Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×
  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.




  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):



    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):


  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

The Silver Lining To Celiac Disease


Tricia

Recommended Posts

Tricia Newbie

Hello - I just want to say - call me crazy but - I'm actually glad to find out I am

gluten intolerant! This is because I have had a weakness for junk food I guess. And it is hard to find junk food that does not have gluten in it. :D I am now being much more health conscious in my diet and I suspect this holds true for people with gluten problems in general, unlike most in the world out there.


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



MySuicidalTurtle Enthusiast

Yes, it is great to be fully aware of what we put into our bodies.

cynicaltomorrow Contributor

I honestly think it's one of the best things that ever happened to me. I was eating SO unhealthy. Now.. I am balanced and feeling good for the first time in forever. :)

Tricia Newbie

CT - Really. There is sooo much junk food out there and it can be too easy to fall into the trap of eating it. Plus, for me a big problem was social pressure, especially at the holidays, with people saying, "Oh just have one" or "Just have a few more. It's the holidays!" How much easier to reply, "Gee, it looks great, but I have this problem with gluten..."

rmmadden Contributor

I agree.......As a newly diagnosed celiac disease patient I have been amazed when I read the labels of things I used to eat. An 8-ounce can of cream of mushroom soup had so many ingredients the list took up 3/4 of the label. All those additives/preservatives/chemicals cannot be good for the human body! I truly believe that fast food and all the preservatives in the ready-to-eat meals etc. are what is makeing people sick (Cancer, heart disease, etc.)

I have not only gone gluten-free but am eating only organic foods as well. It is more expensive but it is ultimately better for my condition and body as a whole.

Bob

darlindeb25 Collaborator
:lol: it's always good to see the glass as half full and not half empty--i would rather not have celiacs, but i do and there is nothing i can do about it and i am so glad that i know what is wrong with me and can take care of myself so as not to be sick all the time ;) deb
Deby Apprentice

Yes there are benifits. When I see people cramming down doughnuts and gobbling those wonder bread sandwiches, I just am so glad I'm not tempted to partake. Knowing how sick just one crumb would make me has taken the temptation away!

other benifits are the flour flavors. I never knew the richness that I could add to my diet until I started experimenting with other flours. I've found that since rice flour doesn't have such a strong taste that I actually like my baked goods better. The flavor is so much more intense and I can actually taste all the ingretients! There's definately a silver lining.


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



phakephur Apprentice

Agreed. It grosses me out now to hear somebody talk about eating and say "I'll just grab something". It used to bother me when I would go to the grocery store and see people throwing things indiscriminately in their carts because I couldn't do that any more. But when I really began to look at those people, I realized most of them look terrible. They look tired and sick, and their kids are bouncing off the walls.

I'm with Bob on the food additives. Even if a product is gluten-free, if it has an ingredient list as long as I arm I reshelve it. I believe that the most important thing you can do for yourself on a daily basis is to feed yourself well. Having celiac is remarkably inconvenient sometimes, but it's also an opportunity for mindfulness which most people don't practice.

Cheers

Sarah

luvs2eat Collaborator

I'll have to reluctantly agree. Luckily, I loved to cook before being diagnosed and was already a label reader (I didn't like giving my kids crap) so I pretty much knew what I couldn't have before I got all the lists of No-Nos.

But what happened to me is that when I was diagnosed, I was so upset at not being able to have bread, beer, etc. etc. again that I OVERDOSED on the things I COULD have... potatoes, rice (in its every form!) homemade cornbread, brown rice pastas... and packed on some weight. Not to mention... that my celiac disease was diagnosed so fast (3 month of gastro symptoms) that I didn't even begin to lose weight!! ARRGGHHH!!

