5 Essential Gluten Free Christmas Tips to Remember
Christmas is a stressful time for coeliacs, but 5 core principles will make the holiday season easier to navigate
Hey Gluten Free Fam,
Mariah Carey is playing in every shop. Everyone is rushing to buy last minute prezzies. We’re cramming our calendar with social events. You guessed it - it’s nearly Christmas time!
For the majority once the preparations and plans are organised they can sit back, relax and indulge in all the food and drink they desire at any Christmas event without a worry. However, for those of us with coeliac disease, or who are strictly gluten free for other health reasons, the stress and planning can often continue right up until, and even on the day of, Christmas.
Having coeliac disease and navigating Christmas and the holidays is tricky. I’m only four years into it myself and I feel like I’ve got a good handle on it. When I was newly diagnosed, I was anxious, and rightly so. It’s bloody confusing, challenging and can feel overwhelming.
On the one hand we of course want to be involved in all the holiday celebrations with family, friends and work colleagues, but there’s always that one crucial element for us which needs careful consideration: the food. Christmas Day is one day out of the entire year we do not want to be glutened! There’s so much fun to be had and heaps of people to catch up with, many of which we haven’t seen for ages. In short, we want to be feeling at our best.
So how do we stay safe, happy and healthy during this time?
1) Communication Is Key
Speak to those hosting the event to double check what you are able to eat. Talk to them about what gluten free food can be prepared easily (plain meats, fish, vegetables, fruits, etc). Make them well aware of gluten cross contamination, may contain gluten statements and hidden gluten in various products.
Do this well in advance of Christmas so the caterers or hosts have a decent amount of time to know if they are able to prepare food safely for you. Coeliac Australia has a great checklist for dining out which you can read here.
2) Serve Yourself First
Try to serve yourself first if there is a help-yourself/ buffet situation. This avoids others touching your food with other gluten-containing utensils or gluten containing foods.
3) Bring Your Own Plate
If you’re comfortable and it’s encouraged at the event, bring a plate of something yourself. Make sure it’s labelled, wrapped and let the caterers or hosts know it must be kept separate from other gluten containing food, serving utensils, etc. This way you at least know you have something which is 100% safe. If possible, make it a filling dish (a nice big salad or bulky main) so you don’t go without if there’s not many options.
4) Gluten Free Snacks Are Your Friend
If you’ve sussed out the food situation and you’re getting a bad vibe that you’ll be glutened despite doing your absolute best to talk through how something can be prepared coeliac-safe with the hosts, have some gluten free snacks packed, eat beforehand, or both! This will fight off those hangry feelings and give you the energy to explain to old Aunt Betty why you can’t “just have one bite.”
5) Taking Focus Off the Food
It’s not all about the food. Remember, no matter if you’re able to eat all the food, a few things or hardly anything, it’s only one day and you’ll be able to eat all the gluten free food you desire later. Soak up the day itself: socialise, have fun and focus on the food you can eat rather than paying attention to what you cannot.
Have the Tough Conversations Early to Enjoy a Relaxing Gluten Free Christmas
Extra work with food safety preparation will pay off this Xmas
We do our best to seek out food where and when we can, educating others in the process about how to keep us safe but sometimes human error occurs and people do make mistakes. We do get glutened at times and that’s all part of the journey unfortunately when living with coeliac disease.
To give ourselves the best chance of having a safe and happy Christmas we need to go through the above checklists and have those awkward conversations (yes, with Aunt Betty too!) I promise, from my experience at least, all that preparation is worth it when those events roll around. You can relax knowing you’ve done your absolute best.
It can be a super awkward time to talk about the measures needed to keep our food safely prepared and served, yet doing so will help ensure we don’t get sick. But how do we communicate our gluten free needs in a calm way, prioritising our own physical and mental health?
In 2023 I sat down with eating disorder and body image expert psychologist Juliette Thomson for Episode 106 of A Gluten Free Podcast. We chatted about managing our mental health during Christmas and the holiday season when living with coeliac disease, the importance of planning and preparation during this time and how using self-care is pivotal.
