Health journalist Alex Gazzola specialises in writing about food sensitivities - including coeliac disease. His book, "Coeliac Disease: What you need to know", was released earlier this summer. Here he tells us how and why he came to write it, and also shares his experiences with the gluten free challenge in May.

"Why did you write a book about coeliac disease?"

This is a question I’m often asked, especially when I tell people I don’t have a problem with gluten.

I guess it all started about eight years ago, when my publisher Sheldon Press asked me to write a book about food intolerance "Living with Food Intolerance". I knew very little about the subject, but the more I researched, the more fascinated I became. There was a whole world out there of people who reacted in all sorts of unusual ways to a huge range of foods - some seriously, some less so. I interviewed many, and they told me similar stories: how ignored and misunderstood they felt, how people assumed they were faddy eaters or dieters, how difficult it was having to constantly read food labels, how tough it was to eat out safely, how badly it affected their health, and much more besides. Some were desperately unhappy and unwell. I wanted to help them.

When Living with Food Intolerance came out in 2005, the subject was beginning to attract more attention, with a few celebrities eliminating wheat and dairy. The book was well received, and the feedback was so positive that I followed up a year later with Living with Food Allergy, a book aimed at those with more serious immune reactions to foods such as nuts, fish and eggs.

I’d covered coeliac disease briefly in my first book, but as I wrote more regularly about it for various newspapers and magazines, I realised there was a lot of exciting and important stuff going on in coeliac world, which those with the condition weren’t always aware of, and which I felt would make a good book. New labelling laws were due to come into effect in 2012, there were lots of studies and other research going on into potential treatments and cures, there was a lot happening in the ever-growing gluten-free food sector… Things were changing, in other words.

Eventually, I convinced my editors that there was a need for a readable book, packed with useful, topical and updated information about coeliac disease - which was as suitable for those starting out on their gluten-free journeys as it was for those who have been coeliacs for some time and were looking for 'refresher'.

I undertook a lot of research – many, many weeks’ worth, to supplement all the work I’d been doing over the years. Interviews with doctors, dietitians, gastroenterologists, healthcare workers and, of course, coeliacs all proved invaluable. Many issues emerged from these conversations and drove the content of the book. One example was the emotional aspects of coping with the condition. At diagnosis, some said they felt angry, some were in denial, some became stressed – and some, of course, were relieved. After diagnosis, some said they became frustrated, others embarrassed, and others depressed. I felt it important to include a chapter in the book about this emotional rollercoaster – and how to manage it, and recover from it. I hope a lot of people who are struggling with the issues will find it useful.

Curiously, I experienced a tiny fraction of what the ‘coeliac blues’ must be like when I undertook Coeliac UK’s Gluten Free Challenge in May earlier this year. While nothing in comparison to what coeliacs have to manage, seven days of eating gluten-free for this lifelong pasta fan was not easy but it was ultimately a rewarding experience, which I wrote about every evening on my blog.

I was afraid I’d learn something during the week which I’d neglected to put into my book, but was relieved that this didn’t happen – but it did bring home the reality of gluten-free living in a new way. I’d experimented with gluten exclusion during my research, and obviously became a bit obsessed with reading labels. I knew living with coeliac disease was difficult socially, for instance, and I knew options were limited. But to actually live it, if only for a little while, brought it home more clearly. I think what I missed most of all was the luxury of choice and culinary freedom: not having to worry about what was going into my mouth. Thank goodness for DS-gluten free Ciabatta Rolls, on which I practically survived at lunchtimes!

So, to come back to the original question - why did I write a book about coeliac disease? Well, I wrote it to offer a no-nonsense, positive and informative guide to a group of people who struggle to navigate that complicated minefield of labelling, nutrition, eating out, and staying healthy that a coeliac diagnosis sets out before them. I wrote it because I felt coeliacs needed a reference guide to support them when a question was troubling them, and when they didn’t feel confident in the information available on the wilds of some parts of the internet. I wrote it because I was passionate about the subject, and wanted to raise awareness of it.

I know some will (and do) question why a non-coeliac should have written such a book, but I see my role as an intermediary - for instance, between coeliacs and the complex medical world and labelling laws out there. As a health researcher and writer, it’s my job to understand all that scientific and legal stuff, cut through it, and deliver exactly 'what you need to know', as simply as possible.

Not being a coeliac also allows me to keep my emotions out of it, remain unbiased and reflect the world of all coeliacs. Were I a coeliac, there’d be a danger of writing a book for me - rather than for you - or even about me. It’s definitely a book for you, and about you!

If you’ve read the book, I’d love to hear your thoughts - which will help enormously with any future revised edition - and if you feel there’s an issue in coeliac disease that deserves to be researched and written or blogged about, then do let me know!

To find out more about Alex you can visit his website, blog or follow him on twitter @HealthJourno.




Leave a reply