Have Any Of You Gone gluten-free B/c A Family Memeber Has Celiac?

[kaiess]

I'm about to go gluten-free myself b/c I want to eat healthier and avoid a lot of the junk food I eat on a regular diet. Going gluten-free with my son will give me a good reason NOT to eat cake, cookies, etc that are available at work everyday. I am not strong enough LOL to do it otherwise. I'm wondering if others have chosen to eat gluten-free if they have no medical reason to do so? Have you felt any better, worse, same? Just curious.

[Amyleigh0007]

This is my opinion only: I don't think going on the gluten free diet just to avoid junk is a great idea. You also don't necessarily eat healthier on the gluten free diet. It is very hard to follow and if you have no medical reason to follow it you will cheat. You will be tempted and give in and you will not set a good example for your son. You will also make it look like gluten free is a passing fad when one day you say you can't eat something but give in the next day and have it.

With that being said, when my son was diagnosed I got rid of all gluten food in the house. I did it for him. I did not want to worry about cross contamination issues. I wanted him to be able to eat anything he wanted at home. Getting rid of the gluten made a huge, positive impact on my health. I had no idea that I had a problem with gluten until I stopped eating it and I wouldn't have stopped eating it if it wasn't for my son's diagnosis. If you think you might have a problem with gluten then stop eating it (unless you want to get tested). If not, I don't think it's a good idea.

[Darn210]

When my daughter was diagnosed, the rest of the family got blood tests done. My results came back negative. I never noticed anything that I thought could be related to wheat. However, by the time I had my blood test done, I had been on this board long enough to know that people have tried gluten-free and realized afterwards that issues/symptoms that they thought were "normal" went away. I decided to go gluten free for awhile to see if I noticed anything. I went gluten free for 6 weeks. I noticed absolutely no improvements. I went back on gluten and noticed absolutely no problems. So I tried it and left it. Depending on the circumstances, I will go off and on for my daughter's sake. Last spring break was the first time that we had vacationed where we were not able to have access to a stove or microwave. Our meals were either at a restaraunt or out of the cooler in our room. I ate gluten free with her for the week. It gave me a sense of what she has to go through. Truly, restaurants have been our biggest issue as she has "kid tastes" . . . she wants chicken fingers, not grilled chicken. By ordering something different than her but still gluten-free it gives her a chance at trying a couple of different things (foods) which will help the next time . . . and so on.