It has been an easier transition than I thought to go gluten free. Eating gluten free is better than experiencing the pain that occurs right after ingesting gluten; or the complications later in life. What many people do not realize is that by ingesting gluten when you have a gluten intolerance can cause other autoimmune diseases such as diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Psoriasis, Schizophrenia, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Crohn’s disease, Lupus, Skyloderma and depression. There have been many studies completed on the relationship between undiagnosed Celiac disease and not following a gluten free diet once diagnosed.

This has become a passion for me to educate everyone on the importance of following a gluten free diet and/or taking responsibility for my own health. One needs to follow the gluten free diet even if the testing has come back negative with symptoms of an intolerance to gluten.  Celiac disease is difficult to detect because the antibody has to be present at the time of the testing and can influence a false negative or false positive. Either way if you have removed gluten from your diet and have seen an improvement more than likely you are gluten intolerant and possibly have Celiac disease. My grandmother wound up dying from undiagnosed Celiac disease and died from colon/rectum cancer, plus she had severe depression most of her life, possible schizophrenia and diabetes. Please realize that cheating is not an option with this disease or the other autoimmune diseases, you must eat a strict gluten free diet. An autoimmune disease is one’s body trying to tell it that something is wrong. You must figure it out one puzzle piece at a time.

After figuring out that both my daughter and I both have Celiac disease it has helped me put two and two together with my medical past and my families. My grandmother wound up with diverticulitis and had to have her entire colon removed and lived with a colostomy bag as did her mother and I believe even my great, great, grandmother.

There are choices and if you like sweets and find it too hard to stop eating desserts and pizza there are options out there and I will be posting fun meals for children and for those of you that do not want to grow up and still eat all of the fun foods. However, don’t cheat on foods you know you cannot have because you are hurting yourself  slowly. You do not want the latter part of your life to include suffering, pain and regret. It is not that hard and I will assist all of you in making the transition but do not cheat. Cheating withCeliac disease and other autoimmune diseases is just as bad as smoking cigarettes, being an alcoholic, or suffering from drug addiction they all provide choices to make a change in your life to live a healthier life and feel good. Do not cheat yourself out of a life without pain and suffering.

Continue to check back and I am working on getting specialists to post their experiences with these debilitating autoimmune disorders.