Have you just discovered that you need to follow a gluten free diet?
Help what can I eat?
Are you worried about what this entails? Have you been searching the web for easy to understand information about safe to eat foods? Perhaps you haven't had to cook from scratch before, but now realize that take away meals are a thing of the past. (Although it is still possible to eat out and enjoy a beer.)
Don't panic! Let me be your guide
What you need is someone who has been there done that. Someone who has made the mistakes and learned from them. A friend, who will walk you through the maze and offer lots of tasty dishes that are safe to eat.
What makes me that friend? Why should you trust what I say? Well, I have been following the diet since I was a baby, nearly 50 years ago. I am sure you will be pleased to hear that things are a LOT easier now than they were back then!
I WAS lucky, in that my condition, coeliac disease, was picked up almost as soon as I started eating solid foods. You may have been through years of suffering, from a wide variety of symptoms that it took an age for the doctor's to diagnose, but if you have been told that that going gluten free is the solution, then you have a brighter future to look forward to.
Where do you start?
It may not seem like it at the moment, but once you start to feel better, regain your energy and even put on some pounds, if necessary, you will discover for yourself that this diet is not a punishment but an adventure.
There is a lot to learn. Not only do you need to find out what foods are safe to eat and which ones are not, but you will need to learn how to cook them without making yourself poorly. Don't worry, I will tell you what to look out for.
Perhaps you have looked through a gluten free cookbook and have seen lots of new ingredients that you have never heard of before, let alone cooked. Or you might have tried baking a loaf of bread, only to be disappointed by the results.
You might be struggling to know what to eat for breakfast, what to put in your lunch box for school or work, and the thoughts of a Christmas on the diet fills you with dread.
Gluten free children
Or perhaps it is not you that has to go gluten free, but your child? This can often be even more frightening as we all hate to deny our children anything, don't we? And to think that something we feed them could make them ill is heartbreaking. Nowadays much commercially produced baby food does not contain gluten, but it is really easy to make your own gluten free baby food.
It might be that you also have to avoid other foodstuffs. Perhaps you are also diabetic (celiac and diabetes often occur together), or you may wish to avoid animal products and stick to vegetarian or vegan foods. If your child has autism they may benefit from eliminating casein as well.
Gluten free pets
Even your pet may benefit from following the diet. If you have a dog or cat don't forget to read the page on pet nutrition to find out the benefits to both your pet and yourself.
Get interactive
Of course reading about the celiac diet can only help so much. Interacting with others can be invaluable. But what if you do not know anyone else on the diet?
And lastly, if the site doesn't answer your questions, you can ask me, by using the contact form.
Ready to face the challenge?
Thanks Carol
"I appreciate you letting me tell my story, it feels better to know that I am telling it to people who understand ...
I found your site very helpful, it can be very hard sometimes and its great to get new recipes, and find out new info.
But anyways, thank you again. What you are doing helps.
