Zero Tolerance for Gluten!

Please understand if I don't eat something when I'm visiting with you it isn't meant as an insult. I can't go ahead and try something just because it doesn't have any obvious gluten ingredients, or even if it says gluten free but ends up surrounded by/prepared with foods containing gluten. Please please please understand I have Celiac Disease (CD), I will have it the rest of my life, and yes even a tiny bit will make me sick. 

You might be thinking, "so you'll have a tummy ache or some gas or diarrhea, we all have that from time to time." Please try to understand that for me, and the many others with Celiac Disease, ingesting even the tiniest bit of gluten begins a war inside my body, sending signals of attack to the critical villi inside the intestines. Often gluten intake, for me, results in fiery pain throughout my entire body--every joint, every muscle, every inch of my body from head to toe, inside and out. Sometimes the attack takes place in my nervous system, triggering anything from panic attacks to exhaustion to a general "brain fog". This is why CD is considered an autoimmune disorder. A basic autoimmune disorder definition from NIH.gov:

...problems with your immune system cause it to mistake your body’s own healthy cells as invaders and then repeatedly attacks them. This is called an autoimmune disease. (“Autoimmune” means immunity against the self.) 

Celiac Disease can make me feel like a hypochondriac; the main reason I might feel that way is because society just can't seem to accept that Celiac Disease is real. The masses of people going to restaurants asking for gluten free foods and adding "can you just bring me one roll instead of the whole basket, because I'm limiting the amount of gluten in my diet" are just that, they are on a diet. Unfortunately with so many people doing this, too many take that as the attitude in general of anyone that says they can't have gluten. While yes, I've made the choice to eliminate gluten from what I eat I must eliminate gluten entirely from my what I eat to regain and maintain my health. 

If you have questions, ASK ME! I'm learning as I go because it just isn't as simple as "no wheat". One of my favorite bloggers Gluten Dude has this entry that helps to express some of the frustration when given the CD diagnosis Here's a short excerpt: 

...Who cares if this 21 year old has joint pain? It’s just inflammation, take it easy, take some more pills, and it will go away. I got labelled a hypochondriac. I was making it up.
Then, about 3 months ago, it was as if my body just gave up. I had no energy to do anything. I was anxious all the time, and I was hospitalized for severe inflammation in my chest that had me on bed rest for 2 weeks. Then I started getting ‘actually’ sick. In a way that counts, I guess. Up at 3 am, going to the bathroom every 20 minutes. Getting incredibly nauseous after eating. I lost a lot of weight in a very short time period. ... I was told I have Celiac. That I can’t have gluten. That I probably inherited it. [Read the entire entry HERE]

Here's a pinterest graphic that caught my attention this morning. Remember, if you have questions just ask. To get to the original graphic, click HERE and/or to read the original Gluten Dude entry that inspired the graphic, click Gluten Dude: Here is Why I Eat Gluten Free