Are you Gluten Free? You Don't Have to Apologize!

I'm not sorry for being gluten free. I'm not sorry that I have felt the best emotionally, spiritually and physically than I have ever felt in my whole life. I'm not sorry for tweeting, instagraming, and posting pictures on Facebook of the new gluten free product I just found because I cannot contain my happiness. I'm not sorry for filling my cart with gluten free foods and talking about how awesome my new recipe came out. This is why.

 Almost every week there is another article, another celebrity, another person we know telling us being gluten free is just a fad. The funny thing is most of these people are not gluten free and never had to deal with the symptoms gluten has caused us. Suddenly we have became the punch line to peoples jokes and the cause for waiters to roll their eyes when we ask questions about the gluten free menu.

Yes there are people who eat gluten free to lose weight. Yes, these "fad dieters" are usually the target of all the jokes and hate. The thing is we get lumped up in this group. People start asking questions like, Does gluten really make you sick or all you just trying to lose weight?  Family members start to question if you are just following a trend. Believe me I wouldn't be gluten free if it I didn't have to. I want to go to a party and eat the food. It would be great to just grab my phone and order a pizza because I do not have time to cook or go out to eat anywhere without having to plan and call ahead. Yeah that would be great but it's not my reality. I have a disease and if I want to avoid other auto-immune diseases and scary things like cancer I have to be gluten free. The thing is gluten can cause more than just stomach issues. Before I was diagnosed two years ago with Celiac disease, I was becoming a horrible mess. Besides the stomach issues my thyroid medicine was not being absorbed. There were days when I could barely even get up. My goiter was enlarging again and I gained all the weight I lost. My anxiety was high and I could hardly sleep at night. The list goes on. I'm not asking for you to feel sorry for me. All I ask is that you just that you understand that gluten makes some people genuinely sick. There are kids who have been bullied about having to be gluten free because that funny guy on television said that being gluten free is stupid. It breaks my heart. I don't get the hate. If I have no problems with you eating gluten why should you have problems with me not eating it?

Then there is this weird obsession with the media that if you do not have Celiac Disease you shouldn't be gluten free. That being gluten free is bad for your health because gluten free cake and cookies are unhealthy for you. Yes, of course they are because they are junk food. I'm pretty sure natural gluten free foods like fruits and vegetable are healthy. The thing is there are people who have other reasons for being gluten free. Maybe you have gluten sensitivity, a wheat allergy, a yeast overgrowth or an auto-immune disease like Lupus, Crohn's or MS and eat gluten free to help keep down inflammation. Maybe you have been to dozens of doctors and took dozens of tests but still had no answers so you took the gluten challenge or visited a homeopathic doctor who told you to stop eating wheat and it worked. Whatever the case your eating gluten free for health reasons and there is nothing wrong with that.

Agree with me or not Gluten Free is not a fad. Stop the bullying and the hate. Let's be positive and drive out the negativity. I challenge you to spread awareness and get the truth out. Being Gluten Free is a part of my life and I will not apologize for that. I will not be apologize for being happy and healthy. You shouldn't either.

Why do you eat gluten free? How do you deal with people saying gluten free is just a fad? What do you say? Feel free to comment and share. Let's support each other.