Authors pursue gluten-free lifesytle with new cookbook

When Rachel Carlyle-Gauthier of Polson brought her newborn daughter, Lexie, home from the hospital three years ago, it was clear from the start that something was wrong.

“She started screaming from the day we brought her home and never stopped,” she said.

What the family didn't know at the time was that Lexie had celiac disease, a disorder that robs people of their ability to digest the protein gluten, which is commonly found in wheat, barley and rye.

To compensate for Lexie's illness, the family adopted a gluten-free diet. Now Carlyle-Gauthier and another Polson woman, Billie McCrea, have published a cookbook to help others make the transition to life after gluten.

The pair will sign their book, “Gluten Free Mama's Best Baking Recipes,” at Barnes and Noble in Bozeman on Nov. 17, from 1-3 p.m.

The goal of the book, both authors said, is to make life easier for people who are affected by celiac disease, which often goes undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.

That was the case for Lexie. The infant was sick for more than 18 months, and repeated visits to the doctor produced the same diagnosis: colic. But then Lexie developed rashes and sores and stopped digesting her food. The baby lost four pounds.

“I hadn't slept in two weeks, and I was just like, something's wrong,” Carlyle-Gauthier said.

An emergency room doctor suggested celiac disease, and later tests confirmed it: Lexie's body could not tolerate gluten.

“She has it so bad, she can't even hold a cracker in her hand without getting a rash,” Carlyle-Gauthier said.

Dr. Brian Landsverk at the Bozeman Gastroenterology Clinic said about one in 250 people have the disease, which can cause myriad symptoms, from diarrhea to bloating.

Landsverk said the disease was once thought uncommon in the United States, but now doctors are finding that some patients diagnosed with diseases like irritable bowl syndrome may in fact have celiac disease.

“It's probably always been there, but now we're learning that it's a little more common than we thought,” Landsverk said.

According to the National Institutes for Health, without treatment -- typically a gluten-free diet -- people with the disease may suffer malnutrition or other serious complications like cancer, osteoporosis or anemia.

Lexie is now 3 and has been living gluten-free since 2005, thanks to her mother's diligence in keeping wheat flour and other gluten-containing foods out of the kitchen.

It's not easy, Carlyle-Gauthier said, considering that items as seemingly wheat-free as canned chili can contain ingredients with gluten, as the family discovered last year when Lexie developed a rash after eating a bowl.

So Carlyle-Gauthier began making whole foods and baking from scratch, which is tricky without gluten, because the protein gives strength and structure to baked goods.

“The (gluten-free) recipes that I was trying were cardboard, hard as a brick, fell apart or tasted like sandpaper,” she said. “How could I ask my daughter to eat this if I can't even eat this?”

Stymied, Carlyle-Gauthier began experimenting with flour blends to use instead of wheat flour, eventually settling on a mix containing rice flours, almond meal, different starches and no gluten.

Her difficult experience inspired her to share her advice with others by enlisting fellow Polson baker McCrea to help write the cookbook, which contains more than 100 recipes.

Along with the book, Carlyle-Gauthier hopes to have her flour blend distributed nationwide by January. Already, stores in three states carry the flour, and she has shipped to 30 states.

It's all in an effort to make food, and through that, life, more palatable for people with celiac disease.

“The recipes actually taste good,” she said. “The proof is in the taste. When they taste it, it's going to redefine their lives for gluten-free.”

Michael Becker is at mbecker@dailychronicle.com or 582-2635.