#celiac awareness

[jesusonafrickinboat]

May is Celiac Awareness Month!

Celiac is a serious autoimmune disease

It is not a food allergy, diet, or fad

It’s an immune reaction to gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye

Oats are often cross contaminated, since they are typically grown next to wheat, so only certified gluten free oats are safe

However, oats have a protein that is structurally similar to gluten called avenin, which some people with celiac are triggered by, so they can't eat oats even if they're certified gluten free

Celiac causes physical and sometimes permanent harm to the intestines

Celiac is a genetic disorder

It is also known as "coeliac”

1 in 133 Americans (about 1% of the population) have celiac disease.

83% of people are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed

The average time to get a correct diagnosis is 6-10 years

There is no cure for celiac

The only existing treatment is a strict 100% gluten free diet

Eating gluten free is a life-long, difficult, expensive commitment

Celiac Disease Foundation and Johns Hopkins have more in-depth articles on Celiac for more information

[iam1withthepeggy]

Reblog if you or your friend/family member has celiac. I have celiac, and it’s like so unknown, so I just want there to be more recognition for it out there.

[whattheell]

How sick is sick enough?

When I "look normal," when I leave my mobility aids at home, when I stand instead of sit, you tell me you're glad I'm better. That you 'knew I could do it.'

When I can't, when I can't stand or walk, when I can't go more than a few hours without kneeling over a toilet seat, when I don't eat and I don't sleep and I can't even think, you roll your eyes. You tell me to get well soon. You tell me I should try and not depend on my cane or my medication so much. You tell me to try stretching or try going vegan or try drinking more water. 'Mind over matter.'

You tell me this is a safe space to share my pain, that I can tell you how I really feel, but if I say anything other than 'I'm ok' you roll your eyes. If I looked sicker, would you tolerate my existence?

[lifblogs]

Anyone else out there who can’t get admitted for psychiatric help because of food allergies? Hospitals have usually helped me in the past, but now with lactose intolerance on top of celiac disease (and it’s celiac awareness month too, would you look at that?) I really cannot be hospitalized. I will get sick. There is no guarantee that I won’t. So as a merge of mental health awareness month and celiac awareness month, I’m gonna say that hospitals should be equipped to safely treat patients with severe food allergies and intolerances. It is not fair that I—and surely other people—miss out on this level of care because of dietary restrictions. I should be allowed to receive intensive treatment when I need it and feel safe with the food I am putting in my body.

[the-sky-queen]

Update: Apparently I do have symptoms

Gonna be a bit of a long post. We need to spread Celiac awareness.

Also, trigger warning for throwing up, sickness and the like.

So, yesterday, I was at my YSA Ward linger longer. We were having pumpkin pie, cookies, and vanilla ice cream. The food people in my ward are aware of my Celiac. I'm pretty sure there's at least one other person in the ward who's GF as well. Yesterday, they offered a pumpkin pie without crust, and GF chocoate chip cookies. The ice cream was okay by default.

I grabbed one of each since I hadn't had lunch yet and sat down to eat. Only after I had finished everything did one of the food people come over and tell me that they had just realized that the cookies weren't actually GF. I was a little concerned, but I shrugged it of. After all, I've been asymptomatic so far.

Fast forward to later that day. I was taking a midterm online and I started feeling absolutely horrible. I was hot, I could barely think, and my stomach wasn't faring much better. Somehow, I managed to get the test done. I grabbed the trashcan and immediately threw up.

I spent the next several hours sitting by the toilet and taking it easy. It didn't really take that long for me to start feeling better, but I did have a bit of a lingering feeling of crumminess. It was not fun.

Now, let me make it clear that I DO NOT blame my ward for glutening me. The cookie package said it was things like lactose free and all kinds of other stuff. I can't blame them for assuming. This has however, made me more aware of what it means to have Celiac. I didn't think I had symptoms, but apparently I do. And it wasn't fun.

SO. If you EVER find yourself in a position where you will be providing food for a Celiac person or even someone with allergies in general, I am BEGGING you to get that person involved in the food planning process. You haven't been affected by this and you are not aware of what is and isn't safe for us. You don't know how to read the labels. But we do. We've got the experience and we know what to get. So please get us involved. We would much rather do a bit of extra work to ensure we are accommodated for and safe than to risk getting exposed and sick.

Stay safe everyone. Thank you for reading.

[bunnyseahorse-blog]

my nutritionist told me to try giving up gluten entirely for several weeks and I’m kinda sad you guys.

My sister has celiac so I’m familiar with the gluten free diet. It saved her life and it seems doable even though it’s strict to follow.

But honestly y’all I got tested for celiac and they said I don’t have it. My new doc has reason to think based on how I feel after I eat though that I have an intolerance. Like the tummy is always mad, I bloat a lot, I have life disrupting heartburn. Like something is going on with my stomach and I gotta do this to troubleshoot.

