I can't seem to find anything on it right now, when I first started researching barley, I was finding that dextrose and maltodextrin are sometimes derived from barley (most often from corn, maize, rice, etc) as well. Those are two sweeteners that are in everything.

Have a gluten allergy? Find out more: Gluten Allergy

Read more about gluten-free diet

Copyright 2010 Douglas Samuel. May be republished providing above author information is included, and live links are used without the rel="nofollow" attribute.

Original article

Learn How to Treat the Symptoms of Allergies

Allergies can cause a lot of different issues such as a runny nose and stuffy head. In the spring time you will notice that you may wake up more often with a runny nose and this is because there is more pollen in the air. When you feel something coming on then you need to take some medication so that it will not get worse. It is a good idea to go to your local pharmacy and get a recommendation on what works best. There is always new medication on the market so you will not have a problem finding something that works.

If the symptoms that you are having get worse, then you should visit your local doctor. In most cases they can give you a simple antihistamine that will clear it up. You may want to ask them about allergy pills as well because they can help to prevent the symptoms from starting. This is a preventative measure and during the spring time you should be seeking out medication that help to avoid getting allergies.

Washing your hands and avoiding contact with people who have allergy symptoms is a smart thing to do. If someone that you work with is sneezing and seems to have an allergy problem then make sure that you try to avoid them. It is easy to catch an allergy from someone else because they can spread. During the peak season o the year you have to be careful because this is when it is more common that people are having issues.

You may to consider taking vitamins to build up your immune system. The more you can do this the better the chance is that you do not get an allergy. The thing you want to remember is to try to protect yourself from getting sick. This means that you should do several things to avoid catching or developing a bad allergy cold. Talk to your doctor and see if they have a recommendation for you as well. They can give you a Vitamin B shot that will help to protect you.

Remember that allergies strike at certain times of the year so make sure you protect yourself. Another way to keep from getting allergies is to get an allergy test to see if you are allergic to anything. You might find that a certain food makes you break out in an attack. This is real good information to know because it can help you to choose foods that you are not allergic to.

Get: Free Allergy Remedies

Find: Best Allergy Methods

Bryan Burbank is an expert in the field of Health and Well Being.

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