Living the gluten-free way

"Take her home and feed her bananas," my parents were told as we left hospital.

It was the seventies. I was two-years-old and had just been diagnosed with coeliac disease, an intolerance to gluten.

My parents had never heard of it - nor it seemed had many of the medical staff who struggled when asked what I could eat - eventually coming up with the banana comment.

With ordinary bread, cakes and biscuits off limits, my mum spent hours in the ktichen trying to bake me alternatives with the then rather temperamental gluten-free flour.

As gluten-free food was the 'medicine' that would help me get better - I'd been a sickly baby failing to thrive - I was able to get some of it free on an NHS prescription.

It wasn't a total success. When I refused the biscuits they were put out for the birds but even they wouldn't touch them! And don't even get me started on the tinned bread...

I'm happy to say things have improved a lot over my lifetime.

Due to better awareness of the illness, many more people are being diagnosed. And even some people who don't have the condition - including celebrities such as Victoria Beckham - are choosing to avoid gluten as they believe it's healthier that way.

This is great news for me and other coeliacs as it means there is now a huge range of gluten free items in most supermarkets - everything from naan bread and speciality cakes to ice cream cones and even beer.

A few years ago on ITV Central I had my first taste of battered fish when a local chippie bought a special fryer devoted to making gluten-free batter.

And just this weekend I enjoyed a gluten-free pizza at a restaurant with my ITV Central colleagues - something that would have been impossible just a few years ago.

From our archives - My report on coeliac disease from 2007:

For more information on gluten free living go to the Coeliac UK website