Embracing the Beast: Celiac's Disease
By: Jeanne Donnelly
Right about now most of you are wondering who are the Celiacs. Some strange political group? A fancy new club? There are an estimated three million Celiacs in the United States alone and half of them don’t even know it! They go about their lives, dealing with Celiac issues, all the while they are oblivious to what is going on in their own bodies.
Celiac Disease is an auto immune condition that causes a person to react to gluten; a protein found in wheat, rye and barley. (Okay, sometimes oats too-especially in the USA, but that’s controversial so I won’t go there.) If you have Celiac Disease and eat wheat, rye or barley your immune system goes haywire and the villi in your intestines is destroyed. Flattened! Squashed! (FYI- Villi are the little hair-like fibers in your intestine that move the food along and grab up all your vitamins and minerals.)
Symptoms are mostly digestive and include bloating, diarrhea, fatigue, nausea, vomiting and some not so subtle symptoms like anemia, bone pain, headaches, Crohn's, IBS, and a wonderful little rash called dermatitis herpetiformis. From “failure to thrive” in infants to any problem associated with vitamin deficiencies Celiac Disease can present it self in many ways.
So how do you diagnose something that hides under so many hats? Celiac disease was once thought to be extremely rare, but the times they are a changin’. It starts with a blood test and is confirmed with a biopsy (so they can see those squashed and flattened villi).
When first diagnosed, Celiac Disease is like this giant monster living in your house. It sits on your shoulder everywhere you go and hangs around your neck like a ball and chain. Gone from your life are the cookies, cakes, breads, cereals and pasta you love. No more beer! You go to parties and have to refuse just about everything on the menu because wheat is the cheapest filler known to man. It’s in most of the gravies, soups and sauces (thickened with flour-and yes, four is made from wheat too). You have Celiac Disease; clean out your cupboards and get ready for a change of lifestyle.
Then we learn of cross contamination. Yeesh! Enough already! So, the chef is in the kitchen making your lunch. Cheese burger, no roll please and you think you’re doing good. But the chef is busy and he takes the spatula—YOUR SPATUAL—and leans over and flips a piece of French toast, then he flips your burger. POOF! You’ve been contaminated! Tiny flecks of gluten from the toast have found their way onto your burger and your plate and will work their way into your gut, throw your immune system into chaos and hammer down your villi. All from one careless flip of the spatula. So beware when you belly up to the buffet because you have to wonder if the people there before you moved the spoon from the croutons (wheat) into the olives.
Oh, the joy of Celiac!
Now relax. Push the panic aside and know there is hope. It takes time to tame this Celiac beast, but it is possible. You do your research, check out the Celiac organizations for more information and you learn it’s not so bad. Most health food stores now carry every kind of gluten free food you could imagine. Even your mainstream grocers are starting to stock gluten free cookies, cereals and flour.
Celiac Disease comes with a learning curve, too. You’ll buy one of the gluten free pastas; turn the first few pots in to glue and figure out how to make a decent gluten free baked ziti. Experiment, find the brands you like and maybe even learn to cook a few of your favorites.
Parties can be a challenge. You either eat before you go or bring a little gluten free dish with you. If you do find food you can eat just serve yourself first so those cross contaminators don’t get you!
Many restaurants now have gluten free menus and have trained their chefs and staff in matters of cross contamination. Always ask if they have a gluten free menu in advance. (Check out the Chain Restaurants section of MyGlutenFreeNJ.com to see if your local chain restaurant has one!)
Day by day it gets easier, you know at a glance what you can and can’t eat and you stock your home with good food again. The beast on your shoulders now shrinks in size and fits in your pocket. He’s still there, but can’t scare you anymore. That Celiac beast is tamable.
Then comes the payoff: you FEEL GOOD! The nausea that’s followed you from sun up to sun down is gone, bloated tummy, aching joints and headaches- GONE! The beast has given you back your health.
I found the best tasting bread up at Whole Foods so I’m going to take some cold cuts, cheese, mayo and chopped up olives and make the best Dagwood you ever saw! Life goes on, it gets better. (There are about four or five kinds of gluten free beer on the market, too, check out the gluten free Alcohol page!.)
