Once you discover you have an intolerance to gluten it can be difficult to adjust your lifestyle and having gluten-free friends or family can be just as challenging when it comes to Christmas or birthdays.

With chocolate boxes, hampers and other treats being the ideal gift for most, don’t get caught out this year and give your gluten intolerant loved ones a gift they will love.

Spiralizer

Classic home-cooked meals are great for this time of year. But living with a gluten intolerance can make cooking a bit of a chore. With dishes like spaghetti bolognese and noodle stir-frys traditionally containing glutenous ingredients, give your friends or family the gift of quick fix warming meals.

You can also check out our blog post on three winter-friendly recipes which includes using the spiralizer technique.

Gluten-free hampers

As gluten-free food becomes more mainstream, finding gifts at Christmas time and especially birthdays can become a little easier. There are a range of gluten-free hampers available right now that will offer something more than just your standard box of chocolates or flowers.

One in particular we love here at yorktest is the M&S gluten-free hamper. For just £40, the hamper contains:

Bordeaux Merlot (75cl) (Alcohol Content- 13%)
Gluten-free top-iced bar cake (450g)
Made without dairy gluten-free chocolates (170g)
Made without wheat and dairy gluten-free Christmas pudding (100g)
Made without wheat apricot and cashew nut toasts (125g)
Made without wheat Belgian milk chocolate chunk cookies (170g)
Juco gift bag

It just shows that people with a gluten intolerance needn’t miss out on their favourites!

You could always make your own hamper if you’re not entirely enamoured with all the contents in a packaged hamper. All you need to do is stock up on all their free-from favourites, buy some coloured shredded paper and a small basket, and voila! Personalisation shows you have given thought into their gift, which makes it even more special!

Personalised gluten-free cookbook

Buy a personal cookbook for your loved ones to enjoy all year round. Those who have just started on their gluten elimination could be stuck for choice as to what meals to cook day-in and day-out. With a cookbook, you’re giving them all the inspiration they need to stick to their new diet, whilst trying new flavours and textures!

There are some fantastic cookbooks out there at the moment, such as:

Livia’s Kitchen – With over 100 sweet recipes which are all free-from gluten, dairy and refined sugar, take your pick and get creative in the kitchen.

Eat happy: 30-minute Feel Good Food – Melissa Helmsley is one half of the Helmsleys who help people with their digestion and relationship to food. All these recipes are gluten-free, grain-free and refined sugar-free with lots of dairy-free options as well!

The Little Green Spoon: Deliciously healthy home-cooking to share and enjoy – every single recipe in this book is gluten-free so the choices will be endless!

Bread-making machine

Are you looking for the best gluten-free bread maker for yourself or will it make the perfect Christmas or birthday present for your loved one? There are a range of bread machines on the market.

However, only some are programmed particularly with gluten-free settings and price ranges for bread machines can range from low-cost or run into the hundreds. So, where do you start? Luckily at yorktest, we’ve done the research for you.

PANASONIC SD-ZB2502BXC Bread maker – Stainless Steel

This model is ideal for those with special dietary requirements as it features a range of speciality modes. There are also additional modes for different types of flour and grains, such as rye.

Lakeland White Compact 1lb Daily Loaf Bread Maker

Wake up to the smell of freshly baked gluten-free bread in the morning with this Lakeland bread maker. It has pre-installed settings so it’s all ready-to-go, including gluten-free, French and wholemeal. There’s also a viewing window in the lid so you can check on the progress without disturbing the baking process.

This bread maker has been rated 4.5 out of 5, so it is certainly one to look out for.

yorktest Food Intolerance† programme

Do you suspect that your loved one is needlessly cutting gluten out of their diet? We found that a third of people who think they have a food intolerance are cutting foods out of their diet based solely on guesswork.

Our food intolerance† programmes are simple finger-prick blood tests taken in the comfort of your own home. They analyse for food-specific IgG antibodies which is testing your reactions to the proteins in foods. All our programmes test for gluten, too!

We find that the average yorktest customer reacts to 4-5 ingredients, so why not treat your loved one to a test so they can find out what foods aren’t working for them in their current diet?

Going gluten-free can be seamless for some and challenging for others, so these five gift ideas would be thoughtful and inspiring for your loved one at Christmas.

On behalf of yorktest, we hope you have a very Merry Christmas!

†yorktest define Food Intolerance as a food-specific IgG reaction
yorktest advise that you consult with your GP first before undertaking a yorktest programme.