6th November 2023
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Being gluten-free is about ten times harder as a student. I was diagnosed as coeliac about ten years ago, so I’ve been gluten free for longer than I haven’t. When I was first diagnosed, I assumed it was just about not eating bread, and it wasn’t until I came to uni that it became a more prevalent issue in my life. Now that I’m responsible for cooking and food shopping, I have to think about it constantly. Worst of all, free food on campus or Lidl bakery treats are off limits!
Counting down from the least offensive is the assumption that I am the spokesperson of all coeliacs. Everyone’s experience with coeliac disease is different! When I was 10 I found out that I couldn’t eat bread and biscuits and Colin the Caterpillar (though now a gluten free version is available!) and that was that. I didn’t really start to understand what coeliac disease is until university. Even now, I’m mostly just upset I can’t eat the Freshers Fair freebies.
It might seem easy but cross-contamination means a lot of gluten-free food is still not coeliac safe. Salad seems like a safe option, but croutons and dressings are all a no-go. Even sushi isn’t safe! Chips are my usual safe (ish) option; however, when chips are your healthiest option, you do begin to despair. I might combust if I have to suffer soggy chips one more time whilst everyone else gets a lovely pizza.
But somehow going out for food is even worst. Restaurants say they have a gluten-free option but don’t say what it is until it’s too late. I once had to pay 18 pounds for a salad which ended up being 3 chunks of pumpkin and a handful of rocket. Horrific. Again, cross-contamination is an issue! You have to wait awkwardly whilst the waiter hunts down a manager to take your order and then you have to sit there whilst they show you a disclaimer about cross-contamination. Truly humbling.
The simple solution would be to eat at home. But there are some foods that really can’t be made gluten free. One of my friends has taken up a new hobby of breadmaking, which poses a bit of an issue for me. They very kindly offered to make me gluten-free bread but, unfortunately, despite their best efforts, gluten really is quite essential to bread and it’s a fine art to get something resembling bread without gluten. Instead of the lovely fresh loaf I was expecting, I had something with the texture of wet chalk and the taste of nail polish. On the plus side, coeliac makes you a less fussy eater!
To my final and most offensive point- it is so so so expensive! Why on earth does it cost £1.75 for the cheapest gluten-free loaf? It is half the size of the 50p gluten bread! I refuse to pay that price for something that crumbles as soon as you look at it. I can never be a stereotypical student because to eat frozen pizza and Pot Noodles for tea every night I would need a second student loan. I’ve had to learn to cook purely because I refuse to pay extortionate price of the Free From section.
However, the gluten-free lifestyle isn’t all bad. There are so many restaurants that are accommodating and coeliac-approved. There is more awareness yearly (300% increase in mentions in Parliament, according to Coeliac UK- cracking!) and there are more gluten-free alternatives coming out (did I mention the gluten-free Colin?). Besides, how many times do you get first pick at the buffet to avoid cross-contamination? Leave a party with more cake than the host because “there’s no point in us having the gluten-free stuff”? It makes you appreciate the foods you can eat so much more and it’s an excuse to buy as much cake as you want when you find a coeliac-friendly bakery. Plus, you learn to get creative with your meals! My uni house thinks I’m a pro chef because I make burgers and Yorky puds from scratch. I honestly don’t think I’d change my gluten-free lifestyle, even if I could.
To all the newly diagnosed coeliacs, good luck! It gets better, I promise.
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