Chris,
I have the same condition as your stepfather, only it is more commonly
referred to as Celiac Disease, or Celiac Sprue. It is an autoimmune
disease that is life long, but is treated with a gluten-free diet.
Gluten is actually found not only in wheat, but also barley, rye, and
oats. Damage to the small intestent is caused when gluten is digested,
but the body repairs this damage naturally if gluten is avoided.

Anyway, there is a great store located out of Milwaukee,WI called the
Gluten Free Trading Company. They sell products from all over the world
that are 100% gluten free. This includes wonderful pastas, bread mixes,
canned soups, salad dressings, etc. They also sell flour blends made
from alternative grains that are a one to one substitute for wheat
flour. They taste good and can be used for anything without altering
the texture too much. The web address is www.gluten-free.net. Some of
the mixes work ok with bread machines, but you may have to putz around
with the settings and programs a bit. Also, when using gluten-free
flours it helps to add Xanthum or Guar Gum as these are substitutes for
gluten that provide the elasticity needed for bread. Hope this helps.

Rachel


Chris Zwilling wrote:
> Enkidu ) wrote:
> : In article <01bc3ee9$8445cbc0$0665d726@birdcage>, "Paula Mader"
> : > wrote:
> :
> : > I have a friend who just got a bread machine but is allergic to
wheat.
> <snip>
> :
> : It's not just a bread machine problem. . . _all_ bread makes use of
> : gluten, which is the protein that allows it to trap yeast's castoff
CO2.
> : Gluten is by definition a wheat product, and even the pure ("vital)
gluten
> : you can buy in some places is obtained from wheat. You might ask
your
> : friend to try and drag out of hir doctor the specifics of the
allergy -
> : although I have no basis for believing such a condition exists, it
might
> <snip again>
>
> My stepfather has a similar condition called "Tropical Sprue". It
isn't
> an allergy, it's a disease (untreatable). If he has too much gluten,
he
> gets diariaah (you know what) really bad - it could literally kill
him.
>
> Anyway, rice flour does work - but it is a pain to work with. Things
do
> not have the consistancy or flavor that regular good old wheat
does... I
> guess the most tragic thing about the whole thing is that he is
> Italian...DOH!
>
> ;-----------------------------------------;
> ; ; Chris Zwilling
> ; This space left intentionally blank. ;
> ; --IBM manuals ; System Administrator
> ; ; 320.240.8243
> ;-----------------------------------------;