My non coeliac boyfriend

Does anyone else feel that there diagnosis has affected their relationship? I think it has ours, but in a good way. Which is a relief now I think about it.

Obviously there are downsides for him. The boyfriend now gets less say in where we eat, and the range of places we eat out is narrower. But on the upside we eat healthier food, and we put a lot more thought into what we eat.

Not to mention how thoughtful and considerate boyfriend is about the whole thing. Sometimes, I would get frustrated or annoyed and go crazy with some sweets or crisps that contain gluten if it wasn’t for his calm and consistent support. Also, we are travelling in some countries where there is so little awareness of coeliac disease and gluten intolerance that constantly explaining to people and seeing the ‘this girl is insane’ look gets really exhausting, if not demoralising. Having someone there with me who is on my side makes so much difference! Plus, he doesn’t drink beer either; we stand united!

That being said, and maybe I’m crazy, I do wonder if I get any gluten from him. While we are travelling he mops up all the free bread that comes with meals etc. and he loves oats for breakfast. I am considering if he himself could be a source of contamination when we kiss.

Either way, travelling with me, this disease affects him too, and he’s great about it. So thank you to him. AND to all the supportive boyfriends, girlfriends, spouses, families and friends that keep us happy and help us feel normal!

Is anyone else worried that gluten might spread from their lips to yours?

My gluten free struggle

As much as I try to eat healthy, satisfying and safe food there are times when I have to confess that the world doesn’t seem set up for coeliacs yet. One of those times has been the last few days.

In Bolivia, a series of stomach upsets (gluten caused or not, who knows?) meant that I retreated to the safest foods. By which I mean something in a packet with an allergen statement that did not  mention gluten. (Normally I would consider fresh homecooked food safest, but with no kitchen and no way of cleaning fresh fruit, this is second best). This also meant junk food.

As ashamed as I am to admit it, I existed for nearly three days on skittles, milky ways and nestle trencito (chocolate). I wasn’t happy about it, but I felt safe and it got me past the worst of my tummy troubles. It helps that I had little appetite anyway.

Of course there have been consequences. Cravings, majorly pissed off skin and guilt that I deprived my body of nutrients mainly.

This for me is the worst of travelling. I can’t whip up my own bone broth when I think I’ve been glutened, I don’t always know what will make me worse, and I don’t have any trusted place to eat out; everywhere is new, and a leap of faith. Sometimes it feels I have to make a choice between junk food and nothing. And, I’m a hungry person, I never choose nothing.

But I don’t want to do this to my body. So for the next month I’m going to be junk food free. I want to stop craving it, and stop using it as a safety net. Which means I’m going to have to find some other solutions, and fast!

If you have any ideas for easy replacement foods (preferably low sugar) please share them with me!

The Coca Shop- Peru

This shop in the heart of Cusco (https://foursquare.com/v/coca-shop/4e4afecc22713bd908b93699) specialises in products made with Coca leaves. Coca leaves are meant to have many medicinal benefits, but the main one trotted out is to counteract altitude sickness.

You can either stick a large quantity of leaves in your mouth and sort of mush them up for hours, or you can pop them in some hot water for tea (much nicer).

Now, thanks to the Coca Shop, you can also enjoy it in a variety of sweet ways.

The chocolate brownie is so so good. A bit unusual, but one of the best I’ve had for a while.

This cookie thing, called a kukota is also very nice, although to my mind chocolate always wins. Boyfriend raved about this and it has an interesting Coca taste.
Also available are a handy snack bag of biscuits and chocolates by the kilo.

The gluten free secret? The owner doesn’t like wheat flour and only uses corn!  Such a nice surprise.

Restaurant review La Paz

We ate out in La Paz a lot more than we would normally and there were two factors in that: price and a lack of kitchen. So many hostels are kitchenless in Bolivia, or so barely equipped as to be unusable, Tis a pity. Consequently it seemed worth summing up the highs and lows of dining.

Tierra Sana

A bad choice. The first place we went was a typical gringo style restaurant, by which I mean overpriced, no locals and odd menu. We had a morrocan style stew and Thai style curry. I added style both times as they only bore passing resemblance to those cuisines. They were both watery and ridiculously spicy. We were both very ill the next day.

Sol y Luna

This is another gringo haunt from the Four Corners area of La Paz. A Dutch/Asian/Bolivian place, (not fusion, fortunately), we found the Bolivian dishes poor and much more expensive than they should be. Very little in the way of catering for coeliacs but you can string a meal together and the setting is nice. Also, the WiFi works (this may or may not be the reason we dined here twice).

Kalakita’s

A small menu, there were two dishes based on corn nachos  and a couple of meat options that were suitable for me. My nacho craving was satisfied very well and the boyfriend seemed happy with the burrito. No one got sick.

Cafe del Mundo

Quite an interesting three floor cafe serving mainly all day western style breakfast. They also sell (but not make) gluten free quinoa cookies, by the box or individually. Service is a bit slow and random,  and you’ll have to fight for a seat unless you opt for a very very late lunch but I really enjoyed my first fry up in months.

Star of India

Nothing gluten free. This is what I was cheerfully informed as I was escorted out. It sounds like I’m damming them, but actually I was rather pleased at the waiter’s questions around my diet,  and subsequent discovery that all of their curries use stock cubes that contain wheat flour. He even brought them out to show me! Now I assume that if you’re with a group of friends desperate for a British style curry you can order some rice and maybe poppadoms from the side menu, but as I was alone and hungry I didn’t pursue this avenue of investigation.

Ayala (Bolivian)

Pique a lo macho (or just pique macho), chairo and chicharron are traditional Bolivian dishes we enjoyed here on various occasions. They don’t really do any vegetarian food, so this is a bit of an issue. Pique macho is a plate of chips, topped with egg, tomato, meat, sausage and onions; it is like chorrillana is Chile, just with a hard boiled egg. Chicharron is a huge amount of delicious pork, slow cooked and tender, served with giant white corn, a Bolivian specialty. Finally, chairo is a soup that is generally only served on Sundays, with meat, potato and herbs. The potato is a bit special; in La Paz you can see a lot of white rocks being sold in the vegetable markets, except they aren’t rocks, they are dehydrated potatoes. Once rehydrated, one of the many dishes they end up in is chairo. It’s an interesting taste.

The restaurant itself is not exactly atmospheric, while we were there once we watched an X men film as we ate, and the service is typically Bolivian; slow and trying. However, if you are in Bolivia you should do as the locals do. This is a great haunt, the food was delicious and the portions are huge.

Jalal restaurant (Lebanese)

I was hesitant to go to this very odd restaurant (it is just a room in someone’s house) as I was expecting to be able to eat very little. However boyfriend persisted so we went and I was very pleasantly surprised. After discussing food requirements with the waiter/chef I ordered hummus, falafel, aubergine in garlic sauce and chips to bulk things up a bit. The food was delicious and the stuffed vine leaf I pinched from boyfriend’s selection was also great. The next day however I was fairly certain I had been glutened, and the oil is my main suspect. I may be wrong but I believe my chips were contaminated. A disappointing conclusion to what was a good meal.

There may seem like a disproportionate amount of international restaurants here, not a terribly authentic dining experience I hear you thinking. But one thing and another mean that backpackers are often seeking bland, safe food in La Paz. If you are lucky and feel fine the whole time you are there, then make the most of it and eat as much as possible in the local’s restaurants! But unfortunately, you are one of the lucky few!