Kyla, Why-Ya Gluten-Free?
Celiac Disease
I was constantly bloated and always had a headache. When I went to my first gastroenterology appointment I learned that I had eaten my last piece of bread. My blood work showed signs of Celiac Disease a disease where my immune system attacks gluten like it's a foreign invader or a virus. Similar to the way a healthy immune system attacks the flu.
When I heard this I was confused. I had no idea what gluten was. My parents had no idea what gluten was. We had never heard of it.
My doctor explained to me that gluten is the sponge that holds bread together. It's what makes bread fluffy. I was completely unaware of how much this would change my life.
To prove my celiac diagnosis I had to have an endoscopy. An endoscopy is a minor procedure performed where your doctor enters a long tube with a camera into your body through your mouth. The team took pictures and a biopsy.
There is no cure or medicine for Celiac Disease. Simply put my body did not like gluten anymore and the only way to "treat" this, is to stop giving it gluten.
The hard part about being unable to eat gluten is that everywhere.
My eleven-year-old self was sad. My favorite food was pasta. Whole Grain, Gluten filled pasta.
But we quickly learned that gluten is not just in food. It holds everything together. Soaps, lotions, sunscreen, and lip gloss all have gluten. Aveeno which was my favorite lotion has a picture of wheat on its cover. It's not only your noodles but it's possibly in the sauce.
Now that I've learned more about Gluten, I don't think anyone should eat it. It is manufactured to grow faster, so what does that do in your body? Not to mention it is bad for the environment and completely unsustainable. If you are someone who is considering giving up meat because of the environment consider giving up gluten instead.
I've also learned that there is a big difference between a "Gluten-Free Diet" and Celiac Disease. Someone on a Gluten-Free diet has a world of options that are not open to people who have Celiac Disease. If you are going gluten-free to be more sustainable, to heal your body, or because it's trendy that's great! But it is completely different.
My body fights gluten. It treats it like a virus and my immune system springs into action when it sees it. This means if your gluten-filled pizza is cooked in the same oven as mine, mine is not "Gluten-Free" anymore.
For this reason, I'm sure most people with Celiac Disease have trust issues. I do. Something will say on it "Gluten-Free" and not be. When my family and I were new to this we did not know the difference between "Does not contain gluten" and Certified Gluten-Free. When something is "Certified" the company can guarantee that there is no gluten in your food.
Today I am 100% gluten-free. Everything I eat is certified. And I am much less bloated!
When I heard this I was confused. I had no idea what gluten was. My parents had no idea what gluten was. We had never heard of it.
My doctor explained to me that gluten is the sponge that holds bread together. It's what makes bread fluffy. I was completely unaware of how much this would change my life.
To prove my celiac diagnosis I had to have an endoscopy. An endoscopy is a minor procedure performed where your doctor enters a long tube with a camera into your body through your mouth. The team took pictures and a biopsy.
There is no cure or medicine for Celiac Disease. Simply put my body did not like gluten anymore and the only way to "treat" this, is to stop giving it gluten.
The hard part about being unable to eat gluten is that everywhere.
My eleven-year-old self was sad. My favorite food was pasta. Whole Grain, Gluten filled pasta.
But we quickly learned that gluten is not just in food. It holds everything together. Soaps, lotions, sunscreen, and lip gloss all have gluten. Aveeno which was my favorite lotion has a picture of wheat on its cover. It's not only your noodles but it's possibly in the sauce.
Now that I've learned more about Gluten, I don't think anyone should eat it. It is manufactured to grow faster, so what does that do in your body? Not to mention it is bad for the environment and completely unsustainable. If you are someone who is considering giving up meat because of the environment consider giving up gluten instead.
I've also learned that there is a big difference between a "Gluten-Free Diet" and Celiac Disease. Someone on a Gluten-Free diet has a world of options that are not open to people who have Celiac Disease. If you are going gluten-free to be more sustainable, to heal your body, or because it's trendy that's great! But it is completely different.
My body fights gluten. It treats it like a virus and my immune system springs into action when it sees it. This means if your gluten-filled pizza is cooked in the same oven as mine, mine is not "Gluten-Free" anymore.
For this reason, I'm sure most people with Celiac Disease have trust issues. I do. Something will say on it "Gluten-Free" and not be. When my family and I were new to this we did not know the difference between "Does not contain gluten" and Certified Gluten-Free. When something is "Certified" the company can guarantee that there is no gluten in your food.
Today I am 100% gluten-free. Everything I eat is certified. And I am much less bloated!
Hi Kyla, was there a class you had to take to learn about how to eat gluten free?
ReplyDeleteHello! At first if something said gluten-free I ate it. I had to learn the hard way that "gluten-free" doesn't always mean it's really gluten-free. So always look for certified! I have taken a couple cooking classes from a nutritionist which is where I discovered nutritional yeast (which is great, I recommended).
DeleteA popular food that says that it is gluten free but is not actually is Honey Nut cheerios. I would strongly suggest not to waste your time with that one because it contains cross contamination. I learned that the hard way.
DeleteHow compensating are restaurants when you tell them you have a gluten allergy.
ReplyDeleteHi Abigail, It really depends on the restaurant, some are really good, (Red Robin, Panera, and California Pizza Kitchen) and others are gluten-friendly but have lot's of cross-contamination (Olive Garden, Spaghetti Factory, and Jersey Mikes). Try to stay away from gluten-friendly, if you can't take enzymes.
Delete