The Gluten Free College Student

For many of us, college is the first time in our lives when we are on our own as adults. For parents of a child with a food allergy such as celiac disease, this can be a time fraught with worry. Gluten lurks in many more places than it would initially seem possible, and it can be the source of sleepless nights for parents worrying about their child's health as they venture out into adulthood. The following is a list of tips and advice on how to keep your child's college experience safe, healthy, and gluten-free.

Meal plans are a waste. As soon as you know which school your child will be attending, get in contact with someone in charge of housing. Explain the situation to them, detailing the many places gluten can lurk, including most cereals, breads, pasta, sauces and marinades, gravies, and even soy sauce. Explain that avoiding gluten is not a preference, but a necessity for your child to be healthy, and that he or she would really not be able to get much if any use of the meal plan. See if they can either eliminate the requirement to be on one, or reduce the cost of the plan to reflect how much your child will actually be able to eat. If they are unwilling to do this, it would be a good idea to look at off-campus housing, so that you aren't wasting thousands of dollars on food your child can't safely eat.
Make sure your child's living area has a kitchen. Whether your college student will be living in a dorm or an off-campus apartment, make sure he or she has access to a kitchen with a stove, microwave, refrigerator, and, preferably, a freezer as well. Then, make sure that your child has the necessary equipment for it. The bare minimum in cookware should be one frying/sauté pan, one medium sauce pot, one baking sheet, one 13x9" casserole dish, oven mitts, one can opener, a spatula, and a mixing spoon. Obviously, eating utensils are also a necessity. In addition to this, make sure that your student can have small appliances, and buy a small (three cup) rice steamer. This is the ultimate in convenience cooking for the gluten-free diet, since the good ones can hold cooked rice in them for up to 2 days before it dries out and gets gross. Rice is also a perfect base for a variety of foods, and makes a good snack.

Beer and Pizza study sessions need a makeover. Whether or not you or your child expect him or her to be doing any drinking in his/her college experience, you should make sure he or she knows that all malt beverages are a bad idea. Malt is made from barley, and contains gluten. This means that all beers are off-limits, as well as beer-equivalents, like Smirnoff Ice. As for pizza, clearly the traditional ones are not safe, but there are alternatives. Amy's Kitchen makes a large range of organic frozen pizzas, two of which are made with rice crusts and completely gluten-free. Not only that, but they taste really good, too. While I don't consider them as good as a fresh pizza from a place that knows how to make it, they are a safe alternative, and as far as frozen pizzas go, they're better than most of the wheat-based ones on the market.

A little TLC from home goes a long way. Part of the reason colleges have meal plans is that college students often don't have the time to prepare and cook healthy food for themselves. Since the traditional fast-food options are out of the question for your college student, and assuming he or she isn't more than a few hours away, you can help make his or her life much easier. Make some of his or her favorite meals at home, and freeze them in reusable containers, with enough for two to four servings in each. Then, every few weeks, or whenever he or she is running low, pack them all in a cooler and go for a visit. They can load into your student's freezer, if available, and you can pick up the empty containers. Having healthy, home-cooked meals available not only ensures that your child is eating well, but it can be a lifesaver during test-prep time.

Boxed foods are your (and their) friend. If your child lives too far away, or if they just like to have something fresh on hand, you can supply them with care packages of gluten-free bread, pancake, brownie, and cookie mix. These are generally available at health food stores, but are becoming more widespread, even in normal supermarkets. They're fairly easy to make, taking only 10-15 minutes of prep time for most of them, and they come out tasting fantastic. In addition to boxed mixes, you can also send along some rice pasta, gluten-free sauces of various types, or even boxes of Annie's gluten-free macaroni and cheese. If you live close enough to send more than just boxed mixes, send some fresh fruit and vegetables with you. It's especially kind if the veggies are prepped ahead of time, so that all your student has to do is pull them out and snack.

When mid-terms and finals approach, send a special care package. These intensive test periods are usually accompanied by late-night bagel runs, doughnuts, cookies, brownies, and other confections. While the high sugar content might help keep brains on high gear for cram sessions, they're not acceptable choices for a person with celiac disease. What you can do, then, is send a box (or better yet, deliver it yourself) filled with alternatives. Some health food stores have gluten-free bagels, and many are stocking boxes of gluten-free cookies. These are really well made, and, apart from being a bit more crumbly than your average cookie, taste really good. In addition to cookies, some varieties of Kettle Chips are gluten-free. These chips have no artificial ingredients, and are high in mono-unsaturated fat, very low in saturated. While no potato chip can be called healthy, these are some of the best of the bunch, and they taste incredible. Along with this, most candies are gluten-free, and you can go on the manufacturer's websites to make sure that they are. Send along a large enough supply to ensure that your student won't seek unfortunate snack options.

Eggs for breakfast, but not everyday. Eggs are a great breakfast food, but high in cholesterol. They also take time to prepare, which not every student has every morning. However, there are some alternatives. In addition to pancake mix, Trader Joe's has a brand of gluten-free frozen pancakes. Yogurt is also a very good choice, unless your child has lactose problems as well. While most cereals do contain wheat, barley, or oats, there are a few which are safe. Among them are Trix, Rice Krispies, and some organic varieties. As always, you should check to make sure their ingredients haven't changed, but you can also get marshmallows that are gluten-free. Put them together with a little butter, and your child can make up some "treats" which also make good cereal bars when they're in a rush to get to that 8 AM class. Cheese sticks are another good option for when they're on the run.

While living gluten-free isn't particularly easy for anyone, following these tips can change your college student's life from miserable to not only tolerable, but enjoyable. Best of luck to you and your college student!