I have a friend who I sensed was getting impatient with my not being able to have wheat/gluten. She's a diabetic who manages the food she eats by shooting more insulin rather than managing her insulin and her diet. She asked me once... "Can't you just have SOME??" I finally told her, "Sure... if I want MOLTEN ACID comin' out my butt!" haha... sorry to be so graphic, but it made her understand that cheating on a gluten-free diet is not an option!!

celiac3270 Collaborator

I, too, relucantly agree. :D I mean, I'd love to be able to eat a lot of the stuff I can't, but at least I know that I'll be much healthier as a result.

--and this label reading makes you much more aware of the junk that you would be putting in your body.

  • 1 month later...
ianm Apprentice

Quite frankly I don't miss any of the garbage I used to eat at all! It made me feel so awfull and completely messed up my life. It has been a year since I have gone gluten-free and I have no desire to go back.

Ianm

jknnej Collaborator

I agree with you! And organic is more expensive, but considering how much I used to spend eating out, it pales in comparison.

anerissara Enthusiast

Me, too! And I'm not one to be unusually positive about things like this LOL.

I realized how much junk I was eating, and how much "convenience food" my kids ate...and how *little* nutrients can be found in that sort of food. Now, instead of corn dogs or chicken nuggets my kids eat home-made cooked, cubed chicken and vegetables. Instead of chips, we have apples! I am learning so much about eating healthy, and it makes junk food (which is hard to hunt down in gluten-free form and usually expensive) not such a quick and easy solution.

I expect my entire family to be healthier and stronger due to this diet...I think in the end we will have far more benefits even than the initial feeling better from not being sick with gluten.

Except for the fact that I now feel guilty about how badly we'd been eating before (and even so, by most standards we weren't doing badly....it's just so much better now!) I'm feeling really good about the direction our diet is taking!

Guest BERNESES

That's so funny- I am glad to know that I'm not the only one that feels that way. I have been working toward becoming gluten-free for the last 15 days (I just found out I may have Celiac's) and oh what a difference it has made! It's funny- my husband noticed (he always thought the basis of my problems was a food allergy) that I had already started to weed stuff out that I had a bad experience with. Like I had stopped drinking beer and switched to vodka when we went out, I really didn't crave bread, the thought of milk grosses me out (this from a girl who used to drink 7-8 glasses a day).

I'm relieved frankly and the cool thiong for me is that my favorite food in the world- Thai- is mostly glouten free. I'd give up pizza and beer (well I already have) before I'd give up Thai! Long live Thai food. :D

stef-the-kicking-cuty Enthusiast

Ha Berneses,

same here. As an asian fan of course, I like asian food. With me, it's just more chinese than thai, but never mind. Most of it is glutenfree anyway ;) .

Hugs, Stef

watkinson Apprentice

I can't tell you how happy I am to hear all of you saying these things. :D I am fairly new to this site. The first day I looked around here I went to the area where people were talking about eating out in restaraunts and such. It seemed like there was alot of complaining about all the things we can't eat. <_<

I was so extatic to find out what was wrong with me, and that really, it's fairly simple. Unlike lupus, MS, reumatiod arthritis or any of the other autoimmune dieases this one is "do-able, fixable, manageable". If I have to have an AD I feel blessed that it's this one. I mean there is no cure for any autoimmune disease, but for us, all we have to do is eat gluten-free. Which basically means (after getting rid of all the gluten) that were eating healthy, were getting rid of all the junk.

I was always interested in the health of our bodies, always tried to eat right (HaHa, like whole wheat and multi grains) but I found that because I was always sick that I could'nt eat alot of fruits and veggies, I would always feel naueous and often a salad would bring on a stomache attack. Now that I'm "cured" (no more stomache problems) I eat tons of organic fruits and veg. I look better than I have in years, feel better, stronger, happier in every aspect of life. :D I miss NOTHING!!

It grosses me out to think of bread, pasta, ect. I think it's a blast to experiment and find new foods and to tell everyone why I eat the way I do. I don't talk much about it unless people ask but I find that people are genuinly interested. It's obvious how good I look and feel and people want to know the "secret". I have had several friends (not celiacs) try to change thier way of eating, lose some weight and try to get healthier just from talking about my condition.

