Tag Archives: gluten free

Living With Coeliac Disease

27 Jan

I have been asked a few times recently about my tips for those newly diagnosed with Coeliac Disease, and advice for those struggling to get to grips with the disease.  So I thought I would put together a post with some advice for those struggling, based on my experiences over the past year and a half.  Please bear in mind that I am not a medical professional and this is based purely on my personal experience.  Always seek advice from your GP or Dietitian before making any major changes to your diet.

Kev_Abby

The photo above is of myself and my wife Abby in Lyme Regis is Easter 2011.  This was one of the few moments of our trip away that I didn’t spend in a public bathroom.  Little did I know these bathroom trips were to be the start of my coeliac journey.  As I’m sure most of you that are reading this will know, this means a lifetime without gluten, therefore a lifetime without wheat, rye and barley.

So you’ve just been diagnosed with coeliac disease.  You are probably feeling like the world has just ended.  So what to do next?  Well the first thing to know is that life isn’t over.  Gluten free life can be a challenge, but there are lots of gluten free options out there and plenty of people willing to help.  First stop for anyone newly diagnosed should be the Coeliac UK website, where you will find a wealth of helpful information.  Membership for the first six months is free, and it is worth joining for the annual Food and Drink Directory which lists thousands of safe to eat foods.  They will also put you in contact with your local coeliac support group.  It is also worth getting a book to read more about the disease.  I can recommend “Coeliac Disease: What You Need to Know” by Alex Gazzola.

It is also a good idea to register with some of the gluten free food manufacturers, as this can lead to lots of gluten free freebies.  After I was diagnosed I registered and received free samples from Juvela, Glutafin, Dietary Specials and Livwell.  Ask your GP if you are entitled to gluten free food on prescription, and hopefully your free samples will help you choose what to have if so.  I am lucky enough to get Juvela foods on prescription, but many regions have recently made cuts in this area.

Unfortunately accidental glutenings will be part of the learning process, and coeliac life going forward.  It’s a good idea to stock up with peppermint tea as this can help calm your stomach when you have accidentally ingested the evil stuff.  The psychological impact of being diagnosed is one of the biggest things to deal with, and is not something that the NHS will offer any help with.  The best way to deal with this is to become part of the gluten free community.  Sharing experiences with other coeliacs, and having people who understand what you are going through is a massive help.  I have written about how to become part of the GF community for the Foods You Can website here.

Those of you who have read the story of my first year as a coeliac will know I’ve seen major heath improvements, but coeliac disease is different for us all and it can take as long as two years for the gut to recover in some cases.  It’s my belief that I’ve had a relatively smooth recovery due to a fairly swift diagnosis.  I’ve read many stories since from people who have been suffering for over ten years before being diagnosed, and this level of damage can have much longer recovery times.

So you’ve gone gluten free, but you’re not feeling better.  What to do now?  Hopefully by now you will have been referred to a dietitian, and will have been advised to cut out oats (even gluten free versions) for the first year.  A small number of coeliacs react to oats and it is best to be back to full health before slowly reintroducing to see if oats are a problem.  From talking to other coeliacs it is clear that after-care and advice from the NHS varies dramatically and I have spoken to several people who have not had this advice.

Many coeliacs suffer from lactose intolerance when first diagnosed, which can be a side affect to gut damage.  Fortunately this was never an issue for me, but I have spoken to many coeliacs who have been affected.  In most cases this should be temporary and you hopefully you will be able to tolerate lactose once your gut has healed.  There is further information on the Coeliac UK website.  Consult your GP or dietitian if you feel lactose may be an issue for you.

Personally I have cut out anything carrying a “may contain wheat/gluten” or anything “made in a factory handling wheat/gluten”.  I’ve had some bad experiences with these products and now avoid completely rather than risk it.  Cross contamination is one of the hardest aspects to deal with.  If you are living with others that are eating gluten then having your own utensils is a good idea, your own separate toaster, chopping board and pasta drainer etc.  I’ve recently thrown out all my wooden spoons and replaced with silicon versions.  Always clean down surfaces before preparing food, one crumb is enough to make you sick.  My wife now eats gluten free as much as possible at home, and keeps all her gluten containing food in a cupboard in another room.  I am very grateful to her for this.  If you are outnumbered by the gluten eaters then a lot of coeliacs have their own cupboard for their GF food.

