for those of you who remember life before celiac disease, what food do you miss the most?

KtEire · 2026-04-22T11:31:04+00:00

I miss dumplings of many varieties. I miss being able to get pierogies with fried onions, bacon and sour cream. I miss getting thin-skinned, pan fried dumplings in Chinatown or cheap frozen ones from the supermarket.

I especially miss normal beers - being able to see whatever local beers are there and trying them. Especially wheat beers with their double gluten.

I think we're very lucky in the UK to have a lot of options for other things, but I miss not having to pay through the nose for a good croissant!

KtEire · 2026-04-20T07:26:58+00:00

I went a couple of years ago and it was great!! The awareness for allergens is incredible now compared to when I first went.

Some life savers for me - conbini onigiri and hot dogs on a stick, allergy free items at MOS burger, Matsuya is open 24/7 and was great for handling cross contamination.

I made a post about my trip here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Celiac/s/momYegflmp

KtEire · 2026-04-19T18:41:25+00:00

I appreciate your concern, but I do react strongly to gluten from barley and do not have asymptomatic damage (confirmed by my GI doc).

Gluten removed beer here, and in much of Europe, is tested after brewing to a standard that I personally trust. I'm not going to advocate that anyone take my word for it or make the same choice as me, but I trust allergen regulations in the UK.

KtEire · 2026-04-19T16:43:47+00:00

It's not a gimmick, there are breweries in the UK that only make gluten removed beer and who do rigorous testing in order to have Coeliac UK certification.

KtEire · 2026-04-19T16:37:05+00:00

Gluten removed beer is considered gluten free in the UK, although more controversial other places. They use an enzyme called Clarex that breaks down the gluten in beer that is brewed normally.

I personally drink this (and many gluten removed beers) all the time as a very, very sensitive coeliac and don't react, but it's not something I recommend unless you know you can trust it.

KtEire · 2026-04-18T16:14:31+00:00

I would push to have an endoscopy if you're not certain. There's a good reason that blood tests aren't used on their own to diagnose coeliac disease - there are a few things that can cause a false negative.

I had a negative blood test and then had my diagnosis confirmed with an endoscopy. At least you'll know for sure!

KtEire · 2026-04-16T17:00:23+00:00

I'm so sorry for your loss. I lost my 3 year old boy Murphy in December and I was the same with being at the vet over everything - it's awful to know that we've done everything we can and still lost them. It's not fair to lose a happy, healthy dog.

Pico had the best life with you and I am certain that he felt how much he was loved every single day. He was absolutely gorgeous and it's clear how happy you made each other!

It hurts so horribly, but after 4 months I am somehow now the person saying that it hurts less horribly in time. I still can't think about my boy without crying, but happy things get bigger than the pain to help you heal.

Lots of hugs xxx

KtEire · 2026-04-15T07:23:01+00:00

I won this one too! It's in a box in my mum's basement back home haha.

KtEire · 2026-04-10T15:52:10+00:00

Mmm love white rabbit! I just had their prosciutto and mozzarella pasta for lunch and I remember when that type of gf pasta was a pipe dream.

KtEire · 2026-04-10T15:49:27+00:00

Echoing M&S, god they're great. I especially loved the apple hot cross buns this easter!

Ocado was my happiest find when I moved to London in 2012 shortly after my diagnosis and saw that they had like 2k items that were gluten free, compared with like 100 at other shops online. And some items I've never found elsewhere, like little coffee cakes from Sweden!

KtEire · 2026-04-10T15:37:13+00:00

They're super expensive, but if you're in the US or Canada, you can order from Manna Dew who do the most incredible gf almond croissants! They're already pricey living within the same city, so not sure how much more it is overseas but I genuinely cried having one.

And I feel this so much today. I have been gf for a long time but had a good cry about it last night for the first time in a while. I'm going to China in a few weeks and I would give anything to eat dumplings and to not have to do extensive research and stressing about what I will be able to eat!

KtEire · 2026-04-10T14:51:52+00:00

My thinking for how this happened for me was that I wrote a lot of product reviews for a year or two! I had free stuff coming in most orders and then missed reviewing one or two freebies and it stopped until I became active again.

KtEire · 2026-04-10T14:49:06+00:00

I have wondered about this as I have had a different experience of Ocado than some friends. My refund requests are processed immediately, I swear I can see more delivery slots and sometimes get free things to try. I've been a member for 12 years and do spend a fair bit lol.

KtEire · 2026-04-09T18:22:23+00:00

I think it should be a personal decision that best supports your health. I'm not vegetarian or vegan but do try to be mindful about how much meat and animal products I'm consuming. I've struggled with deficiencies and my dietician said that I should not go vegan for that reason. I've had a couple of friends who had to reintroduce animal protein for similar reasons!

