Coeliac Disease Defined

by: JohnFrancis
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To put it simply, if you have coeliac disease, your body treats gluten as harmful, which will lead to inflammation and irritation of the bowel. The lining of the small intestine becomes damaged and, as many nutrients are absorbed in this way, this can lead to deficiencies in minerals and other nutrients. Coeliac disease can affect people of all ages, and often runs in families.

The only way to manage coeliac disease at this time is by avoiding gluten in all forms. This can be difficult, as the only real option is to avoid gluten for life. All meals will need to be adapted, an evening with friends and in restaurants will be.

It is advisable that you consult a dietician when you are first diagnosed with coeliac disease, as they will ensure that your diet is not lacking in important nutrients. It will be very difficult at first to stick to a completely gluten-free diet, but you must persevere.

Most baked goods will contain gluten, as it is a protein that is found in wheat, barley, rye, and oats. Unfortunately this means that you will longer be able to eat cakes and pastries, biscuits, bread and pies. If you enjoy having a beer that will be scratched off the list too as barley is used in the brewing process.

Gluten is also found in processed foods where wheat flour is used as a binder, filler or processing aid. Wheat starch is processed to remove the protein, but still contains some traces of gluten as it is not possible to remove all protein. When flour is used as a processing aid, or as part of another compound, it does not have to be declared on the label. If you are unsure, check with the manufacturer or with your local coeliac society.

Meat, fish, cheese, fruit and vegetables are all foods that are naturally gluten-free. And although cross contamination may occur during processing, rice, beans and some cereals are also gluten-free.

There are gluten-free flours available to use as a substitute for wheat flour. Included in this category are rice flour potato flour, and maize flour. You can use a mixture of these flours instead of wheat flour for all your baking and cooking.

However, most of your recipes will not work if you substitute only one type of gluten-free flour for wheat flour. It is always best to use a blend of several different gluten-free flours. Many of the gluten-free options have a very distinctive flavour which may not work well in all recipes.

About the Author

If you suffer from Coeliac Disease, or think you might, come and join our community at celiac survivor.com. We are a relatively new group with a great social networking site, which has lots of information about how to live with Celiac Disease.  

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