I recently have determined that I am gluten intolerant or have Celiac Disease. I'm adjusting my diet to help eliminate migraines that I have suffered from for many, many years and so for it's helping greatly. What I'm wondering is if anyone knows of any trail food that would be gluten-free yet still pack the energy that would be required to keep going on say, 75 to 80 mile a day trips? Most fruits are ok but I've not found any energy bars or sport drinks that I can have but I've not totally researched all of them yet.So far by cutting out all wheat, oats, barley, etc..products I feel better than ever. Any other bikers out there with Celiac Disease? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Mark Bentley

Most, but not all, of the Balance Bars are gluten free. You can send them an email for a complete list. Cytomax is a gluten free drink.

I've recently purchased a Breadman TR2200C Ultimate Bread Machine, Amazon.com, and have been baking gluten free bread. Nice to have sandwiches again, after years of avoiding all breads. There are a number of gluten free bread cookbooks for bread machines.

Hope this helps.

Yes it does help quite a bit. Thanks for your comments. Glad I'm not the only one out there in this condition.

Mark

Alpsnack bars are gluten free and vegan as well. Good for you too.

alpsnack.com (http://www.alpsnack.com/)

Also, I think Clif Shot is gluten free as well but I haven't tried it yet so I don't know how it stacks up taste-wise.

I find nuts the best bang for the buck/weight/size lugability ratio on the market.

Peanuts, sunflower seeds (preshelled), cashews to name the more affordable types.
170 calories or thereabouts per 1/4 cup for nuts mentioned above.
Powerful and potent food source for any omnivore that can handle that food form.

I myself just run down to EvilMart and buy a big 38 oz. tin of roasted peanuts (NOT DRY roasted, they are evil and WAY to dry, one needs the moisture). One can find, if they are lucky, shelled
and UNROASTED sunflower seeds, preferbly unsalted. USed to find such at cheap prices and in
bulk at 'health food' stores but if a local grocer has a clue they might have them.
Nuts are a 'super' food if ya look up the vitamin/mineral ratios per gram they carry. That and the GOOD natural oils.

Raisens are one that come to mind too but I prefer to go with nuts but if I'm feeling
crazy I might mix in some raisens in a baggie with them. GOod source of natural sugars and little else.
Soy 'nuts'. Damn these are tasty. Sometimes I've found them avaible roasted in bulk but they are hard to find around here for some damn reason.

Bananas. What can one say? COme with nifty natural 'bag' but are prone to bruising. I prefer to
buy one at local quickie marts I find on the way during my ride if the weather is too hot for me to lug one about. More luggable if you prefer to eat them a wee bit on the 'green' side verus going to sugar hell brown side.

Cheese. Hard cheeses are great, IMO. Course if the weather is very hot the cheese can tend
to go runny on you no matter how hard. Someimes I carry a 1 inch cube or maybe two along of hard cheddar with me if on a long ride and tire of the above listed options.

Just thought of another one. Canned sardines(spring water type). I'd lug a tin around if I was going on a really long ride. Love the things myself.

Erm...these were are all some ideas. I myself do not find the idea of buying and eating 'power bars' very attractive or healthy for that matter. Why not make your own alternative using base materials one can find at the store? Be better for you and sure as hell a lot cheaper.

I wasn't aware oats were a gluten carrying form of grain. Pity that!

The word is still out on oats. They contain a different kind of protein, if I remember correctly, and in proportionally smaller amounts than say wheat. Most of the time the oats are contaminated and processed with other grains though, which definitely poses a problem. Some celiacs can tolerate oats, some can't so it's best just to avoid them. Otherwise, you'd be fine with some Clif bars here and there.

I second the soy nuts recommendation. Those things are awesome.

Thanks a lot on the tips guys. I check out your suggestions. I appreciate your help. Have a great day.

Mark

when was the last time you heard the term GORP(Good Old Raisins and Peanuts)?

If it does turn out that you have Celiac Disease, you may want to check out the book "Breaking the Vicious Cycle" by Elaine Gottschall. It details a rather strict diet regiment that has been helpful to people with CD. I don't recommend following her diet faithfully (it's incredibly hard to follow it 100%) but it has some good ideas that can be modified and used to some good effect.

You probably have already been told about Gluten Intolerance Group of North America -- www.gluten.net

Maybe there's a list of good choices for athletes who are gluten intolerant. A friend of mine is a member of this group and gave me the website. He's not an athlete however so I don't have anything to add or help other than the website and phone number for them: 206-246-6652

Good luck!