At first I was skeptical about gluten caused diseases and troubles, and honestly I didn’t pay so much attention to it. Seemed to me that at one point it just got popular to say that you are on a gluten free diet and everybody had an opinion about that. Then, my friend’s father was diagnosed with a Celiac disease, he had troubles with digestion his whole life and he was on many diets all throughout his life, but nothing seemed to work, or it worked but only for some time. Almost seven years ago, when things got worse, he decided that he had enough and did a research on his own, and came up with this self-diagnosed sickness. When his new doctor confirmed that he indeed does have a Celiac disease I was shocked. I thought that this was a really rare case, and wondered what the odds were. I didn’t even know about this illness, it was all new to me.
What is Celiac disease?
As I found out, 1 in 100 people in the whole world suffers from Celiac disease, and most of them without even knowing that they are sick. It is an autoimmune disorder of the small intestine, and certain proteins can really make a mess out of your bowl movements and your small intestine is under a constant attack without receiving any nutrients whatsoever. Soon I found out that this is a disease that appears due to a genetic predisposition, and suddenly I was in danger as well.
Where is gluten hiding?
Of course, I took the much needed steps to regulate my friend’s fathers and my own diet. At first, the whole family did it to support him; I found out that this little trouble causing protein is commonly found in flour, bread crumbs, pasta and wheat and rye crackers. We used to have pasta once a week, baked goods were often at breakfast and bread was a must for almost every meal. This was a much needed change without a doubt.
What’s in it for me?
With some further research, I’ve found out about other benefits of a gluten free diet. I didn’t share my results with the family, didn’t feel the need to and it was sort of a project for me to see if this actually works. I was thinking that if I tell them how they are supposed to feel on this diet – that could cause a placebo effect, so I didn’t. As it turned out, the mood in general got clearly better, and I even started losing weight. Strange as it may sound, keeping this diet made us all feel good about ourselves and it improved our quality of life. I keep track of what am I eating, and I’m actually getting skinnier without any regular workout. This diet can also help people with thyroid diseases, migraines, mood disorders; it can prevent some types of allergies and even help people with ADHD and autism. I also managed to save some money and treat myself with some really nice cookware.
Where to find groceries?
That is the best part, gluten free food is all around you, and you are not even aware of it. Fruit and vegetables, eggs, nuts, most of the dairy products, including some sorts of cheese, beans, seeds, meat and fish, even chicken is gluten free if you avoid deep frying it in oil. I don’t even miss baked goods anymore, finally I found out how to apply the definition “eat to live, don’t live to eat.
If you don’t believe me, try it for yourself. A small change in your diet can’t do you any harm, and if you are a bit moody and anxious all the time, maybe your body is trying to say to you that you should try something new. Either way, I’m happy and I feel free, and I wish you to feel the same.
Gabriella Diesendorf is a blogger and a devoted mother from Australia. She loves badgering about beauty, green lifestyle choices, and parenting techniques at high style life and if you mention attachment parenting or natural makeup she will bore you to death.
