Recently a rash of family members on my Mother's side have been diagnosed with Celiac. For those of you not in the know, Celiac is an autoimmune disease that is triggered by gluten, the stuff in bread, beer, and a lot of other delicious foods that I love with all my heart. There are over 300 symptoms to Celiac, ranging from digestive woes to neurological problems, and it tends to take on average 8 to 11 years to get a diagnosis even if you are blessed with health insurance. (I'm not) As the only treatment for Celiac is giving up gluten and as I have a lot of the symptoms of the disease, I decided to go gluten free.
I've only been off gluten for three days so far, but I can already feel a difference. The early morning stomach cramps I've had ever since I can remember haven't reared their ugly head, my bowel doesn't hurt, and I have not had nearly the problems with constipation and diarrhea that I usually have.
The transition hasn't been easy so far. Giving up gluten means giving up most of the things I really enjoy, such as fresh bakery goods, real beer, breaded anything, salty pretzels, and so on. There are a lot of substitutes, some of them better than others, but there's a lot of re-learning to do. I also can't just run out for a day of errands any more and assume there'll be something to eat if I get ravenous. I can't go to a gallery opening and assume there'll be anything other than a few sad cheese cubes to nosh on. So there are social ramifications as well.
Here are some of the worst bits right now:
1) Bread: So far, not so good. I managed to find a bread that tastes tolerable. Firm emphasis on tolerable. Maybe that will change as I get used to the way different flours taste. I'm not counting on it. But I have yet to find a gluten free bread that is any good for sandwiches. It just all sort of crumbles at the slightest pressure. And the texture is just...not right. It's disappointing, and it makes me cranky.
2)Crackers and snacks: Rice crackers are just kind of odd. They taste OK, but the texture is odd, and I miss Doritos.
3) Beer: There is gluten free beer, and it is actually quite good, but there are so many regular beers that I am crazy for.
If anyone has any suggestions about products or how to cope with the social fallout from being on such a restricted diet, please let me know. In return, I'll post any info on recipes and good tasting snackies for those of you also on a gluten free diet.
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