Hi friends! I've had this post in my drafts for a while, and I can't wait for you all to read it! I was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease when I was 14, when it was a lot less well-known than it is now. I've experienced so many odd questions and remarks from people, as well as some interesting experiences in hospitality settings. I thought I'd write a little post on 14 things every coeliac can relate to! Please share with any coeliac friends or family, I'm sure they will have experienced some of these things too! I've also included some facts at the end of this post, which will hopefully help people to learn a little bit more about Coeliac disease. (PS don't be offended by how sarcastic I am, I'm just bitter about not being able to eat real doughnuts and pies x) 14 Things Every Coeliac Can Relate To 1. Burgers with no Bun A lot of restaurants have gluten free burger ingredients, but no buns. Which is totally fine (it's totally not) but I always get jealous watching the other people at the table eating their burgers in a normal burger-y way, while I'm cutting up my naked beef, cheese and tomato... 2. Getting excited in the Free From aisle when you spot a new product (!) The gluten free aisle is very exciting I'm not going to lie, especially the freezer section! (I'm still praying for more affordable sausage rolls though.) I vividly remember the first time I saw gluten free tiger bread, jammy dodgers, and gravy granules. Exciting times! 3. Paying extra in restaurants for dodgy cardboard bread. Paying an extra £1 for a slice of Schar bread is not what I want during my breakfast date thanks. But I'll do it anyway because I really want the poached eggs... 4. Especially when it's half the size! £6 for a toastie that's the size of a postage stamp, whyyyyy! 4. Being really REALLY sick of gluten free brownies. Coeliacs, if you know you know. This situation is made even worse when the non-coeliac person you're with excitedly tells you 'ohh they have gluten free brownies here!' and you have to pretend you're excited and really want a brownie... For the 53rd time in your life. 5. When people think being on a gluten free diet will help them lose weight... Um, everything is filled with sugar. They pile sugar into the bread, biscuits, everything so that it doesn't taste like cardboard! Unless you're eating a completely natural gluten free diet, it's definitely not going to help you lose weight. 6. The people who try to tell you about those 'gluten tablets' they 'saw on the web'... I don't have anything to say here, apart from the fact that 'medication' like this obviously doesn't cure coeliac disease. 7. When people make you feel like you're boring, difficult, or embarrassing! I've been in so many of these situations where people think you're choosing to do this to cause a scene, or because you're fussy. No matter how many times you explain your condition to these people, they'll probably never get it. Best to accept that people who make you feel like a burden are not your friends. The people I have in my life now will be the first ones to double check with waiters when I forget (I do this a lot...) 8. People giving you sympathy and saying things like "Oh that must be terrible, I couldn't do that!" I think people mean well when they say these things, but it just further reinforces the idea that we are choosing this life. We had no choice to 'do it' or not! 9. "Oh are you still doing that?" Yep, will be the rest of my life... Please don't ask me again! 10. "How come you can eat potatoes but not pasta?" Just because they are both carbs, doesn't mean they are made of the same thing... Potatoes are vegetables. There's no wheat in there. 11. "Is this gluten free?" "Yep, it's vegan!" That's definitely not the same thing. It's so worrying when people in hospitality answer the gluten free question so confidently wrong... 12. "Oh yeah I totally understand, bread makes me bloated too" This one just makes me want to pull my hair out. Bread hasn't even made me bloated before... Just violently sick and aggressively anaemic. But yeah, totally the same x 13. "Everyone is coeliac these days aren't they?" Yeah you just pay the membership fee, easy peasy! 14. When someone goes out of their way to make or buy you something gluten free Every coeliac knows that this feels like Christmas Day. Thanks friends x Some (not so) Fun Facts About Coeliac Disease
Thank you for reading! I hope this post has given you a little giggle, and maybe helped you understand this condition a little more. Let me know if you've experienced any other frustrating or funny reactions! Hope you're having a good day! Love Sophy x
19 Comments
Renee
10/2/2021 09:45:38 pm
I giggled at lot at some of these. Well done xx
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Sophy
11/2/2021 01:40:01 pm
Thank you for always fighting for me in restaurants, you're the best x
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Vicky
11/2/2021 09:34:28 am
Great Post enjoyed reading it all of the points mentioned are soo true.
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Heidi
11/2/2021 10:08:18 am
So true... and Brownies... in a coffee shop, "Do you have any Gluten Free cakes" - "oh yes, we have brownies" 😥
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Sophy
11/2/2021 01:40:23 pm
The sadness!!!
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Joanne
11/2/2021 10:08:21 am
So relatable! Brilliant x
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Sophy
11/2/2021 01:40:51 pm
If you don't laugh you'll cry eh!
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11/2/2021 12:25:00 pm
as a gluten eater with a ceoliac mother in law. this was really useful! thanks!
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Nes
11/2/2021 01:02:15 pm
So get all of this - I also have a sense of teaching caterers the right and wrongs of being coeliac
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Sophy
11/2/2021 01:41:41 pm
Oh yes completely!
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11/2/2021 02:13:03 pm
This definitely made me giggle. Although I'm not a coeliac, I understand the struggle when those who don't know much about your chronic condition say silly/ignorant things! They know not what they do! lol
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Peter McCann
11/2/2021 03:59:21 pm
Well done. Can relate to all of this. Also "You' ll be ok with just a wee bit."
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Sharon
13/2/2021 08:25:50 am
‘Cooking gluten free is difficult, erm NO it’s not! It’s easy. Just replace flour, gravy granules, pasta, bread for gf ones! People have eaten my gf stuff for years and never know it’s gf. It’s not difficult if you do a little research.
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Sophy
13/2/2021 08:31:18 am
Yes!! People think it’s so hard!
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Heather
14/2/2021 02:26:24 pm
I love this and I think every celiac can relate. Worst experience I had was my SIL saying to me as she was serving me soup "you can eat it. I only used 2 tablespoons of flour in the whole pot, so you probably won't even get any flour in your bowl." And the best experience: my BFF making me a GF apple pie (GF almond flour for the crust, cornstarch for the apples). It was true friendship love (and oh so good).
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Judy Elam
14/2/2021 10:00:19 pm
Arise! Celiac's! Or Coeliacs's as I have been informed we are called in the United Kingdom. We have a constant re-educating to do with anyone who doesn't understand our auto immune condition. And I'm thankful for people like Sophy, who explain it well with a sense of humor. Sending this to everyone in my family who after 5 years still don't understand!
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