Hey guys!
How are you dolls? ♥
Today I wanted to talk about living life gluten free. Last summer, I was diagnosed with celiac disease, which is an autoimmune disease where your body can't tolerate certain crops, mainly wheat, barley and rye. Also some can get symptoms from oats, especially if it isn't clean enough from remains of other crops. The reason I got diagnosed was that I had been suffering from a bad stress and heart problems, and while my doctor wanted to check my thyroid values, I figured it would be wise to do the celiac test too as we have that in our family.
When I finally got the results, it was obvious that both my thyroid values and celiac antibody were all wrong. So I had to get a medication and start a new diet. Well, I had hoped for a fresh start to my school since the stress peak, but I hadn't exactly hoped for that. The good news were that my anxiety wasn't as bad as I had thought, my stress was actually tolerable and my heart is totally healthy.
But then the reality was that I had to learn to eat all differently. I know it's such a small thing for being healthy - and that many even do that for fun or to feel better even though they don't need gluten free diet - but it still has been a little challenge. I have had to give up some snacks and foods I used to love, but I will get used to that. For a girl that has never followed a diet in her life (except for a treat free month once when I was a teen), this is a challenge. Truly. Even though I now have to be so much more careful and even picky about what I eat, this hasn't been too overwhelming.
Sure, I have actually grieved some foods that I can't now eat (Kinder Bueno bars, I will love you dearly, but I can't be with you anymore. It's not you, it's me.), and literally cried over them. First world problems, I know. But that has allowed me to move on with my new lifestyle, which is gluten free. Luckily, the products are mostly very delicious - or thank God I love all the food, either way - so that the change hasn't been too though. I never thought I would write about diet in my life, but since t least in Finland the gluten free way seems to be very popular topic, I figured I should write something abou my own experiences.
What I think is good about this is that at least this disease doesn't require any other medicine than food. And when I try to make more and more myself, I can also be sure that what I put in my mouth is actually healthy as well. Making gluten free food is mostly very easy, the hard stuff is actually only in the baking - and I've seen people making quite the master pieces, so I'm not even worried about that. This year, I'm hoping to learn to make proper oat bread, and to bake few different sweet pastries. If I can accomplish that, everything else is just an added bonus.
So how do I feel about my new diet?
Good.
I haven't felt this great in a while, I have more energy, I don't constantly feel ill, I don't get bloated. And that is with six months of eating right. The next six months, I will be adding pure water and fresh veggies in the mix more than before, so that should be fun as well. Even though my diet sometimes feels like trouble for me and others, I still know it's the best thing for me and my body.
And that, I wouldn't change.
Do you have any thoughts or questions about gluten free diet, or would you maybe like to see recipes that go for this diet? Let me know so in the comments below ♥
