I'm A New Celiac. Awesome!

[Day]

Dear fellow rice-lovers.

I just found out I had celiac yesterday, great great news. Anyways, it is what it is and hopefully I get to learn about what it all means on here. Good to meet some of you, forgive me if I reminisce on these forums about some of my old favorite foods for a while... kind of like pizza and burgers and chow mein. Anyways, sorry for making this post so pessimistic, I'm not usually this out of it. But I do hope to meet you all and learn some smart ways to enjoy food again.

~Day.

[sa1937]

Dear fellow rice-lovers.

I just found out I had celiac yesterday, great great news. Anyways, it is what it is and hopefully I get to learn about what it all means on here. Good to meet some of you, forgive me if I reminisce on these forums about some of my old favorite foods for a while... kind of like pizza and burgers and chow mein. Anyways, sorry for making this post so pessimistic, I'm not usually this out of it. But I do hope to meet you all and learn some smart ways to enjoy food again.

~Day.

Welcome, Day! Just keep reading the forum and you'll learn that we eat rather well. There's no reason you can't have pizza, burgers and chow mein...they just need to be gluten-free, which isn't as difficult as it sounds. Hopefully you cook as it'll make it a lot easier.

That said, your first trips to the grocery store might take a lot longer than previously and if you stick with a whole foods diet, you won't have as many labels to read. I spend a lot of time shopping the outer perimeter of the store...think fresh fruits, veggies and meats, eggs, etc. You get the picture.

ETA: And of course, rice!

[Jestgar]

oh yeah, your eating's gonna totally improve. Life gets better, starting today.

[Bubba's Mom]

At first I went into overwhelm..especially at the Grocery store. I was thinking about what I couldn't have instead of fusing on what I COULD have. Soo..please accept my advice to try to keep a positive attitude. It gets better..I promise! Without Celiac I wouldn't have tried purple potatoes..they're fun! AND..Black apricots, Arugala, various plums, etc.

I'm eating a much healthier diet now and it's fun to go through the outer exterior of the store looking for new things to try.

As you start to heal..I think you'll find your mood improves too? The gluten seems to cause a sort of depression that will go away!

[T.H.]

Feels crummy at first, but seriously? If you're like a lot of us, you will be freaking STUNNED at what turns out to be gluten related.

Me? My joints and back and neck stopped hurting, my carpal tunnel went away, my weight dropped like a stone (good thing for me), headaches went away, dizziness went away. And the mental stuff is just wild. Memory improved, concentration improved. Depression and frustration and anxiety problems went away so even on the most severe diet of my life I felt BETTER than I ever had, emotionally speaking.

I like more exotic foods, so I looked to cultures that normally use little to no gluten (and still taste good). Ethiopian food is one, with their traditional Injera bread that has teff flour, but no wheat (if it's traditional. modern versions use wheat). Lots of asian food made with gluten-free soy sauce, which is still very authentic as gluten-free soy sauce is actually what soy sauce WAS when it was first invented. Thai foods works well (Thai Kitchen's stuff is often gluten-free: their pad thai, peanut sauce, that sort of thing)

Some indian and greek dishes are very nice, too (like falafel and hummus). I'm looking at recipes from Jamaica, now. :-)