Posts
Are Celiac Disease, Autoimmmune Disorders & Trauma Related?
Trauma comes in many forms: it can be ongoing abuse that we experienced as a child, it can be a single horrible incident like an accident or a disaster, it can be a surgery, and so on. There’s even a thing called trans-generational trauma, in which we kind of ‘inherit’ the unresolved issues of our ancestors.
Celiacs: Want to travel but worry about finding safe food?
As a celiac, I find it frightening to go on trips. Will I be able to find safe food? Will I have to go hungry? Will I get ‘glutened’ and have to deal with the illness away from the comfort and privacy of home?
Getting ‘Glutened’ is Going to Happen
Years ago, when I was first diagnosed with celiac disease and was making a lot of mistakes with the gluten-free diet, I used to hide my digestive distress from everyone at work. The work scene, I thought, required me to be perfect. Being sick wasn’t perfect!
What to Do When Being Gluten Free Feels Unfair
One thing that comes up for me over and over as a celiac is the feeling that I shouldn’t have to spend so much time and energy finding something safe to eat. Everyone else just reaches out, grabs something to eat, and carries on with their fast-paced lifestyle. Why can’t I do the same? It’s not fair. I have to search and search while everyone else gets ahead of me and I’m left behind, hungry and cranky and feeling like the victim of an injustice.
Having a Child with Celiac Disease Can Be Difficult for Parents
As parents, we don’t want our children to have a disease … we feel our children’s pain, we want everything to be perfect for them, we fear for their wellbeing. Our celiac kids can sense when their parents are upset about their disease, and they feel bad about it.
How to Find Gratitude in Difficult Celiac Situations
It’s easy to see what not to like about being a celiac – I don’t like packing all my own food in case the available food is cross-contaminated, I don’t like eating a can of cold soup while everyone else is lining up for a buffet that I paid for too, I don’t like going hungry while everyone else is eating pizza, I don’t like saying no to food that people offer me, I don’t like worrying that something delicious I’m eating at a restaurant is possibly poisoning me with each bite, I don’t like facing weeks of debilitating digestive issues after a mistake, and so on.
Self-Care for Celiacs: It’s not Selfish – It’s Necessary
- Imagine yourself as a wheel, rolling along through life. Now that you’re in Celiac Territory, you will encounter all kinds of hazards that can give you a flat!
Ask the Celiac Dietitian – Selena De Vries, RD
I’m a celiac – should I be taking supplements?
Read more →
Simple Tricks to Help Us Cope with Celiac Disease
- It’s natural to experience anger, resentment, sadness, desperation, frustration, fear and exasperation as we adjust to to the gluten-free diet.
Celiac Disease – Crash Course in Adapting to Change
- Betty always spends two weeks at the home of her aging parents in the summer. Now that Betty has celiac disease, she suffers anxiety, hunger, sadness, and resentment on these holidays because her parents can’t/won’t make their home safe for her.
Ask the Celiac Dietitian – Selena De Vries, RD
“It’s been two years since I went gluten free but my energy levels are decreasing even though all my lab results are within normal.”
Read more →
Celiac Counsellor’s Corner – The Gift of Limitations
- When your parents or in-laws are gluten-clueless and unwilling/unable to learn, staying with them may no longer be an option. How can you deal with this limitation that celiac disease has introduced into your life?
How to Be Assertive About Your GF Dietary Needs
- Celiacs often face upsetting social situations around food. We fear that being assertive about our needs will seem rude, and we don’t want to offend anyone or wreck anyone’s fun.
Ask the Celiac Dietitian – Selena De Vries, RD
- “I remember the day as if it were yesterday. It was the day where someone else (besides my partner) attempted to cook gluten free for me.”
Has Celiac Disease Made You a Better Person?
- Celiac disease can help us become less prejudiced against people and situations in the world around us.
Celiac Counsellor’s Corner – Sherry Scheideman, RCC
- Want to get off the cycle of pain? The physical pain of celiac disease makes us angry, desperate, frustrated, and afraid. This emotional pain makes the physical pain worse. We’re already dealing with cramps or mouth sores or whatever it is, and then we add the extra suffering of anger or sadness or fear on top of it — putting us in a cycle of increasing pain. Here’s how to get off that cycle of increasing pain.
Ask the Celiac Dietitian – Selena De Vries, RD
- QUESTION: My 5yr old son has Celiac disease. He was diagnosed about 8mths ago, to make it easier we have made our house gluten free but the thing I am struggling with the most right now is school lunches. When we took away the gluten we took away most of his favourite foods and now lunches are becoming boring, any suggestions?
- See Selena’s response below!
