I have way too many wonderful recipes to not be sharing with you. Especially since I cook pretty much 99% of every meal I eat, own and operate a gluten free allergy friendly bakery in NY and am always creating new dishes all the time. Of course they are all gluten, egg, dairy, soy, refined sugar free, as well as nutrition packed, always organic and always with the idea of keeping the gut calm and in healing mode. I haven’t been keeping these recipes from you, I promise. Life just pulled me in 10 different directions.
Until yesterday.
While at the bakery I was greeted by a women who looked like a scared lost child who wandered into my bakery to beg for help. She looked around and then caught my eye and immediately turned her face. I could tell she wanted to talk. Then she just stared at me for a moment. When I said hello, she looked away and said…
“I can’t believe I’m meeting you”.
I said, “Well its nice to meet you”.
I saw that she couldn’t really make too much eye contact with me and was a bit shaky. I then asked if she was okay. She said,
“I read your book . I was diagnosed with Celiac disease yesterday and I don’t know what to do. ”
She then went on to share her medical story. She went on to say she has been sick for years with a multitude of things. Lupus and diabetes to name a few and has had surgery to remove an enormous portion of her intestines from being sick all the time with her gut. She spends most days filled with nausea and pain and had a list of foods her body just will not tolerate. As she spoke she shook a little and had a pale bewildered look. My heart broke for her.
Funny enough not one of those foods on her “cant have ” list was gluten. She gets a diagnosed with celiac just yesterday, I thought? After all those years of illness and other diagnosis? I can almost guarantee the elusive sneaky celiac had been with her the entire time and if someone would have diagnosed her when she was younger (now maybe 55+) then maybe she would not be in such an awful state now. I say awful state because as she said herself, in barely a voice you could hear, she was tired. Very tired. Mentally, physically and now lost and so ill.
Since her diagnosis with celiac, the day prior, her doctor now says she must be gluten free. Even with a lupus diagnosis and obvious serious stomach issues having had half her intestines out, no one before NOW thought maybe get off gluten?
I hold my complete and utter frustartion to not further upset her and just give the best information and support I could. She ordered the treats I recommend to try at bakery, nothing with yeast and barely any sugar. I then told her to please take care of herself and please get in touch with my beloved doctor, Dr Fratellone.
WHAT CAN I SAY FOLKS? What can any of us say? It makes me so very sad that people are not getting the right information or help. So very sad.
If you know anything about me up to this point then you know I don’t deal well when people suffer and are not heard. Especially when it comes to YOUR health. I looked at this lady so ill and broken and saw myself 4 years ago. Lost, scared, sick, and felt extremely alone. It doesn’t have to be that way. So…..
I HAVE A PLAN
Plan is simple. Im going to tell you what I EAT (with recipes), what I DO, where I SHOP and how I COPE in this crazy land. Food doesn’t have to become the enemy. It actually CAN be your savor.
Stay TUNED!!!!
I want you to stop where you are right now and make the decision that whatever illness you are dealing with or if you just want to feel BETTER; less tired, less depressed, less groggy, less bloated, less than REALLY GOOD – Then it’s time to get inspired and BELIEVE that YOU and YOUR HEALTH MATTER and it CAN change when you CHANGE YOUR FOOD!!!!!!!
START WITH THIS POWERHOUSE OF A SOUP!!
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ANTI-INFLAM SWEET POTATO SOUP - click here to learn other anti-inflammatory foods
1 1/2 TBSP of olive oil
2 shallot
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp chopped fresh ginger
3 celery stalks chopped
1 bay leef
3 large sweet potatoes (cut in cubes )
6 cups of water
1 tsp fresh ground turmeric
1/2 cinnamon
1/2 tsp cayenne
salt/pepper to taste
another drizzle of olive oil
Directions:
-Place olive oil in large pot until dissolved and warm
-Add onion, garlic, celery, ginger and saute until onions are translucent
-Add cut sweet potatoes and cover with 6 cups of water
-Add bay leaf, cinnamon, and fresh turmeric
-let mixture come to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cover about 20-25 minutes
-When sweet potatoes can easily be broken with a fork its time to put in your vitamix or other high speed blender.
