Celiac Disease


Celiac Disease

Dear Gluten-Free consumers and/or those who have ever heard of the Gluten-Free lifestyle movement, Celiac Disease is an auto-immune disease responsible for the gluten free lifestyle. Gluten is the culprit, a family of grains such as wheat, barley, rye, that cause an auto-immune response that can be both internal and physical symptoms when gluten is consume. This means the body is attacking itself when gluten is present destroying the intestinal gut, effecting therein and other areas, which can be very painful, embarrassing and harmful immediately and long term. 

The gluten-free movement, albeit entering now mainstream, is at a pivotal moment for improvement or destruction to our health. As a human being diagnosed with Celiac Disease, I challenge you to educate yourself more fully about gluten-free choices that you've made because "gluten free" lifestyle was created for those with Celiac Disease, gluten intolerance and other auto immune diseases. 

Packaged food ingredients, restaurant preparation and food cooked in people's home can have gluten cross contamination and you need to understand your level of risk. Therefore, whether you have a diagnosis of Celiac Disease, gluten intolerance or simply feel better in a "reduced gluten diet" your choice now belongs under one of the following categories. The point being that if you permit gluten to be around you're at risk of physical symptoms or hidden ones and you're not on a "gluten free" lifestyle if you constantly put yourself at a risk of gluten cross contamination at home or on the go in life. 

Choose One Identity:

Gluten Free Lifestyle #OneGFStandard

(Full 100% gluten free ingredients, always reading labels, rarely eating out especially saying "No" to the many cross contamination risks at restaurants, parties, friends and family homes were you bring your own food to ensure health. Lastly your home is 100% gluten free and you do not permit gluten in there either = low risk)


Reduced Gluten Intake

(Sporadic gluten and/or cross contaminated consumption with limited label reading and find yourself indulging when you shouldn't. Saying "No" is not your priority because you won't or you can't. Your home may have gluten for any reason, but it does = medium to high risk)


After reading more about Celiac Disease, since you may not have known, gluten-free movement was birthed for Celiac Disease consumers, not for a trendy health kick.  Therefore, it's important to know that some people claim to be not as strict as others, and may not know they have an intolerance, digestive issues or think they feel better off of gluten containing foods. That's okay, but that's just the beginning dont' stop there. 

"By declaring your gluten-free diet legitimate, you as consumers must vow to ensure that a food is truly 100% gluten-free and hold yourself, products, restaurants and the community accountable from risks of contamination... there is no "kinda gluten-free". With your efforts, gluten-free labeling will receive more respect and growth throughout USA vs where it always has been respected in other 1st world nations."

When consumers say they're not fully gluten-free the entire gluten-free movement is at risk, including your health. Often I've heard that people who do say their 50% or 90% gluten-free have symptoms, but tehy don't commit all the way. I'm not sure why. And this is the case, because we're experiencing a major misconception in the market place today for specialty gluten-free casual food labeling. 

I hope to speak for all Celiacs when I ask, please do not ever eat food that is labeled "gluten-free' unless you ask questions and/or find out it has been tested for gluten ppm or truly certified gluten-free. The GF certification is expensive and some small business owners cannot obtain this proof, but luckily there are home kits and food labs that you can send your samples out for evaluation of 5, 10 or 20 gluten parts per million (ppm) or less at a fairly low price.  The level of 20 ppm was deemed safe by the FDA based on the available analytic methodology and testing with patients. Data from peer-reveied scientific literature detect at these low levels for gluten in wheat, rye, barley because contamination is very common in everyone's home, commercial kitchens and in the world itself from the over use of gluten-wheat use in foods today. 

Friends and family, please inquire further with everyone who labels food "gluten-free" and don't always settle because we can't accept anything less than truly 100% gluten-free. Anyone can slab a  "gluten-free" label on a product, but don't get excited too fast.  Let's push this 100% gluten-free movement forward and all be educated at a higher level, for all of us. 

For more information or questions to ask restaurants and to learn more, inquire to: GlutenFreeG@Gmail.com. 


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