I am not into baseball. However, to reach "perfect digestions" in the world of celiac disease, one must clear all four bases. Therefore, I will use the "first base" analogy to refer to: No Panic.
If you were recently diagnosed celiac, try not to panic. And it is hard not to become worried over and over about things like "the last pancake," or " I guess this is my last Belgian style beer."
Back in 2010, when I was "propelled" toward Celiacland, I did not have at the tip of my fingers nearly as much information as we have today about celiac disease. As such, it took me months to completely overcome from 'what-comes-next' type panic (aka. Reach First Base).
My first laboratory tip towards reaching First Base is to help you tell the difference between celiac disease and celiac intolerance.
- If you are celiac, your upper intestinal wall (duodenum) will, overtime, become more and more irritated, and this can lead to major issues, to include cancer. Your body simply cannot process gluten in the stomach. Heartburn, acid reflux, gastritis develop overtime due to this. When the unprocessed gluten particles (stemming from wheat, barley and others) reach the doudenum area, an auto-inmune response consisting anti-body agents is released. This requires energy, which is why most undiagnosed celiacs easily become tired and irritable. The end result is progressive damage to the duodenal wall.
- Gluten intolerance has similar stomach symptoms to those developed by celiacs, but the duodenum is not affected. Enzymes can help this group of gluten intolerants, and some are available over the counter to help process gluten particles.
Both groups, celiacs and intolerants, certainly can benefit from more and more processed and raw products available at your local grocery store today.
So now a "baseball full of gluten" is ready to be pitched to you. Yes, but, what is the proper way of batting it? My answer to you is: unless you are 98% sure that you can fully swing your arms to hit such a ball with confidence, do no move. You don't want to incur a strike on your baseball card. Strike here is what I will call 'cross-contamination'. If you succeed, first base will safely be within your reach before you know it.
Awareness is key. I will cover cross-contamination in depth in the following (Second Base) chapter of this essay.
But before we get there, you must know that your celiac journey is a one way trip. As you probably heard or read out there, the only safe treatment (I did not say cure) to celiac disease is following a strict gluten free diet. I will add that, once you are diagnosed and you 'convert' to a gluten free life, there is no return to your initial, let's call it, "gluten filled" status. Why? As your body heals, it becomes more sensitive to the least amount of harmful gluten. However, your one way ticket will reap countless health benefits which you will cherish daily.
Buckle up and follow me in this journey.
