Coeliac disease is a serious autoimmune condition where the body attacks and damages its own tissue within the gut, in response to eating gluten. Gluten is the protein found in wheat rye and barley. It can also contaminate oats but is not naturally present within them. 1 in 100 people in the UK have coeliac disease, but many go undiagnosed. If it’s left untreated it can cause damage to the gut, poor absorption of nutrients and other health complications such as osteoporosis.
Some people have no symptoms at all, but potential symptoms can be split into a couple of categories. For example digestive: loose stools, reflux, flatulence, abdominal pain, vomiting, constipation and weight loss. Also non-digestive: iron deficiency, dermatitis herpetiformis (skin rash), osteoporosis/osteopenia, mouth ulcers, headaches, anxiety, depression, fatigue and brain fog.
The only treatment for coeliac disease is a strict gluten-free diet. We know how hard this can be and it can often feel impossible to enjoy food and eat out in the same way after your diagnosis. A coeliac dietitian can provide advice on how to reverse the intestinal damage from consuming gluten and improve your gut symptoms. Many people with coeliac disease also experience other dietary intolerances and gut health conditions, despite strictly following a gluten-free diet. We can help you understand symptoms and provide tailor-made dietary advice to improve your gut health. We have clinical experience of managing the complications from coeliac disease, including osteoporosis, iron deficiency anaemia, fertility issues and nutritional deficiencies.
Our coeliac dietitian experts will give you support on how to follow a nutritionally balanced and tasty gluten-free diet, so get in touch if you’d like to book a consultation!
Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a rare allergic condition which can be seen in both adults and children where the oesophagus (food pipe) becomes inflamed resulting in a range of symptoms including swallowing difficulties, reflux and/or food impaction. EoE is diagnosed by taking a symptom history and biopsy of the oesophagus. The tissue samples are then studied for the number of eosinophils and an eosinophil count of over 15 per high power field confirms the diagnosis of EoE. EoE is a delayed (non IgE mediated) allergy. Elimination diets are effective in treating EoE. However these elimination diets need to be supervised by a trained dietitian and when following an elimination diet one needs to go for a repeat endoscopy to assess your response to the diet.
