We all know how important a healthy diet is for runners, but when you’ve been diagnosed with a food intolerance, a food allergy or even an autoimmune disease like coeliac, following a balanced diet can become an entirely different challenge. Steering clear of trigger foods isn’t always simply a case of cutting out the offender, it also means careful scrutinisation of food labels and choosing nutritious alternatives to ensure your training diet and levels of vitamins and minerals don’t suffer. The good news is that there are plenty of resources to help, along with ‘free from’ foods to ensure that you attain your nutritional needs.
Digestive discomfort
Interestingly, a study by Mintel found that 15 per cent of households avoid gluten and wheat, because they believe avoidance of these is part of a healthy diet, and research shows that the ‘free from’ market has experienced a whopping 27 per cent rise in sales in the past two years.