cooking Gluten Free meals for you and “normal” meals for a spouse and .... Living
Gluten Free for Dummies – this is a very comprehensive look at “Living.
Newly Diagnosed Coeliac – Can we Help? Diagnosis Day! Ok – you have just been officially diagnosed as suffering from Coeliac Disease (CD for short) and are now one of the 1 in 100 people in Ireland and the UK who suffer from the condition. You’re feeling a bit shocked, you’re mind’s in a whirl wondering what to do next and panic is setting in as you try to come to terms with your new situation. We have all gone through this so, the first thing we’ll say is – “Don’t panic” – it may seem like it but your world hasn’t ended! Look at it this way - Coeliac Disease has been around for a long time and the problems you are going to come across have probably been met and dealt with by someone else so you don’t need to reinvent the wheel! - You just need to know where to look for help and advice and this is as good a place as any to start!
The Changes Now – we did say your world hasn’t ended - but there will be changes. Eating habits will change. Your social life will change. Shopping for groceries will be slower, possibly more expensive and you may find yourself visiting a wider range of shops. You will become an expert at reading lists of ingredients on tins and packets of food. Your forward planning skills will become razor sharp as you recognise the need to plan ahead for every outing whether it’s a simple Saturday morning shopping trip, a visit to your family or friends, a weekend break or the annual summer holiday! If you don’t plan ahead you could go hungry! And what about family and friends? The range of foods available to you has just become incredibly smaller than that available to your non-Coeliac family and friends. Will you be cooking Gluten Free meals for you and “normal” meals for a spouse and children? What about “Cross contamination” in your kitchen. Will that be a problem? Even the family Toaster is now suspect. Will you need to buy a second one just for your personal use to avoid being glutened by “normal” bread crumbs? (Thankfully not – the simple use of Toastabags solves that little problem!) Birthday parties, Weddings, Funerals, Village and School Fetes, Church Harvest teas etc etc all become occasions when you could end up sitting in a corner with your very own “one person”
picnic while everyone around you gets stuck into the sandwiches, cream cakes, fruit loaves and all the other goodies you once took for granted. And just to really rub it in the kindly folk who help out at these events will keep coming up to you with offers of more of this and more of that, completely unaware of your plight! Friends will possibly stop asking you over for a cup of tea and a chat as they realise they don’t know what to give you to eat and are too embarrassed to ask for guidance! (You need to take the initiative to solve that problem!)
What’s the News? Now, is the news all bad? No - not necessarily! For a start, you now know what has been making you ill and can really start to deal with the problem! Remember, Coeliac Disease may not yet have a cure but it can be managed and here are some ideas to help you take back control of your life:
Make sure your GP or Hospital Dietician provides you with as much information as possible about Coeliac Disease including your entitlement to Gluten Free food on Prescription.
Join a Coeliac Society – Coeliac Society of Ireland if you live in Southern Ireland (www.coeliac.ie) or Coeliac UK if you are in Northern Ireland (www.coeliac.org.uk)
Join Facebook and read the articles on the two Societies Facebook pages. This is where you will start to identify with other sufferers and see their CD problems and answers.
Find your nearest Coeliac Support Group and get involved. It’s remarkable how much information can be picked up at these meetings from more experienced Coeliacs.
Become familiar with our Gluten Free Ireland Web Site – www.glutenfreeireland.com It will become essential reading when you want to eat out or travel around Ireland. Sign up for our email Newsletter and keep in touch with updates and amendments to our database. Interact with us through our Facebook pages (we would appreciate a “Like”) or the GFI web site and let us know about any Coeliac Friendly B & B’s or Restaurants you find. If you stay or eat in a place you found through our web site please let the owners or staff know how you found them. It helps us, it helps other Coeliacs and, equally important, it lets the Venue know that their efforts to cater for Coeliacs are really appreciated! Let us know about your experiences and we can pass it on to the Coeliac Community at large.
