Living without Gluten - My Brother's life as a Coeliac

For Alfie

Until this year I had no idea what Coeliac Disease was or what it meant. A Coeliac is a person who is intolerant to gluten, the symptoms can be mild or severe.

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley and rye and to my surprise, it is in almost anything, bread, pasta, biscuits, and even some juices.

Earlier this year my family received the shocking news that my little brother was a Coeliac. This was discovered after extensive hospital appointments and tests, after my brother lost a huge amount of weight in less than a year.

We knew it was common for teenage boys too loose some puppy fat during puberty, but his weight loss was drastic and rather worrying. Family friends didn't recognise him after seeing him a few months before and his clothes hung off him.

My brother is also a chronic asthmatic, and has been admitted to hospital over 10 times. These issues combined worried my mother, she would feed him as much food in a day as possible. Full fat milk, snacks, and large helpings of food, which often contained gluten. Of course, we were unaware at the time that it was the gluten that was making my brother so thin.

After the hospital appointments it was confirmed that he was a Coeliac. He had an ulcer in his stomach, that had it been found too much later, it could have had a life changing effect and could have resulted in him having to live with a colostomy bag. This was extremely upsetting, as he obviously needed his health but would have to give up a lot of foods and eating habits most of which containing gluten.

Pizza - a massive issue is bread, and pizza has a dough base. This was immediately off limits.

Burgers - again the issue of the bread is prominent. However, it is common for the actual burger to contain flour, this is also true with sausages. The better of the processed meats have less additives and are purer, they contain no gluten but tend to be more expensive.

Macaroni Cheese - pasta is also off limits, being a product of flour and eggs. However the sauce also usually contains some sort of flour to thicken it.

Brownies - most cakes and biscuits are made with flour, and brownies are no exception.

However, we have found solutions for all of these problems. It is possible to buy gluten free pizza bases from most supermarkets and both dominoes and pizza hut make takeaway pizzas gluten free.

Burgers are less of an issue as the most quality restaurants will make their own burgers without gluten and can discard the bun, or in some cases have a gluten free bread alternative.

Gluten free pasta is available to buy in supermarkets, in all forms penne, spaghetti and lasagne sheets.

For a treat my mother will often buy specially made gluten free brownies that taste better than the real thing. So there is no real issue on the cake front.

There are replacements for everything you could possibly imagine would contain gluten, biscuits, bread, pasta and so much more. These supplements are more expensive than you would expect so it is very difficult for my family.

The recognition of coeliacs was noted by Tesco this year in one of their Christmas adverts, where a family scout the store for gluten free foods. The supermarket claim to have "your gluten free Christmas covered."

It seems that Coeliac disease is more common and becoming more recognised, and is as serious as nut allergies and lactose intolerance.

The most common symptoms for having Coeliac Disease are diarrhoea, bloating, weight loss, abdominal pain and tiredness. If you have one or more of these symptoms you are advised to contact your GP.

My brother has dealt very well with his Coeliac Disease, at times he gets upset about the foods he cannot have but he has been strong and has stuck to his strict diet. He has gained weight and looks much healthier.

He and my mother are an inspiration to anyone with an intolerance or allergy, or anyone supporting someone in these circumstances. Our family have embraced the changes to his diet and some of the coeliac supplements are much tastier and cleaner than that of the non-coeliac equivalent.

At 15 it is difficult to take responsibility for your health to see what affect it will have in the future. But Alfie has done this, and I am so proud of him.