Question by Lizabeth King: Going to go gluten free soon, what should I eat before I can never eat it again?
I just got diagnosed with celiac disease and my parents are pushing me to not go onto a gluten-free diet until i get some biopsy done on my small intestines. I was wondering what kind of things should i eat during this time that I’m able to eat gluten.
Best answer:
Answer by Shauna
I’d think of all your favorite recipes that involve gluten, especially desserts. Cakes, pies, cookies, croissants, dinner rolls, baklava, cream cheese won tons, puff pastries, and so on. And right now, girl scout cookies, if you like them and can still get them.
These will never taste quite the same, even with substitutes, and sometimes you just can’t get a substitute.
Next, any favorite restaurants that you go to, I’d see if you can try one last time. You won’t be able to eat most of their food after this, so enjoy it now. 🙂
That said, if your biopsy comes back negative, I’d really urge you and your parents to investigate more. Some recent research is showing that those with positive blood work but negative biopsies may still have problems with gluten, but unless a GI doctor is an expert, they may not be aware of this. It’s worth exploring as a family.
Also, since you had a positive blood test, here is more information you want to explore with your folks: experts recommend that relatives of a diagnosed celiac get tested, too, EVEN IF they have no symptoms. Your family is now known to be in a much higher risk category to have this disease, and sometimes it can be active and doing damage for years without showing symptoms. And if they test negative, they should get retested every few years.
Here’s a forum discussion on some of the statistics and some of the recommendations re: this:
http://www.celiac.com/gluten-free/topic/43454-should-my-whole-family-get-tested/
Many doctors who aren’t experts specifically in celiac disease don’t seem to be aware of this recommendation, because they aren’t giving it to their newly diagnosed celiac patients. And then the result is like my own family, where we had one diagnosis and then 8 years passed before everyone else got diagnosed (every person in three generations except for one was positive). And everyone got really sick before they finally got diagnosed.
So definitely look up information on this and share it with your folks! 🙂
Good luck. The diet is going to feel overwhelming at first, but you get used to it and it’s not so bad after that point.
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I have celiac disease and I’m a little bit confused as to your logic here. When you have celiac disease you have a gluten intolerance. It’s an autoimmune disease meaning your body begins to attack itself when you eat gluten. Now, so your parents are saying it’s okay to eat gluten even though it means destroying your digestive system…?