Reintroduction: Alcohol question...

[Laurenacc]

Finishing up Day 25 and can't believe I'm only 5 days away from starting reintro!  I've decided I'm going to do Gluten-free Alcohol on Day 1, Legumes on Day 4, Gluten-Free Grains on Day 7, Dairy on Day 10, and Grains with Gluten on Day 13. I'm trying to decide what the best gluten-free alcohol would be for me to have. I think I should probably stick with something I typically order whenever I *do* actually drink...which is rare, but I have a feeling I'll have a reaction- so I want to test it out. I normally go for cider beers whenever I go to a bar (or a margarita). I just so happen to have a few ciders in my fridge and figured I'll have one of those, but do you think that's a bad idea and it'll trigger my sugar dragon? I've actually not craved sweets or really anything while doing the whole30- been full and not finding myself to be hungry outside of my 3 meals. So maybe it's ok? I have 2 different brands:

Angry Orchard ingredients: Hard Cider, Natural Flavors, Carbon Dioxide, Malic Acid and Sulfites (I'm guessing this is fine since it's a reintro day?) to preserve freshness, naturally gluten-free

OR

McKenzie's ingredients: Hard Apple cider, less than 1% of natural flavors, spices, caramel color (ok for reintro day, right?), sulfites and sorbate to protect flavor, lightly carbonated, naturally gluten-free

Think one is better to test out than the other? Or should I go for a different gluten-free alcoholic beverage altogether? I just don't want to test something and have a reaction and think- "wait, was it the sugar? or was it the alcohol?" Well, I guess there isn't actual sugar added to the Angry Orchard one...thoughts?

Thanks!

[GoJo09]

I personally would leave the alcohol, gluten free or otherwise, until later in your reintros, purely because it's the one item that can easily lead to a face first dive off track - alcohol lowers your inhibitions (especially when you haven't been drinking of a while) and that 1 cider turns into 2 turns in to a run to the ice cream store with a burger on the side, and before you know it you've eaten 7 different things that could all have their own side-effects, but you'll never untangle them.

You also don't have a reintro day for sugar in your list - if you're concerned about how that will affect you (without the side of alcohol) you should really intro that separately as well.

[Laurenacc]

Thanks GoJo! I was following the Fast Track Reintro plan that I saw in The Whole30 book...it says Day 1 is optional for gluten-free alcohol but I figured I should include it, Day 1 (or 4) legumes, Day 4 (or 7) non gluten grains, Day 7 (or 10) dairy, Day 10 (or 13) gluten containing grains. No sugar reintro is mentioned...but it *does* say that many of the foods in the other food groups will also contain sugar. So...I assumed that meant there wasn't really a day given for sugar reintro. I'm happy to add it if there's a new reintro plan that I'm not aware of, but I was just trying to follow the outline I saw in the book.

I'm fine with reintro-ing a dif gluten-free alcohol if the cider seems like a bad trigger, but I figured I should be testing alcoholic beverages I actually consume. I normally don't go for wine since it makes me sleepy- that seemed like the next best thing to try gluten-free wise. And I definitely don't want to take a shot of gluten-free tequila...nor sip it, blech! 

I totally get what you mean when you say- having 1 cider turns into 2 and then going overboard and eating all things bad and messing up. But even when I wasn't doing the Whole30- I never have more than 1 drink, so I know that's definitely not going to be happening. I'll be surprised if I even finish one 12oz bottle. I'm a lightweight and don't care much for alcohol, I only choose to reintroduce it to see how my body reacts to having it again. And while I'm sure MANY people have said- "Oh I'm super strict, I'm not going to let this trigger me to eat anything else off-plan for that day"...I'm sure some have fallen off the wagon and given in. BUT- I've been struggling with stomach issues for years and I'm serious about doing this right so I can see which item will affect me and how. I'm almost certain during the 15 days of reintro, I'm not going to jump off the deep end and eat pizza, cake, and guzzle an irish car bomb in one sitting, hehe. 

So...I guess this brings me back to: are either of these ciders ok to drink as my gluten-free alcoholic beverage reintro- or is it bad that I drink something sweet (even though the angry orchard doesn't say sugar in the ingredients) and with sulfites in it? Open to other gluten-free alcohol suggestions, I just want to make sure I have something around come the day I have that for my reintro. Thanks!

[Laurenacc]

Howdy! I posted this question in the reintro section of the forum but haven't heard an answer, so I'm going to post here (very sorry for the repeat! But want to know since I'm going to start reintro in 2 days ) I'm not a big drinker but I want to include the gluten-free alcohol day (which is considered an optional day 1 reintro according to the book) because I think I'll have a reaction to it- so I want to test it out. If I ever drink, it's usually a cider which happens to be gluten-free and I happen to have 2 different brands in my fridge. I've listed the ingredients for each below, they both contain sulfites- so...is that ok since it's a reintro item? Or should I be avoiding it and go for a different type of gluten-free alcohol? Angry Orchard one doesn't look like it adds extra sugar, so that seems like the better route between the 2. But I'm open to other alcohol suggestions, I just figured I should test a beverage I actually consume when I *do* drink, which is rare.

Angry Orchard ingredients: Hard Cider, Natural Flavors, Carbon Dioxide, Malic Acid and Sulfites (I'm guessing this is fine since it's a reintro day?) to preserve freshness, naturally gluten-free

OR

McKenzie's ingredients: Hard Apple cider, less than 1% of natural flavors, spices, caramel color (ok for reintro day?), sulfites and sorbate to protect flavor, lightly carbonated, naturally gluten-free

Help?  Thanks!

