Begin At The Beginning...

If you or someone you know has recently been diagnosed with Celiac Disease or Gluten Intolerance (the inability to digest wheat and/or gluten) then you might be feeling one of several emotions right now. Anger, denial, confusion, depression, etc.
I was diagnosed as being Celiac in 2001, then in 2008 after an Upper GI, I was told no, it wasn't Celiac, I was just "Gluten Intolerant". I don't care what you want to call it - it all means the same thing to me. When I eat wheat or gluten, I get sick. VERY SICK. And it was adult onset, so that made me mad.
Why on earth did I spend the better part of my life being able to eat a sandwich, when now all they do is make me ill? Hand-in-hand with this problem you often find lactose intolerance. Though for many people, within six months of switching to a gluten-free diet, they can resume eating dairy products. This is not to say that it will happen for everyone, but it's a start.
The hard part for me was changing my mind set to "What I CAN eat" versus "What I CAN'T eat". After my initial anger and depression over losing so many foods, I had to find a way to turn this into something positive. It took a lot of trial and error finding replacements for a great many foods in my pantry, but as Gluten Intolerance and Celiac Disease become more well-known, better and better products are being made to replace the traditional flour products.
My goal with this blog is to better educate the newly diagnosed, give hope to long-term gluten free friends, share recipies and food sources, and rate new products as they become available. Keep in mind my opinions are just that - opinions. I welcome comments, suggestions, recipies, etc from others in the gluten-free community and hope that this blog will become a source of comfort and hope to all who need it.
Julie
The Gluten Free Diva