LIfe is good, :P Wendy

angel-jd1 Community Regular

Wendy-

You have a GREAT attitute about things and that is 95% of the battle right there. Keep up the good work.

-Jessica :rolleyes:

jessicajane Newbie

So happy to find this thread...for me, it's actually been a big relief to learn the effect gluten has on me, even if the bloodwork came back negative. Why not avoid the substance that makes me sick?! It's a virtual cure. Like alcoholism, you're safe if you avoid the substance.

Feeling nearly normal for the first time in years is giving me the impetus to continue with this regardless of what the test result was. At least the doctor thought of celiac disease and prompted me to do the research. My body has provided a reliable-enough diagnosis, for the time-being anyway.

Looking forward to a healthier, more useful life and sharing with my new community.

JJ

negative blood test 2/25/05

close-to-gluten-free since 2/26/05

ianm Apprentice

Having celiac disease can be crippling if you allow it to be. It's not like having a terminal illness. For us the cure is to simply stop eating certain foods. Easier said than done sometimes. I find that people either understand why we can't eat certain things or they just don't get it all. Life is good as long as there is no gluten involved.

Ianm

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):



  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      131,187
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748

    Kris46
    Newest Member
    Kris46
    Joined

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):


  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.4k
    • Total Posts
      1m

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):





  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):



