What is Celiac Disease?
Many people now a day wonder, what is celiac disease? Whats the difference between me going gluten free and someone who is celiac? What can a person who's celiac eat? I will try my best to answer them.
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Celiac disease can manifest itself in many stages of your life. It can occur in children, but it can also develop in adults. Celiac disease is hereditary, meaning that people with a first-degree relative with celiac disease (parent, child, sibling) have a 1 in 10 risk of developing celiac disease. As it stands, there is no current cure for celiac disease. The closest you can come is by following a gluten-free diet, this eliminates your symptoms, allow your intestines to heal, and just makes you feel better. A good source to check out if you want to learn more is "The Celiac Disease Foundation."
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When you have celiac disease, eating gluten triggers an immune response in your small intestine. Over time, this reaction damages the lining of your small intestine's (image on right) and can prevents your body from absorbing essential nutrients (also known as malabsorption). What this means is that your villi (a part of your small intestines lining that is in-charge of absorbing nutrients from your food) retracts when even 1/50 ppm of gluten is found in your system. As a result of your villi retracting, you cannot absorb any nutrients from any of the food you have eaten. Which can lead to malnutrition, dietary deficiencies, diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss, bloating, and anemia, in most cases. For celiacs, eating gluten free is not a fad diet, and people get really ill when they eat gluten. My dad has also gained over 50 pounds since going gluten free as it is not a weight loss type of diet.
Another question frequently asked is, what can someone with celiac disease eat? Celiac disease is an immune reaction to eating gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. However, many people who are celiac also cannot eat oats because they are processed with the same equipment as wheat, meaning they have been cross-contaminated. However, there are a lot of foods that are naturally gluten free: rice, potatoes, corn, vegetables, fruits, meats; including chicken, turkey, beef, pork, and fish, etc.
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When you plan to buy oats, it is best if you make sure to check the brand and see if they are gluten-free or not. Some good gluten-free oat brands are; Trader Joe's, Quakers, and Bob's Red Mill. But even though these companies do make gluten free oats does not mean that all of there oats are gluten-free so again double check the packaging before purchasing.
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But it is important to note that wheat-free and gluten-free are not the same thing, and you must make sure that the package reads "Does not contain gluten" or "gluten-free". Many US products will say in the allergens section that a produce does not contain wheat, however, it may have barley malt which would make the product wheat free but not gluten free. When making gluten free food it is always important to read the list of ingredients to check for wheat, barley, rye, or oats.
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For most people, when they think of flour, they only think of one type as a result of most flours in people homes containing gluten. This can make it difficult to know what flours you can use when baking. Here are the brands that my family most commonly use when baking gluten free: Bob's red-mill 1 to 1 gluten free flour, King Arthurs Flour measure for measure mix, and some common blends such as Bette Hagman gluten free flour recipe, featherlight flour recipe, and EGF all-purpose flour recipe.
You also have to be aware that many sauces, flavorings, salad dressings, seasoning, and marinades may also contain wheat. They may not seem like they would contain gluten, but many of them do. For example, many soy sauces are made of wheat, not soy, making Chinese food difficult to trust as soy sauce is used in so much of it. Assume they all contain gluten unless stated otherwise on the packaging. This has become much easier in later years as, at least many American brands, are now required to state what they may contain so you can better trust that you will not accidentally make yourself, your friend, or your family member ill.
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​I hope that you will find the recipes on this blog will help you see that gluten free does not mean a life with limited food choices or one where your diet has to be bland or flavorless.
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“Celiac Disease.” Celiac Disease Foundation, celiac.org/about-celiac-disease/what-is-celiac-disease/.