What the Heck is Gluten and Celiac Disease?!

What is gluten? Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley. Gluten is the stuff that helps hold bread together. It keeps the dough elastic. Think of it like glue. It holds your cupcake together and helps it stay nice and moist. My husband, daughter and I all have Celiac Disease. It is genetic and it’s totally crazy that my husband and I both have it. We didn’t know either of us had it when we got married. It usually becomes apparent in your early 20’s. Well we got married when we were 20 and 22… and surprise, surprise! We both were later diagnosed with it.

My husband was super sick. Basically when you have Celiac Disease your intestine attacks the gluten thus creating a world war in your gut. It can be extremely painful – even the littlest amount of gluten can cause issues. I didn’t have any symptoms. I had no idea I had it. Well, we couldn’t get pregnant. We tried for two years. I had given up hope. Then I found out I had Celiac Disease and started the gluten-free diet myself and then bam! – pregnant with Elli. She’s my little miracle baby. Now, even though ingesting gluten doesn’t make me sick I still adhere to a strict gluten-free diet. Why? Because even though I don’t feel sick – bad things are still going on inside me. Long-term effects of eating gluten with this condition can be cancer, early osteoporosis, malnutrition, bone density loss (including teeth), and infertility… and the list goes on!

Starting the diet can be really hard. I cried when I found out I could never eat an Oreo or a Panera bagel again. It’s hard to understand what you can and can’t eat… gluten is hidden in all sorts of things such as natural flavoring, coloring, vinegar malt, soups, cereal, seasonings… basically it’s everywhere. It’s hard because you can’t eat your favorite things anymore and the food you can eat tastes different and has a funky texture. You can’t just go to any restaurant. You feel bad eating dinner at someone else’s house because – even though they may try -chances are they overlooked some glutinous item.

When you get diagnosed it’s all a little overwhelming. Luckily for Nathan and I we had family who also had Celiac so we had resources and support. When I went grocery shopping I would always be reading labels and calling my mom or dad for help. Thankfully, there is a lot more awareness now than there was just even 5 years ago.

If you want to know more about Celiac Disease you can go to the Celiac Disease Foundation’s website. http://celiac.org/live-gluten-free/glutenfreediet/what-is-gluten/

Questions?

A presto!

Jacqueline