To Crystal re diet etc.

[Guest guest]

Hi Crystal,

The labelling of foods in the UK has improved greatly since 1988 when

I was first diagnosed. All supermarket foods have to be clearly

labelled and even say what the source of " modified starch " is so that

we know if it has come from wheat and is not safe for coeliacs. More

and more, the supermarkets are labelling foods which contain gluten or

they will actually say " Suitable for coeliacs " on the package. They

also give the grams of fat per 100 grams of the food. That really

helps CP sufferers and anyone following a low fat diet. New laws will

very soon oblige them to add salt and sugar content per 100 grams, I

believe, although many manufacturers do that voluntarily already.

Having CP has just added one more prohibition for me....alcohol! After

17 years I have no problem with the gluten-free diet and I personally

have also to be very careful with foods containing lactose. This does

not affect most coeliacs but, in my case, the lining of the gut never

fully recovered (despite the fact that I followed the GF diet

absolutely strictly) so the production of lactase, which digests

lactose, is not as it should be.

I always followed a fairly low fat diet anyway, partly for general

health reasons and partly to try to keep my weight down, so the low-

fat order didn't bother me at all.

I don't find it pleasant to give up my wine, especially on a Friday

evening to usher in the week-end....but there we are! I haven't drunk

alcohol since March 2003 when my CP was diagnosed.

Here's the website address for the Coeliac Society. I haven't used it

myself, as I said yesterday, but I hope you'll find some useful

information.

www.coeliac.co.uk

If you then follow the e-XG link, you will get the electronic version

of " Crossed Grain " , which is the society's magazine.

I hope this is useful. I still hope it turns out that you aren't

coeliac of course! You have already had so much to cope with.

However, as I said, if you are affected, the diet soon becomes second

nature. I still make my friends smile when we go out to eat by making

the chef assure me about the exact composition of each dish! " Felicity

practically asks to see the pans! " says my best friend!

I did once, out of interest, look at an American site for coeliacs but

I didn't keep the address.

Take care!

Fliss (UK)

[Guest guest]

Thank you so much Fliss.

Crystal