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[Donken]

Hi only diagnosed last week with coeliac. I’m struggling with everything what to eat what to buy.

Having a birthday party next week only drink fosters as a rule now don’t know what I can drink. Do I have to cook separately from my family?

Help

[Cooper27]

Welcome! Sorry to hear you've just been diagnosed, it's a lot to start off with!

The thing that we found most helpful was to write down a list of all the meals we already knew how to prepare that was gluten free already, or easily adaptable. Things like Sunday Roast (with GF gravy and GF Yorkshire puds), stir fry with rice noodles, spag bol with GF pasta, fried rice, curries, salads.

There are lots of gluten free beers out there to try. A lot do struggle with digesting them.

You will have to prepare food separately, it can be helpful if your family members are willing to go gluten free with you though. It saves time and makes your food safer.

[Donken in reply to Cooper27]

Thanks for the advice

[Penel]

Hi Donken

It’s a lot to take in to start with, thankfully there’s a lot of advice on line.

bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide...

schaer.com/en-us/a/how-go-g...

I prefer to get my information from books, so bought “Eating Gluten Free for Dummies” which was very helpful.

[Regalbirdy]

Hi Donken,

I have been a Coeliac for a while now.

A week after I was formally diagnosed, I went to a party that included a meal. I ate what I thought to be gluten free food - I had specifically contacted the venue ahead of time to make them aware of my needs. By the time dessert had been served, I was very unwell - an ingredient of the soup starter wasn’t GF. Moral of the story? You must be so careful who you trust!

Get used to asking questions. It’s a nuisance and it can be a bit embarrassing at times; however it’s what you absolutely need to do to keep yourself safe and well.

There are gluten-free beers out there, however I’ve never touched them - so can’t comment on the flavour (I don’t like beer…!). Don’t expect them to be available to buy in a pub, because they are normally only sold in supermarkets for the take-home market. If you’re drinking in a pub, consider ordering a cider, wine, vodka, rum or gin Be aware that not all Cola is gluten free - so check the label. Coke or Pepsi are normally ok. Btw, I personally don’t order anything on tap that uses a shared nozzle due to the risk of cross contamination (this is mostly relevant to soft drinks). My pub cokes are always bottled!

Crisps - avoid all Walkers crisps, they aren’t ok for Coeliacs. Many of the Seabrooks, Pom Bears and Aldi own brand crisps are ok though - again check the label, most will say if they are GF (Aldi don’t - however I checked them out and have eaten the ready salted, salt and vinegar, and prawn cocktail flavour many times without any ill effects).

Be mindful of is cross contamination issues. Are you using your own separate and dedicated jams, butter, spreads (to avoid any crumbs from double dipping), toaster, bread-maker, wooden spoons, sieves, baking trays and colanders etc? Any foods prepared for you need to meet this criteria. If so, then naturally gluten-free foods such as any of the vegetables and plain meats can be shared in the normal way (people can share your food, you just can’t share their’s!). All plain fruit is also fine - fruit salad and vanilla ice cream anyone?

When out, perhaps consider taking your own snacks as backup. Eating is such a communal and social activity. I have found it better to do this than to not be able to join in at all. A bag of plain nuts or taking an individually wrapped GF cake can be enormously useful, depending on the circumstances (and yes..., I have eaten out of my handbag at a wedding!).

Not party related, but maybe useful:

Heinz beans, Corale beans (Aldi’s Own brand) and Waitrose own brand are all ok.

Beware of frozen chips! They often have a wheat coating. However Morrisons sometimes do GF oven chips. I especially liked the curly ones 😉. Come to that, beware of all chips when eating out - many establishments used the frying oil for their battered foods as well. Also beware of any gravy and the salad dressings on offer.

Some lines of Quorn are GF (but not all!). Look for the crossed out grain symbol on the back of the packet: eg on Quorn pieces.

Rice is fine. If eating at home, then it’s very easy to prepare a curry. Knorr do GF stock cubes. Rice noodles are good if you want to cook your own Chinese (But do avoid the Chinese takeaway – most of them are clueless when it comes to gluten-free food!). Oh... and most cheese is fine - if you are able to tolerate dairy (about 20% of Coeliacs can’t).

Very good luck. You are welcome to PM me for more help. I remember my first few months well. There is so much more I could write, but I put think this post is already long enough!

R. B.

[Cooper27 in reply to Regalbirdy]

You can find some decent gluten free Chinese places these days, I know a few in the Glasgow area And a few gluten free fish and chip shops too.

In terms of takeaway, most Indian's are OK too - it's mostly the pakoras and breads that people need to avoid.

We find a lot of oven chips are ok, I think most of them have phased out using flour as a coating (Lidl and Aldi not so much). Oh and Nando's have dedicated GF friers if you ever want chips while eating out (not that other places don't do chips, but that's the main chain that I can think of).

I also recommend using the Coeliac UK Venue Guide or Find Me Gluten Free apps to help find restaurants that are safe for coeliacs. Find Me GF is more helpful on holiday.

[liver-bird]

Hello, welcome to our "club" 😊 I suggest you join Coeliac UK as they will supply you with lots of reliable information regarding what to eat. It's a bit of a minefield to start with but gets better

[toadstools]

Drink any distilled acholol, I use white lemonade, asda do a good range of gf cakes, pie wise I use gf plain flour, easy to make pastry, and Sr flour gf for cakes, not complicated at all