Surviving College with Celiac Disease

If it’s your first year in college you’re probably living in a small space with no kitchen. So how do you eat gluten-free if you can’t cook? Your first step should be to go and speak with the nutritionist or head chef in your schools dining hall. They can suggest different ways to eat at the dining hall, like what you should avoid and what is safe to eat. Most of the time the cooks will offer to make gluten-free meals for you. Developing a relationship with the kitchen cooks is essential to staying completely gluten-free and healthy in college.

The second thing you’re going to want to do is look at the local food stores like grocery stores and health food stores. Make sure that they’re stocked with your favorite snacks. If they don’t have a particular item you are looking for, most of the time they can order in a case for you. Just because you don’t have a kitchen doesn’t mean you can’t stock your room with gluten-free food. As a precaution you should have some soups and microwaveable meals in case you can’t make it to the dining hall every night.

If you are an upperclassman, there’s a chance that you have a kitchen in your apartment or near your room. If that’s the case, one piece of equipment that you should bring is a bread machine, so you can make your own bread. Also to make sure that no one contaminates your food make sure everything is labeled as yours. It is easy to avoid cross contamination if your roommates and friends are aware of your food allergies, and if your food is accurately labeled.

One other step you should take whether you are a first year or an upper classman is to contact your favorite gluten-free companies and ask if they can send you coupons. Most companies are happy to support their loyal customers and understand purchasing gluten-free food can be expensive. Having coupons will not only help you shop gluten-free but they will help you stay on budget.

So what have we learned today? Communication is the best way to stay healthy and gluten-free in college. Good Luck!