[SugarcubeOD]

2 hours ago, Laurenacc said:

Howdy! I posted this question in the reintro section of the forum but haven't heard an answer, so I'm going to post here (very sorry for the repeat! But want to know since I'm going to start reintro in 2 days ) I'm not a big drinker but I want to include the gluten-free alcohol day (which is considered an optional day 1 reintro according to the book) because I think I'll have a reaction to it- so I want to test it out. If I ever drink, it's usually a cider which happens to be gluten-free and I happen to have 2 different brands in my fridge. I've listed the ingredients for each below, they both contain sulfites- so...is that ok since it's a reintro item? Or should I be avoiding it and go for a different type of gluten-free alcohol? Angry Orchard one doesn't look like it adds extra sugar, so that seems like the better route between the 2. But I'm open to other alcohol suggestions, I just figured I should test a beverage I actually consume when I *do* drink, which is rare.

Angry Orchard ingredients: Hard Cider, Natural Flavors, Carbon Dioxide, Malic Acid and Sulfites (I'm guessing this is fine since it's a reintro day?) to preserve freshness, naturally gluten-free

OR

McKenzie's ingredients: Hard Apple cider, less than 1% of natural flavors, spices, caramel color (ok for reintro day?), sulfites and sorbate to protect flavor, lightly carbonated, naturally gluten-free

Help?  Thanks!

Test them both?  We don't give better or worse suggestions for any item that is off plan on the whole 30 for reintroduction. You need to do your own experimentation. Sulphites may be a problem for you. They may not. Only way to know is to test them out. 

As far as added sugar, just make sure you're noticing if the added sugar (or the alcohol in general) is causing cravings or spiking snacking behaviour. 

Im going to combine your two posts as we have a rule against cross posting and the can I have forum is not the appropriate place for this discussion. If you don't get an answer again, feel free to tag or pm a mod instead of duplicate posting

[salsasis14]

A reminder all hard liquor is GF (vodka, tequila, scotch).  I know a lot of vodkas like to say they're GF because they use potatoes or quinoa or what not, but authentic, wheat based scotch is just as GF- distillation removes the gluten.  My brother is a highly sensitive celiac and drinks whiskey all the time with no reactions.  Hard alcohol is also going to be lower in sugars and additives than ciders.  I love cider and my bro and I have fun sharing new discoveries, but the brands you mentioned are super sweet. 

If you can, try a super dry cider, like Crispin or Graft.

[lolasaysyes]

Hi all, this is it! Day 31! I won't get into how awesome Whole30 was in unexpected ways, because that could take forever, but instead I just have a very timely & tactical query about the first thing I want to experiment with reintroducing, which is sulfate-free biodynamic red wine. I'm having some friends over for dinner tonight and besides the sulfate-free wine, everything else today and tonight will still be W30-compliant.

I read in the W30 book that in the reintro phase you really need to consumer quite a bit of the group you're experimenting with in order to really get a gauge on its effects on your body. Melissa writes specifically that if you want to test dairy, for instance, you'd incorporate dairy into each of your 3 meals on one day then go back to 2-5 days of W30 to see how dairy affects your system.

So, my first question is: how much of the sulfate-free wine should I have tonight to properly understand how it affects my system? (Unlike the dairy example, surely I don't have to have it all 3 meals today (haha) — but how many glasses should I have tonight? Is 1 enough? 2? 3? I am a 5'4", 110 lb woman.)

[ShannonM816]

Hi, @lolasaysyes -- I would say with alcohol, have whatever would be a typical amount for you to have. If you normally just have one glass, do that. If you normally have 2-3, do that, or whatever. Or if you think you want to cut back from whatever you used to do, go with what you think a reasonable amount will be in the future. Do remember that after 30 days of no alcohol, some people find it affects them a little more or a little faster than it did before Whole30.  

[Tarrantrl]

On 6/2/2018 at 8:43 PM, Laurenacc said:

Thanks GoJo! I was following the Fast Track Reintro plan that I saw in The Whole30 book...it says Day 1 is optional for gluten-free alcohol but I figured I should include it, Day 1 (or 4) legumes, Day 4 (or 7) non gluten grains, Day 7 (or 10) dairy, Day 10 (or 13) gluten containing grains. No sugar reintro is mentioned...but it *does* say that many of the foods in the other food groups will also contain sugar. So...I assumed that meant there wasn't really a day given for sugar reintro. I'm happy to add it if there's a new reintro plan that I'm not aware of, but I was just trying to follow the outline I saw in the book.

@Laurenacc, I don't think anyone answered this directly. Yes, that is the fast track from the book. However, you can change the reintro schedule if you want to. The changes @GoJo09 suggested are good examples or why you might reorder or expand the reintro. Some people give soy it's own day, peanuts it's own day, etc. Some people separate dairy by varying lactose vs casein content! It just depends on how fine-tuned you want your reintro data to be. I gave butter it's own day because that was the only dairy I wanted really, but unfortunately I think it's giving me a headache that isn't really worth it when clarified butter tastes fine (just more effort!). If you're concerned about sugar, you could give it it's own day or do the non-sugar versions or categories before the sugar versions. For example, do dairy without sugar, a few days whole30, then dairy with sugar (ice cream!!). Gluten without sugar, reset, gluten with sugar. If there are differences in your reactions, you'll know what's from the sugar separately from the base category.

[Laurenacc]

I’m on reset #2, day 30! Planning on reintroducing gluten free cider tomorrow on day 31. The item I purchased is docs draft pear hard apple cider. Doesn’t have an “ingredients” list exactly but says: “made from pressed New York State apples and pear juice fermented with champagne yeast and malic acid” separate area on bottle mentions “contains sulfites & gluten-free” 

is this ok for gluten free alcohol reintro?