Eating out is another big challenge.  I try not to eat anywhere that I haven’t thoroughly researched first.  Use the internet to search for recommendations and social media to ask for suggestions.  There are websites such as Live Gluten Free that have searchable databases of gluten free friendly restaurants.  See also my guest post for the Give Me Gluten Free website for more eating out advice.

Also pay close attention to what you are drinking.  The last two times I’ve been glutened have been from drinks.  Firstly I was drinking Tetley Green Tea which I later discovered carried a “may contain gluten” warning, and then I drank cider in a pub and got ill so I assume the glass or pumps had previously been used for beer and not cleaned properly.  Many squashes contain barley and it’s an area that’s often easy to overlook.  Beer is obviously a no go, though there are some gluten free beers on the market.

I am taking several supplements to help me get back to health.  I have always taken a multi vitamin with added iron, due to leading a previously largely vegetarian diet at home (my wife is vegetarian) and I believe this helped me from becoming anaemic when I was going through diagnosis.  I have since started taking a prescription calcium supplement (AdCal) after a bone density scan showed osteopenia.  I also take an Omega 3 supplement as I don’t eat fish.  Please consult your dietitian with regards supplements.  I have also started taking a good quality probiotic (Culturelle) with the aim of improving the health of my gut.  Since being diagnosed with coeliac disease I have also developed issues with acid reflux, and have been prescribed Omeprazole to combat this.  The acid reflux has also led to me having to give up black tea, and I now drink green or peppermint tea instead.

So have you struggled to get back to health despite going gluten free?  Do you have any tips for the newly diagnosed or those struggling to feel better?  Please use the comment section below to share your experiences and tips with the gluten free community.

Kevin, Gluten Free by the Sea

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Burger Time at JD’s Grill

18 Jan

Now if there’s one thing I miss since being diagnosed coeliac, it’s being able to easily feast on a big fat burger.  Given my wife is vegetarian, it’s not something I really make at home unless we are having a barbecue.  Having been to the fabulous Honest Burgers in London I have been dreaming of finding somewhere in Plymouth that will do a burger of that quality, and more importantly a gluten free one.

Last year I saw a tweet that a new restaurant called JD’s Grill was opening in Plymouth, “Serving delicious gourmet burgers and American influenced food”.  As usual I did my bit and tweeted them to see if they would be offering gluten free options.  They replied to say that they were offering gluten free bread for their burgers.  I recently followed this up with an email to investigate further.  They replied that they were still offering gluten free bread, and the burgers were gluten free though they couldn’t guarantee that “that the spices etc that we use in our recipe have not been cross contaminated in the factoring process”.  However, they kindly offered to make me my very own burger leaving out any spices that were a risk.  When my wife spotted a bargain Group On offer (two meals and two drinks for £10) we decided to give it a go.

JDs Burger

Once seated I mentioned I was gluten free and they immediately knew who I was which was a very reassuring start.  The Group On offer included a beer, but they happily swapped this out for a cider.  There is quite an array of toppings for the burgers on the menu, though I went for a classic choice of cheese and bacon to top my half pound burger!  The person who served us explained that their gluten free buns had unfortunately disintegrated in the freezer (well we’ve all had problems with disintegrating GF bread!) and they were struggling to find a good gluten free bun supplier.  However they did have gluten free bread in.  Not quite the same, but I appreciated the effort as most places simply will offer you the burger minus the bun anyway.  Unfortunately I was advised I couldn’t have the chips, but the wedges were gluten free.

I really enjoyed the burger.  It was really flavourful and it was a quality burger, I didn’t feel like I was missing out with the other spices taken away at all.  The gluten free bread was also good and at least let me demolish this burger with my hands in traditional fashion!  The chunky potato wedges were good too and were a fine substitute for chips.  My gluten eating vegetarian wife went for the sweet potato burger with wedges and was also impressed.  The portion sizes were great and certainly no skimping here.  Some of the orders we saw coming passed our table were obscenely big.  JD’s also run a Man vs Food style “Goliath Challenge” too for those who are into that kind of thing.  Half a pound of delicious meet was enough for me though.  With the Group On making it only a tenner for two great meals and two drinks it was fantastic value.

