One Step at a Time…

For I, the Lord your God hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.” – Isaiah 41:13

I knew I was heading into the wilderness, yet I knew treasures were waiting there for me and I was confident in Whose hand was holding me.

I sat in my bed one night in late spring 2009, searching the scriptures for direction, answers, something. My mom came into my room and showed me a May 2009 article in Taste for Life entitled “The Gluten-Free Kitchen Offers Plenty of Tasty Foods”. There was a side bar to the article with a heading: “What’s Celiac Disease?” As I read the article, I realized that I had been struggling with several of the symptoms related to celiac…abdominal bloating, joint pain, fatigue, dry skin, missed menstrual periods, tingling in my extremities, unexplained iron-deficiency anemia. Hmm…could it be that celiac was the culprit to some of these symptoms I had attributed to stress or exercise-related ailments? I quickly began reading medical and health studies regarding celiac and found that in the U.S. about 1 in every 133 people have celiac and even more common than that is gluten-intolerance which affects nearly 1 in 10 people.

Around this time, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, of Survivor and The View fame, released a book, “The G-Free Diet”.

I went to the nearest Barnes & Noble and bought a copy. I read it quickly from cover to cover. I soaked up the information. It felt good to finally have a probable cause for my own issues.

But, did I have celiac or gluten-intolerance? How would I know? Medically the “best” test is to consume gluten-containing foods daily for at least 3 months and then have a biopsy of the small intestine. Somehow this seemed like not such a fun idea! My research led me to a different approach, not as well-accepted medically, but much more accurate according to those with symptoms related to celiac and gluten-intolerance, the elimination approach…also much less invasive! Basically, I eliminated all gluten, a protein in wheat and other grains that gives elasticity (think pizza dough) and longevity (think packaged foods that line grocery store shelves) to many of the foods we eat. As a lover of baked goodies I quickly found alternatives to some of my favorite treats! I began experimenting with sorghum flour, buckwheat flour, millet flour, tapioca flour. I even started eating ice cream and dairy products that I had been avoiding as I thought that may be the cause for some of my issues. I began to have more energy and many of the aforementioned symptoms were alleviating. I didn’t know for sure if I had celiac or gluten-intolerance, but I knew with all certainty that gluten was no longer a part of my diet. I felt too good to go back to my old ways of eating and I didn’t miss any of my old foods.

I began eating lasagna made with gluten-free noodles and trying all kinds of “new” foods. If it was gluten-free, I tried it! I found gluten-free chips and cookies and cereals and so many gluten-free versions of foods that I had eliminated from my daily diet because I felt so yucky after consuming them. With so many gluten-free options, I had increased packaged foods and foods with added sugars. For a while this seemed to work great…