Friday 28 October 2011

Lethal chocolate cravings

One of the things I miss about not knowing I was a coeliac was eating anything, particularly lollies etc, without checking labels! I had the reaction, I won't even pretend to lie about that, but I became so used to how I felt, bad, almost had a constant puffer fish, exhausted, to the point of lying down at work, to rest, so I could drive home, my iron and iron storage levels were 4, they are meant to be in the low 100's! I even had iron injections! But as I've said in the past, I have a weakness for sweet food, lollies and chocolate (though that's more hormonally triggered)! Now my nutritionist told me that lollies that say glucose from wheat that's ok, it's when there is glucose from starch and other things, that it's a no go zone, full of gluten. Sometimes I treat myself to the occasional Frys turkish delight, which has some gluten, the occassional one is ok, even had the approval from the nutritionist! Sometimes I know, my sweet tooth lures me into a false sense of security regarding any amounts of gluten in various lollies. I recently purchased a packet of clinkers, from memory, I did quicky glance at the ingredients list, (more out of habit than anything else) A glance it must have been, I saw glucose from wheat, I knew that was OK, but obviously that was as far as my glance went!!! I've had clinkers before, but I msut have refrained only having a few each serve! This time there was no refraining, (I'll blame hormones!) All my female readers will understand the almost animalistic need for chocolate, just once a month, but it's very powerful !! This particular day, I honestly would have to say at lease half to 3/4 of the packet of clinkers were eaten in a relatively short period of time! The chocolate craving was satisfied, but only for a short period of time. Within an hour I soon realised that there must have been some gluten in the large portions of clinkers I had eaten !! For some reason when I eat too many lolly based chocolate (accidently) that contains gluten, the affect is not the puffer fish. Let's say, the affect has to do with the production of very powerful and potent methane gas ! I'm not over re-acting on this unfortunately, it's something that's so strong it makes the eys of even myself water and is almost guaranteed to evacuate a room virtually immediately !! You might ask why I share this, but this is part of being a coeliac, it's better to share these stories to know others out their aren't alone. My overall advice is no matter how bad the cravings for chocolate are, stick to the plain chocolate or something you are sure is 100% gf. Or if you want to annoy your partner, family etc. this will always work and you can blame coeliac disease !! he he. Let me know if this has happened to your or your friend or family member.