Posts Tagged ‘Coeliac’
Fearing Tesco Clubcard
Posted by: Gav in Uncategorized on February 14th, 2008
Some people (paranoid people) are worried about the intelligence of Tesco’s clubcard system and its ability to know a lot about you. And, to be fair, it could know a lot about you. But you have a choice so I don’t really care that much, frankly.
I felt I had to say that, though, before I mocked the system that issues vouchers. To the best of my recollection I have never bought anything from Tesco that contains gluten; not on someone else’s behalf and certainly not for myself.
So it should come as little surprise that I received an ‘Extra Points’ voucher with my latest ClubCard statement for the Free From range. But I did find it amusing that right above that voucher, is another. For Weetabix.
You’re worried about Tesco’s data gathering? I’m not worried on that form!
Coeliac Prescriptions
Posted by: Gav in Gavin Ayling's blog on May 24th, 2007
Apparently the government is considering stopping providing gluten free food on prescription. No doubt this would be spun as ‘reform’ again.
The prohibitive cost of gluten free food would leave the vast majority of people suffering Coeliac Disease eating non-nutritious diets and threatening their own health and, so, future costs to the NHS (cancer, osteoperosis etc.)
A member of the Coeliac Disease Support Group has put up a petition on the largely-ignored Number 10 website and I ask that you sign and distribute this as widely as possible:
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/coeliacs-disease/
More on coeliac disease can be found here: www.coeliac.org.uk
Coeliac Awareness Week
Posted by: Gav in Gavin Ayling's blog on May 14th, 2007
It’s Coeliac Awareness Week so tell any friends you have who have ‘Irritable Bowel Syndrome’ (note to the wise: that’s a description of symptoms not a description of cause) that they may have coeliac disease.
Tell them that they should demand a test from a doctor before cutting gluten from their diet. Tell them all!
The Ancestor’s Tale
Posted by: Gav in Uncategorized on October 9th, 2006
At the moment I am reading The Ancestor’s Tale by Richard Dawkins.
It’s a really great book. He touches on milk intolerance and wheat intolerance quite early on. To summarise he suggests that humans did not originally evolve to eat the seeds of grass. The seeds of grass, unlike fruit, did not evolve to take advantage of passing through a digestive tract of a mammal. Grasses do not need animals to eat their seed in order for their seed to be distributed.
So, for humans to be able to eat grasses (oats, wheat, rice etc) we have evolved slightly. In Dawkins’ words we have been ‘domesticated’ by our circumstanes in the same way as dogs (apparently all descended from wolves) have been domesticated.
So those of you who are able to eat wheat are, in simple terms, more evolved than me. I am a throwback!
Johnsons Dietary Provisions
Posted by: Gav in Gavin Ayling's blog on October 8th, 2006
If you live locally or if you have coeliac disease, you’ll be delighted to learn about the new gluten free supermarket that has opened in Shoreham-by-Sea.
In Evershed Way just off of Dolphin Road, Johnsons have a shop stocking many gluten free products. Not only that but for those of you not in the area, they have an online store (with a very reasonable delivery charge).
So support this local business and benefit from a wider range of gluten free foods!
Gluten free in Brighton
Posted by: Gav in Gavin Ayling's blog on August 18th, 2006
I have a few more restaurants to add to the list of restaurants in Brighton who are and are not able to cater for coeliacs:
Indian Summer, East Street lists whether items are gluten free on their menu visible from the roadside!
Wagamama continues to provide a gluten free menu.
But Lee Cottage on Queens Road didn’t know what wheat was and whether it would be in Soy Sauce — one to avoid then.
The NHS crumble continues
Posted by: Gav in Gavin Ayling's blog on May 31st, 2006
Coeliac disease is a recognised medical condition that requires treatment in the form of gluten free food. So how dare they?
Las Iguanas Restaurant, Brighton
Posted by: Gav in Uncategorized on May 15th, 2006
The new Iguana Restaurant in Brighton should get full marks for gluten-free catering. They have a separate gluten-free menu.
And it wasn’t just salad or steak, either!
Coeliac news
Posted by: Gav in Uncategorized on February 18th, 2006
Some interesting comments have been added about Coeliac disease: here and here.
I just thought I’d bring your attention to them as they’re so far down. Of course, you can see recent comments here: Recent Comments. It reminds me that I’ve not posted on the condition in quite a while.
Update: And the message board she added: here
Codex Gluten
Posted by: Gav in Uncategorized on February 3rd, 2006
The following has been lifted directly from the Coeliac UK newsletter. This should be of particular interest to anyone concerned about trace-amounts of gluten in food and could lead to a more restricted diet for us coeliacs!
Coeliac UK has been successful in its proposal submitted to the FSA to review the literature on gluten-free threshold levels and will be working in collaboration with a Cochrane reviewer, Dr Tony Akobeng, Consultant Paediatric Gastroenterologist at the Booth Hall Children’s Hospital. Doctor Akobeng has carried out many literature reviews for the Cochrane library (a database of scientific reviews). The aim is to publish findings in the autumn and input to the International Codex meeting in November.