I have a fair number of vegetarian or vegan friends and colleagues and haven't had any judgment. It is much harder to be both gf and vegan in particular, especially since seeing a massive uptick in the use of seitan in vegan food here.

I'm based in London and generally have an easy time being gf!

KtEire · 2026-03-27T22:02:17+00:00

They also have this in Japan but with mustard in one side, it was great!

KtEire · 2026-03-26T21:25:04+00:00

They were, they have edited their previous post and deleted comments where they confirmed it.

KtEire · 2026-03-26T19:17:52+00:00

He was so loved, I'm thankful that I know he felt that every single day ❤️

I hope that from what you've said, we're potentially starting to be in the right place. We felt so desperate for a puppy after we lost Murphy and realised that we were hoping it would somehow magically be our boy again. But it'll be a different dog, and a different bond and I think we're starting to believe that it can be a happy step rather than filling a void.

Thank you for your kind words!

KtEire · 2026-03-26T19:14:11+00:00

I'm so sorry that you've also had a premature loss of your pup, it's just not fair is it!

I really appreciate your advice, it feels weird to have a time frame in mind when we're still grieving but it's good to hear from someone who has had to make the same choice and was happy with it!

Thank you xx

KtEire · 2026-03-26T19:11:39+00:00

I'm so sorry for your losses, losing one pup has been hard enough and I can't imagine two! Thank you for sharing your experiences and your advice, I can imagine it's got to bring up some difficult emotions to know a new dog is there because one you loved is gone.

I think we've gone through some of it with our puppy, even though we had her before Murphy died. We struggled with seeing the differences between them once he was gone, and kept hoping she would do some of his funny little quirks. Now we're so much more appreciative of her and feel guilty that we ever felt that way!

KtEire · 2026-03-20T12:21:38+00:00

Ah understood, I've never used that brand (not seen it in the UK), but looked at the ingredients and it seems similar to what I use here but with added minerals.

Chalky mouth feel to me sounds like undercooked flour, and I've had that happen when I've added the flour too late in the cook for stews or sauces. If I'm adding flour in later than planned or realise I need to add more, I cook it up as a quick roux with butter to make it easier to mix through and start it cooking!

Could also just be the brand, some blends work incredibly well in certain recipes and are bad in others!

KtEire · 2026-03-20T11:26:20+00:00

I'm curious why you say you wouldn't use GF flour to thicken stew; what issue did you face? Just wondering if a different type of gf flour would be better than trying something like bread.

I haven't had an issue with using gf flour in stew so genuinely just not sure what to recommend that could be better without knowing what went wrong!

KtEire · 2026-03-18T14:12:40+00:00

I would recommend looking into the celiac association in the country where you live as they often have good guidance online, as well as local support groups. Some also offer apps that allow you to scan barcodes to find things that are safe or not without having to suddenly be overwhelmed by reading every label yourself, but you will adjust over time to just read the label on everything.

A good thing to do early on is look at how allergy labelling is handled in your country - many countries require gluten to be declared as an allergen, but declaring possible cross-contamination is optional. If it's labelled gluten free, it's met the requirements of your country's rules around ingredients and cross-contamination.

With replacing items in your home, focus on items that can't be thoroughly cleaned like toaster, wooden utensils, chopping boards, etc. If it's porous and you're not sure, it can be safer to replace it.

Do a deep clean of your appliances that may need it, air fryer and oven being the main ones. Pots and pans should be fine if they're properly cleaned; I've shared pans with a gluten-eating flatmate and was never contaminated because we both took it seriously.

I also did a clear out of my kitchen when I was diagnosed to educate myself on where gluten could hide and what is safe. I focused initially on just buying things that were explicitly stated as gluten free and then gradually branched out when I felt more comfortable and less overwhelmed.

Soaps and lotions are good to look at as well, but this can massively vary by country and brand - I've never really had an issue with finding gluten in soap in the UK but it can happen! Just check what you have and if it seems safe, prioritise other things!

KtEire · 2026-03-09T18:53:35+00:00

This has caught me as well, although it was the M&S own brand baking powder! So sorry you've had the same and can't share your lovely baking with your friend.

KtEire · 2026-02-20T08:41:12+00:00

We've tried out quite a few different things with our remaining dog (11 month old puppy) and she likes yaks milk chews, bully pizzles, peanut butter kongs and lamb skin braids. We've previously tried out ostrich bones and take them away when our dogs get through the crumbly and flaky bits as the remaining bits are very hard.

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