About a year ago, I was diagnosed with Celiac disease, an auto immune disorder. For the uninitiated, gluten is the protein strain found in wheat, rye and barley. It gives bread, baked goods, and pasta its elasticity and structure.
When a Celiac eats any gluten or wheat, it interrupts the absorption of nutrients from their food, and damages the small intestine. It's estimated that 1 percent of the American population has Celiac disease, and awareness is on the rise.
So, when Andy Tarnoff asked me how I managed to be a foodie with Celiac disease, I knew my answer instantly. Wheat, rye and barley are out, but EVERYTHING else is in.
Naturally, I grieved the loss when I was diagnosed with my intolerance. Now, it's just a part of life. I read the labels of everything I consume and if I can't read a label or ask questions about my food, I don't eat it. Sauces and gravies at my house are now thickened with everything from agar agar to zanthan gum and I have at least six different types of flour in my pantry as I've experimented with finding the ones I like best. The growing abundance of alternatives for Celiacs are becoming easier to find by the day, like my favorite Nature's Divine Chocolate Brownies that I eat almost ceremoniously.
It becomes hardest when surrounded by people who are oohing and ahhing about a tasty goodie I won't be able to try. My husband and my friends quickly backpedal, letting me know that I'm not missing much, but I know they're lying. I can usually tell by the copious amounts of saliva they are wiping off their chins. Still, the foodie in me enjoys watching them devour their treats.
However, there are times when my allergies have been a total plus, for instance, at the wedding where my "special meal" was of much better quality that that of rest of the table. After trying the various wheat-free pastas available in stores, my guy decided to try his hand at making gluten free pasta from scratch. The results were so stellar that pasta night at my house now means fresh, homemade noodles -- a heavenly treat.
Habitual label reading has also been a good habit to pick up. I pay much more attention to the portion sizes, grams of fiber and sugar, and sodium content as a by-product of checking out the ingredients.
Best of all, it has opened my already diverse diet to even more interesting foods and flavors. I'll have my B.L.T. on bread made with rice flour and remind myself the list of things I can eat will always be longer than the list of things I can't.
