Do Coeliacs Have A Sweet Tooth?
I am certainly coeliac and often, when I have a coffee or a hot chocolate, when I’m travelling, I will ask if the cafe has a gluten-free cake to go with it.
Increasingly, I am getting disappointed. But then chains that speciallised in gluten-free like Carluccios and Leon have had a hard time lately and the rise of Greggs, Gails and Pret, who don’t do gl;uten-free doesn’t help.
Usually, whilst I watch, the BBC ten o’clock news, I will have a mug of decaffeinated tea, in which I will dunk, three M & S gluten-free ginger snaps.
After I was diagnosed as a coeliac, my late wife, once said she thought I would eat more biscuits and cakes.
So what does Google AI think, when I ask it the question in the title of this post?
This was the answer I received.
Yes, many people with coeliac disease have a sweet tooth, and it is a common experience to experience intensified sugar cravings after starting a gluten-free diet.
Here is why this happens and how it is managed:
Intensified Cravings: After eliminating gluten, some coeliacs experience strong cravings for sugar, ice cream, and chocolate.
This can occur because the body is suddenly deprived of high-carb foods, or due to underlying imbalances in gut bacteria.
Nutrient Absorption: In the early stages of a gluten-free diet, the body may be absorbing nutrients better for the first time, which can trigger intense hunger and cravings.
Hidden Sugar in GF Foods: Many processed gluten-free products—like biscuits and cakes—contain more sugar to improve taste and texture, which can satisfy, but also encourage, a sweet tooth.
Gut Health Factors: Some individuals suspect that sugar cravings are linked to candida (yeast) overgrowth, which is sometimes associated with coeliac disease.
I suspect with me sometimes, it can be, just because I’m hungry due to low availability of gluten-free snacks.
This week, when I went to Blackpool North, I changed trains at Wigan North Western station, where I bought a delicious lemon tart in the coffee stall.
Note.
- The delicious lemon tart came in the aluminium tray it was baked in. Could this be for protection, as the tart was still in one piece, after some time in my brief case.
- My pictures don’t do the tart justice.
- The coffee stall is on the Northbound platform.
- The toilets are under the Southbound platform, but are some of the cleanest, I’ve found on UK railways.
- Wigan North Western station is fully step-free.
- Wigan North Western station could be ready for High Speed Two trains.
Wigan North Western and Wigan Wallgate stations are only a short walk apart, so it is a well used interchange to get to Northern parts of Merseyside and Greater Manchester, from London and the South.
Does Ginger Make You Feel Good?
I ask this question, as yesterday, I ran out of the Marks & Spencer’s gluten-free stem ginger snap biscuits.
So after buying some this morning, I have just had three biscuits dunked in tea for my lunch.
I sometimes eat as many as four packets a week, so out of curiosity I asked Google AI, the question in the title of this post and received this reply.
Yes, ginger can make you feel good due to its many benefits, including easing nausea and indigestion, reducing inflammation, and improving circulation. It may also help relieve pain, boost energy levels, and promote relaxation, although it’s always best to consult a healthcare professional before taking supplements.
Google seems to be using this web page from Johns Hopkins Medicine, which is entitled Ginger Benefits, as a source.
I have a few extra thoughts about ginger.
Several Of The Posts On This Blog Have Mentioned Ginger
This link displays them all.
Where Have All The M & S Gluten Free Ginger Snaps Gone?
I eat a lot of Marks & Spencer’s gluten-free ginger snap biscuits.
Note.
- Three make a good snack.
- I find ginger is good for me.
- They are the best biscuits for dunking I’ve ever found.
But I’ve only found one lonely packet in the last two weeks.
And that was in Marks & Spencer’s Islington store, hidden away on the wrong shelf, all by itself.
Relief At Last
I was able to buy three packets in the Marks and Spencer Food Hall today, which is the 21st of May.
An Orange Pig
I found this on the Internet.
The Tamworth pig breed is known for its distinctive ginger or red-gold coat, making it a pig breed that can indeed be orange.
Where are the Tamworth Two these days?
A Tale Of Two Cataract Operations
I have now had two cataract operations.
There was a few weeks between the operations and in the interval they changed the machines.
- The first was a Leica and the second was a Zeiss.
There were no problems with either operation, but there were differences, particular in how I felt afterwards.
