Happy because they're stuffed with gluten
There’s this thing about celiac disease in that it can run all over your family. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to even know if my kids might have inherited the dreaded sprue, so after flip-flopping on whether I should even have my little ones tested for celiac, we finally did it. A trip to the blood lab, a brutal stick, lots of screaming, and bruises that are still visible in their elbow pits and we found out those guys can eat bread like they’re part-French. Which they are. So . . . good!
I admit, I was sweating it out for a bit. I thought my daughter’s brush with anemia and my son’s insatiable thirst might point to celiac. I also thought my five-year-old’s crankiness when we turn off “Team Umizoomi” and my two-year-old’s refusal to poop until he was already in bed might be indicators of some kind of odd disease. Not to mention the constant demand for cheese sticks and superhero dress up time — on both their parts. Surely these were all signs of a gluten intolerance, or a general annoyance. To me.
But thankfully they’re all clear on the gluten front and can enjoy kid birthday parties with abandon. Unlike the nut kid, poor guy. Although I have to admit, I thought maybe removing gluten from their diet might bring about some change-up in here.
So I won’t be able to blame the gluten for that screaming-in-grocery-stores problem, or try going gluten-free as a magic bullet in potty training. Okay, that’s cool. No, really. I’m beyond relieved that my kids won’t have to deal with this particular problem. But truthfully, if gluten-free is already all up in everyone’s grocery stores and pizza joints, by the time they hit college they’d probably have a zillion gluten-free beer and pizza options. And let’s face it, college with celiac is my biggest worry for these kids. And dating, and that whole increased possibility of disease thing as well. Right. So, whoo-hooo!
All right kids, you’re dodging that genetic bullet. Let’s hope you can also avoid the flat feet (dad), slight narcolepsy (mom), and general laziness (mom and dad) that runs in your blood. Good luck with that, and enjoy the breadsticks.
Gluten is my Bitch 
Awesome! That’s wonderful. I was scheduled to get my kid tested this week but she woke up with a nasty cold that is still hanging around.
Flu can contribute to celiac disease – viral infections can be stressful on the body. One strategy that I think may be noting is prevention of viral infections is a good step in preventing autoimmune diseases. It’s already been shown to contribute to type 1 diabetes, so I guess celiac (being so related – i.e. autoimmune) could become an issue for some after this…
Good luck with that, Jen. The blood taking part was the most traumatic. Ouch.
Yeah, not looking forward to it. She is 18 months old, so I’ll have to hold her down. Break my heart, why don’t ya? Her pediatrician doesn’t even want me to get her tested. He said, “well, what would you even do with that information at this age? Take her off gluten?” Um, yes, you crazy HMO bastard.
OMG, he said that??? Jeez. Well, if you need any reason to put it off I just read that getting tested under age 2 can be inaccurate. So maybe buy yourself some time??? But it does suck, no matter what age.
Oh congratulations! That’s always such a relief – the screaming is definitely the worst part. Just kills you, ’cause you know they’re just scared to pieces! 😦 My son actually held on to a chair in the waiting room and we got to pull him across the room, with it dragging behind him. It was like a bad comedy routine, I swear.
Way to be smart and do the gene test, too! We just did the blood tests and with my son testing negative with that, we were going to have to do the whole retesting every 5 years routine for him. That just sucks, thinking of doing that for the rest of your life, yeah? He ended up having trouble with gluten when we went GF, though, so now he’s GF anyway, poor kid. Maybe we’ll save up for a gene test some day, too. Just seems like a good plan.
Thanks for sharing this. Glad to hear they’re doing alright with it. And you may soon be ok with it too (keep reading below)…
I recently gave in at a wedding to the posh-looking chocolate cake. It had a majestic texture and was consistent throughout and nice to eat. Not to mention the fact that nearly 4 hours afterwards I was thinking I would need the hospital and could hardly walk due to severe joint pain. Sick for 2 weeks afterward (I’m coeliac)
I found a mix from sun flour mills that I plan to order and try soon – their award winning chocolate cake mix. They’re based in Idaho in the USA and the product won first prize in two independent competitions.
The Almost Bourdain blog recently featured a flourless chinese five spice cake recipe which really looked perfect in terms of texture – extremely cake for being flourless and looked fairly easy to make – just need to find the time…
Meanwhile, on the other hand, I recently found a potential cure for those with gluten intolerance and celiac disease – Dr. Wise’s Gluten Relief – I blogged about it at http://wp.me/p1244N-6k
Thomas Keller also has a new gluten-free flour out that I’m itching to try. I’ll definitely post about it here. And I saw this Dr. Wise thing, but it seems like it’s more for gluten intolerance than celiac. I’m a fan of alt medicine when it comes to allergies and degrees of illness, for sure. I’m just thinking celiac is a tougher nut to crack. I do love the fact that people are working on something, anything.
Most of the people involved in the study were actuarially diagnosed celiacs. I was in doubt as well, but the study reports seem really promising. Jason@JLHealth is really knowledgeable and is happy to answer your questions.
Hopefully once I leave uni, I might be able to try some of these flour mixes on my favourite old recipes and see how they compare in the final results. Should be fun. I’d love to try Thomas Keller’s GF flour and see how it goes – pity I’m all the way over in Oz.
I’ve heard that The Pure Pantry’s chocolate cake mix is really good too!
Haven’t tried it though 😕
So, so happy happy that the peanuts are celiac-free.
Thanks Cary! Being such a big fans of bagels, they are too.
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