The GI Follow-Up

Since publishing my last post regarding my Gluten Intolerant Story, I have had at least five people ask me to sit with them and talk about it.  The whats, ifs, thens, whys, hows.  I also have an aunt who went further and saw her doctor, who is convinced she has celiacs.  She is now gluten free and feeling better each week.  I am overwhelmed by the honor of quite possibly helping one person, if not more, on the road to feeling better.  The purpose of telling my story was exactly that - with the hopes that someone would relate, see themselves in my story, and begin to take control of their health.

I think the words Gluten Intolerance (GI) invoke fear in many people.  The word Celiac causes people to pity the person with the disease.  What these people don't see and understand is that being Gluten Free (GF) is not a death sentence.  It is actually the opposite - it is freedom.  It's freedom in food choices, freedom in health benefits, and freedom in overall well being.

GI or Celiac forces a person to eat whole foods again.  No more is the processed section of the grocery store a place to hang out.  Gone are the days of boxed cakes, high fat crackers, low fat pretzels, or even the "grab and go" snacks.  No longer are foods prepared with high sodium seasonings (many of which contain glutamate).  It's an automatic "South Beach" type diet - more vegetables and proteins, less breads and pastas.  (However, I will note that a GF diet is not a weight loss diet, unlike the South Beach Diet).  Freedom in food choices comes when the vegetable bin is stocked with greens, reds and oranges, and you feel good pulling out something colorful to eat.  Freedom in food choices comes with knowing what ingredients are in the cake that was just baked, or the snack that was prepared in advance for times that are hurried.  I love to know that, as a stay-at-home mom, I am giving my family a better way of eating and living, because of my GI, and the freedom is in the lack of worrying about their bodies and what is put into them.

GI or Celiac forces a person back to full health.  One must eat as if wheat, barley and rye were a poison (as they are to the Celiac) and avoid those at all costs.  So again, the GF way of life not only encourages one to eat healthier, but eating healthier in turn reverses the affects the disease had on the body.  There is freedom in going out to eat and knowing that the salad for dinner will not only keep the stomach calm (remember to use a balsamic and vinegar dressing), but that it is also the healthier option on the menu.  Freedom in health, to me, means that I have full reign in knowing that what I put into my body will benefit all the various systems.

Once a person begins to eat whole foods and regains his or her health, the next logical freedom is in  the overall well being of that person, physically, emotionally, and mentally.  No longer are there questions like "Why do I feel this way?", "Where is the closest bathroom?", "Why can't I control________ emotion with my family?", "What did you say?" or "What's wrong with me?"  It's like all of a sudden, you wake up one day and realize that you have your life back.  You never really saw it gradually slipping away until some of the above questions (and more) went through your head.  It's the freedom in knowing that you will never go back to being in a down mental or emotional state.

GF is not a fad diet.  While in the grocery store one day, I saw a family shopping for their college age daughter.  This daughter was comparing the Rice Krispies labeled Gluten Free with those not labeled as such.  The comment that came out of her mouth was, "It's all a marketing ploy.  Gluten Free is a fad diet that everyone is jumping on."  I admit that I was angered, and I almost went up to her to start my dissertation on Gluten Intolerance.  But I withheld.  What I realized is that there will ALWAYS be the one or few people that are ignorant to any way of life different from their own, and that's OK.  Until I was forced into the GF way of life, I didn't know much about it either.  With enough education and curiosity, I taught myself that this is not a fad.  With trial and error, I learned that it must be a way of life for me.

Curiosity got the best of me, and I too, read the labels of both Rice Krispies (after that family left, of course).  The difference??? - GF Rice Krispies are made with brown rice, "regular" Rice Krispies with white rice.  A marketing ploy on the part of Kellogg's - I'd have to say yes.  Rice Krispies is one of the cereals I can eat, regardless of whether it's labeled GF or not on the front.  Is Lady Gaga really GI or a Celiac?  No, I think not.  She's eating this way to lose weight, thus adding to the list of Hollywood Stars who have said Yes to the Gluten Free way of life.  I can see where people think it's a wagon on which to jump.  I'm just happy this chic is willing to sit up front and drive.