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Audrie Goffinet

Angela Pedrotti

ENG-1201

04 August 2019

Celiac Disease

Celiac Disease is when the villi are damaged which makes it nearly impossible for the

body to absorb nutrients into the bloodstream, leading to malnourishment and a host of other

problems including some cancers, thyroid disease, osteoporosis, infertility and the onset of other

autoimmune diseases. (Celiac Disease Symptoms, Testing & Diet). Celiac Disease is not a well-

known disease because only 1% of the population in the United States has it. (Galperin). Most

Celiac patients are misdiagnosed because there are so many symptoms you can have.

“Celiac disease in adults can oftentimes be a difficult thing to diagnose because

the symptoms are vague and nonspecific, patients can go on for months, even years, with

symptoms before their disease is finally diagnosed.” said Paul Jennewine, MD, an

internal medicine doctor with Middletown Medical Group. (Health).

Many, celiac patients go on a gluten free diet, taking out wheat, soy, and other foods from their

diet to keep them from getting sick.

My mother’s side of the family has thyroid issues which it is genetic, so most likely I

have thyroid issues also. My mother was put on a gluten free diet because the protein put into the
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wheat when it was made upset her stomach extremely bad. She has gone to many doctors to

figure out why she was having so many issues with her stomach and come to find out all she had

to do was go on a simple diet, taking gluten out of the diet. When my mother went on this diet,

we all pretty much went on this diet, because she did not want to have to make two separate

meals every time we wanted to eat. This disease/disorder has affected people close to me and

possible including me soon. If this does affect me, I will go through tons of doctor visits and

getting my blood drawn every three to six months.

This disease has affected many people around the world including my boyfriends’

mother, which is a second mother to me. I have seen how becoming gluten sensitive has affected

her life and my boyfriend’s life so much. She has gone through so much already in her life

including multiple cancer treatments which she beat, and now having celiac disease. She has

gone from doctor to doctor trying to figure out what was wrong with her, when she was younger,

she was diagnosed with IBS due to her symptoms from celiac disease were so bad. Finally, a few

years ago they diagnosed her with having celiac disease, telling her to cut gluten out of her diet

completely.

Now she lives life gluten-free but struggles going out to eat because many restaurants do

not have a gluten free menu or even know what that means. Going through more tests and two

sets of iron infusions, later she finds out that she will need years of medicine and testing done for

the rest of her life. These tests have helped her feel better so much already, just in the few short

years. I believe if restaurants had more options on their menu for celiac patients or even

restaurants were more careful with how their food was made, then more people with celiac

disease would go out to eat more and be able to enjoy family and friend time away from the

house.
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Most patients with Celiac Disease do not know they have the disease for years noticing

weird signs their body is trying to tell them something might be wrong. (Grace). Celiac Disease

is a genetic disorder that is passed down generation to generation, meaning if you have the

disease you want your children to get tested just in case. The most common sign you notice are

rashes and weird stomach issues. (“How Gluten Free Foods Are Made”). Some common signs

related to Celiac Disease is back pain, depression, mood swings, shoulder goosebumps, dental

problems, and iron deficiency. (“How Gluten Free Foods Are Made”). The stomach pain is the

most common because the gluten will upset your stomach when you digest it. When digesting

the gluten into your system you might feel nausea, meaning there will be intestinal issues. (“How

Gluten Free Foods Are Made”).

Goosebumps can pop up at different times, like the change of temperature or excitement

throughout your body. (“The University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center”). Having

goosebumps on your shoulder might be a sign of an autoimmune disorder, that is going

untreated. (“The University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center”). Some people have minor issues

with gluten in their food meaning they can eat some, just not a bunch of food. (“The University

of Chicago Celiac Disease Center”). Some people can live off taking medicine every day, my

mother sometimes must take it every day. It sucks taking a certain medicine everyday just so

your stomach is not always upset, but if it helps and you get to eat the amazing food you have

been missing out on, then it might be worth it.

