For most of my life, I have loved freshly buttered toast with Marmite. It stems from when I was sent to boarding school when I was 12. I didn’t enjoy school, the food was disgusting and I wouldn’t eat it. But every night, I would make myself toast and Marmite for supper. It reminded me of home, as my Dad always liked Marmite. I found it comforting, and continued to enjoy the snack into adulthood.
But everything changed when I went traveling at the age of 26. I spent 21 months in Asia and South America, eating the cheapest food you could buy—usually pizza, pasta and noodles. It was very heavy on the gluten.
When I returned home to London in 2001, I didn’t feel right. Whenever I had bread, I felt bloated and uncomfortable. I was also conscious of the fact that I looked different—I thought I looked six months’ pregnant.
Following the bloating, I would feel very, very tired—almost to the point where I could fall asleep immediately.
I didn’t know what was wrong. I would be out for dinner with friends and then suddenly feel really tired. I’m a private person and I didn’t want to be a party pooper, so I would suffer through it, even though I felt uncomfortable.
This went on for four or five months. I wanted to know why I didn’t feel right in myself—I felt my body was telling me something for a reason. My parents recommended I see a good friend of theirs who was a dietitian. I was tested for coeliac disease, but the test came back negative.
The dietitian asked me to write a diary of everything I ate. I experimented with cutting out certain foods, but I still didn’t know which ones were causing me problems. Then I did an allergy test, and my dietitian diagnosed me with a severe gluten intolerance.
Even though I had been fine with gluten my whole life, she thought I might have developed an intolerance to it as I consumed so much of it while traveling.
Giving up gluten
I found it hard to give up gluten. A lot of going out involves going to pizza or pasta places and I felt too embarrassed when I was with my friends to say, “Oh I can’t eat that.” I didn’t want to be difficult. I missed a few parties because I didn’t know what I wouldeat.
But giving up gluten has been worth it. I’m more comfortable now—both physically, because it was uncomfortable when I was bloated, and mentally. Giving up gluten has made me feel happier with my appearance—not being bloated makes you look and feel better. It has made me feel more positive.
I also have more energy to do the sports I enjoy. I cycle, I play tennis and I love wild swimming. When I’m careful with what I eat, everything is a lot easier.
That’s not to say it has been an easy process. Even now, I feel anxious when friends ask me over because I think, should I say something about my gluten intolerance, or should I just eat what I can eat? I feel like I’m a nightmare dinner guest.
Adapting to a gluten-free life
Being gluten-free can be restrictive when you’re out at a restaurant. I still feel awkward telling the waiter that I’m gluten intolerant, and there is still a risk that they’ll accidentally add something with gluten to my food. I went out for dinner recently and told the restaurant I had a gluten intolerance. But as soon as I tucked into my meal, I knew it contained gluten because I was totally floored and felt like going to sleep on the spot.
There is a lot of food that you don’t realize contains gluten, like soy sauce. I eat quite a lot of sushi because it’s delicious, so now I carry gluten-free soy sauce in my handbag.
I find it much easier to cook for myself than go out for dinner. I’ve always enjoyed rice dishes, Thai food and anything spicy. I also enjoy eating meat with salad, or burgers in gluten-free buns. It wasn’t easy finding nice gluten-free buns. The quality of gluten-free food is not great, and I feel it hasn’t improved much in the last 20 years.
I have totally given up gluten now for over 20 years. I find it slightly frustrating that I can’t just eat what I want. But no matter how much I love freshly buttered toast with Marmite, I know that feeling good in my body is more important.
Katie Roberton is a designer in London. She runs the ceramics store Outlandish Creations.
All views expressed in this article are the author’s own.
As told to Katie Russell.
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