Its Not Me Its Gluten

My gluten free journey... When you are first told that you have to live a gluten free lifestyle, although dramatic, it is kind of like the word has chewed you up and spat you back out – leaving you a fragile mess having to fend for yourself. Back in November 2017, when I was at my lowest; health had plummeted, dramatic weight loss – causing concern for friends and family and ultimately just that undeniable sense and desire to just ‘give up’. The way you are programmed to eat throughout your entire life has been scrapped and you are sitting left wondering, “so what can I eat?”. Now, please believe me when I say that if I were to read that previous sentence two years ago back when I was blissfully consuming gluten, I would have screwed my face up and shrugged, following up with some unhelpful comment such as “isn’t it only bread and pasta you can’t eat? Surely that isn’t so bad?”. More fool me. During the initial eradication period, it felt like gluten was in everything ...

CATCH Fish & Chips Giffnock - Gluten Free Menu Catch Giffnock Shop Front When you are informed that you have an issue with gluten, all of a sudden past experiences with certain foods tend to suddenly make sense. Now, before life without the grains, I had to abstain from eating the popular British favourite, fish and chips. Mainly because of the ‘chippy hangover' it gave me. Back when I was blissfully unaware and consuming gluten, I just assumed that chippies didn’t agree with me due to the high fat and oil content, however the belching, sickness and bloating were actually all down to one thing, gluten. You can imagine my delight whilst scouring Google looking for gluten free food joints when I stumbled across CATCH.  Catch Giffnock C ATCH describe themselves on their website as a "posh, modern day neighborhood fish & chip shop and restaurant" and I can vouch for this statement 100%. Gone are the days going into a greasy chip shop, opening up yo...

A carefully sampled review - Wild Flours, Giffnock Wild Flours Giffnock From the minute I decided to create this blog, I knew the first place I had to write a review on was Wild Flours . They are a family-run gluten free bakery in the Giffnock area within Glasgow. Back when I was initially diagnosed, the main food group I grieved the loss of was cake - and having a major sweet tooth, this hit me hard. Lucky for me, my boyfriend knew this and went on the hunt for a place in which I could continue to get my sugar fix. He approached me excitedly presenting their Facebook page on his phone and suggested we give it a try. One sunny spring afternoon (can you tell I vividly remember the first good gluten free day I had?) we decided to pop in before we headed off to a Celtic Connections show (surprisingly good, not my usual cup of tea) and by god did my jaw hit the floor when we walked in. Now if you are to go, I would recommend going in the morning/early afternoon to get a good se...

Daily struggles being gluten intolerant (light hearted) As if life against the grain(s) wasn't bad enough, you have to put up with hearing some pretty stupid things. I get it, before I went gluten free I was blissfully ignorant of the need for some people to live a gluten free life and I had, admittedly great ignorance in the issues and implications it could have for someone if consumed. The general population isn't as clued up on gluten intolerances, allergies and most importantly, coeliac disease , which is understandably why diagnosis rates are low. Before I had countless appointments with my consultant, I was unaware that I had any gastro issues and deemed the side effects I was experiences as 'normal', it was actually my consultant that highlighted that my countless toilet trips, bloating, gas, abdominal pain, brain fog and fatigue were actually a red flag and not something that everyone suffered with. WHAT?!  What seems like a lifetime later, and after coun...