We have been super busy this May. Which is a great thing, but it means I haven’t posted much, but I couldn’t let the whole month of May go by without a post considering it is Celiac Disease Awareness Month.
This blog is mostly for gluten free recipes and restaurant reviews, but I want to occasionally talk about Celiac disease since it is the reason I started this blog. So today I’m going to share a few things I’ve learned and observed since being diagnosed with Celiac disease 2 years ago. For those of you who have been diagnosed or have a family member diagnosed this will all be familiar to you, for anyone who is not, hopefully it will give some insight.
- Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder caused by the abnormal functioning of the immune system that produces antibodies against your own tissue.
- Celiac disease is NOT a food allergy. Although I often will tell servers at a restaurant to treat it like a food allergy since that is easiest for me to explain and easiest for the kitchen to understand what needs to be done.
- I often get asked – if I eat gluten does it hurt my stomach? Ingesting gluten does usually give me stomach pains, but it can also give me a headache, achy muscles/joints, make me tired, and often affect my mood. Most importantly it damages my intestinal lining and can cause me to not absorb nutrients.
- People with Celiac disease are more likely to be afflicted with problems relating to malabsorption including: osteoporosis, tooth enamel defects, nervous system disease, pancreatic disease, internal hemorrhaging, and organ disorders
- It only takes 1/64th of a teaspoon of gluten to cause intestinal damage in someone with Celiac disease. This is about the equivalent of a visible crumb.
How my eating & mindset when eating/cooking has had to change
- My kitchen is 95% gluten free (Bill occasionally has some bread or we have some when guests are over). Both Bill and I are very aware of where food with gluten has touched any surfaces and what we use to clean it up.
- I have to bring food everywhere in case I can’t eat what is served. I almost always have a gluten free granola bar or snack in my purse
- I have to ask tons of food preparation questions of anyone who dares have us over for dinner (which I’m sure everyone really enjoys the 20 questions about food I pepper them with).
- I have to research every restaurant I go to and call ahead to make sure I can eat there
- No matter how much I’m reassured the meal is gluten free, I am always a little nervous because it feels like I am playing a weird game of roulette with my intestines.
- Sharing food is pretty much out of the question. I can no longer just ‘have a sip’ of someone’s drink or offer someone to ‘try a bite’ of my food due to the huge possibility of cross contamination.
- I can’t kiss my husband if he was just eating gluten.
- Just because something is gluten free, it does not mean it is healthy/low fat. Obviously Veggies/Fruit/Meat all gluten free and healthy/low fat. But there are many, many, snacks labeled gluten free but are just as bad for you as gluten filled cookies/cakes/etc.
Those are just a few things that have come to be part of my everyday life in the last 2 years. Hopefully it will be helpful to someone! 🙂 Have a great Memorial day weekend!
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