The main Supermarkets in Ireland have recognised the opportunity to supply Gluten Free food to the Coeliac community and the range of GF food on offer has increased rapidly over the last few years. The major supermarkets - Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Marks & Spencer all now carry their own brands of Gluten Free food and the staff members are usually very helpful if you have any queries. You could also try Dunnes Stores, Supervalu, Spar & Centra stores, Aldi and Lidl. To start you off, have a look at: www.tescorealfood.com/recipes/ingredient-or-course/gluten-free-recipes.html http://www2.sainsburys.co.uk/food/allergies-intolerances/freefrom-range/freefrom
Health Food stores carry suitable food and even your local town or village market may have someone selling GF cakes etc. Watch our Facebook page for suppliers advertising their products and where they can be purchased. Nourish, Holland & Barrett and The Health Store are three chains with stores in Ireland.
The Gluten Free food manufacturers are another excellent source of information. For example, sign up with Juvela and Glutafin to receive their freebies and Newsletters. Genius Gluten Free bread is now widely available across Ireland and you should join with them to keep updated on new developments. Here are some suggestions to start you off: www.juvela.co.uk/gluten-free-recipes www.glutafin.co.uk/recipes/ www.geniusglutenfree.com www.kelkin.ie www.odlums.ie www.glutenfreedirect.com
Do you like sweets? Remember that many sweets are not Gluten Free. Gluten can be found in all sorts of places so you need, once again, to read the labels. At present, we believe Bounty Bars and Crunchie Bars are safe for Coeliacs along with M & M’s but Smarties are not safe as the coating contains wheat! Thornton’s carry a fairly good range of GF chocolates and the staff are usually very good for advice. What about Ice Cream? We have found that most of the “soft” ice creams are safe especially if you stick to the basic Dairy Vanilla flavour. There may well be exceptions so remember to ask! If your tastes run to the more exotic flavours then here again you must check the ingredients - or do without!
Did you enjoy a Fish Supper from your local “Chippie”. There are now quite a few folk providing GF Fish & Chips so check our website for the ones we know and please let us know about any you find that are not already on our list.
Direct Suppliers of Gluten Free food – Ecodirect will deliver GF food all over Ireland – www.ecodirect.ie and Louise from Simply Free can deliver straight from England to addresses in Ireland. www.simply-free.co.uk
Books for Coeliacs There are many books about Gluten Free living on the market and we suggest the best place to start looking is in the Amazon shop on our website – www.glutenfreeireland.com (The books etc don’t cost any more than buying them direct from Amazon but any commission we receive helps to keep the website updated!) Here are a few suggestions from our own library Living Gluten Free for Dummies – this is a very comprehensive look at “Living Gluten Free” Phil Vickery – Seriously Good Gluten Free Cooking Marks & Spencer – Allergy Free Women’s Weekly – Gluten Free Cooking Grace Cheetham – The Best Gluten Free, Wheat Free & Dairy Free Recipes Zoe Berkeley – Bake a Boo Bakery Cookbook Darina Allen & Rosemary Kearney – Healthy Gluten Free Eating Alex Gazzola – Coeliac Disease: What you need to know
Finally, never be ashamed of your condition and never be afraid to ask for a Gluten Free option in a restaurant. Many Venues now claim to be “Coeliac Friendly” but, for some strange reason, don’t openly advertise the fact!
Your money is as good as the next persons and in today’s economic climate every customer should be welcomed with open arms. Ask about their GF options and check if the staff know or appear to know about cross contamination. In the end it is your decision on whether or not to eat in a particular place and, if you do not feel comfortable, go and eat elsewhere. If nothing else you will hopefully make the Venue re-think their attitude to Gluten Free food! We are not qualified to give medical or nutritional advice and we don’t claim to have all the answers but we hope these practical ideas about living life “Gluten Free” will be of some use to you and that your Coeliac journey will be made a little bit easier! Kind Regards, Tina & Derek
Tina & Derek Thompson www.glutenfreeireland.com
September 2011
