Rowanne’s Gluten-Free Brownies
Photo by Cara Cormack
According to a 2019 study, there is a strong link between food restrictions and feelings of social isolation in certain individuals. A Psychology Today summary of this study states that people with celiac disease often refer to their restriction as “a lonely struggle” and that “the relationship between food restriction and loneliness was equivalent in magnitude to the association between being unmarried and loneliness.”
Rowanne was diagnosed with Coeliac disease just as she turned the corner from young adulthood, a diagnosis that left her having to completely change the way she lives her life. She could no longer enjoy foods (her favourite being pizza) without research, special requests, or inspection to determine whether something is safe for her to eat. Getting this diagnosis however has not been all bad. One thing, in particular, has changed for the better, her relationship with her childhood best friend. “We've been friends since school when we were like 11 or 12, and she has coeliac as well but she's had it since then. So I've always known her to have it and then when I got diagnosed it was like ‘oh my god we're both in the same friendship group and we've both got this condition.’”
Rowanne points to one specific recipe that she loves to make and share with her friend, a delicious brownie recipe that just so happens to be gluten-free. “I made them for my friend for her birthday and when she saw the box she was like oh it's just another brownie. She wasn't thinking much of it, and then she tried one and she was like ‘Oh my goodness these are amazing! They're so gooey and fudgy.’”
Rowanne says that despite being diagnosed with something that would change her life so greatly, it helped to have someone to go through the transition with. “It's good that she's got it as well because we go out for meals together now and it's not just me. It can be quite awkward telling them about [our restrictions] but now we've got each other. If she's getting something, I know that I'll be able to have it. Or if she's gonna ask about something then I don't feel as bad so it's good that we both got it. As weird as it is. I was glad that I've got it as well because she doesn’t feel quite as awkward and if we're going to see each other or see friends it’s like ‘oh yeah, we've got some gluten-free stuff for us’ and yeah, it's just helpful to have her there, someone who has it as well.”
When she first received her diagnosis “it was quite upsetting.” However, Rowanne felt that she handled it better than most would. “I think people thought that I might be more upset but I was like, well it is what it is. I can't do anything about it.” She credits some of that to her friend being coeliac for all those years, “I was quite knowledgeable about it anyway just because of her,” she feels like it even brought them closer together. “We were already really close and this sort of brought us even closer. I'm really tall and she's really small so we're always sort of like a funny little duo, and now we've both got the same condition. Yeah, it's good in a way.”
Rowanne calls these brownies ‘accidentally gluten-free’ because the recipe calls for ground almonds rather than just substituting regular flour with gluten-free flour in the batter. The result is a soft, fudgy brownie with a nice, nutty texture. She first tried this kind of brownie “in a cafe I used to go to that sells wholesale brownies. Last lockdown I found out that I could eat them because they're made with ground almonds. So I bought those and then I thought oh I'm gonna try making my own so I found a really good recipe on Google.”
“In patients with coeliac disease, a 10-22% increased risk of neurological disorders is reported,” according to the Celiac (US spelling) Disease foundation. These disorders often arise from the difficulty of adjusting to a new lifestyle. Luckily for Rowanne, having someone there to help her through her journey has made all the difference and has made the transition into gluten-free living a bit smoother. She says that while she wouldn’t have chosen this diagnosis for herself, she thinks that it’s been nice for her, and also her best friend, to have someone else with this condition in their lives. “I think she's glad that I have it cause she's struggled with it herself for so long.”