risk. By Chris Gibbons Few runners this week will think twice about tucking into piles of pasta as they load up on energy-boosting carbohydrates for the big race. But for leading local women's runner Anna Eatherley, every meal is a potential minefield.

In March last year, the 29-year-old who represented Bermuda at the 1991 Pan American Games, was diagnosed as having Celiac Disease, a painful intestinal condition caused by an intolerance of gluten. In plain terms, it means a sufferer cannot eat any flour products made from wheat, rye, barley and oats.

It rules out bread and pasta - foods most runners regard almost as basic necessities. It also rules out foods which use flour as a filler, and that can be anything from gravy to instant coffee.

Celiacs - there are at least 30 in Bermuda - are born with the incurable condition although it may not surface until later in life, even in old age.

The disease is caused by the reaction of gluten with the small intestine through which food is digested. With Celiac Disease, the `fingers' of the small intestine become damaged and flattened, leaving sufferers unable to absorb nutrients and can result in severe cramps and diarrhoea. If not diagnosed successfully, it can lead to a life-threatening shutdown of the digestive system.

"It was frightening at first because I didn't know what it was,'' says Eatherley, who was rushed to hospital after three days of increasingly painful cramps. Initially doctors suspected appendicitis but, after three days of tests during which she was hooked up to a drip and not allowed to eat, Eatherley was diagnosed as suffering from Celiac Disease. Although she believes she had probably suffered from the disease for about two years without realising it, Eatherley says it was four seemingly innocent pieces of toast that finally tipped the balance.

For Eatherley, as with all Celiac sufferers, the condition has meant making permanent changes in her eating habits but she has been able to do so without affecting her running and now feels she is probably healthier than she has been in years.

"When I was first diagnosed, it was pretty horrific,'' she recalls. "I was thinking, `Oh no, no more cookies or bread' and my favourite food was pasta.

To be told you couldn't eat any of them again was a bit of a shock. I definitely thought it would affect my running because I didn't see how I could get the carbohydrates I needed as a runner. I felt weak for the first month or so. At first it was really difficult because I'd put (husband) Brett's toast down in the morning and I'd be thinking, `I'd really love some toast' but now I don't really think about it. Gluten-free products taste okay now but at first I thought they were disgusting!'' With help from nutrition counsellors at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and the local Celiac Support Group, Eatherley has learned to take the disease in her stride. "They teach you to read labels and prepare safe meals. It's easy to be told not to eat bread or cookies but it's much harder to avoid things like canned soup or ketchup which are all thickened with flour. You would think corn flakes would be all right but even they are flavoured with malt which is a `baddie'.

"You can have things like corn, potatoes and rice, and all dairy products.

You just have to change your focus. If you take bread out of a normal diet, there's not much left. Breakfast and lunches were the main problems. For breakfast I now have Kelloggs' Kemei Rice Bran, fruit and juice but lunch I still find tricky because sandwiches are the thing. Mostly I make my own muffins from gluten-free flour and have yogurt and fruit. For dinner I can eat pretty normally. The key is to keep away from processed food and make your own. You can't throw a can of mushroom soup into a sauce or make up a packet of gravy mix.'' Ironically, says Eatherley, she eats a more balanced diet now and is a healthier-looking 110 pounds than the waif-like 100 she was before. "I was just about a total vegetarian before but I found I had to start eating meat again because you can't cut out two food groups.'' One big drawback for Celiacs is that gluten-free products are usually more than double the price of regular food. A packet of gluten-free bread mix, which makes two loaves, runs at around $16 and a box of pasta between $3 and $4. And `safe' foods tend to be expensive quality products which contain no fillers, such as H agen-Dazs ice cream. Gluten-free products are available on the National Health Service in Britain and the Bermuda Celiac Support Group is currently working to persuade Government to make the products at least duty-free. She has had to change her regular pre-race breakfast from toast and coffee to yogurt and fruit. Going out to eat, however, presented real problems at first but she now carries a Celiac card which she gives to restaurants indicating what she cannot eat. "I usually call up beforehand and they're usually pretty good. Airlines do it too, as long as you give them notice.

There's a tendency towards rice cakes which I hate, and you have to watch for croutons being thrown into your salad, but apart from that the meals are quite nice. There are a lot of traps for the unwary. Chinese food, for example, you'd think would be pretty healthy but they use a lot of flour for thickening sauces.

"It hasn't stopped me from doing anything at all. At first I didn't look forward to going out but now I just take it in my stride.'' It certainly hasn't affected her running. Having regained her strength following her hospital stint, she swept all four opening races of the cross-country season and placed sixth in the Central American and Caribbean Championships in Curacao in December. Now she has her sights set on regaining her Bank of Butterfield Mile title after being off the Island last January; possibly beating her best-ever 10K time of 36 minutes, 57 seconds; and representing Bermuda in the 1994 Commonweath Games in Victoria, British Columbia.

Eatherley says husband and fellow runner Brett Forgesson would have a hard time adjusting to the disease. "He hates rice and it's a bit of a joke because we have to have rice a lot now. If he had Celiac it would be really difficult!'' 20 For more information on Celiac Disease call Jessica Wade, Government's Chief Clinical Dietitian, on 236-2345 or Liz Boden, secretary of the Celiac Support Group, on 236-6177.

Picture: Davis Skinner Safe eating Anna Eatherley with part of her gluten-free diet.

RG MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 1993