They have tested me for a lot of conditions so if it’s not gluten I gotta find and get into a specialist. bleh. Expensive, time consuming, bleh.

The only thing I will enjoy about this process is donating the food I can’t eat anymore and that isn’t opened already to a food bank.

That’s it. That’s the good part. Plus maybe if me and my sis are both gluten free neither of us will feel lonely.

Please gaze upon the food I pulled out of my cabinet cuz I can’t eat it now lol. I think the peanut butter is gluten free but I use wheat bread so it’s contaminated now with like crumbs. Even some of my take out sauces/condiments are not gf.sad day

[2screamingpears]

It’s celiac awareness month!

It feels incredibly weird that celiac disease gets a pass in most writer’s rooms as the “funny disease” and the shorthand to make someone seem privileged or bitchy…. Here’s what i had to say about it 👀

Just because I’m curious:

[homocidalpotat]

Okay, I think we need to talk about the stigma or even just lack of education around being gluten-free.

I am coeliac. I have been coeliac since I was 7 years old. Coeliac disease is an immune disease which means I can't eat anything with gluten in it. If I do, I risk diarrhea, throwing up (for hours), being ill for over a week, intense cramps and lots more. My symptoms can last between a day and a month, and I don't even have it bad. If I don't throw up the gluten before it has got to my intestines, the gluten destroys the villi in my intestines, meaning I can't properly digest a lot of food until it heals. Before being diagnosed, I spent about a year experiencing intense fatigue- I would eat anything just so I wasn't in pain or starving (including fabric, books and all sorts of inedible things). If I didn't get that diagnosis, I don't even know if I would still be alive. And any form of gluten can trigger this- I accidentally inhaled a bit of flour and had to be off school. You get it, it's a really serious issue.

For those of you that don't know, gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. This is found in flour (therefore bread, cakes, etc), and other things. Companies will even put barley into foods that don't need it. It is really common, and helps dough to stay together, for the most part.

There are many forms of being gluten-free. Allergies, intolerances/immune disorders, and choice. This is where a lot of the stigma comes from- people will intentionally go on a gluten-free diet even though it is bad for them. Being on a gluten-free diet is only healthy if you have a reaction to gluten. Gluten-free food is also less common, more expensive, and usually less delicious. The variety in gluten-free food is miniscule in most places. I haven't had a churro since before being diagnosed, and I don't even know what doughnuts actually taste like any more.

Because going on an unnecessary gluten-free diet is SO foolish, a lot of stigma arises. The majority of gluten-free people these days are gluten-free as a choice. Being a petite, young, white female, a lot of people assume that I also chose to. People make this assumption a lot. If I ask for a gluten-free option at a café, I get judged and glared at all over. "Oh look, another one of those idiots. She must think it's so cool to do that. It's not even healthy?". I have had my needs ignored or abused by caterers, party hosts and even my food-tech teacher.

Sure, people that choose to go gluten-free don't deserve that stigma. Maybe someone chose to be gluten-free to support their loved ones, maybe they are scared they could touch their loved one and make them ill. Maybe there are more gluten-free people in their household than not, so it makes sense to only make a gluten-free version of a meal, rather than making one. There are good reasons a person might go gluten-free other than medical reasons. Obviously, there are influencers (and influenced people) who think gluten-free diets are just another way to be trendy and lose weight (when they are denying their body something they need), and that is stupid, but it's not worth being hated on. Sure, as a coeliac person, I feel mocked and hurt by those people, but if someone asks for their food to be made specifically or whatever, just do it? Don't ask questions, you don't need to know.

On another note, so many people don't know what it is. A shocking amount. I once stayed at the hospital overnight and in the morning asked a nurse for a gluten-free breakfast and she said she didn't know what that was. I have been invited to so many parties just to be told "Oh, sorry, I didn't get anything gluten-free for you because I didn't know what it was". Representation matters!!! With representation, the world becomes safer for gluten-free people. With representation, more companies will increase and improve their gluten-free options!!! I'm tired of going to a bakery and the only gluten-free option is a brownie (I'm not joking. About 75% of all bakeries I've been to have said their only gluten-free option was a brownie, and I don't really like brownie.)

Please reblog this, especially if you aren't gluten-free. You don't know how many people you are saving from being ill or miserable. Let me know if I missed out on anything in this post, and feel free to add your own opinions and facts! This is a post about being gluten free and having food restrictions, don't derail.

[acacia-may]

Wishing you all a happy (belated) International Celiac (or Coeliac) Disease Awareness Day, friends!

Celiac disease is a genetic autoimmune disorder that affects about (an estimated) 1% of the population (including yours truly) and requires strict lifelong adherence to a medically necessary gluten free diet. The month of May is Celiac Awareness Month and even Neo is celebrating! 💕

Have a great day friends and please take care of yourselves! 🌻

[certifiedceliac]

MAJOR GLUTEN-FREE FOOD RECALL 5/4/23

There has been a massive (literally millions of pounds) recall on Prosante (owned by Cargill) soy flour used in manufacturing gluten free foods due to the potential to contain more than 20ppm of gluten. This recall affects several countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica, and Guatemela.

