Before Your First Appointment

Most naturopaths send a health questionnaire before your first session covering your medical history, current symptoms, medications, dietary habits and digestive patterns. If you have already been tested or diagnosed with coeliac disease, bring those results. If you suspect coeliac disease but have not yet been tested, your naturopath will recommend you get tested before changing your diet — eliminating gluten beforehand makes accurate diagnosis impossible.

The Initial Consultation

Your first session is primarily investigative. Your naturopath will take a detailed history covering digestive symptoms, energy levels, family history of autoimmune conditions, bowel patterns and current eating habits. They will explore not just what you eat, but how you shop, cook and manage eating socially — context that is essential for building a realistic, sustainable plan.

Assessing Nutritional Status

Coeliac disease commonly causes deficiencies in iron, B12, folate, calcium, vitamin D and zinc. Your naturopath will review any available blood test results and may recommend additional testing to assess your current nutritional status. Where deficiencies are identified, they will recommend specific whole-food approaches or targeted supplementation to address them while the gut heals.

Practical Guidance: Labels, Cross-Contamination and Shopping

A significant portion of the consultation addresses practicalities. Your naturopath will cover reading ingredient labels, understanding 'may contain' warnings, identifying hidden sources of gluten in processed and condiment foods, and managing cross-contamination risks in shared kitchens. Many practitioners provide printed resources, food lists or app recommendations to make this process manageable.

Your Personalised Dietary Framework

Rather than a rigid meal plan, your naturopath typically builds a flexible framework suited to your preferences, budget, lifestyle and cooking capacity. The emphasis is usually on naturally gluten-free whole foods — vegetables, fruit, legumes, rice, quinoa, eggs, meat and fish — rather than expensive processed gluten-free alternatives that are often less nutritious.

Follow-Up and Monitoring

Follow-up appointments, typically every 4–8 weeks initially, review your progress, troubleshoot challenges and assess symptom improvement. Your naturopath may recommend repeat blood tests at 6 and 12 months to evaluate nutritional recovery and intestinal healing markers. Over time, appointments space out as the diet becomes established and you develop the confidence to manage it independently.