JDs Sundae

Onto dessert and as the waiter passed me the menu he informed me that all the Sundaes were gluten free without me asking.  This was the third person who served us during the evening and all three were aware of my requirements when they came to the table.  I was really impressed with this.  I went for a butterscotch tower which went down well even though I was already completely full.  Well I couldn’t really do a review without sampling a dessert.  Again a very ample portion size.

So overall I was impressed.  The staff couldn’t do enough for us all night and were very friendly and accommodating to my requirements, and the fact they had specially prepared a burger for me was very impressive.  The quality of the food was very good and I’d have happily paid the normal price of £8.95 for the burger.  So was it as good as Honest Burgers?  Well no it wasn’t, but that is very high bar to reach.  The quality of the burger is up there, but Honest is just that bit easier on the gluten free side.  I’ll definitely be heading back to JD’s for more though.

So if JD’s were interested in becoming the gluten free burger Mecca that Honest is in London, here’s how I think they could improve:

  • As much as I really appreciated them going out of their way to make me a special burger, if they could source gluten free spices it would make it easier for both JD’s and the gluten free customer
  • Find a way to make the fries gluten free.  I know the fries are done in a separate fryer so this shouldn’t be too difficult
  • Most importantly find a good gluten free bun supplier.  Maybe Plymouth Greengrocer could provide a solution here as they are currently trialling these

If they really wanted to push the gluten free boat out then they could get in a gluten free beer such as Celia, and maybe consider marking the items on the menu with a GF.  This would be especially helpful with the toppings.  OK I’m just being greedy now.  So a thank-you to Dave for organising the gluten free burger for me, and all the staff for looking after me on my visit.  As Arnie would say, I’ll be back.

If you are planning on making a visit you can email JD’s Grill at info@jds-grill.co.uk in advance to discuss gluten free requirements.  See here for further offers.

Update 25/06/13: I’ve been back for another visit, and this time I got a gluten free bun!  Check out this photo of my AMAZING 1/2 pound burger with pulled pork, BBQ sauce and Monterey jack cheese. Even better than the previous visit and service equally as good too.

2013-06-24 19.31.51

Kevin, Gluten Free by the Sea

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Let Them Eat Cake

15 Jan

Back in November I was having a little grumble about Terry’s Chocolate Orange, and it’s lack of suitability for coeliacs.  I received a comment on the blog post from Lisa Hackett of Let Them Eat Cake suggesting that she could offer me a chocolate orange fix in the form of her Jaffa Slice.  In December I popped down to the Christmas food fair at Royal William Yard to meet Lisa and try her products for myself.  I found out Lisa is gluten free herself due to suffering from Crohn’s disease.  Lisa sent me her story of why she started Let Them Eat Cake, I really enjoyed reading it and she was kind enough to let me share it with you:

LTEC-Lisa

“After being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease I had to undergo a period of trial and error to establish what triggers my symptoms. As I have had to cut many foods out of my diet that I had previously considered to be daily staples I wasn’t really left with much to enjoy. For months I had a very plain and dull diet. Then I started researching Crohn’s and Coeliac websites for dietary help,  I experimented with the few food stuffs I had left to enjoy and after a lot of trial and error I found ways of increasing my choice of foods. I could now eat cakes, bread, pastry and even Yorkshire puddings. Wow.  What I didn’t expect was the reaction from friends and family who also sampled these items and wanted more. Had I cracked the ultimate dream, to make gluten free products that the whole family can enjoy? I had been really upset on my birthday to receive my dried out, tasteless, shop bought ‘special’ cake whilst the rest of my friends enjoyed the selection of luscious ‘normal’ cakes that they had baked for themselves and that I couldn’t share. I realised then the isolation of my illness. It only got worse when we tried to go out for a meal, even my friends got to the point of thinking I was just being fussy. One waiter even jumped back in shock when I said I suffer from Crohn’s Disease, I think he thought it was contagious! I decided if I was feeling isolated and alone by my illness then others must be in the same boat, especially as many of the ‘free from’ foods really aren’t that great and the local people that do make gluten free products do it in a kitchen where they use wheat flour the rest of the time so the cross contamination risk is high. I therefore felt it was time to create a dedicated gluten free kitchen.

