In May of 2018, I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. Prior to an office visit in April I had never heard of Celiac Disease. As such, the last two months have been an educational process for me as I work to understand what Celiac Disease is, how gluten has and continues to affect me, and how to lead a gluten free life. The goal of this blog is to share the steps I have taken, the resources I found valuable, and let anyone with Celiac Disease know they are their own best advocate.
Before I provide insight on how I was diagnosed, I want to discuss the two biggest things that I have learned about living a gluten free lifestyle. The first revolves around people who do not suffer from Celiac Disease but rather choose to live a gluten free lifestyle. They have been tremendously helpful in making gluten free options readily available at the grocery stores and restaurants. The downside is they can order a dish and if there is cross-contamination it will not have the same devastating effects as to someone who has Celiac Disease. The issue is that some restaurants and their staff treat a gluten free request not as seriously and thus the chance of gluten contamination can be rather large. I have been told by a bartender that they have gluten free beer only to find it is gluten reduced beer which in most cases I cannot enjoy.
The second thing I have learned is that the Internet is your best friend and worst enemy. People are often posting what is or is not gluten at a restaurant or if a particular food is gluten free. The problem I have found is that these posts or sites often are not dated and thus the information can be outdated. The people who choose to live a gluten free lifestyle have made products and restaurants more gluten friendly, especially over the last ten years. The problem comes when you search for a particular product a post from 15 years ago may pop up before the relevant post from this year. The lesson is to be observant to what you are seeing on the Internet.
Lastly, I have learned that how Celiac Disease affects each person is different so what works for one person may not work for another. Take the move to a gluten free lifestyle in small steps and accept that there will be step backs.
theglutenguy.blog 