  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Ginger38
      So I recently had allergy testing for IGE antibodies in response to foods. My test results came back positive to corn, white potatoes, egg whites. Tomatoes, almonds and peanuts to name a few.  I have had obvious reactions to a few of these - particularly tomatoes and corn- both GI issues. I don’t really understand all this allergy versus celiac stuff. If the food allergies are mild do I have to avoid these foods entirely? I don’t know what I will eat if I can’t  have corn based gluten free products 
    • Kris2093u4
      Geography makes a difference.  I'm in the West and Trader Joe's gluten-free bread tastes great and is a better price than most gluten-free breads sold elsewhere in my area.  
    • JForman
      We have four children (7-14 yo), and our 7 year old was diagnosed with NCGS (though all Celiac labs were positive, her scope at 4 years old was negative so docs in the US won't call it celiac). We have started her on a Gluten Free diet after 3 years of major digestive issues and ruling out just about everything under the sun. Our home and kitchen and myself are all gluten-free. But I have not asked my husband/her dad or her other siblings to go completely gluten-free with us. They are at home, but not out of the home. This has led to situations when we are eating out where she has to consistently see others eating things she can't have and she has begun to say "Well, I can't have <fill in the blank>...stupid gluten."  How have you supported your gluten-free kiddos in the mental health space of this journey, especially young ones like her. I know it's hard for me as an adult sometimes to miss out, so I can't imagine being 7 and dealing with it! Any tips or ideas to help with this? 
    • Jane878
      By the time I was 5 I had my first auto0immune disorder, Migraine headaches, with auras to blind me, and vomiting, sensitivity to light and sound. I was 5 years old, and my stepfather would have pizza night, milling his own flour, making thick cheesy gluten pizza, that I would eat and the next day, I would have serious migraines, and my mother & stepfather did nothing about my medical problems. When I was 17 in my first year at college, I was diagnosed with my 2nd known auto-immune disorder, Meniere's disease. I was a elite athlete, a swimmer, and soccer player. And once again my parents didn't think anything of understanding why I had a disorder only older people get. Now after my mother passed from Alzheimer's disease she also suffered with living with gluten. She had a rash for 30 years that nobody could diagnose. She was itchy for 45 years total. My brother had a encapsulated virus explodes in his spleen and when this happened his entire intestines were covered with adhesions, scar tissue and he almost lost his life. He has 5 daughters, and when I finally was diagnosed after being pregnant and my body went into a cytokine storm, I lost my chance to have children, I ended up having Hashimoto's disease, Degenerative Disc disease, and my body started to shut down during my first trimester. I am 6ft tall and got down to 119lbs. My husband and I went to a special immunologist in Terrace, California. They took 17 vials of blood as we flew there for a day and returned home that evening. In 3 weeks, we had the answer, I have Celiac disease. Once this was known, only my father and husband made efforts to change their way of feeding me. At the family cabin, my stepfather & mother were more worried that I would ruin Thanksgiving Dinner. It wasn't until one of my cousins was diagnosed with Celiac disease. They finally looked into getting Gluten Free flour and taking measures to limit "gluten" in meals. He did nothing but ask for me to pay for my own food and wi-fi when I came to the cabin to stay after our house burned down. When he informed my mother, they proceeding to get into a physical fight and she ended up with a black eye. The is just more trauma for me. Sam had no interest in telling the truth about what he wanted. He lied to my mother that he had asked my husband if I could pay for "food" when he asked Geoffrey if I had money to pay for my wi-fi. My mother hates when he spends so much time on the computer so he lied and said I could pay for my own food. I will remind you I weighed 119lbs at this time. (At 6ft) that is a very sick looking person. Neither parent was worried about my weight, they just fought about how cheap my stepfather was. As my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2014. He had her sign over the will to a trust and added his children. He had no testimonial capacity at the time, so she signed without proper papers. Making this Trust null and void. When I gave my brother my childhood home, my mother stated I would be getting an equal part of inheritance to the house on Race. It currently worth 2.0 million $. I got nothing, and my stepfather has since disowned me b/c of my claim and he knows that my mother would never have left it uneven between my biological brother and myself. She sat me and my husband down, as we lived at the Race Street house and treated and took care of it as our own. My brother took over b/c he was going through a horrific divorce and needed a home so he could get a better custody deal with his soon to be ex-wife who was a Assist DA for Denver. She used the girls against him, and he & I were the primary caregivers. We, Judd and I spent the most time with them pre the divorce. Once Judd moved into the house, he threw all of my mother, grandmother and my family heirlooms out to the Goodwill. Nobody told my mother about this as she was going through cancer treatment and had Alzheimer's disease in her mother and her sister. My stepfather and biological brother took advantage of this matter, as I called a "family council" that my brother just never could make it to at the last moment. All of the furnishing, kitchen ware, everything was in the house my brother just moved into. He had had 2 weddings, I chose to elope b/c my stepfather ruined my brother's first wedding by talking about his relationship with my brother in front of my dad and his entire family, insulting him and having my grandfather leave the ceremony. It was a disaster. My stepfather just plays dumb and blames my father for the slight. I was the only child not to have a wedding. So, my mother and stepfather never had to pay for a thing. My mother had had an agreement with my father he'd pay for college and all medical issues with their kids, myself and Judd. So truly my mother never had to pay for anything big for me in her entire life. I am looking for anyone that has had a similar story, where they grew up in a household that had a baker that regularly milled flour and ate gluten. What happened to you? DId you suffer from different auto-immune diseases b/c of living with a baker using "gluten" Please let me know. I have been looking into legal ways to get my stepfather to give me what my mother had promised, and he erased. Thank you for listening to my story. Jane Donnelly  
    • trents
      Possibly gluten withdrawal. Lot's of info on the internet about it. Somewhat controversial but apparently gluten plugs into the same neuro sensors as opiates do and some people get a similar type withdrawal as they do when quitting opiates. Another issue is that gluten-free facsimile flours are not fortified with vitamins and minerals as is wheat flour (in the U.S. at least) so when the switch is made to gluten-free facsimile foods, especially if a lot of processed gluten-free foods are being used as substitutes, vitamin and mineral deficiencies can result. There is also the possibility that she has picked up a virus or some but that is totally unrelated to going gluten-free.
×
×
  • Create New...