Having a healthy diet is important for everyone, but there are some people for whom this means taking extra steps to either include more of particular food and drink ingredients or eliminate them from their intake.
The second category can include those with food allergies, those with lactose intolerance and sufferers of coeliac disease or dermatitis herpetiformis, who need to go gluten-free.
If you are in the latter category, you will be in good company. Public awareness of gluten intolerance and its health consequences has grown in recent years, partly thanks to some famous individuals acknowledging a problem in this area.
These include people like tennis star Novak Djokovic, whose adoption of a gluten-free diet enabled him to reach supreme levels of endurance and athletic fitness, so that he could fulfil his huge talent. He is proof that a gluten-free diet can be life-enhancing, not life-limiting.
However, gluten intolerance is a problem that has been understood for decades and while it may seem that gluten-free products are now more broadly available, it has been possible to be prescribed gluten-free food on the NHS since the 1960s.
A Westminster government inquiry in 2017 into the provision of gluten-free food on prescription led to the adoption of new guidelines in England in late 2018. This limited the list of foods available by prescription to bread and mixes. This decision was based mainly on the fact that more gluten-free options are available in the shops.
However, in Scotland, the range of foods you can be prescribed on the NHS is wider. In the case of the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area, you can get bread, bread mix, crackers, pasta, pizza bases and cereals.
This wider range of foods can be invaluable in helping maintain a healthy, gluten-free diet. Because prescriptions are free here in Scotland unlike most in England, it can also make a significant difference for those on low incomes who might struggle to afford some gluten-free foods in the shops.
Prescription gluten-free food is available via the Gluten Free Food Service, which runs across Scotland through community pharmacies like ours. Anyone living in Scotland, registered with a GP and diagnosed with coeliac disease or dermatitis herpetiformis can use the service.
Our experienced pharmacists will be on hand to help you with this. That should include an annual health check in which your weight and height will be measured, you will be asked relevant questions about your diet and you will get a chance to ask your own questions and raise any problems or fears you have.
Nothing about the annual check will alter the volume of the order to which you are entitled and you can change the order whenever you wish; for example, you might want more pizza bases and less bread if you have a party coming up.
If you have just been diagnosed as gluten intolerant for the first time, it may seem like bad news as it means there are some foods you will have to cut out of your diet. But you will soon feel liberated as you enjoy the benefits of better gut health and more energy.