Did you see this episode of Nightline last week? It’s questioning if the gluten-free diet is really good for people that DO NOT have celiac disease. It brings up the fact that many of the gluten-free foods that are available often lack nutrients and that the gluten-free diet may be harmful to people without celiac disease.

Over and over again, these reports keep surfacing and spreading misinformation about the gluten-free diet. I’ve written about it numerous times and I’ll continue to write about it. If you’re a non-celiac and you’re buying gluten-free desserts and packaged food because you think they are a healthier option, then you are definitely wrong. But, if you are trying to eat a well-balanced diet with naturally gluten-free food, then you will benefit greatly. All of the hype (in terms of it being healthy), all of the celebrities, and all of the non-stop talk about the gluten-free diet in the blogosphere isn’t talking about getting healthy by eating gluten-free donuts, it’s talking about eating a diet rich in naturally gluten-free foods. A diet with meats, vegetables, some fruit and devoid of gluten will not hurt anyone and my bets are on that it will make them feel better. Packaged gluten-free food is there simply to replace “gluten-filled” packaged food. For a person with celiac disease, that means being able to enjoy the same guilty pleasures as everyone else. For a non-celiac following a gluten-free diet, that gluten-free donut is also just a guilty pleasure while they’re attempting to follow the lifestyle.

The fact is that most food that is considered good for you is naturally gluten-free. We don’t need wheat, rye, barley or oats in our diet to be healthy. There are plenty of other sources of fiber (and the many other nutrients that skeptics say we are missing) in naturally gluten-free foods.

If you are thinking of trying the gluten-free diet for the dozens of health benefits that you’ve been hearing about, do yourself a favor and do some research on the subject and then decide for yourself whether or not it is right for you. Better yet, give the diet a try and see how you feel. Also, remember that all of the gluten-free items that you’re bombarded with at your local supermarket are not necessarily healthy — in fact most of them are not.

I’d love to hear from some non-celiacs who have adopted the gluten-free diet as well as those who have not had success with it. I have a feeling that this is going to be a hot topic for some time to come.

I’ve been writing about celiac disease and the gluten-free diet in various ways since 2004. Mostly through the Celiac Handbook Website and more recently, this blog. I was diagnosed with celiac disease in 1999 and have seen a revolution in the amount of gluten-free products available, both online and in the supermarket. This is what I’ve spent the bulk of my time writing about.

It’s rather funny, every time I write about a new product (especially a mainstream company offering a gluten-free version of their already popular gluten-filled food), I get a flood of emails and comments lambasting me for promoting junk food. While I can appreciate people’s intentions and their belief in the power of food — I personally don’t like to stand on a soapbox and tell people what they should be eating. I like to present both naturally gluten-free items as well as the countless new gluten-free products that seem to come out on a near daily basis. I want to let people make up their own minds about what they are going to eat. Learning to eat in any particular fashion is a journey that every person makes (willing or unwilling) and it is something they must do on their own. As we all know, when someone is “telling us” what to do — we will quickly ignore them as just another bag of hot air.

I have personally tried many different ways of life; vegan, vegetarian, aquatarian, paleo and of course, gluten-free. My weight has been all over the map — as low as 145 lbs. (I’m 6’ 2”) at the height of my undiagnosed celiac disease and as high as 260 lbs. a couple of years ago (way too much eating and sitting at a desk). I now weigh in at a very comfortable 190 lbs. and do my best to eat a diet rich in whole food — my overall health is proof that this is working. Trust me, I do still eat the occasional gluten-free cupcake or brownie, but I try to think of it as a treat and not an everyday “must have”. I do get my fair share of samples to try and there are times when I find myself indulging just a little too much — but, that comes with the territory of what I do. Call it an occupational hazard. This is what I do — and it works for me. I’m not implying in any way that it should be what you do. It’s up to you and you alone to find your path to wellness. You will hear many different opinions from people (both solicited and not) and hopefully armed with good information,  you will go down the path that is right for you.

In the mean time, I’m going to keep on reporting what I find — some of it will be healthy (in my opinion) and some of it will no doubt be junk food — but the good news is that it will all be gluten-free.

One final thought: Always, always remember that just because something is gluten-free doesn’t mean it’s healthy.  This is a mistake that is all too common.

Overall, I consider myself pretty easy to please — I’m not the type to complain about something unless it’s really bad, and I lead a fairly simple life. It’s the small things in life that truly make me happy — sight, sounds, smells — all of which for me are synonymous with good food, and in my case gluten-free food. These are just a few things for me that will put a smile on my face and a spring in my step.