- With the first, I was slightly more uncomfortable and had a slight amount of pain in my left eye. But the pain was nothing that a few ginger biscuits couldn’t cure.
- With the second, I’ve had no pain at all and the eye looks less red. I was able to take the dressing off in the evening and go out the next day, which I couldn’t do after the first.
Now fifty-four hours after the operation, my eyes are back to normal. I can even type this without putting on my glasses.
Conclusion
I would suggest that before you have a cataract operation, you make sure the surgeon will be using the latest machines.
I Don’t Generally Take Pain Killers
I have taken pain killers rarely in my life, but only when I get serious pain.
But since the cataract operation, I have felt a bit of light pain in my left eye.
So I’ve resorted to taking three of these large pain-killers.
Usually, I dunk them in a cup of tea.
I’ve always liked ginger and they have been my favourite biscuits since I was about six.
I also used to see a Jamaican nurse in a former GP practice for my B12 injections and she was fulsome in her praise for the spice and what it can do.
Dr. Google also finds evidence that they help.
However, who cares, so long as I think they work.
Back Home After The Operation
I’m back home and now wearing a fetching eye-shield.
But why are both eyes and my nose running so much?
I’m not in any pain, but the right eye seems to be the most uncomfortable and that wasn’t touched.
But then my left eye was always the most sensitive and every time, I get a fly in it, it is always a visit to A & E.
I seem to have calmed things down a bit, by drinking lots of tea and eating M & S gluten-free ginger biscuits dunked in the tea.
But then as a child, I was always dunking ginger biscuits in tea.
Whilst I was married I didn’t, as C thought it was a bad habit.
Who Stole All The M & S Gluten-Free Food?
Over the last few weeks, certain gluten-free lines in Marks and Spencer have started getting difficult to find.
Some of the things, I like that have been difficult have included.
- Ginger snap biscuits.
- Gluten-free pies
- Scones
- Bloomer slices
- Gluten-free muesli
Note that my supper is usually something I cook myself from scratch or one of the many M & S ready meals, that contain no gluten. It is usually washed down by a bottle of Adnams low-alcohol beer and followed by some fruit. Tonight, the fruit will be one of my favourites, which are strawberries and bananas.
I did think that the shortage of the lines I mentioned was due to a supply problem.
But then, there have not been shortages of other lines, that I buy, that are not specifically gluten-free.
So is it some gluten-free suppliers are having problems? Possibly.
But!
Regular readers of this blog will know that I believe that those coeliacs on a long-term gluten free diet seem to be unlikely to suffer a severe dose of the dreaded covids. There was no battle with the second dose!
I know for a start that my immune system gives short shift to any viral invaders, as it did with the AstraZeneca vaccine before they came to a truce.
So have others, including some with more medical knowledge than myself, come to the same conclusion about coeliac disease, the immune system, gluten and the covids and have gone gluten-free for safety?
For example, I’ve heard that those suffering from long covid have been tested for coeliac disease.
I’d love to be able to analyse the sales of gluten-free food.
Second Time Around For A Lockdown
What is different this time around, is that I’ve had three months practice and I believed it would come, so I stocked up with essentials.
My Dalstonista grandmother regretted in the Great War, she didn’t stock up, so wasn’t caught out in the Second, with a hundredweight of both jam and sugar in the cellar.
My essentials are a bit different.
- Adnams Beer – 0.5 % alcohol.
- Tins of sardines in tomato.
- Gluten-free pasta
- Muesli
- Pots of porridge.
- Pots of M & S luxury honey & ginger yoghurt. For adding to fruit, muesli and as a pasta sauce.
- Ready meals in the freezer.
I would assume, I can get gluten-free bread, bananas, milk and eggs, when I need them.
Gloria Gaynor’s song is in my brain.
My Essential Foods
These are my essential foods on which I base a lot of my diet.
Note.
- I find most flavours acceptable.
- I prefer honeydew melon, mango, pineapple and strawberry, but hate watermelon.
- The honey and ginger flavour yoghurt is best and makes good pasta sauce.
- Blueberry muffin and cocoa orange are my two favourite flavours.
- Most Marks and Spencer bread is good, but this is my staple.
- I add to the granola – C would be surprised that apricots are on the list.
- With two eggs, a tin makes a good quick meal.
Most of these foods seem to have come from Marks and Spencer
The Anonymous Widower 