Blog Entries With Tag: Coeliac

Blog: Anna's Blog

From: FatCatAnna

If you’ve read my blogs over the past year – I’m having difficulties with attaining what I consider for myself good blood glucose (BG) readings with my hormones being all over the place.  It’s slightly, no, I should be honest here, is making me very annoyed at my control not being like it was (going from an A1C of 6% to 7.2% makes me cringe at the damage being done internally to my organs).

One thing that I have recently been experimenting with (besides tweaking my insulin dosage on George Michael my Animas 2020 pump) – is trying to eat even more healthy than I do now on a limited budget (hey good food doesn’t come cheap).  I have currently started to test out gluten free products in my meals more often – from flour to pasta.  You name it, I’m testing out the reaction to these foods against my BG meter results as well as my taste buds.   Now, they may not be low carb (gluten free pasta is just the same as regular whole wheat pasta) – but I’m discovering that the lack of gluten seems to not make as big a spike in my 2 / 4 hour BG  tests with the results later (say going to beddy byes) are not not showing a result of 10-15 mmol/l (180-270 mg/dl) reading.  I then have to   give a correction dosage at that time to wake up with the hopes of being in my happy zone of BG  reading.  Even with a few middle of the night BG tests – where things seem to be alright (e.g. no hypo) after the correction dosage prior to my experiment with gluten free products – I go back up (hello Mr. Dawn Phenomenon).   I'm finding the reverse is opposite when I've eaten a meal prepared gluten free!

I’d written a blog last year about Celiac/Coeliac disease after meeting up with a group of teens with Type 1 diabetics (T1D).  It seems to be very common when they are diagnosed, and also adults have the same problem (e.g. Ginger Vieira).  I’ve not been diagnosed with it, but slowly have been introducing more gluten free products into my diet (and my DH as well – he’s a good guinea pig of my meals).   Though, sorry, won’t be able to give up good beer, which sadly isn’t gluten free but you never know – I may change that opinion as I sample beers that are available due to demand from public seeking this alternative type of beer for either health or taste reasons.  There's even a blog written on the worst/best gluten free beers available!

So, have any of you tried this test yourself?  To see if your BG results are better – with less spiking – more stability?  If you have – I would love to hear how your results went – perhaps we can share some recipes – and if you’ve not checked out Katie Zeller from France at Thyme for Cooking …. she’s got some great recipes that are gluten free (her husband is now on insulin after pancreatic cancer destroyed his pancreas).  The latest one I tried out (I have tried many) is this one – Barley, Zucchini and Goat Cheese casserole! It was lip smacking, drooling good (and if you're vegetarian - it's a meal in itself - but please do share).

Blog: Anna's Blog

From: FatCatAnna

UPDATE:  Here's a recent  link that might help you understand this condition that affects Type 1 diabetics - https://www.verywell.com/the-gluten-free-diabetes-diet-562996 - but please feel free to carry on reading below - and pass on this information to anyone you think might find it useful!

FatCatAnna June 2, 2017

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Lately I’ve been noticing that quite a few diabetics I meet (mainly young ones) have been diagnosed with celiac (or coeliac) disease.  What is it?  It’s a condition that damages the lining of the small intestine and prevents it from absorbing parts of food that are important for staying healthy. The damage is due to a reaction to eating gluten, which is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, and possibly oats.  Really the way I understand it, it’s very much like diabetes, where it is all revolving around our immune system.  For more indepth info – you can check out The Canadian Celiac Disease website http://www.celiac.ca/index.php

Some of the symptoms are:

- Abdominal pain, bloating, gas, or indigestion
- Constipation
- Decreased appetite (though it can be increased or remain same)
- Diarrhoea, either constant or off and on
- Lactose intolerance (common when the person is diagnosed, usually goes away after treatment)
- Nausea and vomiting
- Stools that float, are foul smelling, bloody, or “fatty”
- Unexplained weight loss (although people can be overweight or of
- normal weight)

A video from JDRFUK explains how T1* and celiac are very closely related and if you take the time to watch it – you will learn quite abit (it’s 17 minutes in length).  In the UK I found out from a Mum whose diabetic daughter has coeliac disease, that a  simple blood screening test is done most of the time for children when they are diagnosed with diabetes (though according to the video link above – it’s still abit of a controversy as to whether it should be done for EVERY newly diagnosed diabetic patient).  I am not sure if the same applies in the United States – but my understanding from a few teens I met up with in July said that it is done all the time.   I know that here in my province of Quebec (Canada) – according to Marco Bianchi from the Montreal Children’s Hospital that “we only screen for celiac if there is a presence of clinical evidence”.  It is perhaps different in other provinces of Canada and the world. So would love to hear from anyone that has more knowledge then I do.

From what I’ve been hearing through the grapevine, the way that wheat is now grown is perhaps the problem that is causing the increase in celiac diagnosis.  It is no longer “pure” – due to what is added in the growth stage of the wheat, and then when made into a product that is sold on our grocery shelves – is further compromised.

I heard from one person that says that since making their own bread at home, using a sour dough recipe, that they do not have any problems associated with celiac.  Now, I’m not sure if perhaps they are using wheat that is grown from old stock seeds (this is now being done – as it appears that old seeds that have not been “modified” seem to not cause any problems … yet).

I know that some of the Canadian magazines I subscribe to seem to be posting more gluten free recipes this year (Chatelaine is one such as this gluten-free pizza dough recipe).  I have also come across some restaurants in my travels that offer gluten free meals – but it is still a big worry for those that have celiac disease – where you can’t be exactly sure if the food you are eating has come in contact with any gluten product like you would with preparing your own food at home.  Perhaps more chain restaurants will show on their menu a product that is gluten free, besides just catering to those who are watching their carb intake, etc.

*Also, from the research I did for this blog, apparently people who are not diabetic but have celiac disease are prone to becoming diabetic (Type 1 or 2),  or have thyroid disease, and other health problems.  Often lactose intolerance is present as well – but often disappears once a gluten-free diet is followed (results take about 2-3 months for improvement).

Additional website you might want to check out - explaining how Celiac disease affects children / adults can be found here . Remember, these sites are valuable for information that you can bring to your own health care provider - do not always rely on the sources that you read online!