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gluten free diets
We are planning a trip to London and Paris this winter and will be travelling with our 16 year old daughter who has recently been diagnosed with celiac disease. She can not tolerate products contaning gluten. Has anyone had any experiences with this. We wonder how easily we will find restaurants and food shops to accomodate her needs.
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If you search this forum under 'gluten' you'll find a number of posts from people with the same problem. Having a sister who is celiac, I can sympathize. There will be health food shops with specific product but restaurants in Paris may be a problem - good to have the translation card.
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My husband is a celiac, and we have successfully used the translation cards when we travel. We find that both French and British waiters seem to have an understanding of the dietary requirements.
A couple of tips--Pret a Manger serves very nice salads with grilled chicken, which make for a nice lunch and Chinese restaurants usually have some good choices, just remember to avoid brown sauce or anything with soy sauce. Grilled meats and steamed veggies are available in most places, just request no sauce. Rotisserie chicken is an easy, safe choice. Macarons and creme brulee are good dessert choices along with fruit and ice cream. We usually stay in apartments, so we purchase cheese, milk, gluten-free cereal, yoghurt, and rice cakes to have on hand. Most supermarkets carry a range of gluten-free crackers and bread as well. Good luck, you will find it is not hard to maintain her diet. Barb |
I'm 33 and have celiac as well and I was actually pleasantly surprised what I was able to find in the markets when I was in London a couple of years ago. I was staying with a friend just outside of London and was able to find what I needed in the organic sections of the store, which I think where colored coded green or orange?
Found some really good mini gluten-free pizza crusts and some fresh mozzarella. Recommend picking up some awesome lemon (other flavors too) gluten-free wafer cookies, that I also bring with me from home some gluten-free rice pasta and some gluten-free pretzels, that way I always have something safe to eat when I was out and about. Hopefully she's not as picky eater as I am, don't like salads, so I am really limited. General rule, watch out for anything that's breaded or includes a sauce. Good luck and have fun! BTW, here are some places to get gluten-free food in the states in case you don't know of them already. http://www.grandmaferdons.com - love the pizza crusts http://www.glutenfree.com http://www.glutenfreemall.com/catalog http://www.celiacspecialtiesshop.com |
In London, you're likely to see chains of healthfood stores like Holland & Barrett where you can get packaged gluten-free foods (bread, biscuits, etc).
http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/pages/stores.asp Pret-a-Manger has gluten-free sandwich and gluten-free cake (usually 1 kind each). Many restaurants can accomodate gluten-free, though it helps if you call them beforehand. |
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