Beginners’ Tips for People with Gluten Allergies

Just found out you have celiac disease and need some dining inspiration and tips from experts on the topic? Well you’ve come to the right place. As Australia’s first ever suppliers of exclusively 100% gluten-free products, we know a thing or two about dealing with celiac disease. 1. Always read labels While this may seem obvious to a seasoned celiac sufferer, if you’ve just found out you are allergic to gluten, you need to ensure you start reading labels. This will get tedious after a while and you may even start to think you know a product well enough to skip this step. But it is essential to your health that you do this every single time - one glance just to make sure that the ingredients haven’t changed (sometimes they can). 2. Identify other names and words that indicate gluten The frustrating thing with gluten is that it doesn’t always show up in the ingredient section of labels and sometimes comes under different names. While many products will identify themselves using a gluten-free mark, there are still many that don’t. If you don’t see the word gluten, also look for the words ‘wheat’, ‘barley’ and ‘rye’ as well, as they all contain gluten. 3. Avoid cross contamination If you suffer very severely from this food allergy it is highly recommended that you avoid any chance of cross contamination of foods. That means being careful with using communal kitchen toasters, cutting boards and cutlery, ensuring they are clean before you use them. 4. Take your own food to parties If you’re going to someone else’s place and they won’t be providing gluten-free food, it is considered completely acceptable to take your own. This will stop you from going hungry or worse, indulging in gluten-carrying food “just this once”. While it may seem okay at the time, bar a twinge of guilt, you’ll regret it later when the symptoms well and truly kick in. 5. Be adventurous with new products Many people with celiac disease complain that they are forced to consume boring, plain and less- than-delicious food. But with all the different gluten-free options out there, this is simply not the case! Take our very own gluten-free shop Celiac Supplies for example. We stock an incredibly wide range of gluten-free foods that suit all tastes, and there are many more like us all over Australia! Keep trying new gluten-free foods and try to keep it interesting. If you’d like to learn more about dealing with the dining side of celiac disease, we hold workshops in Brisbane. Visit us to save a spot at our next class.