Trying to go Wheat/Gluten Free...any good ideas?

My nutritionist recommended that I try eliminating wheat from my diet. I am not allergic or intolerant to it, but I thought I would try it anyways. So far I try to have a small bit of wheat once a day. I read all labels (I've always been a label reading Mama since I have food allergies to almonds and oranges) and have tried a few gluten free packaged items and like them.

But I am open to more ideas, recipes, product recommendations.

I was thinking about getting a bread maker but wondered if it was more cost efficient to get one and make gluten free breads with it. Right now I can get a loaf of gluten free bread at the store for under $6 a loaf. If you use a bread maker to make gluten free bread, which one and what are the pro's and cons' of it.

Also which packaged products do you like/dislike?

Thanks!

Sandra

Here's a little update on my wheat situation:

I've been mostly GF now for a little over 2 years. I have lost about 20 lbs and kept it off for over a year now.

After some trial and error, I have found that I cannot not tolerate gluten. I do not have Celiac or an allergy to any of these things. But after eliminating it from my diet for a couple of weeks and then adding it back in, I would see immediate reactions. With wheat, flour, bread (wheat, sourdough, rye) I get the dry itchy sensation all over my body. No hives, just the dry itchies...so annoying. With non GF oats, my bowels hate me. I can tolerate some of the GF oats though. I also cannot tolerate a lot of dairy. A little cheese here and there and milk in baked products and that's it. Ice cream, milk, and yogurt send my stomach into upset within 20 minutes.

Because of my Fibromyalgia, I am trying to stick with the Anti Inflammatory diet which also suggests eliminating wheat along with tomato products, onions, eggplant, dairy, and soy. Soy gives me pain like no other within a hour. Dairy slows down or upsets my digestive system like no other. Tomato products (if I eat too much at one time) gives me varying levels of pain within an hour. Same if I eat too many onions or eggplant. Wheat doesn't give me pain, but it messes up my digestive system and gives me the dry itchies.

About 6 months ago I started seeing an Integrative Specialist. She is a trained MD who is also trained in Holistic Medicine. When I first started seeing her my hormones and everything were all off (meaning very low for me). I barely had enough energy to get out of bed and was in a lot of pain. Even being on a GF diet wasn't enough. At my last check up with her, my test results showed that all of my nutrient and hormone levels were up by at least 100% from 6 months ago and I am about 50% to where I need to be. So that is excellent news! Instead of taking Vicodin every night for 2 weeks out of the month like before, I now only take Vicodin about 4 nights a month so that is a great improvement. Under her care, I do take a bunch of supplements and herbs. Every couple of months she adds new supplements or tweaks the dosage of existing ones. So far, it is working for me. I feel better during the day, sleep better at night, have maintained my weight loss, and my pain levels have drastically decreased.

I am still having some weird digestive issues and pain. But hopefully this time next year things will have greatly improved some more.

Yes, I forgot to add potatoes to my Anti Inflammatory list that I am supposed to avoid. But I love good salsa and a good crispy french fry...so it's a work in progress for me to completely let those items go from my diet. I just try to eat them early in my menstrual cycle since those are the days that my body is least inflammatory naturally.

A really good supplement that I am in called KPax. It's what I call the Super Vitamin. I also take a high dose of Omega 3's, something natural for pain and inflammation, and 2 natural things that are supposed to help with nerve-brain communication/synthesis.