After discovering that her extreme exhaustion was caused by gluten intolerance, Ita O'Kellydispensed with the contradictory views of some experts and decided to deal with life as a coeliac on her own terms

THE DAY I was diagnosed a coeliac, four years ago, I cried but my husband cheered. He was delighted because, as he saw it, it meant there was nothing wrong with me. I cried because I thought that my life was just about over. My immediate assumptions were that I would never be able to eat out again, live a normal life, go on holidays. But more than anything, I thought: “I am never going to be able to enjoy my food again.”

I have always been slim, and a naturally busy, active person who loves food. When I was six years old my mother called me “the epicure”.

But before I was diagnosed, I found gradually that I was profoundly shattered and exhausted all the time. I had lost weight but hadn’t really noticed because I don’t own weighing scales. I had dark circles under my eyes, my skin was itchy, my teeth were flaring up. My GP told me that I “should eat up”.

It was when my long hair began falling out that I began to get truly worried. With a new baby about to come into our lives, I knew that I simply didn’t have time to be so tired.

In a fit of pique I found a new GP, and within 10 minutes she told me she had a hunch that I was a coeliac. I was sceptical, but agreed to the blood tests. They came back with very high readings for gluten antibodies. I was a coeliac.

I was referred to a specialist, who glibly informed me that “most of my coeliacs are on Prozac”. I told him that I was interested in getting better, not in tasting antidepressants for the first time in my life, and left.

I then met a dietitian who told me that dealing with the condition was “easy”. But informing a westerner that he or she can never ingest any wheat products again is a bit like telling a Chinese person that they can never again eat rice. “Easy” is not the word I would have used. I challenge you to go into any coffee shop at lunchtime and find anything other than sandwiches, paninis, muffins, bagels, scones or cakes.

I then joined the Irish Coeliac Society and became the owner of a little green book of 280 pages, telling me what I could and could not eat. I was advised to bring this to the supermarket and cross-check everything I bought. Oh, and I had to read all the ingredients in products as well (sadly, nobody supplied me with a magnifying glass for this task). After two hours in the supermarket my trolley was far from full, and I decided that if I had to be a coeliac I would do it on my own terms.

I LEARNED THAT if a coeliac eats gluten, it triggers a response which destroys the villi in the intestines, thus interfering with the absorption of nutrients. Suffice it to say that an endoscope established that my intestines were more like a wooden floor than the shag-pile carpet they should have been. But, more positively, I learned that the villi would grow back as long as I ate no gluten.

It is a normal response for a newly diagnosed coeliac to become truly terrified of eating gluten. As a result, many sufferers exist on an appallingly narrow diet which, though gluten-free, is not healthy or nutritious. To me, that’s not living; it is subsisting. I ate as well as I could, and I got better at it. I was anaemic, and that was why I had been tired all the time, but my energy started to come back.

I started to eat out again. In Lucan, I located a Sicilian restaurant that makes gluten-free pizza which tastes as if it’s gluten-filled. Every time I got a desire for pizza, we made our way to Prego’s. We still do.

I then travelled to China and was pleasantly surprised at how well-fed I was over a three-week period. Apart from wheat noodles, I could eat virtually everything on every menu, because the Chinese use cornflour rather than wheat flour. And I discovered rice noodles.

It took me two years to put on 3.6kg/8lb, but my doctor told me that I was one of her success stories! Looking after a small but very energetic baby probably helped to slow down my weight gain. I also learned that when you have a baby, your needs come way down the priority list, and that babies don’t hear you when you tell them you are tired.

It is probably true to say that I have never eaten so well as a coeliac as when we travelled to the Amalfi Coast in Italy last year. In the home of pizza and pasta, you would imagine that a coeliac would not necessarily be the best-fed customer. But I can tell you I ate like a lord for lunch and dinner. There was nothing I couldn’t have from any menu.

All things being equal, I would rather I wasn’t a coeliac, but you have to deal the cards you are given. The bonus is that coeliacs are rarely fat because, if their diet is good, it is one of the healthiest of all.

I don’t dream of eating doughnuts because I never had a particularly sweet tooth, but I still hope that one day some baker will make coeliac bread that you would get up in the night for.

The symptoms, the statistics and the cure: Getting the menu right

Coeliac diseaseis an autoimmune genetic disorder of the digestive system, which damages the small intestine when gluten is eaten. Gluten is a protein that is present in wheat, rye and barley. The disorder is most prevalent in Italy and Ireland. When coeliacs eat gluten, their immune systems respond by damaging the villi, the finger-like protrusions that line the small intestine and allow nutrients from food to be absorbed. Without healthy villi, people become malnourished no matter how much food they eat. A simple blood test can establish whether or not someone is suffering from the disorder.

Dermot Kelleher, professor of clinical medicine at Trinity College Dublin and a consultant at St James's Hospital, believes that awareness about coeliac disease in Ireland is increasing.

"We have among the highest incidence of coeliac disease in the world," he says. "It is probably around one in 140 people. The arrival a few years ago of the TTG antibody blood test now makes diagnosis easier and more straightforward. The classic symptoms of coeliac disease are many and varied, including anaemia, fatigue, loss of weight, osteoporosis, diarrhoea, infertility, dermatitis and upset stomach.

If you have any concerns about the possibility of being coeliac, you should not hesitate to go to your GP for a test."

COOKING FOR A coeliac can be difficult. But it is not impossible. Here is a quick guide to some of the gluten-free products available in supermarkets:

Pasta

Regular pasta is off the menu, but most gluten-free (GF) pastas are good if you don't overcook them. No decent pasta sauce should contain wheat flour.

Bread

Decent GF bread is a problem, and many brands are horrible, though Livewell naan bread, from major supermarkets, is an exception. Spelt bread is not GF.

Meat/fish/chicken

All are suitable as long as they are not coated in flour/breadcrumbs.

Soy sauce/balsamic vinegar

Both are made with malt, which is derived from wheat. Use tamari soy and wine vinegar, from health food stores.

Olives/vegetables

All vegetables are suitable, as are olives, olive oil, butter and Flora margarine.

Flour/baking powder

Neither are GF. Instead, use Odlums tritamyl flour and GF baking powder. Cornflour is coeliac-friendly.

Gravy/stocks/soups

Most of these contain wheat flour. Use Kallo GF stock cubes. Oxo is not GF.

Mayonnaise/pre-pack salads

Hellmann's is GF, though many industrial mayonnaises are not. Many shop-bought salads contain non-GF mayo and are toxic to coeliacs.

Rice cakes

Not all rice cakes are free of gluten as they are often made in factories making gluten-containing foods. Kallo rice cakes are GF.

Salad dressing

Many salad dressings are not GF, so you'll need to check the label.

Alcoholic drinks

Most beers are not GF, but gluten-free beer is available at some off-licences. Wine, cider and most spirits are fine.

Crisps/nuts

Walkers salted crisps are free of gluten . Nuts are fine as long as they are not dry roasted with flavourings

Couscous/noodles

These are not gluten-free, but rice noodles are widely available

Sausages/burgers

GF sausages are available, but quality varies. Pre-made burgers usually contain breadcrumbs, so are not GF.

Cakes/biscuits

These contain wheat flour. There are many GF cakes and biscuits on sale, but most are disgustingly sweet. Glutafin chocolate digestives are an exception.

Chocolate

All pure chocolate is naturally GF, but not all chocolate products are.