Celiac Counsellor’s Corner – Sherry Scheideman, RCC
- Celiac Pain: Celiac disease presents each of us with our own unique set of pains to deal with – pain such as sores in the mouth, abdominal cramps, bloating, headaches, nausea, and so on. Normally, we wish this pain would go away. We tense up against it, wishing it weren’t there. We get frustrated, angry, and resentful that the pain is in our life. We feel like a victim, like it’s not fair, like our life is being ruined. We fear that the pain is a sign that something even worse is happening with our health. We hate the pain!
Celiac Counsellor’s Corner – Sherry Scheideman, RCC
- COMMENT: I’ve always been a very anxious person, and now that I’ve been diagnosed with celiac disease, I’m wondering if the celiac disease has something to do with it.
Celiac Counsellor’s Corner – Sherry Scheideman, RCC
- ISSUE: My travel companions pressure me to make quick decisions and take risks when I need a snack from a convenience store. I feel hurt and disrespected.
Celiac Counsellor’s Corner – Sherry Scheideman, RCC
- To the celiac who sometimes can’t stand herself because she gets so irritable when her pain and other symptoms worsen and she finds that she is not the positive person she used to be
Celiac Counsellor’s Corner – Sherry Scheideman RCC
- My 9 yr old was diagnosed end of June, and all our meals became gluten free, and snacks etc. separate toasters, butter and the like. I felt bad when the few times we ate out, my boy had few choices from the menu, so I decided to join him so he wasn’t alone, and have been completely gluten free since Sept. 1st. I wouldn’t dare think of eating wheat period. I made a commitment to support him, and I will never look back. He keeps things inside but has transitioned well, checking labels and avoiding things with gluten, and avoiding foods even when he wasn’t sure. But I know he wishes he wasn’t celiac … Marianne
Celiac Counsellor’s Corner
- My daughter’s biopsy results come back in a couple of weeks to confirm Celiac, but I’m already stressed as to how to feed her, especially the worry of cross contamination. I’m also worried about how she will handle it. I’m hoping going gluten free will help, and not overwhelm her more than she already is.
Gluten-Free News
Cedar Sky Foods | Delicious Gluten-Free Meals DeliveredSeptember 19, 2017 - 9:18 am
Spend $50 Online – Get a $20 Gift Certificate to Rawthentic EaterySeptember 14, 2017 - 11:00 am
2017 Vancouver Island UPDATED Safe French Fries List!September 12, 2017 - 7:20 am
Start the Car! Sante Gluten-Free Cafe is Serving Pancakes!September 8, 2017 - 3:58 pm
Thrifty Foods Picks Cloud 9 Gluten-Free Mixes FirstSeptember 8, 2017 - 3:36 pm
Upcoming Events
Sep
19
Tue
all-day
Kids Under 8 Eat Free
@ Pirate Chips Nanaimo
Kids Under 8 Eat Free
@ Pirate Chips Nanaimo
Sep 19 all-day
TUESDAYS – KIDS UNDER 8 EAT FREE!* EVERY TUESDAY – KIDS UNDER 8 EAT FREE!* Pirate Chips doesn’t have just one, but TWO dedicated gluten-free fryers to serve their gluten-free and celiac customers! Not only that, Read More
11:30 am
Taco Revolution is Back
@ Red Arrow Brewing!
Taco Revolution is Back
@ Red Arrow Brewing!
Sep 19 @ 11:30 am – 6:00 pm
Taco Revolution will be parked outside Red Arrow Brewing for every Tuesday for their famous $3 tacos – instead of the regular $4. Handmade from scratch with ingredients sourced to be gluten free, Taco Revolution tacos are so good you will want Read More
2:00 pm
Paradise Found Food
@ Salt Spring Tuesday Farmer's Market
Paradise Found Food
@ Salt Spring Tuesday Farmer's Market
Sep 19 @ 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Join Paradise Found Foods’ Founder, Nomi Davis, for an in-person tastings at Salt Spring Island Tuesday Farmer’s Market – except when raining! Find fresh produce, fresh cut flowers, plant starts, homemade food and snacks from local organic Read More
Sep
20
Wed
all-day
All You Can Eat Fish & Chips
@ Pirate Chips
All You Can Eat Fish & Chips
@ Pirate Chips
Sep 20 all-day
WEDNESDAYS! ALL YOU CAN EAT FISH & CHIPS $15.95 Pirate Chips doesn’t have just one, but TWO dedicated gluten-free fryers to serve their gluten-free and celiac customers! Not only that, the Buckaneers have the buns to Read More
all-day
Dedicating September 20th to Cha...
@ Noodlebox Canada
Dedicating September 20th to Cha...
@ Noodlebox Canada
Sep 20 all-day
All locations of Noodlebox Canada will participate in a day of fundraising on Wednesday September 20th, with 50% of the day’s proceeds to be donated to support Canadian charities. While all 12 locations across BC Read More