Gluten Free Tips

Archive for the ‘Glutenfree’ Category

You can register and download your FREE entrance ticket from the following website http://www.allergyshow.co.uk/go/coeliacuk

This bread/cake will feed 4 to 6 people and is high in dietary fibre.

Ingredients are

300 gr dates
150 gr ground almonds
150 gr caster sugar
3 tablespoons butter
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 tablespoons cornflour
2 cl Cointreau
50 gr almond slivers

Pre-heat the oven to 175C

Take the stones out of the dates and cut the dates into small pieces.   Mix with 100gr of the sugar and the ground almonds.
Seperate the eggs and take the egg yolks and mix them with the remaining 50 grs of sugar and vanilla essence.

Melt the butter and mix in the cornflour, the dates, ground almonds, sugar, egg yolks and Cointreau.  Stir until well-mixed.

Whip up the eggs whites until stiff and fold into the above mixture.

Butter a round cake dish and line with greaseproof paper.  Pour in the cake mixture.  Sprinkle almond slivers on the top and bake for 30 minutes in the middle of the oven at 175C. 

Enjoy!

The treatment of coeliac disease is exclusively dietary and requires the complete exclusion of gluten. This means avoidance of all sources of wheat, rye and barley. Oats are controversial and may be tolerated in moderate amounts.

The aim of medical advisors is to give first line dietary advice on a gluten-free diet for patients with confirmed coeliac disease or dermatitis herpetiformis. People who are allergic/intolerant to wheat will require different dietary advice.

Practical dietary advice is often given such as: -

The exclusion of gluten means avoiding a wide range of manufactured and processed foods, which imposes considerable constraints on food choice and variety. Food labeling is not always helpful because although ingredient lists on food products can confirm the presence of gluten, they cannot confirm that they are gluten-free.

Gluten may be present via constituents which do not have to be declared or through cross-contamination during processing. Any food in a can, packet or jar or food that has been coated or modified in any way has therefore to be suspected of containing gluten.

Many manufacturers and supermarkets are voluntarily identifying gluten-free products by providing information or a logo on the label. In the UK, the Coeliac Society maintains a continually up-dated database of manufactured foods free from gluten.

Proprietary gluten-free foods such as breads, crackers, biscuits, pasta, flour and flour mixes are prescribabled for people medically diagnosed with coeliac disease or dermatitis herpetiformis. Their use should be encouraged to reduce the risk of dietary imbalance or non-compliance. Luxury items such as gluten-free cakes, chocolate and fancy biscuits are also available but not prescribable to reduce the costs on the NHS.

Just read about a restaurant in Kingston-upon-Thamess which caters for gluten intolerances. Apparently they produce gluten-free pizza and pastas along with “normal” ones. The kitchen staff are trained to ensure no cross-contamination happens. It is called  Brushetta Restaurant and it’s located on 141 London Road, not too far from the main shopping precinct at Kingston.

The restaurant also serves non-gluten free food.  The manager, Guilia Zardetto, is originally from Italy, and has worked in the catering business  for over 10 years.  The chefs at Bruschetta have been trained at reputable Italian Cookery Schools.  They are trained in all aspects of handling gluten-free foods and making their own gluten-free pizza bases for the restaurant.

Guilia hopes to open more restaurants throughout the UK in the future.  I hope she does.

For now, we stick with the one in Kingston-up-Thames.

The address is 141 London Road, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey KT2 6NH.  Tel : 0208 546 9328.

If anyone gets to eat there before I do, let me know how the restaurant is and what your experience was like!

Often people confuse coeliac condition, a wheat intollerance with wheat allergy and they are really talking of two separate things as we will describe below.

People with coeliac condition need to maintain a gluten free diet, gluten is commonly found in wheat and hence they have an intollerance to gluten which is perceived as a wheat intollerance.

The intollerance relates to gluten, a component of wheat and also included in rye, oats and barley.  Whilst diagnosis rates vary from country to country and even region to region they are typically in the region of 15% of the population. Sometimes wheat intollerance displays itself as an immediate reaction to gluten in the diet with vomiting and nausia coming on a matter of hours after ingesting gluten.  At other times the wheat intollerance can be less dramatic and the coeliac will feel drowsy and have an upset stomach perhaps for 48 hours after ingesting gluten.

