The bright side of life with celiac disease
Life can be difficult at times, however that doesn't compromise it's beauty.
Hello friend
I know you may have struggled at times to deal with celiac disease or any other food allergy you may have. No, I don’t mean physically or medically. I mean emotionally. Some level of grief is accompanied by learning that you have a disease. I am no expert, I can only talk from my own experience and others’ close to me.
As with any period of sadness, there is a process to reach a state of acceptance. The process varies for each of us, but the goal is to find a way forward. I’d be lying if I told you that my writing today is all there is to it. I’d be lying by claiming that all I will say today came before I accepted my diagnosis. So, if you or a loved one are struggling to live with celiac disease (or any other food allergies), let me assure you that life can be as beautiful as it was before.
In my own hands
I still remember a day soon after I was diagnosed. I had to tell some of my friends about my newly found constraint. Thankfully, the group was familiar with food restrictions as someone had nut allergies. We ordered a cake which was gluten-and-nut-free. At that gathering, someone asked me if I still eat out. I responded with a nod: yes. His response was: “How can you put your life in the hands of a chef?” I spontaneously responded: “How can any of us? Eh?”
Acknowledging that we all live in a world of constraints, even without celiac disease, is in itself quite relieving. It takes some load off your chest.
Many people in India are vegetarians for religious reasons. It is not unheard of for a vegetarian dish to accidentally have a piece of bone in a restaurant. That causes the customer to lose their mind as their Dharma is now Bhrasht (religious sentiments were hurt).
In a more modern context, we all know about fast food chains and everything they have done to streamline food production. Even in a fine dining restaurant, the amount of certain ingredients they use may be more than someone can tolerate, like chilli or MSG or baking soda.
Yes, not complying with constraints for me is more bothersome than others. But all of us have constraints. If you live in Canada, there have been food recalls due to the fear of salmonella outbreaks.[citation] Even for the people with high immunity, if consumed before the recall the situation could be morbid.
Of course, living the best life is in our own hands. I have reduced eating out, but I don’t forgo it completely because of the reasons discussed in previous posts.
Without the world of side effects
The mandatory medications, for certain medical conditions, come with a note of side effects written in multiple languages; for effect, I guess. But celiac disease has no prescribed medications (not yet, anyway). The only thing I have to do is avoid gluten, and I can live a healthy life.
Doctors prescribe medications if the side effects are the lesser evil as compared to the disease itself. With Celiac disease, there’s no scale to be balanced with drug dosage and side-effect proclivity. I see it as a huge relief. I don’t need to worry about the timings of my meds, missing some doses, losing muscle or gaining fat, or liver/kidney damage that comes with all the medications.
Becoming a better cook
This is more personal as I always had an inclination towards cooking. I love to cook for friends and family on my birthday or someone else’s birthday. Even before the diagnosis, I used to do that. You may not enjoy cooking at all, but it’s one of the skills to develop towards being healthy and independent. We all want to eat healthy, and cooking is the neglected side of health blogs.
I was aware that I needed to improve my vocabulary of recipes. I had never baked bread or made biryani, or chilli chicken, or daal makhani. These recipes were always “too time-consuming to cook at home”. But now, it has become a priority in my life. I prep my meals once a week. I love to discover new recipes. I try to make things on my own whenever I crave something.
Finding time to cook every week may feel tiring and a no-go for many people if they don’t already cook. But it’s the first thing to do if you want to be healthier (even without celiac disease). Celiac disease is a forcing function in this case, but I don’t regret being a better cook and learning more as I go further in life.
I know what you may be thinking. All that is fine, but there are foods you simply can’t eat anymore. Yes, true. There are things that I miss, like paani puri and soan papdi. Regardless of their taste, they are poison for me now. And trust me, nobody would drink poison even if it is delicious. This attitude has helped me mitigate my cravings, and overtime get rid of some of them.
I am sure there are people out there who would rather not have celiac disease. I am one of them. While that isn’t my choice, looking at the bright side of my life is. I didn’t write this to create a ranking of diseases. I wrote this simply to share how I deal with my emotions accompanied by celiac disease. Of course, we all would prefer to have no dietary restrictions at all. But that’s not our choice. Our responsibility, though, is to live well despite adversity.