Whether you’re a newly diagnosed celiac, someone living with a celiac or you’ve been diagnosed and living gluten free for years; books are invaluable resources. With celiac disease becoming so widespread the selection of celiac disease books out there are countless. When Sami was newly diagnosed I threw myself into every book I could find. Celiac disease and gluten free were words completely unknown to me and I felt so overwhelmed. Sami was sick for a few years before she was properly diagnosed. After finding out my child has this disease that I’ve never heard of and if she eats what we considered to be normal food, she’ll get deathly ill, I basically walked around with the deer caught in the headlights look on my face! I was questioning everything, can she eat this?? can she eat that?? how do I know if this is gluten free?? What the hell is gluten anyway?? Is wheat free the same as gluten free?? (which by the way is No!) My head was spinning and I didn’t sleep for months! If your head is spinning and you’re feeling overwhelmed, which I’m sure you are, hang in there. Read some books, educate yourself and I promise, you’ll get a grasp on it.
BOOKS BOOKS AND MORE BOOKS!!
The first book I bought that really helped me when Sami was newly diagnosed was Kids with Celiac Disease – A Family Guide to Raising Happy, Healthy, Gluten-Free Children. It does a really good job of covering everything a family should know about raising a gluten free kid. There’s menu planning, how to grocery shop, how to deal with school and kids parties. There’s even a section on junk food! If you have a newly diagnosed kid, I’d recommend checking out this book. I still have my copy!
Another really good one is Celiac Disease for Dummies. I don’t know about you, but I love the dummies series of books. This one was written by a couple of doctors. It’s an awesome guide. It’s informative, practical and super easy to read.
If you’re looking for some good recipes – I have four cookbooks by Bette Hagman, The Gluten Free Gourmet. Her cookbook, More from the Gluten Free Gourmet, is where we got our favorite recipe for gluten free bread.
For some kid friendly recipes check out Incredible Edible Gluten Free Food for Kids. These are awesome recipes for young kids. Chicken nuggets, mac & cheese, pizza etc…
If you’re someone who likes magazines, I’d recommend Living Without’ s Gluten Free & More. I love this magazine. I like that it’s more than just a recipe magazine. It has tons of interesting articles about allergies, new products and medical treatment.
Like I said earlier, there’s tons and tons of celiac disease books out there. These are just a few that I personally own and have found useful. As with anything, the more you read the more informed you’ll become. Happy reading!!
