Introduction

May 26th will be 4 years that I've gone gluten free & I have learned quite a bit in that amount of time. Having an online record of all the research that I have done & will do along with new recipes, ideas & products is very helpful for myself & other celiacs. I am hoping to post as much of that as possible. For new celiacs, going gluten free can be overwhelming. I know it was for me. I have found that some of the information on the internet is a bit deceptive, especially the labeling of products. I happen to be one of those very sensitive celiacs that can only purchase things from dedicated gluten free facilities. In my research I have found that many products labeled gluten free are processed on shared lines, tested for gluten & allowed to contain 20 ppm. I would think that consuming enough products like that would add up & cause health problems for any celiac. To me that just doesn't make sense. The label "Gluten Free" should mean none, nada, zilch, zero gluten!! I hear people talk about being able to eat some gluten or products made on shared equipment without any problems. Nothing may be obvious, but you cannot be sure of whats going on inside of you without medical testing. For a celiac, eating gluten = eating poison. When I went gluten free almost 4 years ago, my whole family went gluten free. My son has reactions to gluten similar to the way I do except he has behavioral issues too. I guess I should say we both do~ I know I'm not pleasant to be around when I've eaten something 'contaminated' but his reactions were quite severe at times. My husband also eats gluten free foods for the most part. It seems to help alleviate his arthritis pain that he has had for years. I know that he has his stash of gluten chips & snacks out in his garage but I cant blame him. I do keep inside of the house & my vehicle gluten free though. Its not worth taking chances getting sick. Going gluten free has made us look at life differently. No longer do we get to buy food & eat it without researching ingredients. Now we cook most of our own food from scratch. We try to eat simply & healthy. Every label of every product is scrutinized. We try to call every company to verify that it is safe. Even products like dish soap, tooth paste, & shampoo have to be checked. All of my son's art supplies must be checked too. When we run errands & are gone at meal times we bring our own food in a cooler. It gets old, but I don't really have any options especially on a squeaky tight budget. Being a celiac is a lot of work, but not being sick is great.