Living Easy As A Celiac
Sharat Varma
A Gluten Free Life: My Celiac Story by Jeeva Anna George and Sheila Kumar HarperCollins India, New Delhi, 2018, 224 pp., 269
August 2018, volume 42, No 8

AGluten Free Life:My Celiac Story lives up to its title. It is the story of Jeeva and her life as a celiac. Anyone from an urban, metropolitan background can relate to the story. In an easygoing narrative, she brings forth the issues persons diagnosed with celiac would encounter. Questions regarding its manifestation, whether it is genetic, what can a person eat, as also thoughts that normally ail any patient once diagnosed—why me, why now—are dealt with in the book. Coming from a personal perspective, they are easy to grasp, lucid and very day to day. These are things your gastroenterologist can never prepare you for, unless he/she is a celiac! Being a non-celiac gastroenterologist, it would be my reference book for those who have been recently diagnosed.

I would recommend this book for any celiac person, also for the friends and spouse. While it describes unimaginable scenarios to be addressed—delays in a connecting flight—stranded on airports, airline meals—it also gives hope, and practical tips on how to deal with such situations. Carrying along gluten free emergency rations, spotting the right food, connecting and speaking to people about your needs are some of the suggestions. Speaking up, informing the host, and advocacy to address the basic right of food and information about ingredients are very important.

The section on home remedies, which almost all Indian households love to practice, is fun and helpful. The recipes, I am sure, would be most thumbed pages of the book. Easy to make, suited for an Indian palate and related to our traditional grains, they will add variety to the diet of readers.

Continue reading this review