5 Surprisingly Awesome Things About Having Celiac Disease
When you learn you have celiac disease, you might initially focus on the things you lose, like the ability to eat gluten or eat whatever or wherever you wanted. However, as I discussed with tons of other gluten free teens back during the first annual Gluten Free Teen Summit (click here if you have no idea what Summit I'm talking about!), there are some surprising "perks" about having celiac disease.
So in honor of National Celiac Awareness Day on September 13, these days I?M rounding up five notably terrific matters approximately having celiac disease, from being the primary one to devour on the buffet to in the end feeling like the healthful badass you definitely are!
1. You are greater stimulated to strive new (gluten loose) meals.
One of the nice questions asked all through the Gluten Free Teen Summit?S Teen Panel was our favourite gluten loose food/product. It become hilarious to listen every body in the target market moan after they heard one in all their favourite ingredients or gasp at the fact that a scrumptious gluten free pizza clearly existed.
Finding tasty gluten free products can be challenging, and it requires a lot of trial and error (even if you do your research and go with gluten free foods that a lot of celiacs give a big thumbs up). On the plus side, though, this search for the gluten free “holy grail” or whatever food you’re missing (whether it’s pizza, cookies, sandwich bread, etc) often pushes us out of our comfort zones and motivates us to try new foods!
Personally, I was a suuuuuper bland eater pre-celiac. I’d never even tried sweet potatoes, avocado, sushi, dragonfruit, olives and countless other foods I now love. Once gluten was taken out of my edible equation, though, I felt extra determined to try as many gluten free foods as possible and expand my dietary boundaries. And let me tell ya...while I still certainly miss plenty of gluten-filled foods, my gluten free life is pretty dang delicious now and my diet is even more diverse than it used to be.
2. You're a VIP whilst ingesting out.
One of the surprising benefits of celiac disease that one of the Gluten Free Teen Summit attendees mentioned was getting first dibs on the buffet. I actually haven’t eaten at a buffet since my celiac disease diagnosis, which is why I’ve never seen this “awesome” side effect of celiac disease first-hand. I do know, though, that when I’m at a potluck with friends or family, I often go first to make sure there’s no accidental cross-contamination from people serving themselves and switching utensils, etc.
On a related note, several of the gluten free teens also pointed out that they get special attention from chefs when they eat at buffets. Although eating out gluten free can be scary, it is true that celiac disease often makes us VIP diners (especially if you’re at a very food allergy aware location like Disney World). So if you ever feel self-conscious or uncomfortable because of your “special diet,” flip those feelings on their head and say, “Heck yeah, I am special, for better or for worse!” And when you find a restaurant or a chef that makes eating gluten free "easy" and delicious, give your thanks and spread the word!
Three. You can also develop towards your own family and proper friends.
After I gave my presentation on being gluten free in college, I stayed lower back and chatted with some of the target market for a couple of minutes. My heart virtually melted while one of the more youthful GF Teen Summit attendees said something like, ?I am grateful that celiac disorder introduced me a lot towards my circle of relatives and a number of my friends ?Cause they are trying certainly difficult to make certain I?M secure and can eat stuff OK.?
My journey from celiac disease diagnosis to being healthy gluten free is one of the most challenging experiences I’ve been through in my life. I know my parents hurt as much as me when I was severely underweight and malnourished from celiac disease, and my health struggles certainly caused tension in my family during the worst points. However, I’ve also seen exactly what that young lady was talking about. I’ve seen:
- How much time, money and effort parents are willing to put into making their pantry and kitchen celiac safe
- How much parents will educate themselves about celiac disease to ensure their child gets what he/she needs
- How flexible real friends will be in where we eat out, what we do for fun, etc. to make sure my dietary restrictions can be accommodated
Unfortunately, not everyone will “get” your celiac. Many attendees of the summit also mentioned being bullied at school because of their dietary restrictions. However, the people who really care about you will do their best to help you adapt to and thrive on a gluten free diet. And those close relationships and solid sources of support are priceless.
Four. Sometimes, your food is better than the gluten-filled alternative!
One of the common stereotypes about the gluten free diet is that all gluten free food is “gross,” “bland” or less tasty than gluten-filled alternatives. But that is one heck of a big lie!
The truth is, there is right gluten loose food and there is awful gluten unfastened meals, much like there are tasty and gross gluten-stuffed meals. Some of the funniest moments of lifestyles with celiac disorder, though, are seeing peoples? Faces when your gluten loose meals sincerely smells (and tastes) loads higher than the ?Everyday? Meals being provided.
Case in point? One of the gluten loose young adults made me snigger out loud when she mentioned one in particular memorable snack time during kingdom testing in primary faculty. To ensure she would not experience overlooked, the lady's mother had dropped a gluten unfastened cupcake off on the faculty. ?All the other kids who teased me for consuming gluten free had got carrot sticks for a snack!? She laughed. ?While I got to eat my huge chocolate cupcake. Who?S eating the tastiest meals now!?!?
I?Ve never had quite an epic gluten vs. Gluten free meals war before, but I even have had humans drooling over the gluten unfastened pizza I packed for myself when I attended Papa John?S pizza events at membership conferences in college. Sometimes, the celiac eater definitely does get the exceptional give up of the safe to eat bargain!
5. You can actually feel AWESOME!
One of the maximum first rate matters about celiac ailment? Changing your weight loss program can really help you experience better and prevent suffering with celiac signs and symptoms!
Of course, I’m not minimizing how hard going gluten free can be. Plus, it's important to recognize that, for some people like me, going gluten free wasn’t enough to start healing after a celiac diagnosis. However, compared to other diseases with no cures at all or expensive or painful treatments, it is empowering in a way to be able to largely influence your health with celiac disease by what you eat.
One day, a gluten free diet may not be the only treatment for celiac disease. At the GF Teen Summit, I was excited to hear that progress is being made on medications that, along with a gluten free diet, could improve celiacs’ overall gut and intestinal health. But until then, try to focus less on what you "lose" with a gluten free diet and more about the health, vitality and happiness you can gain!
After all, not anything is extra remarkable than waking up a few months (or maybe a few years, depending to your pre-prognosis intestinal harm) after being identified with celiac sickness and going gluten loose, and figuring out which you really sense higher than you have got in a long time.
What I Hope You Remember This National Celiac Disease Awareness Day
If you have celiac disease or know someone who does, you certainly know that celiac disease is NOT all unicorns and rainbows and gluten free cake. Celiac disease changes far more than just your diet, and it comes with its own fair share of challenges.
However, I certainly agree with that that specialize in any positives you may find on your chronic contamination performs an important function in feeling correct with a clinical analysis. You should not forget how flippin' AWESOME you are ether, without or with your persistent infection!
And if you have celiac disorder and have been feeling by myself or currently got a celiac diagnosis and are afraid of how your lifestyles will trade, I hope this post made you smile, made you giggle or simply made you realize that celiac ailment is surely NOT the cease of the arena. It?S just the start of a brand new and often similarly scrumptious and fantastic life.
What's one factor that has modified for the higher for the reason that your celiac ailment analysis? I'd love to pay attention!
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