While acknowledging the various efforts being made to make gluten-free foods more widely available, a married couple who live in the UK, and who both suffer from coeliac disease, tell Claire Caruana that having dietary restrictions can be quite a struggle.

Growing up in Malta, Martina Zammit* was always surrounded by bakeries. At home, fresh Maltese bread was always readily available and she ate it with all of her meals, sometimes having it up to three times a day. Martina considers ftira biż-żejt one of her favourite meals.

Five years ago, she felt unwell for a couple of weeks and then started struggling to eat products containing gluten. Foods she had eaten all her life suddenly started making her ill and she was soon diagnosed with coeliac disease.

When Martina met Robert* about four years ago, she was slowly getting to grips with living with coeliac disease. The couple eventually married last October and had to have special, gluten-free food ordered for her during the wedding.

Little did Robert expect then that only a few months later, he would start complaining of similar symptoms and would be diagnosed with coeliac disease too.

He admits that he is still struggling with changing his eating habits.

I grew up eating sandwiches every day for lunch and it’s quite difficult to break the habit of a lifetime

“Lunchtime at work is the hardest. I grew up eating sandwiches every day for lunch and it’s quite difficult to break the habit of a lifetime,” he says.

He is quick to add that he also misses pizza as the gluten-free alternative is not as appetising.

“In my case, it’s ftira and pastries. The alternatives just don’t taste same,” points out Martina.

The couple enjoys travelling and eating out, two activities that may be affected by the dietary requirements of coeliac sufferers. However, Martina believes there has been a drastic improvement over the past five years and today there seems to be more awareness about the disease.

“I think things are better off than they were five years ago. Take supermarkets for instance, they now have dedicated aisles stocked up with gluten-free products.

“Some restaurants cater for persons with coeliac disease by providing gluten-free menus,” she says.

Robert admits he was quite surprised to learn that coeliac disease is much more common than he initially thought and agrees with Martina that there are quite a number of alternatives to products with gluten.

Both agree making an effort to only consume gluten-free products is crucial to avoiding the discomfort that comes with eating food which contains gluten.

Martina is adamant that planning ahead is an important element of tackling the problem in the best way.

“Always try to plan ahead. If you’re invited to a birthday dinner or something similar, advice the hosts in advance so that the necessary arrangements can be made.”

Robert says he tends to check menus in advance when possible, so he ensures that there are gluten-free options. Yet he points out this might not always be a viable option.

“There are times when you cannot really check the food available in advance. I try not to worry about it beforehand and don’t make too much of a fuss,” he says. “However, in most situations, I try to avoid products with gluten completely.”

* Names have been changed.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.