Things that I'm learning from "Celiac Disease for Dummies" and the WWW

One questions that I had was, why, when people have been harvesting wheat since the beginning of time, is it so bad for our bodies??  You would think that such and ancient food MUST be good for us.

Answer (taken from Celiac Disease for Dummies):

Through generations of cultivation of grains by cross-breeding, agriculture has selected for wheat strains with a higher gluten content compared to ancient grains.

Here is a chart that I stole from the book that I thought was really interesting.  I've been doubting the idea of celiac's now and then thinking it is possibly just an intolerance...but this makes it much more clear.

Something I picked up off the world wide web...10% of siblings of a person with Celiac's disease have it themselves, and 54% of those siblings have no symptoms or nontypical symptoms.

Celiac's Disease for Dummies shows another symptom is reflux...something poor Em has been suffering from since she was a tiny infant.

Mood, thinking, and neurological issues - Ataxia, Epilepsy, Migraine headaches, peripheral neuropathy, ADHD, Autism, Depression, and other psychiatric disorders.

Another thing I learned...when searching if there is a link between sunken dark eyes and celiac's, there is indeed, usually caused by anemia from malabsorption.  Time to get Em's iron checked!

Vitamins that those with Celiac's need to supplement - Vit A, Vit B9, Vit B12, Vit D, Vit E, and Vit K

Minerals - Calcium and Iron

Psoriasis and Eczema can both be related to Celiac's disease, both of which Em has been suffering from.  Thanks to Head and Shoulders for helping that out.

Foods to avoid because they have gluten containing ingredients -

• Barley malt, malt extract, malt syrup, and malt vinegar
• Soy sauce manufactured from wheat (they make gluten free soy sauce)
• Modified food starch derived from wheat (corn, rice, potato, or tapioca is safe)
• Brewer's Yeast (sorry beer drinkers!! there is gluten free beer available now though!)
• Products that do not specify their content

Dont forget...there's an app for that.  Digging through "gluten free" apps, I found several that list restaurants and their gluten free foods.

Communion wafers and lipstick are apparently out...and no more licking postage stamps (people still lick those when there is self adhesive??) and envelopes!

Okay, done reading today...tomorrow I'll explore the second half of the book!