The First: The Gluten Free Family Journey
So, where to start?? This is my first blog.
Well, I will start with why I actually am writing in the first place. I have gotten asked over the past 10+ years about GLUTEN allergies and many things related to gluten mostly because, yes, WE ARE THAT HIGH MAINTENANCE family with gluten challenges. ;-)
Our Family’s Gluten Journey
We came to this “gluten free state”, very innocently. In fact, it all started probably 12 years ago when my husband’s dermatologist (of all doctors) suggested that he take a test to see if he was sensitive to gluten.
Answer: YES.
Fast forward a few years later and our daughter, then just 8 years of age, had asthma that was acting up and her allergist just couldn’t seem to shake it.
After a few trips to the hospital late at night when she couldn’t breathe and a lot of liquid steroids later, we switched doctors and took her to a fabulous functional medicine doctor.
This doctor immediately took her off all inflammatory foods and then - you guessed it - kept her off gluten.
Gluten WAS THE PROBLEM.
She has not had an incident like that ever since.
Note: By now we were cooking only gluten free at home, and I was traveling for work so going out to dinners, cocktail hours etc. I was eating everything (including you guessed it - GLUTEN).
But I was in great health, I didn’t have any issues, except for the occasional fatigue that comes with being a working mom of two and a wife. I just kept pushing through.
Fast forward a couple of years later, I decided to just get a full work up, thought it would be good right?
The results came back. Guess what? I had a severe gluten allergy. Hi, it’s me, I’m the problem. It’s me.
I thought for sure that all my kids' gluten sensitivity was coming from my husband and had absolutely no idea that it actually was possible that I could have it too.
My doctor advised that I get tested for celiac and then notify our pediatrician as there are two genes that can be inherited that make people more prone for celiac disease. They are called human leukocyte antigen (HLA) DQ2 and DQ8. According to Mass General Hospital for children celiac may be passed down in generations. Just because you have these genes doesn’t mean you will develop it, it just means you have a higher propensity for developing it. We had our kids tested for it.
I then took my doctor’s advice and I went off gluten for 60 days and I FELT AMAZING.
I no longer was fatigued, had more energy! I had to go back on gluten before the test to ensure that they could get a decent reading. I did go through with the celiac test, the GI told me before I went in that regardless of the result based on my earlier tests I just shouldn’t eat gluten, and I was negative for celiac.
Hence, no more gluten for me AT ALL. Goodbye! This was over 6 years ago. I have never felt better.
Since then as I stated earlier, I have been asked (just recently while I was on the tennis court) about what are some good foods to get? Where do I shop?
Over the years, I keep track by making lists of restaurants in various cities where there are good choices for gluten free food, I am constantly on the lookout for good food to purchase (as we have four people in our household who have opinions on what they like and don’t like!), and have translated many recipes to be gluten free.
Once one decides to make the switch, I have seen so many friends who love their lives even more!
Understanding Gluten
Gluten is an inflammatory agent and there are lots of theories as to why it has gotten to this point.
Is it because of the way we produce the wheat now? Is it based on environmental factors? Combination of both?
Not everyone reacts to gluten the way I do. It is partly genetic, partly environmental and just a series of events that have all lined up to make the stars align so to speak.
This unfortunately is the same way it happens for other people and it is becoming more common. There are approximately 19 million people in the United States that have a gluten sensitivity.
Even those that do not have one, some are choosing to eat gluten free for perceived inflammatory health benefits. The market has increased as a result at a CAGR of 9.8% according to one research report.
Gluten Free and Healthy Options
Being gluten free doesn’t have to be difficult, in fact I’ve found that over the past 10 years the market offerings have evolved significantly.
There is way more choice in what to purchase and as products that once were important to me have now but all disappeared as more improved ones have been introduced. It’s actually very heartening.
One important area for me in my choices for food for my family is that the ingredients are simple and as little processed as possible.
Many items can be “gluten free” but still have as much garbage (aka additives and fillers) as the non gluten free (or regular) items are.
Very disappointing.
So, for me, it is best when it is simple, healthy and tastes good. Sometimes hard to find.
But, there is hope!
We have in fact found some items that we continue to go back to time and time again at all the regular stores, Costco, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Sprouts, Safeway/Fry’s.
Summary
My goal is to share my experiences in hope that others may find it helpful as they navigate this world of having to be gluten free so that they can live their best lives! Furthermore as a side benefit, I also hope that we can find a community that helps to push more commercial based companies to produce more healthy gluten free offerings to love our gluten free lives.