16/06/2026
This week is Coeliac Awareness Week in New Zealand so I thought I would raise awareness of a very important issue.
If you eat gluten foods every day and are considering trialing a gluten free diet to see if this helps improve any symptoms you have, then I would strongly recommend visiting your GP first to be tested for the autoimmune condition coeliac disease while you are still eating gluten. This is because if you have already taken gluten out your diet, you may have a false negative test as you are not eating the food that is elevating your antibodies and triggering your immune system to attack the lining of your small intestine.
It is important to know if you have coeliac disease as if you do, it will mean having to avoid gluten for the rest of your life. If you don’t know this you may cheat on your gluten free diet or introduce gluten back in after a break thinking it would be ok, but in reality, you are going to flare up the immune attack again and all your symptoms will likely return.
If you are already on a gluten free diet and you are wondering if you have coeliac disease, you will unfortunately have to eat a piece of gluten bread every day for about 6 weeks to be able to test positive for coeliac disease. The initial blood test is testing for elevated antibodies which is a sign of an immune attack going on. If you are not eating gluten regularly this will be hard to detect.
This is such a hard situation for many as you want to know but don’t want to reintroduce the food that is going to make you sick. That’s why I strongly suggest getting tested before you go on a gluten free diet. Especially if you are dealing with symptoms such as bloating, digestive discomfort, diarrhoea, nausea, low energy, low iron, skin rashes and infertility.
I did hear that there may be a new test coming out in the next couple of years that will be able to detect coeliac disease without having to consume gluten. This would be so amazing and life changing for many people. Let’s hope that this will happen and we don’t have to wait too many years for it to arrive in New Zealand.
One of my many hats is volunteering as the Tauranga Coordinator for Coeliac New Zealand so I do try to raise awareness of this issue a much as I can. In fact, I have had 3 clients this year alone who have wanted to trial a gluten free diet, but I have suggested that they get tested for coeliac disease first and they have all tested positive and have received a diagnosis. It took a little time to be diagnosed as they had to go through the process of having a biopsy as well but at least now they know that they cannot have any gluten moving forward.
Symptoms of coeliac disease can vary between people as well so you may not have the classic gut symptoms, but instead a rash (known as dermatitis hepaformis) or even no obvious symptoms other than low iron or infertility. As a coeliac myself, when I was diagnosed, I had the skin rash, low iron and issues with infertility. I have and never have had any obvious gut symptoms. This makes it especially challenging as you don’t know straight away that a food has affected you.
Feel free to get in touch if you would like any further information. You can also check out the amazing resources that are available on the Coeliac NZ website. There is even an online assessment you can take if you are concerned you might have coeliac disease.
