Gluten-free diet
Once diagnosed with coeliac disease you should immediately start a gluten-free diet for life.
Even very small amounts of gluten can be harmful to people with coeliac disease, so sticking to a gluten-free diet is vital. Your doctor should refer you to a dietitian who will help guide you through the initial steps of changing your diet. The amount of time the gut takes to heal varies between people, and commonly takes between six months and two years – however, you should start to feel better in the first few weeks.
Staple foods containing gluten
Key staple foods in a diet containing gluten include cereals, breads, flours and pasta as well as foods like pizza bases, crackers, pastry and biscuits. Gluten-containing cereals are often added to foods which you may not expect such as sausages, sauces, soups, burgers and ready meals.
Oats
Pure, uncontaminated oats and oat products can be tolerated by most people with coeliac disease, although some people will still be sensitive to them. However, most oat products available on the market are contaminated by wheat, rye or barley during production – making them unsuitable.
If you wish to include pure, uncontaminated oats in your diet, consult your healthcare team as you will need to be monitored on an individual basis.
Suitable 'substitute' foods
Once diagnosed with coeliac disease, ask your doctor to prescribe suitable ‘substitute’ foods such as gluten-free bread, pasta, flour, fibre/bread mixes, pizza bases and plain biscuits.
Gluten-free prescriptions
Gluten-free prescriptions are not free of charge unless you are exempt from prescription charges for another reason (if you are taking insulin and/or diabetes medication, for example). If you do need to pay you may find that buying a pre-payment certificate is good value for money. See our Further information page for details.
Effects of removing gluten from your diet
Once gluten has been removed from your diet, the process of gut healing will begin immediately. As your gut heals, the absorption of nutrients from your food and drink will improve, which is likely to affect your diabetes control. It is important you talk to your diabetes healthcare team about this as you may need to start, alter or change your insulin and/or other diabetes medication.
If you already have coeliac disease and have just been diagnosed with diabetes, making food choices to improve your diabetes control will benefit your long-term health and how you feel generally.
How to find gluten-free foods
You can check food and drinks are gluten-free by using Coeliac UK’s annual Food and Drink Directory, which lists over 11,000 products. The Directory is sent to Coeliac UK Members every year and is also available to purchase.
It is essential that you keep your copy of the directory up-to-date; Coeliac UK provides monthly updates which are accessible in a number of ways, including on their website, via Ceefax, on the BBC digital text service, via a 24-hour recorded message, via their electronic newsletter 'eXG', through their Helpline, or a copy can be sent by post. See Further information for contact details.
Reviewed March 2010
Next review September 2011