Many people are immune to eating whatever types of foods they want. The most common

allergy you hear about is nut allergy, which I have seen very severe cases like my boyfriend, and

I have seen very mild cases like my best friend. Tree nut allergy lasts a lifetime, less than ten

percent of people with this have outgrown it. (Tree Nut Allergy). Having people around with an
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allergy gets very tricky because you never know what to fix for supper or you might forget

because it is extremely easy. My boyfriend does not pay attention to the food he eats half the

time, so if he ate something with nuts in it, a few minutes later he will start going into

anaphylaxis shock. Anaphylaxis shock is a serious and rapid onset reaction that can turn into a

fatal disaster in very little time. (Tree Nut Allergy). In case of a reaction like this he keeps his

EpiPen around most of the time, which most people with any type of allergy should.

Celiac Disease works a little different because the body attacks itself and not just the food

inside the body. Celiac Disease or Celiac Sprue is an immune reaction when any type of wheat,

barley, and rye is consumed. (Celiac Disease Symptoms, Testing & Diet). The food is not the

issue, it is the protein put inside the food that makes the body react the way it does. Celiac

patients do not consume gluten because it sets off a trigger in the body to attack against the small

intestine. (Celiac Disease Foundation). One of the websites listed below, it shows multiple

pictures of how a regular small intestine looks versus a small intestine from a celiac patient.

One of the biggest issues with Gluten free food is the cross contamination. They have

multiple websites out there to explain what restaurants and farms should do so they do not cross

contaminate the food. Oats are a huge food that people with celiac should be able to have but

they get sick when they eat it not knowing why. (CeliAct). The reason they get sick is because

the oats are grown alongside wheat which contaminates the oats that people with celiac disease

try to eat. (“How Gluten Free Foods Are Made”). These types of food, like oats should be grown
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separately and away from anything that could possible contaminate the food. There needs to be

more testing done to make sure the food they grow on farms are gluten free and are not

contaminated. The products need to meet all gluten-free food regulations set by the FDA. (“How

Gluten Free Foods Are Made”). Most the recipes and food found on the website “Three Bakers”

they are all tested and passed the FDA rules. (“How Gluten Free Foods Are Made”). They are

also grown a different way making sure there is no contamination that will happen.

Celiac Disease is becoming a huge deal and more people are finding out about it, making

more people realize that this might be the unknow disease they have. Many people are

misdiagnosed because it has so many symptoms the doctors never know what you have. “Hey,

you know what…celiac really sucks…here’s all the crap we have to deal with…let’s share our

stories…find some sanity…get healthy…and make the journey together.” (GlutenDude). Many

people really struggle to find different places to eat and even how to live a normal life. Living

with a disease like Celiac would have to be tough because there are all sorts of good food in The

United States.

Families that do not have to worry about gluten free or people with celiac disease do not

pay much attention to the signs and different restaurants around town that serve gluten free or

not. I know my boyfriend and I both can name all the places around where we live that are gluten

free because of our mothers. There are very few places that have gluten free and if they do, it

usually is not a lot. Most places around town are fast food, there are a few places that have sit

down diners that are very nice and inexpensive. So only having very few places around town that

have gluten free food, we only go to those very few places so everyone can sit down and enjoy

supper together as a family or with friends. Dinner is probably one of the most important things
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in our life because this is the place where we can come together friends or family as one and

share our life together while having a blast together.

We have our favorite places to eat where everyone can eat, a little Mexican restaurant.

Most of their food is not gluten free but we have become close to the owners, so they started

buying things like corn tortillas and corn tortilla chips for my mother and my boyfriends’ mother.

We go to this restaurant because they know to be extremely careful with their food, and no one

has ever gotten sick from here. Most gluten free food is more expensive than others, because

they are not mass produced making it harder on the food industries. Most food industries make

food in huge batches to get it out to the stores faster and to make more money, with gluten free

food they only make so many batches because the demand for it is not as much in the United

States.

