Showing posts with label Coeliac. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Coeliac. Show all posts

Sunday, 10 November 2013

Coeliacs! Should We Lighten Up?

Ok, I realise that I might get an angry backlash from some about this post, but bear with me. Quite recently, I came to the conclusion that we Coeliacs take ourselves a bit too seriously.


Before you jump straight to the comments section, let me explain.

I'm all for getting mad when Coeliac Disease is misrepresented in the media. A recent Telegraph article called the GF diet a "scam", while The Daily Mail prefered the term "con" (because it doesn't help you lose weight). Caught up in pedantry, Today.com tell us that "nobody is actually "allergic" to gluten". Actually, we take a bit of a beating in the press, mostly because ill-informed journalists like to lump people with diagnosed Coeliac Disease and NCGI and faddy gluten free toe-dippers (and everyone in between) together and mock our dietary choices (or not-a-choices, in the case of CD).

What with the bashing we take in the press, you'd think that celebrity chefs might at least have a better understanding of our condition thanks to their training in food. Alas, no. When Coeliac chef Anthony Demetre admitted to gorging on gluten every few months the BBC refused to issue any kind of correction because, "in discussing his eating habits Anthony was expressing his own personal way of coping with the condition and at no point did he advocate it is a diet that others should try." (I'm still not convinced by that brush-off.) When Food Glorious Food judge, Stacie Stewart, described Coeliac Disease as a "lifestyle choice", at least ITV issued an apology. (Although, you might say that since it was pre-recorded the show's makers could have edited the comment out before it caused offense!) Even the usually lovely (tax evasion notwithstanding) Martha Stewart thinks that our dietary restrictions are due to us being fussy.



If that's not enough, we have to deal with poorly researched articles that only cause confusion. Then there's the free from food producers who perpetuate the myth that a gluten free diet somehow helps increase fitness and weight loss in the pursuit of better sales. Oh, and there's the constant need to remind all and sundry that spelt is NOT gluten free!

I think we should stand up for ourselves when the media attacks. We should pull journalists and editors up on nonsense reports and overly personal pieces on gluten free diets, and we should demand that bad advice be corrected. But (and it's a big but) we need to know when to fight and when to back off.

Recently, Paul Hollywood was asked (in a live radio interview) about gluten and wheat free baking. From his comments, some people got upset that he was suggesting that Coeliac Disease was often misdiagnosed. He suggested that people try sourdough and artisanal breads before cutting wheat from their diets completely. I listened to the broadcast and really felt for him, he was clearly "sceptical" about self-diagnosed wheat intolerant people (who, incidentally, really should speak to a GP or dietitian before cutting any food from their diet) and not about medically diagnosed Coeliacs.Angry blog posts, Facebook statuses and tweets ensued. He did take to Twitter that same day to defend himself and admitted that Coeliac Disease, NCGI and gluten free baking was something he needed to do more research on. All credit to him.



And, so, to my point...

I think the biggest reason why Coeliacs take offense to apparent slurs against the gluten free diet is because we're parcelled up with everyone on the GF bandwagon, diagnosed, self-diagnosed, not ever diagnosed and trying-it-because-Miley-Cyrus-does-it. We can't let an opportunity pass without reminding people that we have a MEDICAL CONDITION, it's not a choice (lifestyle or otherwise) and that eating gluten free is the only treatment for that condition.

The problem is, we end up coming across as over-sensitive, touchy and devoid of sense of humour.

When Marcus Brigstocke's 'The Brig Society' aired and episode on food, he was barraged with complaints from Coeliacs and NCGIs who missed the point, that he was mocking those half-hearted trend-driven wheat avoiders. Likewise, Sean Lock's jokes in the video at the top of the page. Where did our sense of humour go?


Should we be so quick to pick up on obvious jokes and genuine errors about Coeliac Disease and NCGI? Perhaps if we gave them a chance to retract, explain or generally apologise for misspeaking we'd be a little less stressed out? 

I roared with laughter at The Brig Society's portrayal of someone who can't eat gluten - unless it's really nice bread. We've all met someone like that, and agree that it degrades the seriousness of our own gluten free needs, so why can't we laugh when someone else points it out? The cartoons of Howard the Celeriac show us a funny side of our gluten intolerance that most of the GF community enjoy. So, can we only laugh at ourselves when 'one of us' cracks the joke?



