Singing for coeliac disease

Influencer, singer and songwriter Sarah Lappert aka The Singing Coeliac entertains thousands of followers with her unique take on living gluten free

Watch Free From - An Awareness Song and find out more about her experience of eating out gluten free.

singing coeliacHi Sarah! Tell us more about what being The Singing Coeliac involves, and how the idea came about.

The Singing Coeliac started in August last year, when I was on furlough. I had all this spare time and had gotten into cooking healthily, so I originally set a page up called Happy Healthy Gluten Free. But I also sing and write songs professionally, and I decided that I wanted to try and combine the two things together. I started making gluten free parodies and cooking gluten free - combining the two things I was passionate about – and The Singing Coeliac was born!

How old were you when you were diagnosed with coeliac disease? Can you tell us more about your symptoms and diagnosis, and how these affected you?

My parents started to take me to the doctor from age three, because I was really fussy with my food, I was way smaller than everyone else, and I was constantly having stomach aches. They didn't get a diagnosis until I was five - I don’t think there was as much awareness of coeliac disease back then.

Luckily for me, I’ve grown up being gluten free. I don't remember eating gluten foods so I don't miss anything I can’t have.

You’ve recently released Free From - An Awareness Song in collaboration with other gluten free influencers. What was the inspiration behind the project?

I wish I could say it was my idea! It started with a guy who I've collaborated with before on another gluten free parody – his account is called A Gluten Free Family. He’s from Australia, where they have their Awareness Week in March. He came to me with this idea, and asked me if I could record vocals and amend any lyrics to make them more relevant to the UK.

Shopping gluten free seems harder in Australia, whereas I would say there’s a lot more choice in the UK. I find eating out more difficult here, so I amended some of the lyrics to be about eating out, and then recorded the vocals and the keyboard parts, and then produced it by putting everyone's involvement together into one track, which sounded amazing.

Can you tell us a bit more about your experiences of eating out and what you find challenging?

For me the main issue is a lack of awareness around cross contamination. I find chain restaurants are a bit more clued up and will say if they can't guarantee something is safe for people with coeliac disease, but when I go out to eat at independent places it can be more challenging.

A lot of places will have a gluten free pizza base, but it won't be safe for people with coeliac disease because of cross contamination, which kind of defeats the point!

You sing, “gluten free isn’t for show” and “people really need to know.” In your experience, how do people react when you tell them you are gluten free?

I think a lot of people presume that you're doing it because you're just trying to be healthy, or you’re on a fad diet. Actually, a lot of gluten free products contain added sugar so they’re not necessarily healthier, but that’s another issue! It can be really annoying, especially because even the smallest crumb of gluten can make me ill, so I want them to take me seriously.

What do you think friends and family can do to support someone who’s gluten free?

If you’re visiting someone’s house it’s a good idea not to bring in any gluten containing food that might cause lots of crumbs, as it could lead to cross contamination. I recently moved in with my boyfriend and he suggested we have a completely gluten free household, which I thought was really kind.

How has the video been received? What kind of feedback have you had and what do you hope it will achieve?

I think people have found it really funny which is what it’s supposed to be - light hearted and funny, whilst trying to raise awareness. A lot of people have said that they relate to it too, which is great. Hopefully we can get more people sharing it again for Coeliac UK’s Awareness Week campaign!

Finally, what else do you have planned for Awareness Week 2021? Will you be taking part in Coeliac UK’s Challenge Week?

I’m going to be doing another gluten free video parody and posting it during the week – keep an eye out on The Singing Coeliac. I think it’s a great opportunity to come together and raise awareness so that there’s a better understanding of why people need to be gluten free.

Enjoyed this read?

Follow @thesingingcoeliac on Instagram for gluten free parodies, recipes, reviews and more!

Watch Free From -  an Awareness Song below, and don’t forget to share it using #ShineALightOnCoeliac to help us get Awareness Week trending!

Watch the video

Video credit: @a.gffamily

Sarah has also created a new video for Awareness Week - watch it here.

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