Gluten Free Breeze (formerly Brendygirl) Blog

Whenever people inquire about why I don't eat bread or why I'm eating what I'm eating, I give a generic response that I'm allergic to flour and it's hidden in everything---Just so people don't think I'm another FRUITY or NUTTY California Tree hugger and/or hypochondriac.

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But some people ask more about it and then I explain that it's not an anaphylactic allergy and that it's a genetic disease that is highly undiagnosed due to the wide range of symptoms and the ignorance of doctors who misdiagnose with more common things like lactose intolerance, which is a side effect of it. I usually give the example that I'd get sick after eating cereal and everyone assumed it was the milk...but it was actually the cereal that was making me sick...nobody thinks bland foods make you sick and that's why they put you on the bland food diet.

I thought it was cool that the Survivor/The View girl Elisabeth Hasselback said that she felt the best she'd ever felt while on the island for Survivor because all they ate was rice and fish.

My point is, ALMOST EVERY TIME someone asks and I divulge my little celiac soliloquy, they say, I think I might have that!!! Or, maybe that's what my daughter has! So, I give them the website and tell them not to go off gluten before the tests.

I wonder if I'll ever hear back about whether or not any of these people have subsequently been diagnosed?

I really don't want them to have celiac, but if they do have it, I do want them to feel better!