- blend slowly then gradually go up to a whip adding a steady drizzle of olive oil for a second or two as you continue to mix.
- a thick, creamy soup will be ready to eat.
Can sprinkle some more grated turmeric, ginger or olive oil. For even more of an anti-inflam boost toast some pumpkin seeds and put on top of soup.
Salt and pepper to taste!!
Enjoy!!!!!
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Be Well!
Thank you for sharing the soup recipe. It sounds wonderful. I am definitely going to try it. Also, thank you for being so open and a fighter for what’s right. I have tried unsuccessfully with 2 doctors(1 doctor twice) to get tested for celiac/gluten intolerance. I was told to try not eating gluten. If I feel better stay with it, if not start eating it again. My endo (the doctor I asked twice)asked if I had stomach cramps or diarrhea after I ate. I said no. She told me then you don’t have celiac. However, I do have Hashimoto’s. So I have been gluten free for almost 3 weeks now. Anyway, thank you for all you do for the celiac community. I appreciate all you do and think very highly of you.
Jennifer I thank you for your passion and compassion to want to help others with health issues. My husband and daughter are celiacs and I surprised them with your bagels for Christmas. They were thrilled and the look of pure pleasure at first bite was worth every penny! You even inspire me to eat better to feel better. I for one appreciate your time and efforts, keep up the excellent work!
So wonderful. Makes me so very happy that others can enjoy my SAFE HEALTHY goodies!!
thank you!!
be well
jennifer
oh my goodness Vicki that is what i was told. Not everyone has the same symptoms! Get the real test – the scope – before you are gluten free too long. I understand that can throw a wrench in it, but not 100% sure of that. I am not a doctor.
Please don’t listen to this doctor – plow through. There are many sites that will tell you that we all are affected differently.
Hi I have had gall bladder issues for 17 years after I had my son. But no one could find anything until finally last year I had to have it removed because it wasn’t working. My acupunterer told me in 2010 go off wheat and it did work but I guess the damage was done so it needed to be removed. Since taking it out I don’t have the pain and inflammation but I have to be gluten free I moved and saw my medical records a doctor tested me for wheat mine was so high but they never told me to go off wheat I probably could have saved my gall bladder if someone told me years ago. I live in NH I want to try your food but I don’t trust the Internet so I have to buy a credit card to use on it or can I have and place an order?
This soup looks amazing!
I do not believe someone with all these problems was not told “you must start dietary therapy on a gluten free diet.” Sounds like she was extremely overwhelmed and might not have gotten the info. I like that Jennifer was the one who helped her. She probably really enjoyed talking to someone who had similar problems, lost hope and then gained knowledge and control. It really is easy eating GF if you just cook your own foods. If more people were educated in the testing and diagnosis process we’d have fewer people on the planet with organs demolished by this disease. Whoever says GF is a “fad” or “trend” I just laugh at them.
Thanks Jennifer for the recipe and this blog! I was diagnosed with celiac two weeks ago. I bought and read your book. Since going gluten free my anxiety, which was under control before I eliminated gluten, has gone out of control and I had to take my meds to stop them. I hate taking the meds. Have you healed from your panic attacks? How long did it take and what exact steps did you take to get there? Thanks for being so transperant about your Celiac journey. I felt like I was reading about myself. You give me hope that I can get better!
I have not been diagnosed with Celiac but have been advised to eat GF due to severe hormone imbalance and issues created by misdiagnosed thyroid problem (prescribed thyroid meds but I really do not have a thyroid problem) and spent summer eating almond butter that was later recalled due to possible salmonella. The ALCAT test showed I have “gluten sensitivity” and allergy blood test shows allergy to wheat. I’d say going GF for me was a great suggestion by my doctor and I’ve been GF for 5 months.
Severe anxiety is something I know a lot about! I highly recommend you read Trudy Scott’s book, she is a certified nutritionist. Her book is called “The Anti-Anxiety Food Solution.” The information in this book is very helpful when it comes to tackling anxiety and panic attack issues, which can be multifold. I cannot say enough good things about Trudy and her book. I learned of using Amino Acids to help address neurotransmitter deficiencies which are commonly seen with people who are prone to anxiety and panic attacks. Of course I checked with my bio-identical hormone friendly doctor about taking amino acids since I am also on bio-identical hormone replacement. Hormone therapy and amino acids have been very effective in taming the anxiety beast.