Wheat allergy is a different reaction entirely. An allergy to wheat is quite rare and produces a more immediate and a more dramatic reaction.  This is typical of all immune system reactions and you would tend to see difficulty in breathing, coughing and violent vomiting.

Whilst therefore a wheat intollerance has a less dramatic impact on the person with coeliac condition they must maintain a gluten free diet if they are to thrive and lead a normal life.  That is to say that their intollerance extends beyond wheat as it is caused by gluten.

People with a wheat allergy, having an auto-immune response must take great care in avoiding wheat in their diet. They should also ensure that they explain their condition to colleagues and have any medical treatment they require, which must be administered immediately, to hand.  They should also carry a medical bracelet which would explain their condition should an attack be suddenly experienced.

The reaction to wheat often leads to a question of is it a wheat allergy or wheat intolerance, but as you can read the underlying causes and the medical reaction are different.

There are numerous lists of gluten-free foods available to coeliacs and the carers of coeliac patients. Lists of gluten free foods are an invaluable source of information, especially in the early days of implementing a gluten free diet.

The first and obvious of the lists of gluten free foods is the one from the UK Coeliac Society. Coeliac Societies in other countries also produce lists of gluten free foods. They can be hardcopy booklets or bound books – or many now produce “soft” copies of lists of gluten free foods; ie on websites. These can be consulted, sorted, copied and viewed online.

Other lists of gluten free foods are produced by the supermarket chains – Tesco, Safeway, Waitrose, Sainsburies all produce lists of gluten free foods on their websites, or you can ring them and they can send you a hard-copy one.

Often forgotten are lists of gluten free foods produced by restaurant chains. These include fast-food chains, such as McDonalds and Burger King. But it also includes restaurants such as Nandos, Frangos, Wagamamas, etc. These lists of gluten free foods detail the specific dishes on the menus which are gluten-free or they detail which dishes are gluten free providing certain items are omitted.

Other lists of gluten free foods are the ones which we make ourselves, or pass on to our friends and family. I’ve made list below with some gluten free foods which I’ve picked up during the past 8 years whilst coping with the gluten-free diet for my growing daughter.

Herewith follows my addition to the lists of gluten free foods; how to prepare, cook, pack lunches and entertain gluten-free!

1. Gluten-free bread can be dry and “crumbly”. In order to re-fresh it, zap it in the micro-wave for 10-20 seconds and it will be moist and more pleasant to eat.
2. Bechamel sauce made with cornstarch instead of wheat flour.
3. Spread peanut butter on rice-cakes. Great for breakfast or tea-time treat!
4. Pancakes with buckwheat flour (called “blinis” in Russia).
5. Most Amaretti biscuits are gluten-free. Check the ingredients first though.
6. Bind sauces with cornstarch instead of flour.
7. Make gluten-free bread with a bread-maker.
8. Prepare “Sushi” or “onigiri” for lunch boxes.
9. Have a supply of gluten-free sweets where the child can “trade-in” gluten-containing sweets or treats for gluten-free ones.
10. Angel Delight – a fast, easy dessert which you can have in the cupboard. Decorated with some fresh/frozen fruit one can create an instant dessert which can impress.
11. Use separate butter/margarine dishes.
12. Coconut macaroons are gluten free, or make your own.

If you want to remove gluten from your diet, perhaps because you have been diagnosed with coeliac disease, then you need a gluten free action plan to ensure that your goals can be achieved.

Before outlining the elements of your plan we would first advise you to be positive and enthusiastic.  Removing gluten from your diet is a small problem when compared with the issues that other people who have food allergies have.  Anaphylactic shock is often the result of a deep food allergy or insect bite.  Having an accident when removing gluten from your diet does not carry the same downside as that for people who are allergic to peanuts!

Discipline is your watchword.  Do not mix gluten containing foods with gluten free foods.  One good piece of advice here is to keep a separate shelf or cupboard for your gluten free foods.  In this way there will be little scope for confusion and also you will get into the habit of going to your cupboard for your food ingredients allowing less scope for error.

Your gluten free action plan should also involve people who are more experienced in managing gluten in their diet.  There are many gluten free support groups and most of these are online meaning that you can access the articles, knowledge bases and forums of several of these without having to leave your home.