Yes, sense of humour is a deeply personal thing and what's funny to one person isn't to another. I love that Sean Lock clip, but other Coeliacs said it was ignorant and that it shrinks a real issue into merely an inconvenience. Others thought it was a bit too close to the line between funny and offensive (but then, all of Lock's jokes are).

I read one comment about Sean Lock's jokes saying that, "making jokes about Coeliac Disease is as unfunny as making jokes about cancer or MS." Erm, no. I think that's offensive to people with diseases that require aggressive treatment. We're jolly lucky that we can treat our condition with diet! Having lived under various drug regimens (some with horrible side effects) for nearly 20 years thanks to Crohn's Disease, I found going gluten free empowering. We have the power to effect our own well-being with what we eat, it's great! Let's celebrate that instead of getting upset by harmless jokes.



So yes, pre-diagnosis Coeliac Disease is no joke. It's painful, exhausting and filled with many other health risks. Once we start our gluten free diets, though, life gets better. It takes a bit of getting used to, but it's an inconvenience at most. Eating out is tricky, but not impossible. Some people make insensitive comments, but they're usually insensitive people. It's nothing personal. The gluten free community is a wonderfully supportive bunch of people who are always willing to offer encouragement. Things just aren't that bad.

Isn't it time we learned to laugh at ourselves?

Saturday, 19 October 2013

Constant Cravings

I should warn you, this is a post about pregnancy. I tell you now so that you can move on to a different site, should this kind of thing not interest you. I promise that normal, gluten free food-y, service will be resumed very soon. In fact, scroll to the end of the post for a rather lovely stuffed onion recipe!

You might have noticed that I've not been blogging much over the past four months. June and July passed in a haze of long naps, spicy pickled onions, and Nutella, and before I knew it, it was August! September was unfortunately dominated by a Crohn's related infection that resulted in a trip to hospital, but all is well now. Our family and friends know our news and I thought I'd share it with you, too. After all, many of you have been on the journey to good health with me.

I'm 22 weeks pregnant. After three major surgeries, the removal of my large intestine and a decent chunk of small intestine, and nearly two decades of inflammation and ulceration in my abdomen, I wasn't even sure that was a possibility. Before I was diagnosed Coeliac, I lost so much weight that my periods stopped and didn't return for four years. One surgeon told me that Crohn's would have reduced my chances of conceiving, I saw gynaecologists who said, "maybe, maybe not" while all around me friend after friend popped out babies of their own. Advice ranged from, "just relax and it'll happen" to "I can give you the details of a good fertility clinic," but nothing helped.

I was starting to feel an affinity with Tian Tian, the panda at Edinburgh Zoo as certain family members became increasingly impatient over when (and if) a baby would ever arrive.

The funny thing is, that in spite of really quite wanting a baby, I was more concerned about being healthy enough to cope with a pregnancy and to look after myself and the resulting sprog afterwards. Fortunately, my Crohn's is in remission and, apart from various vitamin supplements and injections, I'm medication free. In fact, the timing couldn't be better, I've been off Humira for a year (it takes six months to clear your system and isn't recommended for pregnancy), my colectomy scars have had eighteen months to heal and I have the most energy I've had in a decade. Of course, that's not to say that I believe pregnancy will be easy, there are always risks. As scar tissue stretches and internal adhesions tear with this growing wee one, I've had all kinds of pain. I know that bowel obstructions and problems with the stoma are common for women like me, plus, there's the issue of not necessarily absorbing as many nutrients and water as people with entire, and fully functioning, digestive systems. 

I used to feel deep disappointment when pregnant friends confessed to not really having any interesting cravings, often demanding, "go home and eat a box of crayons for me!" One friend had cravings for tomato juice, while another confessed to eating bucketloads of daal. I've had rather unexpected cravings for onions. It doesn't matter what kind of onion, be it raw, pickled, roasted, fried or in soup, I'll eat it in vast quantities! This explains why, when the waitress at a restaurant told me that their soup of the day - French onion soup - wasn't gluten free, I got a bit tearful at the thought of missing out on onions. It turns out that onions are high in vitamin C, Folate, and Potassium so perhaps cravings aren't as strange as I first imagined.



Stuffed Onions
The memory of onion-soup-gate has me craving onions once again so here's an inside-out sage and onion stuffing recipe that's a brilliant side dish for your roast.

