5. “Gluten free” means different things to different people. Where one person may say they only eat certified gluten free products others may say that they eat products with “no gluten containing ingredients”. They both believe they are doing the gluten free diet correctly. I’m not going to say one is better than another – as long as you and your doctor are satisfied with your progress, you are doing great!
6. Symptoms are not a reliable indicator of gluten exposure. A celiac patient could eat a slice of bread and not react or maybe react violently. The reaction is not relevant. The exposure is where the issue lies. Someone messaged me they had celiac and ordered organic wheat flour from Italy and didn’t react, so it was okay to eat. Under no circumstances is this safe unless it is gluten removed flour.
7. A gluten free diet isn’t healthier than a more “normal” diet. A gluten free diet lacks B-vitamins, fiber, and several micronutrients. Supplementation can help overcome these deficiencies, but they always need to be monitored.

3a. Celiac and her two friends – Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis and Type 1 Diabetes travel together in families due to common genetic roots. For the people that are the first diagnosed in their family, look for others with Hashimoto’s and T1D. You will probably find celiac lurking in places nearby.

2. The whole family system bears the burden of celiac disease as well as the patient. Depending on who the patient is varies the impact to the family. In my family, I’m the only one with celiac and I try to minimize the impact my celiac has on the family. My niece was diagnosed at age 3. Their entire life turned upside down trying to protect a toddler from gluten and that diagnosis reverberated throughout the entire extended family.

I’m out of characters – tomorrow the #1 thing I’ve learned about celiac disease.

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