Celiac disease

[Loveduppenguin]

Asking here because i don’t where else to post, and traffic should be good here. I’ve been diagnosed as celiac this morning. I’m still waiting on my dietitian and gastroenterologist appointments to discuss things further. But just asking on here for any information on foods, tips etc etc ANYTHING at all to help me out on this transition. It would be so much appreciated ☺️ thank you

Download the GF scanner app, then you can check lots of products in the shops. Remember all fruit and veg are gf. Make sure you have a good intake of calcium and iron.
It does get easier.

Most GF bread is awful, tastes like cardboard and is very expensive. Warburton tiger bread is OK for toast.
I use the sweet potato wraps, as they're not too bad.
Check out Becky Excell on Facebook & Instagram and GFglee also on Instagram. Becky Excell does loads of recipies, her books are excellent and GFglee keeps you updated on what is and isn't GF free.
Always check the labels as Soy Sauce, Worcester sauce and Baking.powder arent GF free.

Feel free to pm me if you want a chat, it's very daunting at the start, and there was very little help around.
Some of the best advice is on the Coeliac Society website.

Agree GF bread is pretty awful but the old el paso GF wraps are hard to tell apart from normal ones.

Hi,
It might seem a bit overwhelming now but it gets much easier. Overall, I have found that eating a GF diet has really increased the quality of my diet because many of the things that have gluten in them are also the heavily processed foods.
Be aware that many products use gluten-containing ingredients where you might not necessarily have expected them (sometimes flour on chips to make them crisper, or used as thickening agents in sauces etc).
The areas that take a bit of extra planning are meals out or where to eat on holiday. The internet is your friend!

First of all sending you gentle hugs, it's a bit overwhelming when you start but you soon get into the swing of things.

Don't feel like you can only shop in the free from aisles of the supermarket - there are lots of things that are naturally gluten free and you soon learn to visually check for gluten containing ingredients. What you need to look for is Barley, Rye, Oats, Wheat and Spelt (BROWS) also as a coeliac you shouldn't be eating anything that is a "may contain" unless you've been told by a medical expert that you can.

Avoid the scanner apps - their information is not often up to date. Coeliac UK is good for advice, there are a lot of coeliac friendly Facebook Groups, including some created by chefs. I hugely recommend the Facebook group, recipe books and website of Becky Excell Gluten Free (website is glutenfreecuppatea)

You might need to shop around to find the food that you like as lots taste different - don't rule our GF bread because one brand didn't taste nice, there are lots of others and they all taste slightly different.

At home you need to keep some things separate - we only have one toaster, but my daughter's toast goes in a toaster bag to avoid gluteny crumbs. You can't share butter/spread (she has her own in the fridge) If cooking her stuff goes at the top of the oven and gluten stuff at the bottom, although we ofter just naturally cook GF.

You're welcome to message me - we've been doing this for 4 years and it does get easier.

oh god I don’t have social media 😭 i can’t cope with it. I’ll have to look her up another way maybe. Thank you so much

Hi, so I was diagnosed 4 years ago, at the age of 41. I had zero symptoms really, I went to see a private consultant as I have a history of colon cancer and I had just started feeling awful - I’d had a baby a few months before and he thinks that was what sparked the celiac.

I found the dieticians to be a bit usless to be honest. The seemed obsessed with carbs. The only good thing being under them is the blood tests every couple if years to keep an eye on vitamin d levels etc.

I don’t eat any gluten free processed stuff to be honest. It’s expense, tastes awful and is full of crap. Gluten free pasta is the work of the devil. And don’t bother with pizza - you may as well just eat the cardboard box it comes in.

I only eat meat, fish, veg, a bit of fruit, sometimes rice.

I cook amazing curries etc. you have to be careful with things like stock cubes as they can contain barley, and look to see if the spices are may contain.

im not too strict on may contain myself - the dietician was reassuring on that, manufacturers have to be so careful to add that, but the risk is minimal for say, walker’s crisps.

