Celiac Disease Awareness Month

Ok, think back... What did you eat today? Did you have Cheerios for breakfast? A slice of pizza for lunch? Sweet and sour chicken from the local chinese resturant for dinner? Or maybe you were good and had a can of slimfast for breakfast, a chicken wrap for lunch, or a salad for dinner with low caloried cookies for dessert.

If you have Celiac disease, all of those foods I just listed could kill you. Celiac disease is an autoimmune digestive disease that damages the villi of the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. What does this mean? Put simply, that the body is attacking itself!

Celiac disease is triggered by consumption of the protein called gluten, which is found in wheat, barley and rye. Researchers have determined that celiac disease is a genetic condition, meaning that it is inherited. Roughly one out of every 133 people have celiac disease, but 97% remain undiagnosed. This means that almost three million people have celiac disease and only about 100,000 know they have it. Left untreated, people with celiac disease can develop further complications such as other autoimmune diseases, osteoporosis, thyroid disease, and cancer.

Symptoms of celiac disease may include one or more of the following: gas,recurring abdominal bloating and pain,chronic diarrhea, constipation, weight loss/weight gain, fatigue, unexplained anemia (a low count of red blood cells causing fatigue,) bone or joint pain, behavioral changes, tingling numbness in the legs (from nerve damage)muscle cramps, seizures, infertility, recurrent miscarriage, delayed growth,pale sores inside the mouth, called aphthous ulcerstooth discoloration or loss of tooth enamel, itchy skin rash called dermatitis herpetiformis

The only treatment for celiac disease is to follow a gluten-free diet. A gluten-free diet means not eating foods that contain wheat (including spelt, triticale, and kamut), rye, and barley. The foods and products made from these grains are also not allowed. In other words, a person with celiac disease should not eat most grain, pasta, cereal, and many processed foods. Despite these restrictions, people with celiac disease can eat a well-balanced diet with a variety of foods, including gluten-free bread and pasta. For example, people with celiac disease can use potato, rice, soy, amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat, or bean flour instead of wheat flour. They can buy gluten-free bread, pasta, and other products from stores that carry organic foods, or order products from special food companies. Gluten-free products are increasingly available from regular stores.

October is Celiac Disease Awareness month here in the USA. Celiac disease is one of the most missed diagnosis due to it's mimicking of other conditions like IBS. If you have any of the symptoms listed above, please ask your doctor to be tested for Celiac disease. I was diagnosed with Celiac 10 years ago. And since adapting to the gluten free diet, I've never been healtier.