Over the years, the American public has really been mislead about nutrients and how we should/should not eat. Our reliance on “grain based” food is really doing a number on our digestive systems and doctors are just as clueless about Celiac, the problems with gluten and the mind-body connection.
Bless Jennifer for sharing her story with us. I admire her desire and willingness to help others!
Thank you Jennifer for sharing your compassion with all of us. I discovered my reaction to gluten before I got terribly sick. You played a part of that with one of the talk show interviews you did. I played around with it, on for while, off for a while. Then I got gluten so badly I was sick for two days. I haven’t looked back since. I remember telling a friend who was skeptical about my dietary change that “the bottom line is that I react to gluten, end of story and I am just not going to have it.” Then there was the woman who thought because I was eating gf that I was following Paelo. (The fad that just keeps giving.) Had to educate her. Thank you for standing up to educate and inform! Brava!
I can’t totally relate to this women. I was diagnosed 6 years ago, but only after suffering for over 20 years. I am better but still distraught at times. I still have the numb arms at night and during the day if I bend them for too long. I also have severe muscle cramps all over my body and terrible deep pain in my arms almost every night. I’m not really sure what is causing this since I have been gluten free for 6 years. I think it’s from the damage that was done before I was diagnosed. Does anybody else have severe nerve/muscle/bone pain at night?
yes Mary, I too struggle with the bone and muscle pain and I was diagnosed 9 years ago…I think that even though we get rid of gluten–either hidden gluten or other things linger for us. I believe that gluten did a lot of irreversible damage on some of us
Yes I have been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and I assumed that was the cause. I now believe differently and will begin to remove the gluten and see what happens. I never sleep until 3-4 am then get up at 1 pm in the afternoon and no matter what sleep medication I take nothing helps the leg or arm pain. I do also suffer from Diabetes, High BP, High Cholesterol and crazy allergies. I can’t even read books anymore because my attention span or my ability to concentrate is gone! I’ve been tested for Celiac but it was negative, however, I may have an intolerance. Thank you Jennifer to bringing this to the light!
Please Please remove gluten and dairy. Both cause inflammation in the body which is exactly what Fibromyalgia feeds on. I had pain in my body so bad it hurt to even lay in bed. Celiac can be the culprit here. Blood tests ARE NOT 100% ACCURATE! An endoscopy is the only way of truly knowing if you have celiac. Please take another look at this but either way I would give gluten and dairy a break for at least a month and see how you feel.
Be Well
Jennifer
Do u have Sjogrens or any other autoimmune disease like rheumatoid arthritis. Both can affect muscles and joints causing pain and fatigue. Just wondering! Char
Have you tried getting off dairy?? I know how hard it is to give up something else but i will say I was gluten free for 1 year and was in absolute pain everyday. My hair even hurt. I gave up dairy and eventually, soy, refined sugar and corn, except for once in a blue moon. You do NOT have to live in pain. Your body is asking for something you just need to figure out what that is. Nothing easy about i know.
I hope this helps you
Be Well
Jennifer
Jennifer, thank you so much for your candid disclosure on your health and all of your struggles. I loved your acting on Blue Bloods and was one of the millions who were so sad to see you leave, but I really believe that God has put you where you are doing the most good for others. What a blessing you are to so many of us who are also trying to navigate an often painful world of others who do not care to understand what those of us struggling with celac go through every day. Thank you for the soup recipe, your bakery, your book, your blog and your compassion. You are much loved
Jennifer I love your site but I have an allergy to bay leaf as my father did , found out the hard way I am allergic to pepper on any form and I get reactions too shallots, ginger. Instead of onions I can use onion chives but what can I substitute for the other ingredients?
Yes use what works for you. These are not supper specific recipes and can be adjusted. Feel free to take out the bay leaf and onion and replace with leeks or chives!!
