For the lesson plan I had to create I thought: "what better to teach than to use somethings that I am quite familiar with?" So I decided to teach about becoming newly diagnosed with gluten sensitivity or celiac disease.

I learned something quite interesting about other countries around the world when it comes to celiac disease. I am sure most of you are aware that celiac is very much better known in parts of Europe. In some countries like Italy it is mandatory for children at age 6 to be tested for celiac disease. Each Italian citizen over the age of 10 who is diagnosed with celiac disease receives a monthly stipend of 140 euros, which is to be spent on gluten-free foods.

The Italian Celiac Association has spent a great deal of time educating restaurants on how to handle celiac disease. In the UK over 90% of British celiac patients receive gluten-free food as part of their prescription for the gluten-free diet that they must follow. Ireland offers tax breaks on gluten-free food like the U.S. does, but they used to offer gluten-free foods free of charge. That program is no longer offered today. I imagine it became much too costly.

The European Union has adopted universal labeling laws for gluten-free food. If the food contains less than 100 mg of gluten it is then labeled as " very low gluten." Where as if it contains 20 mg or less of gluten it is then labeled "gluten-free." The U.S. is working on this, but we are not there yet. Canada is known for it's impressive gluten-free labeling where any intentionally added gluten must be labeled on the product.

Argentina recently implemented it's "National Program for the Detection and Control of Celiac Disease." This program is wonderful in that it promotes awareness and knowledge of celiac disease. The program also led to labeling restrictions. What impresses me is that for residents of Argentina, Argentinian health care providers must cover the cost of alternative gluten-free flours and mixes.

The United States has come a long way in awareness and research of celiac disease, but we still have a long way to go if we want to catch up with these other countries.

I'm talking about wheat and I'm talking about how it effects me airborne. I was diagnosed with celiac disease back in early 2009, but these symptoms I started having were new and nothing I'd expierenced before. It started when I was out to eat with family and someone at the dinner table ordered bread. Moments after they received it my skin would start burning and itching, the next thing I know I would break out into hives. I would remain miserable and itching until I got away from the wheat then after 15 minutes usually I would be fine.

Now I really noticed this happening when I walked into a bakery. I went to this bakery near by because I was told they offered gluten-free options. I was only in there 5 seconds for the chef to inform me they do not offer gluten-free and I instantly started breaking out into hives and my skin was on fire. Five seconds is all it took for me to have a reaction.

Let's push forward a year later to now and when I am in the grocery store and near the bakery, smelling the wheat physically makes me sick to my stomach. I literally feel like I want to run to the bathroom and throw up. I've talked to many people with celiac and what I have gathered is that my reaction to wheat, on top of the normal reactions that most people get, is rare. I have met one other person who reacts the way I do but that's it. I talked to my primary care doctor and my GI doctor about this and both of them said they would have to research it and get back to me--it's been six months and I am still waiting on them to find anything on airborne reactions.

Since realizing I have an airborne reaction to wheat my life is what most people would consider to be sheltered. I live in a gluten-free bubble and I am much happier that way. Being as allergic to gluten as I am means that I can almost never go out to eat, and if I do I have to eat away from other diners or outside. If I am at the grocery store I cannot go down the isle that contains wheat and nowhere near the bakery. Someone please explain to me why in most grocery stores you have to pass through the bakery to get to the produce, the naturally gluten free foods. It is utterly unfair to people like me!

Gluten can affect people with celiac in many different ways. I've read that gluten can affect people in 50 different ways. That to me is quite a lot. I hope reading this is eye opening for both people with celiac disease and people without. Cheers!

I remember waking up one morning and getting ready for an appointment at the women's clinic. That morning was peculiar, because my hands were very numb. I had been experiencing numbness and tingling in my hands and feet for a couple months now, but this was different. I don't mean numb like they had fallen asleep, this numbness was unlike anything I had experienced before. My hands were so numb that my thumbs were pressed against my four fingers and I could not pry them apart.

That day was four and a half years ago and still very vivid. I stood there in my kitchen trying to open a box of "healthy whole grain" cereal and could not get the box open due to my hands. I decided not to worry about it and drove myself to the doctor. My hands remained numb for about an hour after that. I mentioned to my doctor the numbness and she suggested I call my primary care doctor.

I had a checkup with my doctor that week so I waited until then. That appointment changed my life. I finally decided to mention to my doctor about my getting sick no matter what I seemed to eat. She asked me to do a blood test and those results explained everything. It's never a good thing when you are in your doctors office waiting for results and she rushes in, in panic mode. My doctor was running around like a mad women. She finally calmed down enough to explain my results. My calcium and potassium levels were half of what they should be which explains why my hands were so numb a couple days prior. I was taking vitamins everyday so how come I was not absorbing them?

The next thing I know is I was being hooked up to an EKG machine and then rushed off into an ambulance. The next 2 weeks of my life were miserable to say the least. I was given potassium by an I.V. and that burned so bad that it brought me to tears quite often. They put me on a liquid diet and I was still getting sick from the chicken broth. The doctors were puzzled because I was not eating anything, yet I was still getting very sick. My second to last day at the hospital they decided to do a endoscopy, biopsy, and a colonoscopy all at the same time. I fortunately was completely under and could not feel a thing.

Two weeks after having that done I received a phone call which made all the pieces to the puzzle fit. A nurse called me to say that I had celiac disease. Those words plagued my head for the next couple of days. All I could think about was that I had a disease and how was that possible? The nurse sent me some information and briefly explained what I had. That was the day I heard the term gluten for the very first time which was in March of 2009. That very day I threw away everything in my pantry that contained gluten which meant everything.

I was basically starting over and throwing out everything I knew about food and starting fresh. I started reading up on celiac disease and gluten-free night and day. I was scheduled to see a nutritionist two weeks after being diagnosed and by that point I already knew more than she did about celiac disease. She seemed impressed by that.

Fast forward to now and the term gluten is widely used in my vocabulary. It's been over four years since I have eaten anything with gluten and am much healthier than I have been in my whole life overall. I make it a mission now to spread awareness about celiac disease teach those around me about it. People need to understand that it's much more than an allergy to gluten and wheat. Being diagnosed with celiac disease made me decide to become a nutritionist, which I am currently studying at school.