Gluten, I thought you were my friend?!

Oh Gluten, how I loved you so... Here is my journey with gluten. Sounds so serious (hah) but my aim of this post (it's a longer one today) is to offer advice to anyone who has a gluten intolerance or is actively trying to cut out gluten. This is what I have learnt: Where it Began It was about two years ago that I realised something wasn't quite right. I ate fairly well - everything in moderation - and I exercised regularly. However, I always felt bloated and lethargic. I mentioned something to Scott and he suggested that it could be down to something I was eating. I had a nurse's appointment coming up anyway so I thought I would mention it then. She mentioned that it could be down to a few things - either dairy, gluten, IBS or whole grains with a high fibre content. She suggested that I cut out gluten first and monitor how that makes me feel. With me being a vegetarian already, I panicked. I felt bad enough that we mainly only ate veggie food at home, now we'd need to make gluten free (GF) food too?! AHH. I started reading about gluten and what foods contain gluten. If I am being honest, it was a mind field at the start. I started at the start (I guess that's the best place to start). So what is gluten? * Gluten is a family of proteins found in grains like wheat, rye, spelt and barley (so if a product is labelled wheat free it doesn’t mean it is GF) * Gluten is found in any food that contains the above grains, including pasta, cake, breakfast cereal, most types of bread, certain types of sauces and certain alcohols. * Of the gluten-containing grains, wheat is by far the most commonly consumed. * When flour is mixed with water, the gluten proteins form a sticky network that has a glue-like consistency. What is Coeliac Disease/a Gluten Intolerance? I stopped eating gluten for a month and I instantly felt so much better. I wasn't feeling bloated at all and I had a lot more energy. When I went back to the nurse she asked me if I wanted to be tested for Coeliac Disease. She gave me some more information and there is also info on NHS online: * Coeliac disease is an autoimmune condition. This is where the immune system – the body's defence against infection – mistakenly attacks healthy tissue. *In coeliac disease, the immune system mistakes substances found inside gluten as a threat to the body and attacks them. * This damages the surface of the small bowel (intestines), disrupting the body's ability to absorb nutrients from food. The problem was that if I wanted to have an accurate blood test to check for the disease and a biopsy to confirm, I would have needed to eat gluten for around a month. I really wasn't keen to eat gluten again. So if you're worried about any symptoms it's best to go to your nurse/GP as soon as you can. So I don't have a confirmed diagnosis but I have an intolerance, and I know myself that I feel better if I don't eat gluten. Nowadays, a lot of people choose to actively avoid gluten, even if they aren't intolerant. So what can you eat? Well, get used to studying every label/ingredient on every food you want to buy. Luckily there are plenty of healthy whole foods that are naturally GF, including: corn, rice, buckwheat, tapioca, oats (they may be contaminated so check the label), potatoes, meat, fish, seafood, eggs, dairy products, fruits, vegetables, nuts and fats such as oils and butter. However, you'll soon realise that gluten, especially wheat and barley, is added to a surprising number of foods like soy sauce, pickles, some potato crisps and salad dressings. Some products may say 'this product has been made in a factory that handles gluten' so if you're intolerant, it's up to you if you want to stay clear of those products. Some people actually find that the products with only 'may contain gluten' on the label are the worst. Where can you buy GF food? Asda, Lidl and Sainsburys were the closest shops to our flat for our food shop so I started investigating what options they had. This was 2 years ago and there really wasn't a lot of choice. Lidl didn't have any GF options but Sainsburys and Asda had a small 'Free From' section. I tried Sainsbo's own GF bread and pasta. At first, I thought it tasted pretty bad. The bread tasted like cardboard and the pasta tasted really starchy. I felt a bit downhearted. In the last 2 years, the choice of GF food in supermarkets has increased massively. Also, I think either the taste of GF food has developed, or I have just gotten used to the taste, but most of the GF food I have tried is tasty. Now Asda, Tesco and Sainsbos have really good selections. M & S and Healthfood shops have reaaaaally tasty GF food but they are a bit more pricey, and Lidl and Aldi sometimes do a Free From week. We don't have a Morrisons near us but I have heard that they have one of the best Free From selections. They have also been trialling a free from counter: - https://www.coeliacsanctuary.co.uk/blog/morrisons-trial-new-free-from-market-street-counter. I've previously mentioned about how easy it is to dine out in the UK (check my posts 3.8.17 and 31.8.17) and that most places offer a GF menu. I will revisit this again. Which brands are GF? Most supermarkets stock the brands Warburtons, Schar, Genius, Udis, Eat Natural, B Free, Nairns and then their own variety of gluten free food in the Free From Aisle. You'll be glad to hear that the shelves are constantly getting bigger and bigger, and the supermarkets are constantly adding their own GF stock. Below is what I have tried and tested (and enjoyed): Warburtons - any loafs, rolls, sandwich thins and wraps Schar - ciabatta, paninis, brioche rolls, chocolix (like a twix), pizza bases, pretzels and crispbreads (they are very versatile) Genius - pain au chocolats, pancakes, crumpets, puff pastry and shortcrust pastry. I find the loafs and pitta a bit dry but the bagels are okkk Udis - I haven't tried any Udis but they have a big range Eat Natural - the buckwheat and toasted muesli is good and they have a big choice of snack bars B Free - sweet potato wraps and the best pitta Nairns - biscuit breaks, oatcakes, oat snacks and porridge Make sure you check the labels before you buy from the Free From section. Some stores have GF Mayo and Pesto - eh?! Sometimes, brands make GF versions of products that would be gluten free anyway. The good news = there's a lot of choice now. However, the bad news = the price. I hope that the price of GF food becomes more reasonable. Check this article out for some of the factors of the high cost: https://www.coeliac.org.uk/about-us/news/campaigning-on-the-cost-of-gluten-free/ As an example, in Asda, we're talking £1.35 for 500g GF penne but only 55p for Asda's own'normal' 500g penne. If you are diagnosed as a Coeliac you can be prescribed with certain foods through the NHS so that would be something to look into. Gluten Free Cooking If you eat meat/fish all you need to do is slightly change what you eat. If you're a veggie GF like me it's still pretty easy. I wasn't really a keen cook until I went gluten free. Now I enjoy experimenting with different ingredients and you honestly don't need to be a great chef to cook good GF (and veggie) food. My favourite dinner is just GF pasta with roast veg, spinach and pesto (homemade if you have time). The good thing is you can quite often take your favourite meals and just adapt them. Then if you have time, you can try out the different ingredients and see what works for you. What I would suggest is buying in some of the staples - GF flours (self-raising, plain, rice, gram and coconut), baking powder, xanthan gum (for home baking with GF recipes to improve the crumb structure and to reduce crumbling) and then you can make your own pizza (see my post 31.8.17) and breads/cakes (I've posted a few ideas/recipes in my previous blogs). Then it should work out a little cheaper. Phew...I hope that was helpful! Being Gluten Free really isn't too bad and I'll continue to share my recipes for what I've been baking/cooking - then you can use and adapt. Please email me if you have any comments/questions. Veggie Feijoada is on the menu tonight. Recipe to follow! x gf v x

P.s here's just a few different gluten free flours:

#advice #coeliac