Coeliac disease

First section of the audio

What is Coeliac Disease?

Coeliac Disease is a lifelong autoimmune condition that can be diagnosed at any stage of life.

People who have coeliac disease have an adverse reaction to gluten, a protein found in predominantly in wheat, rye and barley.

When people who have coeliac disease eat gluten, their body reacts adversely and ends up attacking itself at the height of the small intestine and this leads to gut damage.

Therefore, if gluten is not taken out of the diet permanently, there will be ongoing gut damage that can lead to symptoms and complications.

Some of the main symptoms that can people with coeliac disease can experience are abdominal pain, bloating, constipation, diarrhoea, headaches and migraines, weight loss, lethargy, vitamin and mineral deficiencies amongst other things. However, some people have no symptoms or have minimal symptoms, but they still get the gut damage if gluten is not removed from the diet.

If gluten is not removed and there is ongoing gut damage, long-term this can lead to other complications like small bowel cancer (though the risk is low), osteoporosis, unexplained infertility and long-standing vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

Since coeliac disease is a lifelog condition the gluten free diet needs to be maintained lifelong to protect the gut from getting gut damage. There is currently no cure for coeliac disease. The only thing that is proved to help the gut get back to normal is a permanent gluten free diet.

Second section of audio

What is the gluten free diet?

The gluten free diet is a diet where no gluten is consumed or gluten is consumed to a safe amount, which is very minimal.

In the UK, for a food to be labelled as Gluten Free it has to have less than 20 parts per million of gluten, and this amount of gluten can’t even be seen with the naked eye and is smaller than a crumb.
This is why the gluten free diet for coeliac disease involves a diet where ingredients are gluten free but also the way foods are cooked or processed are gluten free too, meaning that gluten does not come into contact with gluten free foods in the cooking process.

Gluten will be predominantly found in 3 types of grains or ingredients: Wheat, rye and barley.

Therefore, if you are looking out in a supermarket for foods that may have gluten it is useful to look out for all those 3 ingredients. If the food you are going to eat has wheat, rye or barely then it is not suitable for your diet. If a food says it is “Gluten Free” or has a crossed grain symbol then it is safe for you to eat.

Oats can also be consumed as long as they are gluten free. These are tolerated by most people but if you have issues with gluten free oats please contact a health professional. Oats that are not labelled as “gluten free” are not suitable for people with coeliac disease.

If you are looking at packaged food in a supermarket it is important to look out for the ingredients first and if they have no gluten then you should make sure you check how that food has been processed or handled. If it says “made in a factory that handles gluten (or wheat, rye, barley or oats)” it will not be suitable. Foods that say “May contain gluten” will not be suitable either.

To ensure gluten is avoided adequately in the household and when eating out it is important to let anybody know who is cooking for you that you cannot have anything with wheat, rye, barley or contaminated oats and these ingredients need to not be used in the cooking process either. If you use the same toaster, oil, chopping boards and spreads that have touched gluten your food can be contaminated. All you need to do is ensure surfaces, chopping boards, pans, pots, etc are clean before you use them. You can use the same toaster as other people as long as you use a toaster bag that can be bought in supermarkets and oil needs to have not cooked anything in gluten beforehand. Try to avoid any scenario where gluten may come into contact with your food.

There is a lot of useful information and more than 1000 recipes on the Coeliac UK website, which is the charity that supports people living with coeliac disease in the UK. They offer more information about the gluten free diet and have a free helpline you can call if you want any more information about food products, coeliac disease or the gluten free diet. Their number is: 0333 332 2033.