Healthy Gluten-Free Cooking: 150 Recipes for Food Lovers - Softcover

Introduction to Celiac Disease

Don't panic... that's the first and main thought if you have been recently diagnosed with celiac disease.

People often think: What am I going to eat? No more bread, pasta, cakes, biscuits... the list seems endless. It doesn't have to be like this -- take a step back and look at the wider picture. You have been diagnosed with a disease whereby you don't need to take tablets or receive injections, because it is treatable -- or rather, controllable -- by the food you eat. If anything, being diagnosed with celiac disease can be a good thing for some people as it can make them realize how much processed food they may have been consuming! Therefore, it's time to get back to basics, using natural ingredients, and being responsible for the food we are eating in order to sustain healthy bodies.

Healthy eating for celiacs need not mean tasteless, boring meals -- no one has to compromise on flavor just because gluten has to be excluded from the diet, and it need not lessen your pleasure in cooking and eating. Rather, see it as a fresh beginning -- an opportunity to try new ingredients and a wide and more exciting range of recipes.

What exactly is celiac disease?

Years ago, it was felt that celiac disease was a childhood disease, one that you would grow out of. It is now known, however, that it is a permanent condition -- one that you are born with (although it can strike at any age) and something that you do not "grow out of" -- and that it can affect people at any age. Chances are that if you have been diagnosed with celiac disease, you will already know or have experienced at first hand either mild or chronic symptoms and undergone clinical tests to confirm the suspected gluten intolerance. However, if you are not a celiac and are about to embark upon cooking for a celiac you may not realize the extent of this condition.

Celiac disease is a genetic disease. It is due to a permanent intolerance to gluten. Gluten is the name given to a number of different proteins (gliadin is the protein found in wheat, hordein is the protein in barley, secalin is the protein in rye, and avenin is the protein in oats) which cause the immune reaction in celiacs. It is gluten that gives bread its elasticity and cakes their spring. Unfortunately, even the tiniest amount of gluten can cause problems for celiacs, despite the fact that individuals may not always be aware of the symptoms.

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease, resulting in gluten intolerance. The gluten damages an area in the small intestine, causing inflammation and subsequent malabsorption of food and nutrients. The only treatment required, though, to enable the intestine to return to normal and the painful effects of gluten intolerance to cease, is to follow a completely gluten-free diet.

The link with diabetes

It is widely known that celiac disease runs in families -- there is an increased risk of one in ten where celiac disease already exists. There is also an increased risk of other autoimmune diseases, which may occur alongside it, among them Type 1 diabetes. With this form of diabetes, the body is unable to regulate its blood sugar level due to an inability to produce the hormone insulin.

If someone has either celiac disease or Type 1 diabetes, they are more likely to also develop the other condition than people who don't have either. There is an increased risk of other autoimmune diseases associated with celiac disease, including hyperthyroidism. There is also a slightly higher risk of gastro-intestinal cancers and lymphomas in celiac disease. However the biggest problem associated with celiac disease is the reduced absorption of food, particularly nutrients such as iron and calcium, resulting in anemia and osteoporosis respectively.