Other countries around the world create their food differently by putting different

proteins in it to make their food gluten free. All Italian food places serve pasta which is what

they are know for, but overseas pasta is made a different way which does not affect gluten free

patients. Most people from Italy are not gluten sensitive because they do not use the same protein

as we do. They use a better protein and it is healthier for the human body, making their society

live longer and healthier lives. When going out to eat to Mexican restaurants or even eating real

Italian food at Casa, people with gluten sensitive can have the food because it is prepared a

different way than the fast food around town. My boyfriends’ mom has Casa every time we go

up to Fort Wayne, Indiana because it is so good, and it has gluten free food there.

I think restaurants should have more options because it would draw in more crowds

making their business grow. I say this because we go to restaurants all the time on vacation and

ask for the gluten free menu. Most waitress’ or waiters look at us like we are crazy because they
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have either never heard of gluten free or they do not have that type of menu. Most of us want to

eat there but my mother would not be able to, so she has learned to either bring her own food or

not eat there and eat elsewhere. The only issue with eating elsewhere is finding somewhere that

does have gluten free can be tricky, most restaurants do not have gluten sensitivity.

Celiac Disease is one of the main common issue’s restaurants are used to, because people

have so many issues when eating food with gluten in it. Restaurants have so many issues as is

between food inspections to rude customers and machines breaking. Most restaurants are used to

some issues like their normal maintenance issues they need help with and checked over, but

when you have people come to you asking for certain way’s food is made that is where it gets

harder. Restaurants must start cooking their food with gluten in a separate area versus the food

without gluten in it. Restaurants must prepare the food without gluten in it, a different way

because they do not want to contaminate the food with gluten.

There are no known medical treatments to cure celiac disease or make it manageable for

people who have it. (“Guide to Understanding Celiac Disease”). Overseas gluten free is not even

a thing they know about because their food is already gluten free with the different proteins put

in it from ours. Their food has a lot more nutrients in it due to the different proteins added to

their food. Food overseas are created differently because the protein added to their food is

different than the protein we add to the food in the United States. The food groups are a little

different also, because Italian people eat most Italian food not fast food like most Americans live

off. Fast food for Americans is a huge deal because our busy lifestyles. We need something that

is quick and easy to eat while doing another activity more important. This is the reason why

supper is so important to our family because we do have busy lives that are getting ready to go
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off in different directions and supper is a time for us to sit down, relax, and enjoy with each

other.

They worked with other hospitals to try to get down to the bottom of this mysterious

celiac disease. Since celiac disease can be deadly people with celiac have to learn to stay away

from food with wheat in it because there is no cure for it. Most readers do not know what celiac

disease is and how they are trying their best to fix the issues and get a cure for this disease.

Different doctors have tried to figure out how to take on celiac disease and how to treat it. The

only thing doctors know what to tell celiac patients is to take certain medicine to help you digest

it better or not eat it at all. My mother has a certain medicine that she takes every time she wants

to eat something with gluten in it but does not want to be sick.

There are multiple books written on this topic trying to help others going through the

same issues. One of the books out there is by GlutenDude telling people all about his life journey

and how he has struggled with his gluten free diet for years. The website that is listed in the

works cited is his own personal website/blog which it explains part of his book there also. If I do

end up having thyroid issues like my mother and start a gluten free diet, I will be buying his book

to help along my process also. Having family and friends with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity

does suck sometimes when we want to go out to eat at certain places, but we have learned to

adapt quick. My mother and my boyfriends’ mother have learned if they know they cannot eat at

a certain restaurant to bring their own food and eat with the rest of us, telling the restaurant

people they have allergy issues.

There are many myths out there on Gluten-Free Diets because no one really knows if

they are truly healthier for the human body or not. If a person that has a lot of gluten in their diet

already takes away gluten all together and does not replace that food with healthier food like fruit
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and vegetables, then no it may not be a healthier diet for them. (“The Gluten-Free Diet: Facts and

Myths”). Many believe people with gluten sensitivity can eat some bread and it will not hurt

them, but a few crumbs might upset one’s stomach. (“The Gluten-Free Diet: Facts and Myths”).