1. Properly labeled gluten-free packaged food (and it’s really gluten-free)
   It’ so nice to walk into a store and find something labeled gluten-free and it actually is gluten-free. So many gluten-free products include too much fine print with lines like, made on shared equipment with…, made in a facility…, made with non-gluten ingredients…, etc. There are a few brands that have this fine print that I trust and do well with, but all in all, I’d much rather not have to deal with it. These days, every company wants to jump in on the gluten-free bandwagon — that’s all well and good as long as they are willing to do more then just say they are gluten-free. It’s a matter of people’s lives and health, and it should be treated that way.
2. Nutritious gluten-free packaged food
   I’ll be the first to admit that I love my gluten-free snack food and desserts — there are so many amazing gluten-free products available. But after a while, especially when it comes to sugar, enough is enough. While I love seeing recipes from the likes of Elana’s Pantry who really focus on using healthy ingredients (but still come up with some great recipes that can be considered treats), I still find myself needing the occasional packaged gluten-free food to get me through a meeting at work or even just as a quick and lazy snack. So when I find something that focuses on nutrition and isn’t loaded with sugar and unnecessary calories, I get excited.
3. Dedicated gluten-free menus with real choices
   With the gluten-free menu being such a hot trend, so many restaurants are offering them. When I walk into a restaurant and I get a dedicated gluten-free menu that is more than a piece of paper with a plain salad, a plain chicken breast, or plain veggies, I get discouraged. Yes, it’s nice that they are pointing these items out, but how wonderful to walk into a restaurant like Risotteria in NYC, Picazzo’s in Portland, OR and Arizona or even Hugo’s in L.A, who have well thought out detailed gluten-free menus with more choices than anyone could know what to do with. Talk to any of these restaurants about how many people ask for gluten-free menus and everyone of them will surely let you know that it has made good business sense for them to offer these menus — I really don’t understand why more restaurants don’t do it.
4. A grocery with more than a few shelves dedicated to gluten-free food
   My local grocery has about a 5’ section of an aisle with a handful of gluten-free products on three shelves — it’s simply not enough. When you walk into a Whole Foods, Wegmans, or New Seasons (and many others), you know that you are going to have choices. Some of them have entire aisles dedicated to gluten-free products and some even have it scattered throughout the store in every section and every aisle. I am like a kid in a candy store when I come across a store like this.
5. A family doctor who doesn’t discount celiac disease as a non-issue
   Too many times I’ve been to the doctor and just had them glaze over when I mention that I have celiac disease. I’ve even had doctors who didn’t know enough about it to understand that it involves much more than just cutting out wheat — they’ve been surprised when I tell them the long list of ingredients that I do have to avoid — and to think they are doctors :(   You would think that something like celiac disease that effects up to 1 in 100 people, would be known by every doctor on the face of the planet and welcomed as it is relatively easy to successfully treat.
6. Gluten-free school lunches
   My daughter is also on a gluten-free diet and it has been so hard getting the various schools that she’s attended to get on board with getting her a gluten-free meal that consisted of more than a salad and a carton of milk. We’ve almost always had to resort to her bringing her lunch (which at the end of the day is a healthier option). There are days when time runs out and having the option for the school lunch would be nice. People like Amy Leger of The Savvy Celiac blog have done a lot of work in this area — I just hope that gluten-free lunches will spread and be more available to us all. One really entertaining thing that I do see is how many kids want my daughter’s gluten-free cookies that she sometimes packs in her lunch box.
7. Media coverage that doesn’t refer to the gluten-free diet as the latest fad
   Too many times now, I’ve seen reports on mainstream news outlets about the latest fad, the gluten-free diet. I’d much rather it be reported as a public health crisis that effects 1 in 100 people and how it is so commonly misdiagnosed for so many different illnesses. Having the gluten-free diet in the spotlight is probably a good thing, but having it associated with every other fad diet runs the risk of decreased public awareness or worse yet, public apathy when people hear about a gluten-free diet.  I much prefer to hear about the dire side of celiac disease and how it almost killed somebody or it was misdiagnosed as something else — and then wrapping it up with the fact that a relatively simple change in their diet (not drugs) has changed their life in a positive way. This is the sort of coverage that will open people’s eyes to what the gluten-free diet is all about — improved health*. *It doesn’t mean you can go out and eat every gluten-free pastry, cookie or cereal loaded with sugar and expect to achieve good health because you’re following a gluten-free diet. A naturally gluten-free diet will improve your health. A gluten-free diet based in sugar, fat and processed food will still lead to poor health.
   
