THE COELIAC CONDITION

Coeliacs suffer from an intolerance to gluten, found in wheat, and to similar proteins found in related grains, rye, barley and oats. An adverse reaction to gluten results in the lining of the small intestine becoming damaged. This reduces the body's ability to absorb enough goodness from food to keep the body going. Besides uncomfortable abdominal symptoms, fatigue, breathlessness, anaemia and general nutritional deficiencies may arise. The only known cure is a strictly gluten free diet.

THE GLUTEN-FREE DIET

There are two guidelines to follow. The first is to identify and eliminate the foods that obviously contain gluten. Consult your doctor as to what to avoid and use the lists below for quick reference. The second factor is to identify and avoid the foods in which gluten is an inconspicuous ingredient. Some manufacturers use chemically modified wheat flour or starch in their products. Read the ingredients labels and avoid products that contain the following: starch, edible starch, food starch, cereal binder, cereal filler, cereal protein, unspecified sweeteners and stabilisers.

DON'T CONTAIN GLUTEN

Build your diet around the following items:-
Fruits and vegetables - either fresh, frozen or dried. Canned fruits and vegetables may also be eaten as long as they have only added salt and water. Potatoes, rice, corn, buckwheat, tapioca, arrowroot and their products. The flours made from many of these products, along with cornmeal are all excellent substitutes for wheat flour and pasta.
Meat, game, poultry and seafood fresh or cured. Canned fish as long as it is canned either in oil or water. Pulses and nuts.
Dairy produce and eggs, all unprocessed dairy produce, powdered milk.
Oils and fats -all oils, butter, margarine and lard.
Condiments - salt, unprocessed pepper, herbs and spices, vinegar.
Soups - home-made soups made with gluten-free ingredients.
Cakes, sweeteners and preserves-sugar, honey, golden syrup, home-made cakes baked with gluten-free ingredients and raising agents, jams, jelly, marmalade, molasses and corn syrup.
Raising agents -yeast, cream of tartar, tartaric acid, baking soda.

DO CONTAIN GLUTEN

Grains - wheat, barley, rye, oats and their products, such as pastas, cereals, noodles, bran, semolina, durum, bulgar, couscous and breads.

MAY CONTAIN GLUTEN

These items may have gluten-containing ingredients:-
Dairy produce - all cheese-based spreads, yogurt, processed milk products.
Condiments and flavourings - pepper compounds, mustard powder, soy sauce, all prepared sauces, pickles, chutneys, salad dressings and stock cubes.
Meat, game, poultry and seafood -all canned, precooked and packaged products, such as pâté, sausages and sausage rolls, and coated, frozen fish.
Cakes, confectionery, desserts and preserves-all precooked and packaged cakes, pastries and biscuits, all sweets and chocolates, mincemeat, peanut butter, lemon curd, all ready made desserts. Miscellaneous-baking powder.

NUTRITIONAL KNOW HOW

A sufficient intake of protein is vital to good health and especially important in the diets of children and pregnant or breastfeeding women. In an ordinary diet, protein will come from dairy produce, eggs, meat, fish, and bread and flour. The coeliac has to watch his or her protein levels, as intake will be reduced due to gluten-intolerance - the vegetarian or vegan coeliac must be even more vigilant. Make sure you consume extra dairy products, eggs, meat and fish. Pulses combined with nuts also yield protein. Wheat products also contain energy-producing carbohydrates that must be replaced in the diet of a coeliac. Substitute these with gluten-free flour, rice, potatoes, sugars and fats.