Hope this helps
Be Well
Jennifer
I broke out in a blistery rash 26 years ago during a time of emotional stress. It took until about 9 months ago after reading “Wheat Belly” to link it to gluten. It had occurred only sporadically over the 26 years until the last few months before my connecting the dots. I did quit eating wheat when I could associate it with the rash (thinking it was “just” an allergy) because a gastroenterologist told me 5 years ago after a colonoscopy that I did not have celiac sprue. Always puzzled by family history: Paternal grandmother died at 53 of Non-Alcoholic Cirrhosis of the Liver, Maternal grandmother had Crohn’s disease, older brother diagnosed with Type I Diabetes out of the blue at 16. I had been diagnosed with Collagenous Colitis, Osteoporosis of the spine, numbers just in the range of low-thyroid and a polyp that had the potential to become cancer of the colon. My blood tests came back negative for celiac, but I continued to question and pursue. I finally had genetic testing 9 months ago and sure enough…. gluten intolerance from one parent and gluten intolerance/Celiac from my other parent! DON’T ever give up. Trust your instincts! At 63 I am so thankful to live in time with so many good blogs, recipes and cook books for eating gluten-free, as well as bakeries and restaurants with high-quality gluten-free options.
Wow! Your story is just like mine, my mother died at 56 and my father died 63, my oldest brother was diagnosed at 18 with Type 1 Diabetes. I could go on and on but thank you for sharing your history as it seems we are all similar in our symptoms.
To MaggieLynn – Your blistery rash that broke out 26 years ago, did a doctor look at it? Sounds like shingles, especially since you connected it’s occurrence to a time of emotional stress. Some doctors incorrectly think that you have to be “elderly” to get shingles. This is FALSE. My sister has had shingles 3 separate times, the first when she was 21 years old. Shingles can return.
I do wonder if gluten sensitivity or Celiac – if there is a tendency for shingles. Just something think about.
Thanks, Michelle. I did not see a doctor. After reading “Celiac Disease” A Hidden Epidemic” I learned that it is very common for those with the celiac gene to have the switch flipped, so to speak, when they undergo stress. It often happens to women after childbirth. My rash was not painful, as I have heard shingles described. It was itchy with tiny water blisters. I could clearly associate it with eating wheat a couple of years ago and it hasn’t returned since I have gone gluten free. I must have a fairly strong immune system, celiac disease aside. I was the middle of 3 kids and never caught chicken pox until I was in high school (age 15) even though my older brother was in school when I was born and my younger brother came along when I went to school.
Jennifer, you’re an inspiration. My 29-year-old son was diagnosed as celiac several years ago, but still has many symptoms; doctor said “try eliminating dairy”. that didn’t help. “eliminate coffee, red meat, spices”. he’s still suffering, no end in site, but i continue to spoil him with baked goods made using coconut or almond flour.
I love your book, enjoy your recipes. Thanks for all you do.
ps: how go the wedding plans?
Tell your son to try eliminating all processed foods just as a test. I know it will be tough. For me MSG and the seaweed additives carrageenan, algin, alginates, agar, or just seaweed like kelp or Kombu all are a no go and many folks with celiac have issues with these. Jennifer mentions carragensn in her book. Tell him to check amy vits or minerals or other supplements. Over the counter OTC meds and prescription meds do not need to disclose gluten (often the source of the starch or gelatin).
Oh Sharon I feel for you and your son. I can almost be certain he is still getting gluten somewhere. I know this because this has happened to so many people I know. YOu must look at ALL medications, eliminate anything from a box or a can. Even if something says gluten free look for cross-contamination. Its only 1/8 of a tsp that will get a celiac sick. GLuten is in envelope glue, some tea bag glue, medications, body care products, toothpaste and then some. Please get my book if you haven’t already ( its at your local library as well)and read about where gluten hides!!
I hope this is of some help
Be Well
Jennifer
Thank you, Jennifer, for having the courage and will to not only fight through your own disease, but to also help all of us by putting yourself out there. This desire shows me that you have a heart of gold and great compassion. I SO appreciate the food and staples you are making available so that we can eat a little more “normally”. I’ve been gluten-free for almost a year and it’s made a big difference in my life. Some day when I get to New York again, I will definitely stop by! God bless!
Let me just add (to my above comment) that I have never had any intestinal symptoms/distress other than the mild symptoms of colitis.