8. Boutique, artisan bakeries creating exceptional gluten-free baked goods
   There are some great store-bought gluten-free baked goods out there (this is where I’ll get the flood of comments on Udi’s — yes, I agree they are great), but I am so in awe of the artistry of the many small, dedicated gluten-free bakeries across the country and around the world. Thanks to these, I’ve been able to enjoy gluten-free baguettes, croissants and some of the best birthday cake I’ve ever had (better than most traditionally baked cakes). Because of these wonderful bakeries, gluten-free isn’t as hard as I originally thought it would be. They may be more expensive, but you really are getting a unique, hand-crafted work of art by a person who cares about what they are selling.
9. Gluten-free events
   Whether it be a tasting event at a local grocery, a meetup event at a restaurant or even a happy hour, gluten-free events are a great way to meet like-minded people, enjoy great food, and learn more about the food you are eating. Gluten-free events spread awareness, help local businesses and as with every other small business — help the economy.
10. The awesome gluten-free community
    The sheer volume of information coming from the gluten-free / celiac community is overwhelming. RSS feeds, email alerts, Facebook notifications and every other imaginable message fill my inbox day after day informing me of all the latest happenings. Bloggers, chefs, dietitians and even home chefs all contribute so much and keep me amazed at how lucky we are to have this much support. Thank you to every last one of you.

My father died at 43-years of age in 1975. I was always told it was because of alcohol abuse, smoking and just generally poor personal habits. I was eight years old and not that close to him as my parents had split several years before. I don’t have many memories of him, but I do remember his constant struggle with his health.

Years later when doing some family research, I came across some letters from my father to his sister shortly before his death where he was talking about food poisoning and how yet another restaurant had made him sick. At this point, I had been diagnosed with celiac disease and successfully following a gluten-free diet. Needless to say, when I read these letters, the lightbulb in my head went on and it occurred to me that he was probably dealing with undiagnosed celiac disease. Besides the complaints of food poisoning, he was also under weight and very frail looking. While I cannot prove that celiac disease played a role in his death, I certainly can speculate. To think that with a relatively simple change in his diet, he might not have had to deal with so many of the problems that he faced, I might not have lost my father at such a young age, and just maybe I would have had the type of father I always dreamed of. Wishful thinking? Maybe. Like I said, I can speculate.

If you’ve been diagnosed with celiac disease, you know that 1 in 100 people have celiac disease and that 80% of those are undiagnosed. Also, 1 in 20 with a direct relative with celiac disease have an increased risk of developing the disease. I went for many years without knowing what was wrong with me and progressively getting sicker and sicker until I was knocking at death’s door myself. Grossly underweight and malnourished, dealing with severe anemia, migraine headaches and many other symptoms, I don’t think I would have lasted much longer.  The good news is that I was correctly diagnosed in 1999, I’ve successfully maintained a gluten-free lifestyle, and I am now in relatively good health.

I’d love to hear stories from some other people who believe that their parents had dealt with what they think could have been an undiagnosed celiac disease. I really think it’s more common than any of us ever expected.

]]> http://celiachandbook.com/opinion/undiagnosed-celiac-disease-in-your-parents/feed/ 14 http://celiachandbook.com/opinion/being-diagnosed-with-celiac-disease-was-the-luckiest-day-of-my-life/ http://celiachandbook.com/opinion/being-diagnosed-with-celiac-disease-was-the-luckiest-day-of-my-life/#comments Sat, 19 Jun 2010 13:37:23 +0000 Chris James http://gfhandbook.com/blog/?p=159 I recently read a fantastic article by Danna Korn on Celiac.com titled, Diagnosed with celiac disease? How lucky you are! I am in total agreement with this line of thought and have been preaching this for many years to people. Danna hit just about every point that I like to make and really makes a great [...]]]>

I recently read a fantastic article by Danna Korn on Celiac.com titled, Diagnosed with celiac disease? How lucky you are! I am in total agreement with this line of thought and have been preaching this for many years to people. Danna hit just about every point that I like to make and really makes a great case for the benefits of a celiac disease diagnosis.

As she states, people complain about the high cost of gluten-free food — yes, it can be expensive, but compare it to the skyrocketing cost of pharmaceutical medicine and there really is no comparison. Think about how many times you were misdiagnosed with something else. I know I was tested for everything from AIDS to Hepatitis to Chron’s disease. Remember how bad you felt and how much better you started to feel after a relatively short time on the gluten-free diet. As she says, you’ve been given the key to better health — all with a diet modification. This is as lucky as lucky gets. I know many people with horrible illnesses that require a stockpile of medication every month, all of which have horrible side effects and issues with toxicity. I will go with a diet alteration any day.

If this is the type of food that I'm limited to eating — I think I'll be OK :)

So the next time you find yourself excessively worrying about the cost of gluten-free food, just remind yourself of how much worse it could be. There are some incredible options available to us now, options that were unheard of as recently as just a few years ago. To be a celiac in 2010 is really a wonderful thing. You’re aware of what you are eating and you’re very aware of what food can do to your body. This really does make us lucky.