Why We’re Gluten Free

So I say “we” because I don’t mind sharing and eating the gluten free diet that my boyfriend has to be on; however, it’s just Lee that is actually gluten intolerant. For about two or three years, my boyfriend had problems swallowing his food.There would be times, and it would come on suddenly, where food would get stuck in his throat and it simply wouldn’t go down. After over a year of trying to sort it out with doctors, who tried different tests and came up with a diagnosis that was simply off, my boyfriend was able to figure out what was actually wrong with him with the help of a naturopath friend.

Last Christmas we were at the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, it’s a massive Christmas Market (post will eventually be up here). We bought a hot dog each, and I noticed my boyfriend had stopped eating; it was his digestive issue acting up again and the food was stuck in his throat. We started talking about it, and being an allergic person myself, we were bouncing the idea around that it must be some kind of food intolerance. He thought back to all the times it had happened, and while admittedly it was difficult to know if it was always due to bread related products, he knew for sure that it had happened before while eating a hot dog during Christmas, and again when eating sandwiches.

There seemed to be a pattern to when he would be ill so he decided to take it further, and eventually, with the advice from his naturopath friend it was pretty clear to see that it was either a gluten or lactose intolerance. The doctors had given him a fancy diagnosis and attributed his issues to asthma. (?!) They wanted to put him on steroids – obviously he said no way.

So Lee consulted the naturopath to discuss his symptoms, and decided to go straight off gluten, radically. From one day to the next. And in just one week his body had already reacted in a noticeably positive way.

At first it was a little difficult for him to just stop eating everything he was used to. He had never had to deal with a food allergy (I’m lactose intolerant so I was used to replacing food products or going without some things I like). He thought it would be really hard to eat all the stuff he currently ate.

But we’ve now been able to find pretty much everything we need gluten free! There’s some great spots in London which we will upload our reviews on, and we will be sharing tips for those who need it, our own recipes, and where you can buy some gluten free products.

I hope you enjoy our take on all this and feel free to chip in with your own food intolerance stories or how  you manage with being gluten free. 🙂