I want to explore you website for help that I haven’t gotten from the Medical profession. Thank you so much!! And even though we still miss you as Jackie in Blue Bloods, I am so glad that you are doing something that nurtures and heals you!
THANKS, Jennifer.
Thank you so much for this recipe. It’s not only very healthy and delicious, it is food that is safe for us to eat!
more to come!!!!!!!!
I just returned home after a month in the NYCity area. Unfortunately due to my poor health I wasn’t able to make it to your bakery(my one true goal while I was there). The lady you wrote about could easily be me. By the time I was 1 1/2 yrs old I had horrible symptoms of multiple food, drug and allergies to topical creams & lotions,etc. Yet it wasn’t till I was 56yrs old that a doctor brought up gluten free eating. Even then no one brought up the possibility of my soy allergy. My dairy and shellfish allergies had both been well known for a very long time. Now I am so very ill, even thought I am completely gf, d/c free, soy free and shellfish free. I suspect more food allergies but don’t know where to turn. I pray others don’t suffer for years and years before someone considers gluten issues, also dairy and soy issues (or any other food allergies). My health is so destroyed and I wonder what my life might be like now if doctors were more informed? Also I find extended members of my family don’t think they might have a problem after they mention it to their doctors, they get blown off-YET I see in probably 5 or 6 of them real clues to possible food allergies. I wish I had a way to convince them to seek out a great specialist. Thanks for sharing your story with us, I am sure it will help a lot of people.
I’m so very sorry you are so ill. Please listen to me when I say that stress makes this and any autoimmune disease worse. Let your need for people to understand be put to rest. Speak to the people that understand and “get It”. Its way too stressful to ask people to understand when they don’t and honestly can’t. Yes compassion would be nice but this disease and any disease is hard for someone to truly understand unless they deal with it themselves. You have a community here dear.
Same goes for doctors, if your doc is not listening find another one. You have a right to feel better!
Be Well
Jennifer
Hi Jennifer, thank you for this awesome recipe. Great cold too! Autoimmune disease doctor hunting is a thankless task so caring for us in this way is awesome. I look forward to talking business with you one day soon.
I wish I knew how to respond to you privately to share my journey with celiac. Your story has been a source of joy to me.
Thank you, Jennifer! You have brought such light and relief to my 14 year old daughter. She suffered from about age 4 until last May, when I saw you on Katie.
We plan on coming up for Thanksgiving this year. Are you in the bakery often? We would like to make a special trip to E 10th St and try your goodies, and thank you in person for the best advice in our lives!
I’m so glad this lady came to you for help. I’ve met several people that have suffered, and it IS so sad. I worked at an Organic Store, so I swapped stories with many folks.
Take care and thank you!
This makes me SO VERY HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please tell your daughter that I am thrilled that something I have said has helped her in some way. I understand how hard this disease can be and let her know she has a friend in NY that gets it.
Let me know when you plan on coming to Ny and I will do my best to be in bakery that day.
Be Well
Jennifer
Yours is the cookbook we need. From the looks of it, it will likely also contain substantial content for the many of us who are only eating plant-based whole foods. My fingers are crossed. ❤
Kristen do you find it hard to eat plant based gluten free? I was plant based until I figured out needed to go off gluten and feeling little overwhelmed with what to eat.
Yes it is coming next year sometime. I eat mostly veg and lean proteins and have recipes for everyone, including raw!!
Look out for more recipe posts coming soon!!
xo
jennifer
The soup sounds wonderful. Thank you for sharing. I clicked on the link for other anti inflammatory recipes and it went to an error page of a totally different blog. Weird. Anyway, I can relate to that woman’s experience. Sure do thank you for taking the time to share your journey here. You give me hope.
this is so excellent! thank you for the recipes and i am so glad you met that lady
Jennifer, Food Warrior, Health Warrior, Creator of Goodness,
I received your bread/bagels for Christmas and was in tears the first time I ate them. I shared them with my daughters celiac friend and she too enjoyed them (she is 8).
