Having found out that you suffer from Celiac’s disease, you have two choices; view the disease as a life sentence or as a brave new world. At first it can be overwhelming. The title itself is tough. Celiac disease, like you’ve just become a leper from Stephen Donaldson’s novel, Lord Foul’s Bane, and you will no longer be viewed as “normal”. I doubt people will start to pay your bills for you, to avoid having you come into their part of town, but people will start to treat you differently depending on how you manage the disease.

As much as you will have to be hyper aware of the words, gluten free, wheat, rye, oats and barley free. It’s possibly a better idea not to mention these too early on in your initial diagnosis as this will be sure to get you those looks you are trying to avoid.

So what is celiac disease or gluten intolerance and how will it affect your life?

Celiac disease is the inablity of the body to convert proteins found in foods that contain wheat, barley, rye and oats. However, the consensus is still out on whether oats is actually a problem or not. Most Celiacs choose to leave oats out of their diets and Celiac societies tend to recommend leaving oats out too. If you do this you can substitute porridge made from oats with rice cereal instead.

The four common ingredients; wheat, barley, rye and oats are found in most foods, except fresh fruit, vegetables and milk products which are usually free from added ingredients and that’s where things start to get tricky.

Companies modify milk, butter, margarine, dairy and many other products. The modifications are done to make the food more attractive to the consumers and not often for an improvement to our diets. By modifying food items they often add gluten into naturally free from gluten products. Silly isn’t it? And, that’s where the Celiacs life gets complicated. Try reading the ingredients on every packet, of every item, every time you go shopping and you will start to understand what a Celiac must go through.

Once you start to understand what products are gluten free and those that are not, the task of deciding what to eat becomes a lot easier. If you have the opportunity to spend some time with a dietician then do so. They are trained to deal with gluten intolerance and can design a diet that will take in all the necessary food groups and help you to obtain the vitamins and minerals you need to once again live a healthy, stress free life.

Gluten intolerance or Celiacs disease is not a life sentence and the more you dig for information, the more you will find that there are many support groups out there to help you get back to a normal life. Once you start eating a gluten free diet the feeling of wellness itself will give you the energy to cope with the changes in your lifestyle that will have to be made.

Here is a link to the Celias Society in Australia to help get you started http://www.coeliacsociety.com.au/