"But, I'm not a full blown Celiac?! There's nothing left to eat!!!" This is the befuddled protest of many a newly diagnosed Celiac patient, with associated food allergies - wheat, eggs, yeast. Yes, life has always been this tough, long before you  started reading food labels (sigh).

Completely eliminate  gluten from your diet and the inflammation in your small intestine will reduce. That's the  first step in preventing serious Celiac complications down the road - anemia, osteoporosis, and bowel cancer.

Huh?

Gluten is a protein found in many grains.

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder. It's caused when your small intestine  reacts to undigested gluten,causing an inflammation.

The condition can pop up at any life-stage. According to the National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Celiac disease affects an estimated 2M people in the United States. If you are of Caucasian or European descent, and have a family history of this disorder, well - you're at a greater risk.

That's a frightening statistic.  The numbers may be higher, actually. Celiac disease is infrequently diagnosed.

Symptoms?

Diarrhea, weight loss, abdominal pain, and fatigue, just to name a few. Then again, if the disease is dormant, you may not experience any symptoms at all.

A blood test or endoscopy typically determines the presence of the Celiac disease.

If you've been diagnosed with Celiac disease, full-blown or not -

• Adhere strictly to a gluten-free diet. Within weeks of removing gluten from the diet, intestinal damage will begin to heal.
• Find out what other foods you're allergic to. A simple allergy test will shed light on what you need to avoid to the best of your ability.
• Avoid these grains in your food products and recipes: wheat, barley, rye, semolina, durum, spelt, triticale, and kamut. They have gluten. These are typically found in foods such as bread, pasta, and baked goods.
• Start reading food labels when you shop. Check to see if the label reads gluten free. If it doesn't say so, you need to examine the ingredients list for any of the grains mentioned above.
• You can have these grains : corn, potato, rice, soybeans, tapioca, arrowroot, carob, buckwheat, millet, amaranth, quinoa, rice flour, and potato flour. They don't have gluten. Stay away from those in this list you may otherwise be allergic to. Some of you may also have a soy and / or millet sensitivity, so cross these off your DO list.

Can You Believe It!

A few years ago at long last, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)  finalized the definition of gluten-free.

A gluten-free product does not contain any species of wheat, rye, or barley.

A product can only be labeled “gluten-free” if it meets the FDA definition. Read beyond the label (see the discussion above). You know better now.

Let's Keep Going -

• Restaurant Eating Alert! Cross-contamination can occur in a kitchen that isn't set up for gluten-free cooking. Ask.

• Visit www.glutenfreerestaurants.org to find gluten-free restaurants.

• Avoid foods that contain the following ingredients: stabilizer, starch, flavoring, emulsifier, hydrolyzed plant protein, malt, malt flavoring or malt vinegar, modified starch, vegetable gum, and soy sauce (yes, soy sauce!).

• Say no to oats. It's true - oats are safe for people with Celiac disease. However, many factories that make oat products also make wheat products. You want to avoid the cross-contamination risk.

"There's nothing left to eat!!!"

Save yourself much aggravation by shopping at the Gluten Free Mall (just click on the image below).