My Blue Room

Well, it was just last August when we discovered our adult son Joel carries the dubious honor of having celiac disease. Celiac is a genetic autoimmune response to gluten which causes the immune system to “read” the gluten as a pathogen, attacking it as it would a germ. This immune response releases an enzyme which wrecks the villi in the small intestine, rendering them unable to digest food.

It’s nasty, the celiac attack. I’d rather not go into the details to preserve his dignity, but trust me, it’s so bad that it’s painful just watching him go through it. Even more disturbing was how long he suffered before learning what was wrong and what to do about it. But the results of going gluten-free were almost immediate, and a huge relief for our family. Many, many thanks to his sister Jennifer who tipped us off, having recently being correctly diagnosed, after years of being mis-diagnosed and therefore years of suffering, herself.

Few friends, even few doctors, understand how real the celiac attack is, and how devastating the effects of eating a meal containing even the slightest amount of gluten. Joel’s celiac attacks usually take him down for a solid month, and the extra sensitivities that celiacs can also have usually take about 2 weeks to clear up. For Joel, these include any rice other than certified organic brown or wild rice. Mistakes and accidents are very costly, both in well-being and productivity.

At first it’s hard to wrap one’s brain around how pervasive gluten is in our diets, and how hard it can be to find nice foods and recipes to replace the old standbys. Read a few labels in your kitchen and see how often modified food starch, caramel coloring and monosodium glutamate show up. These are things referred to by celiacs (and those who cook for them) as contaminants, and we must be unfailingly diligent to keep contaminants out of our kitchens as it’s just too easy for tiny amounts of gluten to make its way into food that’s got to be clean. I can’t emphasize enough how agonizing the consequences are, and how debilitating the long-term health risks are.

Fortunately, the population explosion of celiacs has made this the best time (if ever there’s a good time) to find out that a gluten-free diet is a necessity for you, as the availability (if not affordability) of gluten-free products has increased dramatically, as has the amount of information. It’s no tragedy, actually. Living gluten-free forces one into eating a much healthier diet than before, and to be more creative with the preparation of food, which does result in some mouth-watering recipes all can enjoy. We actually pulled off a magnificent Thanksgiving dinner with no gluten that made all our tastebuds sing! So, for those friends, family members and anyone else who reads my blog (does anyone else read my blog?) I’m posting a very informative entry from Karina’s Kitchen, a terrific blog about living and eating gluten-free, which gives a basic overview of the foods celiacs cannot have, and shares lots of wonderful recipes you’ll love, whether you need to eat gluten-free or just like eating great food with healthy ingredients. Enjoy! The Gluten Free Cheatsheet: How To Go Gluten-Free
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