I just wanted to let you know there are warriors like yourself all over the country who can help people like this woman who came in to the bakery. One of my colleagues lives in Brooklyn and runs a blog called Truth + Wellness. She has Celiac too. We are trained by the Nutritional Therapy Association and many of us can help people learn how to navigate the new lifestyle they have been told they must follow and have no idea where to begin.
Peace,
Stephanie
So wonderful!!!! So so happy you enjoyed the bagels!!!!!!! Thank you I will check out her blog asap! We all need to help each other on this ever changing road of this autoimmune disease
be well
jennifer
I was recently told to eliminate dairy and I think I’ve silently known for a while that I should but the food sensitivity panel I did made it impossible to ignore anymore. It showed I reacted to casein just as bad as gluten. I think the lingering symptoms can be more vague so you don’t think it’s food that’s doing it: the muscle pain, numbness, etc. My celiac went about 12 years undiagnosed and wreaked havoc on my bones/muscles. It is frustrating when you know you are strictly gluten free but still in pain. Don’t give up. Keep searching for answers and know that a simple “stop eating gluten” doesn’t always fix it. I’m also taking natural supplements that have helped, specific to my deficiencies.
Also, wanted to say to you, Jennifer – it must be so sad to hear these stories from people that come into your bakery. Sometimes I am saddened to think of my family’s poor health history but I have hope when I know it stops with me. My daughter will NOT go through what I did or what her grandma, great grandpa, went through.
Jennifer,
Thank you so much for all you do for those of us w/Celiac/Gluten Issues. I have a hard time following the diet due to lack of support from my Mom and other Health Issues in the house that she, me & my Dad are dealing w/. Toss in we are literally in the middle of nowhere Rural Canada and…Yeah. My Family Doctor & I have been trying for a year and a bit now to get me the Hell out of here, but the nearest City, and my hometown, their Housing Authority claimed after only a phone interview that I’m not Disabled enough to qualify. The overall general reaction to that from Family, Friends & other Medical Professionals I deal w/was jaws flying open, outright disbelief or laughter followed by “You have got to be kidding?”.
Sad does not even come close to it. Anyway, I do what I can, but it is so beyond what I need to be doing diet wise and *knowing* that if Mom gave me the support I should be getting from her would make such a difference both health wise and also the stress levels in this house because I’d be able to do more, is just beyond frustrating. I was diagnosed about four years ago, but we know I also have a partial bowel obstruction and beyond a doubt sure the critter creature playing Doctor who took out my Gallbladder did something because when things are *really* bad, I taste bile and my monthly blood work for my Kidney Transplant (21 yrs & 1 mo) shows I’ve had a Gallbladder Attack.
Yet, no one wants to touch me and this after a scope was attempted, she couldn’t get the scope through the hole made by the partial blockage, although she sure tried to force it through and decided to end it then and there. So imagine my shock when at Transplant Clinic a month later the report she sent him and my Family Doctor was everything was normal and she was able to a complete scope. She lied, but my word vs hers and I have enough experience in this sad thing called our Healthcare Sustem to know what would have happened if I’d challenged her on it.
Then there’s the scope I know I need to check out what’s going on Gall Bladder wise and confirm the Celiac, but w/all I’ve been through Sedation that would knock most out for the day is like giving me sugar water, that freezing/locals/nerve blocks do not work on me at all and the one, and so far only time, I underwent this scope I was not believed and not only went through a test from Hell, but was also yelled at both the Nurse and Doctor to stay still and to simply relax and things would go much eadier. Since I know no Gadtro in the areas avialable to me will agree to doing this in the OR w/me out, it won’t be happening period. My Family Doctor & I were talking about this very thing last month and just that had me shaking. Thank God he’s a throwback and listens and believes his Patients, so he’s not going to make me go through that again, yet at the same time, it sounds more and more like it needs to be done, yet….!?!
Drives me nuts when I tell that at a Pre Op Clinic. Just because they’ve never encountered someone where the full range of Locals/Nerve Blocks don’t work, does not mean it is impossible. Ah the joys of having a complex Medical History. :os
As I said, I do my best when it comes to the diet, but this is one of the rare recipes where I just may be able to get it made and tried out in this house. Mom got Sweet Potatoes a week ago that need used, so maybe….
