Top 10 Things You Need to Know About Celiac Disease

1. Who suffers from it:

Celiac Disease affects approximately two million Americans, or one in every one hundred thirty three people.

2. Symptoms displayed:

It varies entirely from person to person. While some appear to display no symptoms at all, others display a whole variety of symptoms. Possibilities include bloating, fatigue, anemia, change in bowel movements, weight loss, pain in joints, osteoporosis, weakness, or mouth sores.

3. What triggers celiac:

Celiac disease appears at different ages for different people. Because the disease is genetic, if you have a relative with celiac, you have a much higher probability of having the disease. A variety of events have proven to trigger its onset, such as pregnancy, surgery, viral infection and severe emotional distress.

4. Defining celiac disease:

Celiac is classified by doctors as an autoimmune, mal absorption disease; or in simpler language, when the body's own immune system attacks itself, thus becoming unable to properly absorb nutrients.

People with celiac disease develop in inability to digest gluten. What happens is that as they ingest gluten, their immune system interprets it as something "bad" and begins to produce antibodies to attack the small intestine. The small intestine in-turn, can not properly absorb nutrients, and so people with undiagnosed celiac disease often suffer from anemia or malnutrition.

5. Diagnosing the disease:

If your doctor thinks you show signs of the disease, he will probably take a look down your small intestine by conducting an endoscopy. This involves sticking a small tube into your body to look at your small intestine and see if they have been damaged. If they have been, he will probably use a small needle to take a sample of the tissue in your intestines and test it (this is called a biopsy). He will also probably take a blood sample to test your blood for the presence of gluten and antibodies (your immune system's response to an outside threat).

6. What not to do:

DO NOT stop eating gluten until you have gone to the doctor, even if you think you have celiac. This may sound a bit counter-intuitive, but actually, it's extremely important. The way that the doctor tests for celiac is by checking your blood to see if you've developed antibodies to the gluten you've been eating. If you stop eating gluten, the doctor probably will not find antibodies in your blood stream, thus impeding his ability to properly diagnose you.

7. The treatment:

The treatment is actually quite simple - avoid eating all foods that contain gluten in them. Gluten is a protein found in grains - such as wheat, rye and spelt. Therefore treatment entails avoiding all products that also contain derivatives of those grains, or even trace amounts of them. Such foods include (but most certainly are not limited to) breads, crackers, pizza, pasta, cake, cookies, biscuits, muffins, pretzels and cereals).

8. Seeing a specialist?

You may not think that you need one, after all, just avoid gluten. But in fact - it may be a bit more difficult to handle than just that. Visiting a dietician or nutritionist can be instrumental in:

• Teaching you which raw materials contain gluten
• Helping you examine product labels and learn to identify which products may contain trace amounts of gluten
• Helping you adjust your diet to include alternative forms of carbohydrates
• Teaching you how to eat out in a restaurant. Learn which things are and aren't ok to order

9. Foods you can eat:

Just because you can't eat gluten, doesn't mean that you can't have carbohydrates. There are actually many options available to you, some of which include:

o Corn (and all its derivatives - .i.e., cornmeal, cornstarch)

o Soy (soy chips, soy flour, soy pasta)

o Rice (rice cakes, rice crackers)

o Potatoes (mashed, sweet, chips, fries)

o Quinoa

o Millet

o Fruit

10. Practical suggestions:

• Start talking to people who have celiac disease, so that you can learn more about coping strategies, swap stories, and share tips with one another.
• Log onto the internet - there is a huge wealth of information available to you there. All sorts of practical tips, guides, suggestions etc.
• Buy a cookbook. There are all sorts of yummy, gluten free recipes available out there. There's no need for celiac disease to limit you, if anything it should serve as a motivator to expand your current repertoire. So get set up in your kitchen, and let those creative juices flow!
• Visit your local health food store. They will have gluten free alternatives to some of your favorite foods. For example, gluten free pasta, crackers and cookies, rice or soy crackers, and bread made from soy flour to name a few possibilities. Start looking around and don't be afraid to try things out. Learn more about which foods you like, and which ones you don't!