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Be the Voice of Celiac Awareness

By on Aug 29, 2016 in Advice, Gluten Free, Health | 0 comments

Be the voice of Celiac Awareness in your circle. Help by making an effort to understand, comfort and respect all allergy sufferers, but be an expert on Celiac Disease. Whether it is your family, friends, work colleagues, neighbors, or anyone else in your life, you cannot simply ignore the disease and hope that others will subliminally pick up on what ails you. And while there are literally thousands of blogs and informative articles on Celiac Disease, they are often overlooked by people outside of the gluten-free community. How do we help people outside of the community to understand the disease to the point where they fully grasp the damaging autoimmune reaction experienced by consuming gluten? Raise Celiac Awareness One of the largest hurdles in this quest is there are many people who don’t even know what gluten is. Maybe they understand that some people cannot have it, but...

The Early Warning Signs of Celiac Disease

By on Jul 26, 2016 in Celiac Disease, Dieting, Health, Relationships, Talking to Doctors | 0 comments

The early warning signs of Celiac Disease are a mixed bag of ailments that do not necessarily point to any one concrete diagnosis. Most people that are diagnosed with Celiac have had test after test run, missed diagnosis, or even had their symptoms dismissed by a doctor as ‘normal aches and pains.’ For Julie, the signs were not obviously related to Celiac disease, nor were they even related to one another. From physical ailments to focus issues, there was always something that got in the way. Diet not working? One thing that stood out among her sisters was that her body type was different. She was slightly overweight for her height, but the weight on her hips was disproportionate to the weight everywhere else. It made her self-conscious about wearing bikinis and short shorts.  She worked harder than most to keep the weight down and her strength up, but as she got older, it...

Independence Day and Celiac Disease

By on Jul 5, 2016 in Celiac Disease, Gluten Free, Health | 0 comments

Independence Day has a special meaning to a lot of Americans. It’s the day our founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, which itself was an incredibly brave endeavor. But that was after years of suppression by the king, who sought to punish the freedom-seeking colonials. He went so far as to block American trade ports and consider all American vessels ‘enemy vessels’. This was a very aggressive approach at a group of people that were considered rebels, misfits, and degenerates by the king. This left the people living in America subject to harsh conditions, fear and distrust for the king.  But the outside world would argue that the line ‘All men are created equal’ had a mixed message coming from an America that tolerated slavery. Gluten Independence Day Contrasting the Declaration of Independence, an analogy can be drawn between the...

Food Allergy Compassion: Celiac Edition

By on Jun 28, 2016 in Advice, Celiac Disease, Dining Out, Gluten Free, Health, Travel | 0 comments

Food allergy compassion is a delicate subject to many who suffer from Celiac Disease or other autoimmune disorders. While the general public lives their lives relatively care-free when it comes to food consumption, someone with food allergies lives in constant fear of their next exposure. They know it will eventually happen, but will the circumstances be manageable? What if they are miles away from home in a strange town, or even out locally with acquaintances. The people you are with and the people who are serving you have varying levels of food allergy compassion, and you have to be confident and aware that you must control the situation. Scenario 1: Visiting Family Afar Imagine you are 2500 miles from the gluten-free oasis that is your kitchen. Your kitchen equipped with pots and pans that have never touched gluten, dedicated prep surfaces and care from your live-in family, this is...

How Your Spouse is Affected by Celiac Disease

By on Jun 11, 2016 in Celiac Disease, Gluten Free, Health, Relationships | 0 comments

I waited some time to write an article about the Celiac sufferer’s spouse, mainly because I wanted more time to reflect on what to say after covering observations of others and the effects of Celiac on the body. Talking about Celiac Disease and how it affects your spouse is a delicate subject, and comes with a broad spectrum of emotion. From being overly protective of my wife to watching others around her like a hawk, Celiac changed the way I live with my spouse. I try to keep an eye on everyone and everything gluten, making sure that what she’s eating and what she’s near won’t make her sick. I get anxious, demanding and exhausted with others. I do everything I can to brighten her mood. But altogether, I am forever changed. Understanding Celiac Disease When we first learned of Celiac Disease, I admit, I was slow to realize the extent of the danger that...

Life Before and After Celiac Diagnosis

By on May 25, 2016 in Advice, Celiac Disease, Health, Relationships | 0 comments

Life before being diagnosed with Celiac Disease is vastly different than life afterward. Beforehand, you are more carefree and willing to take risks. Vacations are easy to plan, spontaneity is second-nature, and the prospect of exploring the world is just a car ride or plane ticket away. After Celiac diagnosis, you realize that there are many more things in the world that can harm you than not. Curiosity turns to fear as you realize that very few truly understand the seriousness of Celiac Disease. Gluten free becomes a phrase that courses through your veins every time someone mocks it or dismisses it as a fad. It’s like being ridiculed for having an O negative blood type. We’ve always considered ourselves an adventurous couple. Early on we would take day trips to different places, like malls or parks in the area. As we ran out of local places, we started taking long...

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