I am so sorry for the long rambling post, but we are isolated here and while it’s where my Parents were born and raised, I was not, so you can guess I was not welcome here.. The Country may be pretty, but only on the outside in my experience sadly. Thanks for reading/listening and all you do for the Community. If you have any suggestions, let me know, but I think you can tell I don’t really have many options. Gotta love Healthcare in Ontario these days.(sarcasm mode on)
Thanks again and Take Care!!
Denise :o)
Just noticed that you are working on a cookbook for next year. Yay! Will it have both volume and weight measurements for the recipes? I try to use my scale when I can, since it is more accurate than trying to do it per cup. I put in my first order yesterday for some of your goodies. (Thank you for the discounts!) They will arrive on my birthday (28th). Happy Birthday, to me!!! Can’t wait. I also contacted the Celiac Foundation last summer about doing a commercial for pubic awareness on CD. They said that it was a great idea, but that they were a non-profit organization and couldn’t do it. My idea was that different people (well-known and not) would be on there. (Ordinary people, plus yourself, Dr. Fratellone, Dr. Alessio Fasano, Stanley Tucci, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Jules Dowler Shepard, Gluten Free Dude, Jon Stewart w/ his son, etc.) I also read recently that one or two of Emeril’s children have it. We could talk about 1 in 133, over 300 symptoms, 83% population have it and don’t know it, ask as a preventative and get tested, I have Celiac Disease, do you? Please ask for a Celiac test panel to be done. Maybe it could be done during Celiac Awareness Week/NFCA? Again, thank you for all you do. I was diagnosed in Feb.2014 at age 57, even though I had talked to 3-4 different doctors for years telling them that I thought I had a wheat sensitivity. Finally, my new primary doctor said he’d do the test, but just told me to go off wheat, rye and barley. Nothing said about an endoscopy. Went in May to a GI and he said it was too late to have it done unless I went back on wheat for awhile. No Way! I have fibromyalgia, osteoporosis, arthritis, allergies to foods, etc.. Every day I’m in pain/numbness somewhere in my body, but so thankful I know why now. Looking forward to better health for all of us. <3
I have all the same “symptoms” as you do, but mine are starting to clear as I get healthier and healthier with the more knowledge I obtain, from sites like this one, not from doctors, sad to say. Thanks to this site, I got tested for the MTHFR defective gene and lo and behold … I have it! I am now working on getting my B vitamin levels into the normal ranges with proper supplements. I have thought the exact same thing about public service announcements. They do it all the time for diabetes, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s. It could help children so much with the bullying that many receive, and the problems we have all encountered while eating out or traveling, not to mention the saving of lives the information might achieve. A common disease which affects approximately 2 million people in the United States alone (in comparison, Parkinsons’ affects about 1.5 million, and Multiple Sclerosis affects about 2.5 million worldwide) should absolutely be a disease that most of the population knows about. For doctors to be so misinformed and ignorant about the disease is a travesty, in my opinion. I was not diagnosed until I was nearly 50 years old, after literally a lifetime of symptoms and all the wrong diagnosis and treatments. Treatments that actually were contributing to the disease process. Doctors infamously told me to “eat more whole wheat bread”. Good grief. They were killing me. And I have a lot of damage in my body, that may or not completely heal. Been working on getting things healed up for almost 15 years, and still learning how easy it is for us to get gluten, even when we are being so extremely careful. So, I just wanted to second the idea of a public service type announcement, or awareness commercials, about this disease. If anyone knows how such a thing could be done, I sure hope it happens. This disease is a killer if not detected and the diet not followed. People need to know the truth.
Have you heard about “The Celiac Project”? They had a Kickstarter campaign last year and the film will hopefully be out in the spring. It looks like a big part of the film will be stories from real people about their own personal journeys – not something based on “science”. I am anxious for its release and am hopeful that it will be an eye opener. Also, perhaps will provide some “aha” moments for a lot of people.
Jennifer,
Thank you for your continuous support and guidance. I’m 24 years old and I was diagnosed with celiac last July. I feel that ever since my diagnosis I have been waiting for the day I can say I feel healthy. 7 months into this disease I am still struggling. Praying that your recipes and tips will restore my hope that I will feel healthy again.
<3 inspirational