Sone chocolate contains barley and you do need to be careful with chocolate bars - Cadbury’s chocolate, a whisper for example is fine, but a bar of it isn’t as they will cut it on the same machine as they cut a Cadbury oero bar.

I didn’t find it too daunting as I mainly ate meat, dairy and some veg anyway, so bread etc didn’t bother me.

To be honest I’m going to make the whole house gluten free going forward. It’s the only way I’ll know.

Yeah I don’t eat masses of bread thank god!

Just a little tip, as it came as a surprise to me, soy sauce usually contains wheat so you need special gluten free soy sauce or tamari sauce which is normally g/f.
It's hard to eat in Chinese restaurants, Thai is better.

Are you in the US? Just because you’re using the US spelling celiac rather than the UK coeliac…

as that will make quite a bit of difference in product and food availability.

we find the US is more gluten aware generally. It seems to be the norm for people to avoid gluten, so there are more products. They’d often arranged differently as well- in the UK supermarkets will have an (overpriced!) “free from” aisle where all their GF products are. US will have the GF cookies in the cookie (biscuit) aisle.

I tried that at first, but it depends who lives with you. It can get expensive and I wouldn’t inflict gluten free products on my worst enemy 🤣

It’s okay if you are careful. I make my children normal sandwiches next to my own food, it’s okay, you get used to being careful, having your own chopping board and knife etc. it becomes second nature.

I’ve found eating out to be a pain in the arse. While many places have “non gluten containing” menus, they all have the disclaimer about cross contamination. I’ve been caught out a few times so I don’t bother anymore.

Celiac for 17 years here. It might seem very daunting but it’s not as bad as it can seem at first. Most restaurants will have gluten free options but here are some tips that I can give.

1. takeaways are usually not advised unless they can guarantee a gluten free space.
2. any cuisine that uses soy sauce will usually 99% have gluten in unless is specifically states not.
3. if you go on holiday, message the accommodation (hotel) if you are on a board basis and let them know ahead of your stay. They will be able to offer you gluten free items.
4. Sainsbury’s in my opinion has the best gluten free brands.
5. old El Paso corn tortilla wraps are gluten free and state on the packaging.
6. Becky Excell and Megan McKenna cook books have been so helpful to me.

And Worcester sauce!

Drinks too. I used to love Vimto, but it contains barley. That’s the one thing I miss.

Nooooo I love soy!! 😭🤣

No im actually in Ireland but when i googled spelling that’s what i got 🤣

She has a website.

There is a board on here for Celiacs, you’ll probably get a lot more traffic there.

I did notice that Adli have started doing GF products over the last couple of weeks. The bread was half the price of other supermarkets when I looked.

Fantastic I shop in Lidl and Aldi mostly

Things like sausages, “breaded” chicken are easy in aldi. A lot of their sausages say GF on the front, and the tempura battered chicken says GF. As are their falafel, the bbq bits in the summer. Lidl is getting better too.

M&S bread products are the best (but my god do they know how to charge!)
Asda flour is the best I find, and baking works fine, just substitute it for normal flour, add some xanthum gum powder and poss a bit extra liquid.
Asda gf pasta is fine and not madly expensive
Morrisons (at least our local one does) has a small chiller/freezer in the free from aisle and has some good stuff in it (my daughter loves the frozen Mac n cheese balls!)
Other supermarkets can make it harder to find frozen gf stuff but it’s generally there somewhere.

Good luck

I too have coeliac disease. it is hard at first, and it’s a lot to get your head round.
15 years later though, its second nature to me. I wear a naturally gluten free diet and don’t eat anything off the gluten free aisle at all (except for frozen pizza to cook in an emergency) I eat out regularly and travel/ go on holiday.

the people you live with need to understand too, so they don’t misunderstand or buy something assuming it is gluten free. And so you can avoid cross contamination. I don’t have a gluten free house but will not touch gluten in case I accidentally ingest any. My children have learned about this from being small.

It’s a big adjustment that’s for sure