Coeliac Awareness Week 2016

Help spread the word about Coeliac Disease during this year’s campaign sponsored by Coeliac UK to improve the diagnosis rates as it is believed in the region of half a million people remain undiagnosed. Coeliac Disease is a life-long, auto immune condition where the body’s immune system reacts to gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye. The body’s reaction causes damages to the lining of the intestine where food and nutrients are absorbed. This can cause malnutrition and a range of other symptoms. It can be tricky to diagnose as the symptoms are so diverse including, stomach pains, fatigue, regular mouth ulcers, anaemia, fatigue, skin rash, gas and bloating, diarrhoea, constipation, nausea or unexplained weight loss. The digestive symptoms are similar to those of irritable Bowel Syndrome so the two conditions can easily get confused. If you are thought to have IBS it may be worth being checked for Coeliac Disease as well.

If you have a family member then you have an increased risk of having the condition too as do people with type 1 Diabetes and autoimmune thyroid disease. The first step to diagnosis is to talk to your GP about having a simple blood test which looks for antibodies produced when gluten is eaten and if this is positive you may be referred for further tests.

This year Coeliac UK are asking us to join in with their Thunderclap campaign and spread the word via social media including “symptom selfies” to help raise awareness of this debilitating condition. For more information on this visit the website at www.coeliac.co.uk

TV chef, Phil Vickery supports the campaign and you can find some of his recipes on his website as well as information about his Gluten Free Cookery Book.

Foods typically containing gluten are breads, cakes, biscuits, pastry, pasta and breakfast cereals but don’t worry too much about this as Natures Healthbox can supply you with a wide range of delicious alternatives. Many of our customers choose to eat these products even without having a diagnosis as they think they taste better !!

We are supporting the Coeliac Awareness Week and are giving you guys 10% OFF the entire Gluten Free range we offer. Simply use voucher code COELIAC10 at checkout.