Celiac is not an allergy or a PREFERENCE

I, a twenty year-old college student, was diagnosed with Celiac Disease at two years-old. Celiac Disease is an autoimmune deficiency that attacks the small intestine. This reaction is triggered by the consumption of gluten, wheat, rye, oats, barley, and malt. Celiac is not a dominant nor recessive gene, it comes in clusters in families. There is only a 4-15% chance that a parent's offspring will develop this disease. Therefore, it has been recorded that only 1% of the population has Celiac Disease.
Now, you would think that life with Celiac is easy, "just avoid foods containing gluten" right? That is how it should be. Unfortunately, people hear "gluten free" and assume an allergy or a preference ... not many people are familiar with Celiac Disease. This brings me into the issue of cross contamination in the so called "gluten free" meals in restaurants and especially college campuses. (I go to UMass Amherst but we will get into that later) ..
While people are using gluten free diets to lose weight, they are belittling the seriousness of this disease and how it affects our bodies due to the lack of knowledge from other people. My body pays for their mistakes and carelessness. In this blog, I want to share my personal experience with celiac, information on how to live and help others with this disease, the do's and don'ts, recipes, and how to feel safe while dining out. Get ready to hear some name-dropping because that is what this blog is all about, it is the only way to stay healthy.

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