Jens Gluten Free Blog

Sometimes I feel like the Cat in the Hat with a fish and a rake on the top of my hat as I hop on a ball. Juggling my family’s multiple food allergies can be quite a circus trick. Today we have a guest blogger who can empathize with my situation and has some fantastic tips for dealing with multiple food allergies as well as gluten-free living. She also provides links to some very useful websites that I for one intend to make use of.

I just read about an astounding study about the effects of gluten. Dr. Mark Hyman writes about it in the Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/gluten-what-you-dont-know_b_379089.html). Dr. Hyman reports that according to a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association people with diagnosed celiac disease, undiagnosed celiac disease, and gluten sensitivities have a higher risk of death than the average person.

So you were sick as a dog, found out you were a celiac, and now you feel great, right? One mistake many celiacs make is the assumption that now that their stomachs are no longer giving them problems, as long as they stick to gluten-free food they no longer need to watch what they eat. This is the attitude that leads to a lifetime of poor eating habits which nobody can afford, especially celiacs.

Anyone out there enjoy crunching on ice? I remember as teenager I liked to do that. I think it was the sound it made that appealed to me in some inexplicable way. I also liked the cool sensation going down my throat. But after a few months of it I gave it up. A friend told me that it was very bad for my teeth. I recently read that there are people who are unable to give up the ice-crunching habit. They are simply addicted to it. It has caused teeth and jaw problems, but they relent. If you know someone like that, take her or him to get blood tests. This is one of the classic symptoms of anemia. And anemia can be caused by celiac disease.

Pregnancy is a much talked about issue in the gluten-free community. Many are all too well aware that undiagnosed celiac disease can lead to fertility issues. Firstly, women with undiagnosed celiac disease often have delayed onset of menstruation and early onset of menopause reducing their opportunity for pregnancy. Throw in the unpredictable menstrual cycles and you have significantly reduced your chance of getting pregnant. In fact, up to 39% of women with undiagnosed celiac disease do not even get their periods.

I don’t think I will ever forget that far away look in his big brown eyes. When my daughter was two I brought her to a Mommy and Me music class run by a friend. There were six of us in the class: my daughter and I, my friend and her son, and one other mother with her daughter. My friend had all sorts of instruments and fun songs to sing with the kids. My daughter really got into it. I loved watching her little legs bopping up and down to the music. And there is no feeling like that of a tiny little hand enveloped in your own as you rock together to soft music. But my friend’s son didn’t seem to respond the same way.

Our foray into guest blogging was such a success that we decided to do some more. We chose a topic that all gluten-free eaters have had to deal with with at some point: starting out.

Getting an IBS diagnosis is like being told that your headache is caused by a painful pounding in your head. The doctor might even give you a Tylenol to make the pain go away. And if it doesn’t, he will probably tell you that you are under a lot of stress.

Well … the verdict is in. My endoscopy came back negative. I must admit I was a bit torn by the results. On the one hand, I was a bit relieved to find that I do not have celiac disease. A gluten-free diet is a difficult diet to maintain, and it has nutritional deficiencies as well. On the other hand, now I don’t have anything to account for my symptoms. If I don’t have celiac disease why have I developed IBS and lactose intolerance in the last six months?

Migraines affect 30 million Americans, 75% of whom are women. They usually begin between the ages of 10-40 and recede at 50, although some people have them throughout their lifetime.

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