Get in the habit of reading food labels.  Luckily, these days gluten is an item that is specifically mentioned on many food labels and manufacturers take pride in declaring their products to be gluten-free.  This results in a larger market for their products and helps you to identify which food items can be included in your diet.

Adopt a zero tolerance approach.  Do not accept food items for which you do not know the ingredients and do not accept the “it will be all right” attitude of others, particularly those who are not Celiacs.  If you treat gluten as a toxic poison it will help you to create the mindset where you avoid it in your meal rather than suffering a succession of minor accidents.  You’ll get the full benefits of being gluten free if you truly are 100% gluten free!

Adopt your gluten-free action plan with a positive mindset and live each day gluten-free.  You will soon find that you are so happy with the health benefits you get that the minor inconvenience of having to establish a new routine is soon forgotten.

Gluten Free Products
Gluten Free Products are the lifeline for Celiacs who need to live gluten free and avoid gluten in their regular diet. Gluten is a protein present in some common grains such as wheat, oats and rye and it is also frequently hidden in elements of pre-processed foods.

In previous years gluten free products were hard to find. The diagnosis of people with coeliac condition and intollerance of gluten was hit and miss. It appeared that the medical community were not familiar with coeliac condition and frequently misdiagnosed the condition as irritable bowel syndrome or just an upset stomach. As a result few people were ‘labelled’ as Celiacs and hence there was no perceived market demand for gluten free products.

In the last decade and awareness of the coeliac condition has increased greatly, probably through the arrival of coeliac support groups and increased lobbying. With increased awareness has come increased diagnosis and as a result the percentage of people in the population diagnosed with the condition and needing to live gluten free has increased significantly. This has created a ready-made market for manufacturers who wished to create and sell gluten free products at normal, high street prices.

The latter point is important as previously gluten free products came at a premium price for a minority niche market. Now, most supermarkets carry extensive ranges of gluten free breads, biscuits, cakes and almost any other product you can think of at prices comparable with their gluten rich alternatives.

Whilst the situation has vastly improved for Celiacs manufacturers can sometimes make life difficult with certain tricks they play. A coeliac and can never relax from reviewing the labels on products known to be gluten free as recipes and ingredients change. That nice cauliflower cheese preprocessed meal was completely gluten-free last week and, look out, it now contains some form of modified starch sneaking some gluten into your meal.

The requirement to review labels is somewhat reduced with the permanent ranges of gluten free products produced at some supermarkets. These ranges are now labelled as gluten free and guaranteed to be so attracting a loyal band of coeliac shoppers. Progress has been so good that you can now often spot people who do not have coeliac condition and do not need to use gluten free products cruising the aisles and putting some of the gluten free confectionery in their baskets!

Hidden Gluten
If you have been recently diagnosed with a coeliac condition you know that you must now attempt to exclude gluten from all of your meals. This can be harder than it seems as gluten likes to play the game of hide and seek with you and there could be hidden gluten in seemingly innocent food products. Don’t worry, whilst initially this seems daunting you will find over time you learn where to look for all this hidden gluten and what food labels are commonly used to disguise the enemy.

Obviously, if you prepare your meals yourself at home you will be quite clear on what you putting in to the meal and you will be able to review the food labels to ensure that gluten is absent. The main issue comes where pre-processed foods are purchased at the supermarket and when eating out at restaurants. With preprocessed foods there are often differing terms used to describe the same ingredient and this can help to hide gluten. At the restaurant of course you will rely upon the waiter to advise you whether gluten is present in the meal and you may need to help the serving staff to understand where it can hide.

Some of the common ingredients to avoid and their are most frequently used descriptions are:-

Modified food starch. This is a real tricky one as sometimes modified food starch is quite innocent and on other occasions it actually represents gluten. There appears to be no known statutory requirement to clearly indicate the type of food starch used and if you see this item on the ingredients list the best action is to not buy the product.

Starches. This term has different meanings in different continents. It could represent gluten in Europe whereas starch is often used to describe corn in the United States of America. Once again if in doubt keep it out, you don’t want gluten in your meal.

Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein or Hydrolyzed Plant Protein. The situation here is improving in that laws are being introduced to require food producers to identify the underlying food plant source and that should help to establish whether gluten is hidden in the meal or not.

Dextrin. Dextrin can be made from several different grains including rice, tapioca, corn, potato or unfortunately wheat. You need to investigate further to see whether it gluten is present.