This recall is relatively new information, and the FDA hasn't listed a press release for this event yet (for now it only shows up on their weekly enforcement report, probably because it was a firm-initiated recall), but if the figures are accurate, this could have far-reaching effects across gluten free food products. A glance at Cargill's website shows this flour is mostly used in meat alternatives, but be wary of products with soy flour included until we know more.

[adamsvanrhijn]

if i were a 19th century lesbian i think i would struggle to find a husband but i think if i could find one i probably would get married. but i would be such a completely different person to survive in the 19th century so i'm not sure if there's a way for me to really pose this question to myself in any meaningful manner

[bluesey-182]

the amount of people I've encountered who think that "organic" and "gluten free" are the same thing would almost be funny, if i didn't have celiac and therefore have to worry that someone's good intentions were going to make me violently ill bc they made something with organic but not gluten free ingredients

[iam1withthepeggy]

hi!

so uh i think you're super cool and funny i've been following you for a while now lol and i noticed something on your blog and i wanted to ask you about it!

so my baby cousin just got diagnosed with celiac- and i know you have it so i was just wondering how you deal with it

i've never had a food allergy that's like serious before nor am i very well versed with it and i figured this would also be a nice way to bring more awareness to it!

1- uh???? that’s literally so nice???? ty 😭

2- the thing abt celiac is that when you get diagnosed it’s a huge adjustment, obviously with your baby cousin it’ll be easier in that sense? but i guess also harder because you need to check everything from such a young age, and also they’ll always be wondering about what stuff tastes like.

3- one thing that was literally a lifesaver for me was that i found friends who literally cared sm about my celiac, always finding ways to include me (“we’ll make the cake gf!” “i’ll get gluten free too so you won’t be alone”) and it’s just so awesome to know someone always has your back (@queenpiranhadon and @labaguetteisdabest)

4- I don’t really have a reaction when i eat gluten, my only symptoms that i had it were that I was short and irritable :) but it’s so hard to be cautious all the time

5- slightly unrelated but my school planned a music trip across the country in february and my parents were really concerned about the gluten thing and if there were options, so it kinda takes the fun out of some stuff? like going out to eat can’t ever be like oh let’s eat here you have to research it before and it just kinda. sucks.

6- please tell me who you are. this literally made me so happy you have no idea 😭

[whattheell]

Happy Celiac Disease/Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome awareness month to any of y'all who celebrate (and other awareness months too!)

I have no idea if anyone would be interested at all, but I will crappily edit an awareness ribbon of your choice (like below) to any pfp if anyone would like one

[lifblogs]

For Celiac Awareness I’m going to be honest and gross.

Celiac is a very serious illness, and it’s not some fad. It’s something that needs to be taken seriously, and there are severe consequences if it isn’t (and I wish it was easier for there to be at least monetary or career consequences for the people that cause these issues). If I have gluten (a protein in wheat, barley, and rye) it’s not just a sort of bad day or a bad and hurried trip to the bathroom. No, it is violent, it is everything in me coming out both ends till I’m bleeding everywhere, till I pass out, and probably till death if not for emergency medical intervention. So great, I made it to the hospital, they got my GI system under control except all I can handle are popsicles and ginger ale, what’s next? A mini coma. That’s right, fam. I’m talking sleeping for a few days without waking up or being able to wake up. And then I can’t consume solids or anything with much color for at least a week. After that is six months of fatigue and malnutrition.

Celiac is serious. It’s not a joke. It’s not a fad. This has life-ruining consequences, and I want people to take it seriously. And yes, people with celiac are allowed to snap at you if you’re about to cross-contaminate their food and it’s the fastest way to get your attention. Sometimes there isn’t time to be polite and incredibly informative. I bring this up because I’ve had family members call me rude for this, and have seen plenty of food workers complain about it. If you’re about to make a mistake that’ll get me sick and will make me not be able to eat anything or you’ll have to start my meal all over again then I damn will be as “rude” as I like to get your attention. Being SAFE is more important than me being “polite.”

I wish I could say something to the FDA about Celiac because less than 20 ppm of gluten in a food IS TOO HIGH. I can get sick from 19 ppm. This is not okay.

I also wish I could extend my reach and hatred for people who don’t care as far as the companies that certify that certain foods are safe with people for celiac to eat, because as I learned a few months ago they will actually certify cross-contaminated foods. There is no law saying they can’t do this, and I’m apalled.

Also, Schär, having wheat with “the gluten taken out” in your products makes people sick, so congrats on that.

[newtness532]

im so annoyed with everything today, i think i need some tasty food and a million hours of sleep and then I'll be back to normal