Just discovered that I might have celiac disease. Does anyone else have it? How have you dealt with it?

The doctor tested for it?

You deal with by going gluten free. I don’t know where you live, but many products in the supermarket and food on menus in restaurants are now marked gluten free here in America. Study up on it, check out a list of what has gluten so you know what to avoid. The obvious is avoid wheat, bran, semolina, look for those ingredients in things. Also, check out the foods that are safe. You know what foods you frequently eat, I would start with those to see if they are safe foods.

There are several books on gluten free diets, all you have to do is google, go to the library or bookstore to get some good information and cooking ideas.

My mother has celiac disease, which was diagnosed by biopsy more than 10 years ago before the blood test was developed. It is a big lifestyle change, but the popularity of gluten-free products now will make it much easier for you today than it was for her after her diagnosis. The biggest challenge is when eating out and finding dishes that have no gluten and are not likely to have any cross-contamination.

A friend of mine and her brother both have it. She is also vegetarian. She knows what she can have and sticks to it. In restaurants she can always find something.

She says her brother actually goes into the kitchen and has a word with the chef to make certain that nothing forbidden comes anywhere near his meal. That takes more nerve than I would ever have.

You are lucky that there is an awareness of gluten issues now-a-days. Whole Foods in particular has a lot of GF products, it’s not as big a problem finding things as it was five years ago.

Be mindful of gluten in some surprising things- soy sauce, some ice creams, some things like vitamins. I went to get some probiotic juice and my girlfriend (who has a wheat intolerance) pointed out it wasn’t GF.

I live in a place where not only there are a lot of Gluten free people but it is also a trend to not eat gluten when its not a dietary requirement for you. I have worked in one restaurant that was specifically catered toward those avoiding gluten. It doesn’t have to be that difficult but depending on where you live it could be pretty tough to find places like that. But, by eating a fairly simple diet which is what we should all be eating anyhow, you shouldn’t have much trouble at all. Perhaps take this as an opportunity to start cooking more! I myself would be sobbing every night while staring at a loaf of bread and daydreaming about butter. Good luck.