Help & Advice
A brief guide to healthy living and eating for those suffering from Coeliac Disease.
What is Coeliac Disease?
Coeliac Disease is an intolerance of gluten which means that people with this condition are therefore unable to eat foods that contain it. Gluten is a protein present in a certain number of cereals: wheat, rye and barley and some coeliacs are insensitive to oats too. Foods containing these cereals or their derivatives, such as flour, starch, bread, pasta, biscuits and cakes, all contain gluten. Gluten may also be present in less obvious foods, such as sweets, puddings, preserved meats, stock cubes, etc.
What happens if a person with Coeliac Disease eats food containing gluten?
They will inevitably cause themselves serious harm, primarily to the intestine and secondarily to other organs. The walls of the intestine are lined with minute finger like projections called villi. Intestinal villi absorb nutrients from ingested food. When a Coeliac ingests gluten, his/her villi flatten out and no longer perform their function. Nutrients in food are thus no longer assimilated and are passed out of the body in the faeces. Coeliacs who ingest gluten effectively put their intestine out of service; their bodies no longer receive the necessary nutrition and consequently they lose weight, in children their growth can be stunted and they become ill. Gluten intolerance symptoms vary, the most noticeable being diarrhoea, abdominal swelling, loss of appetite and vomiting. However, sufferers may also develop other less immediately apparent symptoms, such as iron and calcium deficiency.
How can Coeliac Disease be treated?
The only treatment required is a gluten free diet. It might seem difficult at first to enjoy a complete and balanced diet without gluten, but in fact, providing you follow certain specific rules, it is really relatively simple.
What must those affected do?
People with Coeliac Disease can still follow a healthy, balanced diet with variety and taste. The important thing is that none of the food they eat must contain gluten (not even tiny amounts), or be cross-contaminated by gluten containing food. Those affected must stick rigidly to a gluten free diet for life.
What does a gluten free diet consist of?
Food a Coeliac can eat:
- Rice, maize, potatoes, all kinds of vegetables and fruit, eggs, cheese, milk, meat and fish, nuts, seeds, pulses and beans as long as they are not cooked with wheat flour, batter, breadcrumbs or sauces.
- Wine and spirits.
- Any food specifically labelled as gluten-free. Beware - food labelling standards vary around the globe so it is not always safe to rely on ingredient labels in a strange country.
See our Product Comparison Chart for an at-a-glance list of safe foods.
Food that may make a Coeliac ill
- Any food that contains flours or grains of wheat, rye, barley and oats.
- Marinades, sauces, mayonnaise, pickles, gravy mix.
- Pasta and couscous.
- Batter, breadcrumbs, pastry.
- Soy sauce and mono-sodium glutamate (MSG).
- Stock or bouillon.
- Modified starch.
- Malt or malt flavouring (common ingredient in breakfast cereals) and malt vinegar.
- Any ingredient listed as a "natural flavouring".
- Processed meat or seafood.
- Beer, grain based spirits.
There is a large list of forbidden ingredients (e.g. dextrin, citric acid), which generally are found in processed and prepared food and are sometimes made using wheat. As a simple rule, processed and prepared foods are not allowed unless specifically marked as gluten free.
Cross-contamination
can be avoided if you are careful in the kitchen. For example, grills must
be cleaned before cooking, toasters not used unless
scrupulously clean, separate stirring spoons used etc. Toast crumbs in
the butter or jam are a common source of contamination.
