What is Celiac Disease? Many people either have no idea or believe that it’s just a diet.
In reality, Celiac Disease is a very serious autoimmune disease. When people have celiac disease and eat gluten, they feel worse and further damage the inner lining of their small intestine. When the intestines become damaged, nutrients are not absorbed properly.
My mother first got diagnosed with Celiac Disease at the end of 2012. She only decided to get tested for the disease after her younger brother came down with it. They were both having really bad stomach pains that occurred after consuming gluten. When the test came back positive, my mom knew she had to immediately cut out all aspects of gluten and began eating gluten free products.
Yes, that means cutting out Oreo cookies too!!
However, cookie companies have come out with gluten free versions of Oreo cookies. Celiac disease can be inherited. If you read my last article you can see that I did not inherit the disease. It wasn’t easy at first: my mom remembers right after she got diagnosed, she took my sister and I to a sandwich shop and asked if they could make her a sandwich with gluten free bread. The person behind the counter asked her if whole wheat bread was considered okay.
NO, IT’S NOT OKAY. Whole wheat bread is not gluten-free bread.
That was about 4 years ago, and thankfully huge improvements have been made in the food industry! Basically all the food stores near us are well equipped with gluten-free products and there are designated gluten free bakeries within 15-20 minutes of Mountain Lakes. Most of them are pretty good.
In addition to bakeries and food stores making major adjustments, there are various websites made to help people with celiac disease. Last month, I found a really cool website called www.allsticker.com that gives money to a gluten free foundation while letting people do something they love, like shop for stickers.
The girl that runs this site found out that her younger sister was diagnosed with celiac diease and decided to do something about it. Many people have this disease but often don’t realize it. If you think you may have this disease, please get checked out by your doctor. Even though I did not inherit the disease, most of the time I eat gluten free anyway because the rest of my family eats that way. When labels at the food store say something is “gluten free” it does not mean it is bad. So pick it up if you want to try it.
All in all, if you do get tested and your result is positive or one of your relatives comes down with celiac disease it is definitely far from the end of the world. Remember to ask when you go out to restaurants if they have a gluten free menu and if not, ask if they have gluten free options on their regular menu. Most restaurants will accommodate you. The ones that are not willing to accommodate you were probably not good in the first place, so not having any gluten free options just gave you a great opportunity to leave.
Take it.
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