To those living gluten-free

I came across an intesting blog today in a rather roundabout way. I had recently watched Yes: Songs From Tsongas on Netflix, and looked it up on Amazon to decide for or against buying it. A strange recommendation popped up under "other customers suggested these items." Right next to all the Yes albums, there was a book entitled Gluten-Free Girl. Because my sister has celiac disease and has to eat a gluten-free diet, I was intrigued and checked it out. The listing on Amazon led me to her blog, glutenfreegirl.com. What a find! Shauna James Ahern has been living gluten-free since 2005, ever since she started to suspect celiac disease to be the cause of her multitude of health troubles. Her writing is poignant and fascinating. From her first post:

As soon as I had my blood drawn, ten days ago, I cut gluten out of my diet. And that’s really fricking hard, it turns out. Gluten is the elastic protein in wheat, rye, barley, triticale, spelt, and possibly oats. So that means bread, cookies, pies, cereal, cinnamon rolls, pasta, and oatmeal. That’s hard enough. But it also turns out that gluten hides insidiously in almost every processed food, disguised as modified food starch..., hydrolized vegetable oil, caramel color, dextrin, and even natural flavors. I have to read every box, decipher every food, ponder every bite I eat.

The impact of cutting out gluten from her diet was immediate and dramatic:

Here’s the amazing part. As soon as I cut gluten out of my diet, the same day, I started feeling better. The pain diminished. I started to eat a bit more food at one time. I started to feel more clear. Every day that passed convinced me more. On the third day without gluten, I looked up and realized I was clear. It was as though I had been wearing smudgy contacts for years, and someone had just cleaned them for me. I’ve been in a brain fog for years. Years. And now, I feel clear.

My sister Carrie has been living gluten-free for several years now. Celiac disease, or more accurately, celiac sprue, is woefully underdiagnosed. Carrie lost several unborn children and had a host of other health issues, not knowing that it was food that was making her sick! Now, thankfully, she's healthy and feeling good. I remember talking to her once and realizing how vigilant she needs to be about everything that goes into her mouth. It's a hyperconscious way to eat, and so different than the way normal Americans eat--too much, too quickly, and stuff that's not really good for the body, all without really thinking about it.

The subtitle of Shauna's book is How I Found the Food that Loves Me Back. Rather than bemoaning the lack in her diet, the life she lives and food she makes and eats is full of flavor and passion. I think we can all take a lesson from that.