Managing Celiac Disease and Living Gluten Free in Brooklyn

Categories:: Kid Related Health Advice - Health and Healing Eating

Below are tips and insights from a member of our community who has raised two children with celiac disease in Park Slope. She has supported many other families navigating related challenges with the knowledge she’s gathered over the years, and we are grateful to be able to share her guidance here.

If you’re not yet a member of PSP, join us today to connect with local families and access additional resources for supporting your kids' health in Brooklyn.

Celiac & Kids

Having celiac as a kid can feel isolating (for the kid as well as their parents). The intersection of GF and kid-friendly food also may feel narrow at first, though it does widen with time. On the flip side, having celiac can accelerate a kid’s foray into eating a broader range of food at an earlier age, be more adventurous with their diet, and can even help them to eat healthier. Keep in mind, however, that it’s just as easy to load up on processed GF foods.

As a parent of a celiac kid, it can be helpful to introduce your kids to naturally GF food instead of over relying on “GF versions” of things. You may also want to re-introduce GF options if they don’t “take” the first time. This is a long process; be gentle with yourselves. Your kids will develop their eating habits over time, and there’s only so much you can do to steer them in a healthy direction when they’re young.

The Silver Lining of Celiac

There are positive aspects of living with, or having a loved one living with, celiac disease. It can make you more grateful for the little things in life that we often take for granted, like being able to safely eat a meal out in a restaurant. Or having your BBQ host think to get GF buns. Or having your family take extra precautions at Thanksgiving to make sure GF needs are accommodated. If you are a parent of a kid living with celiac, you may be surprised at how your child’s condition motivates others to step up to make sure they feel included and taken care of. You may notice your own level of empathy about everyone else’s life or health struggles increasing. There will be many moments that allow your friends or family to do small yet meaningful acts of care that will fill their hearts, and will fill your heart with gratitude.

For every beautiful moment, there will also be moments when you feel your family’s needs have gone ignored. There will be lessons in the difficult moments, including opportunities for your child to learn how to advocate for themself by speaking up about their health needs. The experience of having celiac disease will help them build resilience.

Grocery Stores

Most neighborhood grocery stores stock the basics (GF bread and grains). Whole Foods and Wegmans have the best selection of GF food, and Wegmans even has a dedicated GF aisle. ShopRite on Avenue I has a huge GF bread selection in the freezer. The freezer section is also home to a lot of easy kid-friendly meals, such as chicken nuggets and pizza.

Eating Out

As anyone with celiac will tell you, cross contamination (cc) is a huge issue when eating out, and even places that say they can prepare GF food cannot always guarantee that it is completely safe. Dedicated GF establishments are few and far between.

Please note that even when eating at a place that is deemed “safe” by someone else, you should still make your GF requirements clear to the person taking your order. How you communicate your needs may vary across dining contexts, but it might include asking questions, being very clear when ordering, and double checking your order when the food arrives at your table.

A note about pizza: Pizza can often be made with a GF crust, but that doesn’t mean it is celiac safe. It is very difficult for a “shared” pizza kitchen to make a safe GF pizza, and anyone who has celiac takes a risk by eating pizza out. That said, Pino's La Forchetta on 7th avenue gets their crust from an outside source, and it’s always kept in its own tin foil pan (never touching the pizza oven directly). They don’t cut the pizza with their equipment and include a disposable pizza cutter with every pie.

Dedicated GF Establishments in/near Park Slope

Everybody Eats: Specializes in GF bread
Wild
Sixteen Mill
Lively
Modern Bread & Bagel (in Manhattan)
By the Way Bakery (in Manhattan): Their products are also sold at Whole Foods.

GF-friendly Establishments in/near Park Slope

Note: This is not an exhaustive list. Please use your own judgment to assess how safe an establishment is for you, and always over-communicate your needs when eating out.

Additional Resources

Find Me GF: Website and mobile app for crowd-sourced reviews of US-based and international restaurants
Celiac.com: Features articles, expert-moderated forums, and other resources to support people living with celiac.
Celiac Disease Foundation: Features resources for researchers and healthcare practitioners as well as information about how to enroll in clinical trials. The site also includes information about how to get involved in fundraising efforts to support research about celiac disease.
Gluten-free Globe Trotter: Personal blog of Erin Smith, sharing tips both for traveling the world and living in NYC with celiac disease.
The Celiac Space: Team of nutrition experts serving individuals with digestive disorders