When I first got ill, it seemed to be a mix of stress, tiredness and all-in-my-head-ness. Doctor's had ruled out thyroid (my mum has underactive thyroid) on several occasions. It wasn't until after about six months of feeling like crap, they told me I was anaemic. In hindsight, amongst everything else, the doctor probably should've looked into this a bit more carefully alongside all my other symptoms, but I optimistically moved onto my family's GP for him to do some more digging. The optimism didn't last. He had zero interest in the slightest, if anything, he made me feel like I was just wasting his time. If I even mentioned anything to him his response was 'you're 22, you're meant to feel like that' to 'I know, I have a pHd'. The first time round, I was given some iron tablets and sent on my way. The plan was once I'd finished my prescription of them to go back for more bloods. When I returned, feeling even worse than I did before, tests showed that I was now vitamin D deficient, too. He gave me tablets and then told me to go and see some sunlight and I'll feel better in a week. Even with anaemia and a vitamin deficiency amongst everything else, he still told me there was nothing wrong with me. I got increasingly worse and the rest is history...
Many people who suffer with coeliac disease have iron and other vitamin deficiencies amongst the rest of their symptoms. Others include magnesium, zinc, vitamin K and essential fatty acids. The latter is one of many reasons for weight loss in coeliac sufferers and consequently malnutrition. If this is you, or you think that you may have any form of deficiency make sure that your GP is either prescribing you with something or recommending a store-bought supplement in order to treat it.
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| As my vitamin D and iron levels are fixing since my diagnosis, I've bought a general multivitamin, probiotic and aloe vera from Holland & Barrett |
Once diagnosed, it's important to keep your meals and snacks packed full of the vitamins and minerals that you need. For the sake of keeping risks of osteoporosis at bay, the general population's calcium requirements are less than coeliacs, and calcium deficiency is common post-diagnosis. A lot of gluten-free substitute meals are fortified with calcium and iron to help keep levels up at a healthy level among other vitamins.
A lot of your required vitamins and minerals can be found in dairy and eggs, two things that are, as you already know, off the menu for me. The majority of non-dairy milks are fortified as are some egg replacements, but it's important to know alternatives that are also providers of all the goodness that our bodies need.
There are common misconceptions when it comes to vitamins and minerals, especially in younger people. For example, I always associated vitamin C with just citrus fruits, iron with spinach and vitamin E with a really lovely Body Shop face cream I used to use! For those of you who are a bit like me, here are a few lesser-known sources of some of your key nutrients:
vitamin A: fortified milk, liver
vitamin B6: meat, non-citrus fruits
vitamin B12: fish, fortified cereals and grains
vitamin B6: meat, non-citrus fruits
vitamin B12: fish, fortified cereals and grains
vitamin C: dark green veggies, strawberries, tomatoes
vitamin D: butter, fatty fish, eggs
vitamin E: salad dressing, nuts, seeds
calcium: broccoli, white beans, kale, almonds
magnesium: wholegrains, seafood, cocoa
iron: dried fruit, eggs, poultry