Don’t let this list put you off. The challenge of finding hidden gluten is greatest immediately after you have been diagnosed with coeliac condition and when you buy preprocessed foods or visit a restaurant for the first time. Once you have gone through the learning curve you will find that you develop your own set of preferred food products and places to eat where you are more comfortable that you can readily identify sources of gluten and ensure that they are excluded from your food.

The final point to note is that you should always be on your guard for hidden gluten reappearing in a product. Manufacturers often change their recipes without warning or restaurants can change their main chef unbeknown to you. This causes a requirement for you to check each and every time that there is no gluten in your food.

Coeliac Condition Two Adults Story
I am a mother with a coeliac child ? she was diagnosed with the condition over 8 years ago; and we?ve settled into a routine at home, school, church, eating out and on holidays and cope with her gluten-free diet very well. During the past 2 months, two mums at school who?ve recently been diagnosed with Coeliac Condition have approached me.

As our community is small, they were aware of my daughter having the condition and they contacted me to seek advice on how to cope with the condition ? especially everyday questions. Herewith follows some background, observations and anxieties experienced by these 2, 40-something ladies.

Lady A is Irish ? working mum ? 3 children and husband. On a recent trip to Paris, she struggled to keep up with the rest of the family whilst walking around Paris and couldn?t join them on a climb to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Upon her return, she was advised a blood test by her GP ? she was anemic, and was prescribed iron tablets. The blood was also tested for coeliac condition and the blood test came back positive for this. An endoscopy later confirmed the condition.

Lady A loves bread, cakes etc. , so is finding the adjustment to gluten-free bread and baking rather daunting. However, she has felt much better since starting the gluten-free diet and more energetic, so this is motivating her to continue with the regime. I pointed out to her that ?food is her medicine? and she needs to treat it as such. Lady A had 2 practical concerns ? going on holiday and receiving communion hosts at her local church.

Lady A and husband are celebrating a significant birthday this year, so they planned a European city trip to mark the occasion. She is concerned she may not be able to find or communicate her need for gluten-free food adequately ? I believe they were going to Italy. I suggested she use a printout, in the local language, explaining the coeliac condition and gluten-free diet. She can then show this to the hotel, restaurant waiter, waitress or cook; so they can read and absorb this information in their own language, in their own time. I also suggested she take with her some bread and crackers, as these items are often not readily at restaurants or shops abroad.

Gluten-free communion hosts are available from many church-suppliers. I?ve ordered them via the phone; and they are posted within days to your address, in plastic ziplock bags with 50 in each. They differ in appearance from regular hosts, in that they are square and white; so easy for the priest to distinguish.

Lady B is a Scottish lady ? stay-at-home mum with 2 children and a husband who travels abroad for his work. She has suffered from irritable bowel syndrome ever since she was a teenager ? she was often prescribed milk of magnesia by her mother and told ?to get on with it?. Lady B is in her forties, but ?feels like she?s 80? and has been passed from specialist to specialist at the local hospital. Recently, she had an operation ? however her anemia and irritable bowel syndrome symptoms have not disappeared. She?s been anemic for many years and is on a constant prescription of iron tablets. She recently ended up with a gastro-specialist and an anti-gliadine blood test was done. It came back positive and this was followed up by an endoscopy ? a biopsy of her small intestine was examined and confirmed the coeliac diagnosis.

Lady B is relieved and feels ?liberated? now that she finally knows what her condition is. Lady B is also a devout catholic, and shared the concern about the communion hosts. I gave her the phone number of the church-supplier which I use to order gluten-free communion hosts. Lady B goes to the same church and mass as we do, so we now sit together so that both she and my daughter may be close in line with each other as they go up for communion.

I hope this article illustrates on the importance of a network group for newly diagnosed coeliac patients. Although the support at hospital, by the dietician and consultant are encouraging, nothing replaces the advice from parents of patients or other patients who have the condition and who live and eat with it every day, 3 times a day!

My last piece of advice was to have the children tested for the condition, as it may be that they too may have the condition ? symptoms may be very slight or hidden in other ailments. For their long-term health benefits, it is important to find out whether they too may have the condition. Also, catering for 1 more coeliac in the family is no more problematic than catering for 2 ? it probably makes it easier and it ensures that items of food remain fresher as there is more than 1 eating the same diet.