I did my first market in late October 2012, only supplying cakes, the feedback was so spectacular I was blown away by the response to my cakes. It became apparent that many people need to have both gluten and dairy free diet. As none of my cakes at that time had fat in them they where by default dairy free too. I now have introduced items such as Bakewell slice that has the traditional pastry bottom, but as I now have found a good quality dairy replacement these too are both gluten and dairy free. The cakes are made to my secret recipes that I have worked out for myself. Many of them are made using vegetable such as Beetroot, Aubergine, Squash, Carrot and even potatoes. The natural sweetness in the vegetables means that I do not need to load the cakes with sugar, some of them are totally sugar free. Some are made with honey, I keep my own bees so can use my honey from my garden to sweeten my cakes. I live in the Tamar valley so the fruit and vegetables that I use are local and organic, we even have locally grown Peaches. With the exception of my Christmas lines my cakes are great for those watching the weight, my cakes range between 90 and 180 calories per generous portion (Cornish Housewife Portions!) tee hee hee 🙂 Whilst i have been out selling my cakes it became crystal clear that there is also a need for savoury items so I have now introduced savouries into the range. In the New Year I will also be bringing Scones, Cookies and Biscuits into the range. I am also developing a Catering Service, doing Gluten and Dairy Free buffets for Weddings, Christenings, Parties.”

LTEC-Pasty

So gluten free, dairy free cake that’s low in calorie, could this really taste good?  I tasted some samples of cake at the food fair and the answer was yes!  The vegetable content of the cake not only makes them low calorie, but extremely moist and flavourful.  I purchased a pasty (of course!), the previously mentioned Jaffa Slice and a Bakewell Slice to take home.

LTEC-Bakewell

The Jaffa Slice was a delicious, moist orange cake topped with chocolate, which I demolished so fast I forgot to photograph.  I can see why this is so popular with Lisa’s customers.  The Bakewell Slice was equally as moist and I really enjoyed this too.  Of course I’m always on the hunt for a gluten free pasty and this one had a tasty filling and the pastry stood up well after the pasty was warmed up.  Overall I was very impressed with the products.

The range of cakes includes Peach, Poppy Seed and Sweet Potato Muffin, Lemon and Blueberry Muffin, Lemon Drizzle Cake, Chocolate Brownie Chocolate Torte, Apple Blondie and Fresh Raspberry and White Chocolate Blondie and many more.  The savoury range includes Hand Raised Pork Pies, Bacon and Egg Pie, savoury muffins and a range of quiches (note the quiches are not dairy free).

You can find Let Them Eat Cake’s products at Jeniffer’s Deli in Fore Street Saltash or at the following markets:

  • Liskeard Market, every second Saturday 9am to 3pm. This is an outdoor market situated on The Parade right outside the old Webbs Hotel building, it can be cancelled in severe weather conditions. Market currently not running until March
  • Crocodon Market St Mellion, every third Saturday, 9am to 3pm, next one is 19th January. This is held in a barn so we are in the dry even if it is pouring down outside (wear stout boots as it can get a little muddy in the car park) I have to date sold out at each market here so come early to avoid disappointment.
  • Royal William Yard – first Sunday of the month from March through to December. Next market is Sunday March 2nd

Note the full range of products are not stocked at every market, so if there was something in particular you want it’s best to contact Lisa in advance and she can ensure she has it for you.  You can contact Lisa on 07508360035, via email at fairies@talktalk.net or at the Let Them Eat Cake Facebook page.  Lisa is on the lookout for more stockists so contact her if you are interested, and I’ll definitely be stopping by to stock up on some Jaffa Slice if she can find a stockist in Plymouth.

LTEC-PlymGreengrocerLTEC-PorkPieLTEC-Quiche

Update 08/09/13: Let Them Eat Cake products are now available at the following locations:

River Cottage Canteen and Deli
Langage Farm Shop – Plympton
Food For Thought – Totnes
The West Country Deli – Brixham
Kevin, Gluten Free by the Sea

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