babyblog

Celiac (Coeliac) Disease

It looks like G's mum probably has Celiac's Disease (I'm going to use the American spelling because I live here and frankly the extra O seems pointless!).

It is a hereditary condition and I'm going to bet that G has it too. And, worryingly, I wouldn't be surprised if Dylan has it also. They both exhibit classic gastro-intestinal symptoms common to Celiacs. I also read that people with Celiacs are 3 x more likely to develop Type 1 Diabetes. Hmm - well check that one off the list too. Gareth's going to get a blood test for it today. Fingers crossed but with a resigned look on my face.

My friend has it -and her two small children have it too. They have to live with a Gluten Free diet. They manage, but from what I've seen of it, the replacement foods that you can get are vile. And I always pity the kids at birthday parties because they can never have cake, or pizza. She has to bring their own for them.

It's possible to still eat well, you have to avoid wheat, barley and rye which basically means no bread, pasta, anything with flour in. And it is in a surprising amount of things as a filler. Sausages. Gravy. Forget any fast food. Chocolate. Most store-bought ice-cream and yoghurt. The list is endless. You have to be extremely careful what you buy to avoid it. I have tried several of the gluten free products at my friends house and they're all a bit nasty. I think you're better off just avoiding them , having rice-flour pasta is just not the same!

I really hope my guys don't have it. It'd mean a change for all of us. And I think it would be incredibly difficult for Dylan. I guess that when G's parents come over in a couple of weeks time we're going to have a Gluten Free couple of weeks though, so we'll get some experience in it!