I think one of the coolest things about this whole paper and research topic is how the

community comes together to help others out when they are struggling as well. People know

others go through ups and downs and nobody is perfect, so I think this topic is wonderful for this

reason. People struggle with gluten sensitivity and celiac disease daily and just want to enjoy life

without an upset stomach the rest of their lives. My mother and my boyfriends’ mother would

like to go on vacation and be able to pick a restaurant that we have never been to and be able to

eat there, but most of the time we cannot just walk into a restaurant like that. Going on vacation

here recently we found that out the hard way, walking in and out of restaurants looking for

something they can halfway eat and not get sick off. We found many good-looking restaurants

throughout the town, but had to skip out on the good smelling food that wafted through the door

when we walked in. Finally, we settled on a restaurant that looked very run down and out of date

but had amazing barbeque pulled pork.

I believe many people are against gluten free diets because they might think they are fake

and sometimes people are over dramatic. I know at first this was my thoughts on it because I did

not think wheat, barley, and rye could affect a person’s dietary system so much. Now that I have

seen the difference it has made in my boyfriend’s mothers’ quality or life and my own mothers’

quality of life it has changed how I use to see gluten free diets. Now finding out a few months

later from the doctor that I will need to get blood tests done in order to see if I will be gluten

sensitive, is pretty scary and I am so glad I got the opportunity to research this topic and write

my essay on it.
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In conclusion, people with gluten sensitivity have stomach issues and eating problems

when they digest gluten into their system. I have learned so much throughout this writing

process, on the topic of gluten-free food and celiac disease. I have also learned how farms grow

certain food contaminating them, when you should grow them separately. Gluten-free food

should be grown in separate farms or something along those lines, because they do have a seal on

them stating they are gluten-free. This topic really fit well within my life because my family and

friends have these issues, and possible me soon depending on testing.

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Works Cited

“Celiac Disease Foundation.” Celiac Disease Foundation, celiac.org/.

“Celiac Disease Symptoms, Testing & Diet.” Beyond Celiac, www.beyondceliac.org/.

CeliAct, celiact.com/blogs/the-celiact-blog/97358406-the-celiac-project-a-documentary-about-

celiac-disease.

Galperin, Yasemin Derya, et al. “Comparison of Non-Invasive Tests in the Diagnosis of Celiac

Disease.” Journal of Clinical Laboratory Analysis, no. 3, 2019. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1002/jcla.22722.

GlutenDude, and Jennifer Esposito. From Crappy to Happy: The Naked Truth about Living with

Celiac Disease. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2017.

Grace Kelly Santos Amparo, et al. “The Celiac Disease Impact Towards The Adults’ Life

Quality.” Revista de Pesquisa: Cuidado e Fundamental, vol. 11, no. 3, July 2019, pp.

809–815. EBSCOhost, doi:10.9789/2175-5361.2019.v11i3.809-815.

“Guide to Understanding Celiac Disease.” HealthPrep, 27 Feb. 2019,

healthprep.com/conditions/guide-to-celiac-

disease/?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=328752041&utm_con

tent=1140194118840579&utm_term=celiac artery

dissection&msclkid=b7da282c42891f991d68753c6615a435.

Health, Premier. “Celiac Disease Symptoms Make Diagnosis Difficult.” Daytondailynews,

Daytondailynews.com, 26 May 2017, www.daytondailynews.com/lifestyles/celiac-

disease-symptoms-make-diagnosis-difficult/fAfl5Q2b4ztiPwsi9r9WkI/.

“How Gluten Free Foods Are Made.” Three Bakers, 2 Jan. 2018, threebakers.com/how-gluten-

free-foods-are-made-2/.
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“The Gluten-Free Diet: Facts and Myths.” The Gluten Intolerance Group of North America,

gluten.org/resources/getting-started/the-gluten-free-diet-facts-and-myths/.

“The University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center:” University of Chicago Celiac Disease

Center, www.cureceliacdisease.org/. 25 June 2019.

“Tree Nut Allergy.” ACAAI Public Website, 2 Nov. 2018, acaai.org/allergies/types/food-

allergies/types-food-allergy/tree-nut-allergy.

“Why Gluten Intolerance and Celiac Disease Is on the Rise.” NaturalNews,

www.naturalnews.com/047521_gluten_intolerance_celiac_disease_candida.html. 24 June

2019.