2 tsp rapeseed oil
50g stale gluten free bread (a slightly past-it Udi's bagel is particularly good here)
25g pancetta, cut into lardons
a few sage leaves, chopped
4 large-ish onions


  • Peel the onions and slice off the top and the root end off, leaving enough to hold the onion layers together. Drizzle with oil, season and pop into the oven at 180°C for 30 minutes.
  • Cut the stale bread into ½ cm cubes and put in a bowl.
  • Add the pancetta into lardons to the bowl with the chopped sage, salt and pepper. Stir together.
  • When the onions are soft, but still holding their shape, remove from the oven and scoop the middles out, leaving just the outer 2-3 layers.
  • Chop half of the inner parts of the onion and stir into the rest of the stuffing mix.
  • Fill the onion shells with stuffing, pack it quite tightly, and return to the oven for a further 30-40 minutes.


Thursday, 7 March 2013

Rebel Bakery Cupcakes

'Contains cocktail stick'

I paid my first ever visit to Whole Foods Market last week. The lovely Alex (@HealthJourno) invited me to join him, Gluten Free Mrs D and Gluten Free B at a gluten free tour of the Kensington branch. It was a really interesting tour and Krystal, our guide, knew her stuff when it came to nutritional advice and gluten free diets. She showed us where the various gluten free products could be found in the store and even chatted about sources of extra dietary fibre and the best way to prepare grains and lentils.

An abundance of gluten free goodies!

After the tour left us all rather peckish, we headed upstairs for a vegan dinner at Saf Restaurant and to catch up on each other's news. Even after an enormous helping of massaman curry and being practically force-fed half of Alex's cheesecake (forced, I tell you! I would never steal someone's dessert), I was still thinking about all the exciting baked goods downstairs. With delicious treats from my favourites, Sugargrain and Perk!er, on offer I couldn't leave empty-handed. Thankfully, we all felt the same way and we spent a happy ten minutes picking up new finds and showing each other interesting cakes, all accompanied by a soundtrack of "ooh"s and "yum"s. I finally left the store with (among other items) a cupcake from gluten free Rebel Bakery, a new product for me. 

Decisions, decisions...

I opted for the Old Fashioned cake, in part because of the warning on the packaging, which read, "Contains cocktail stick," and it tickled me. Mostly, however, it was because the combination of whisky, orange and cherries was just too good to turn down. 

The very exciting inside of my cake!

When I tasted the cake, I knew I'd made the right decision, it was fantastic. The orange flavour was very clear and it was definitely enhanced by the whisky in the icing. Biting into the cake was a wonderful surprise, because the centre was filled with cherries! The cake was moist and not too sweet and there was just the right cake-to-icing ratio. I am really impressed by these cakes and I will be making another pilgrimage to Kensington to get my hands on some more! Unfortunately for all you nut-allergic people, these cakes aren't for you (but in my house that just guarantees that The Husband can't steal it before I get a chance to eat it!).

Tuesday, 20 November 2012

Atkins & Potts Gluten Free Sauces

I have been a fan of Atkins and Potts for a while, their syrups and glazes are an essential baking and cooking ingredient in my kitchen. When they asked if I would like to try some of their gluten free range, I jumped at the chance! The choice of interesting and exciting GF sauces out there is somewhat limited; usually you'll find a korma and probably something tomato based in the freefrom aisle... and that's about it. Not any more.


White Wine Sauce with Smoked Garlic and Thyme is a perfect accompaniment to chicken. The smoked garlic is brilliantly smoky (natch) and mellow, it adds a wonderful twist to the traditional white wine and thyme sauce. This is a finishing sauce, so after cooking your chicken or pork, you use it to deglaze the pan and pick up all those tasty bits of meat and the juices into the sauce. It's the kind of sauce that taste like it took ages to prepare, but really it's as easy as snipping the corner off the pouch!


The Chasseur Cooking Sauce is delicious and deeply flavoured. Ok, it is a tomato based sauce, but this one is so much more than your run-of-the-mill tomato and basil, this is complex and rich enough to stand up to the game casserole we had it with.


Is it just me, or do all restaurants seem to put flour in their peppercorn sauce? I have never made it with any thickener so I'm always disappointed when waiting staff tell me I have to eat my steak plain, again. Thankfully, Atkins & Potts have a gluten free Three Peppercorn Cooking Sauce that's restaurant quality that's quick and simple for cooking at home. I can't help you with the steak, although cooking it Heston's way has always worked for me.

You can buy the sauces at stockists across the country or you can shop online at atkinsandpotts.co.uk. Don't forget to check out the rest of their ranges, many of their products are made without gluten.