A friend of mine was recently diagnosed as suffering from Coeliac Disease (yep, I’m spelling it wrong, aren’t I?). He was really sick and depressed for months, but the doctors took a long time to finally get to the bottom of what was wrong with him. He’s in a fragile emotional state at the moment as well for other reasons.
So what should I know about the condition, and what should and shouldn’t I say to him?
I have no personal experience with the condition, but Wikipedia has a nice write-up that should help you to get your facts.
Don’t ask him if he’d like some fresh bread…
Basically, it’s a genetic allergy to wheat. A helpful Web site is here: http://celiac.org/
Since you’re looking more for personal experiences and advice than hard facts, I’ll move this thread to IMHO.
bibliophage
moderator GQ
Since this condition involves some severe dietary restrictions, he probably will have some issues about food. I know form experience that having to give up certain foods forever can mess with you mentally, especially if they’re common foods.
Having celiac disease means no wheat, rye, or barley ever again. That means no bread (except gluten-free bread, which is obtainable but expensive). It pretty much eliminates anything breaded and fried. No more noodles (unless gluten-free which, again, isn’t likely unless you go to special efforts) Depending on your friend’s prior eating habits, this could be a huge change.
Inviting him out to dinner might not be a good idea until he gets used to his new dietary restrictions.
Otherwise, express brief concern about his health but don’t dwell on it. Let him rant if he needs to. If he doesn’t, and he doesn’t bring up his health issues, talk about everything else.
I don’t have celiac disease, but my sister does. Celiac disease (American spelling 
) is NOT “basically an allergy to wheat,” although your friend might find it easier to explain it that way to some people. People with celiac disease (sometimes called celiac sprue) have an intolerance to gluten, which is found not only in wheat but also in other common grains as oats, rye and barley (see the web site inkleberry linked to for a start). Certain food additives, like partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, provoke the same bad responses that gluten does to people with the condition. It is a life-changing discovery, because the only way to treat it is to totally change your diet by not eating anything that contains gluten.
In my sister’s case, she wasn’t diagnosed until she was 30, but in retrospect it was clear she had been suffering since childhood. She had always been underweight, a bit on the fragile side. As it happened, a bone scan of an old ankle injury showed that her bones were already thinning, and the orthopedist shipped her off to a nutritionist to find out what was wrong. Once my sister switched over to a gluten-free diet, the change was absolutely dramatic - she finally came up to a healthy body weight, and has been in much better general health since then. She is only bitter that it took so long for someone to look at her condition and make the effort to determine what was wrong. By way of contrast, a 38-year-old acquaintance of hers recently discovered that he has celiac disease that the doctors feel was brought on by stress in the last few years… but his dietary options are the same as my sister’s.
Making the adjustment to a gluten-free diet is not going to be easy for your friend, because so many foods that you would normally buy in the supermarket, or dishes you’d order in a restaurant, are now off-limits. No more regular pasta. No more regular bread. No more regular cake and cookies. Nothing that has even the slightest bit of flour in it as an ingredient. There can’t be any compromise on this score, because once he’s adapted to his new diet, he’s likely to find even the tiniest amounts of gluten will make him sick with major gastrointestinal difficulties.
My sister was initially frustrated and depressed to discover just how much food she could no longer eat; your friend will probably feel that way too. One of the nicest things you can do for him, IMHO, is show your willingness to help him make the adjustment. There are a lot of web sites and health food stores that sell gluten-free products (like pasta made from corn, bread made with brown rice flour) and provide recipes for gluten-free dishes; maybe you can help him experiment with new dishes and new ingredients. (Note: “wheat-free” is NOT the same as “gluten-free,” so be forewarned.) Try to help him find restaurants that have an assortment of things he’d be able to eat, rather than getting stuck with a dry salad. (My sister has had good fortune with Greek and Mexican restaurants.) Discover the liquor that’s gluten-free. Understand that he’s probably going to feel depressed about this development in his life in addition to whatever else is troubling him, but help him to see that this is NOT the end of the world - it’s a perfectly controllable condition.
Interesting factoid - Irish folks and those of Irish descent have a higher incidence of celiac disease than other Europeans. link A friend of mine that used to work for Aer Lingus, the Irish airline, said that gluten-free meals were probably the most commonly-requested special meal for them.
Here is a discussion board for celiac disease sufferers, should your friend want to link with others who have the condition.
Best wishes to your friend, and good for you for wanting to be so supportive.
One of my bestest and closest friends has celiac disease. From what she tells me, and what I’ve read, oats are o.k.
It is very difficult to eat out, but if you think about it a little bit, it’s not all that difficult to make gluten-free meals at home. A nice thing you can do is to prepare a home-cooked meal that is gluten-free. For example, any meat or fish is fine, just don’t prepare it with flour. If it needs a coating, use corn meal. Gravy needs thickening, use cornstarch. Veggies – no problem there. Potatoes – no problem. You don’t really need bread with a meal. Desserts are often a problem in that commercial products often contain “food starch,” which may or may not have gluten.
Health food stores are chock-full of non-gluten products and mixes.
The biggest issue I found is that I felt so guilty eating a nice slice of bread or pastry in front of my friend. She has adapted, though, and claims she enjoys the vicarious pleasure of watching her friends enjoy things she can’t have.
Some celiac people can tolerate it, and some can’t. There is also the issue of “contaminated” oats to contend with. This page gives plenty of links regarding the effects of oats (or lack thereof) for celiac people.
My sister is unfortunately one of those who are sensitive to oats as well, so no more oatmeal cookies for her.
Thankyou everyone. I’ll take all this advice on board. 