The Silver Lining To Celiac Disease

[Tricia]

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. 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.

[MySuicidalTurtle]

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

[cynicaltomorrow]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

[phakephur]

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]

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]

I, too, relucantly agree. 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.

[ianm]

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]

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

[anerissara]

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.

[stef-the-kicking-cuty]

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]

I can't tell you how happy I am to hear all of you saying these things. 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. 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, Wendy

[angel-jd1]

Wendy-

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

-Jessica

[jessicajane]

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]

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