Wear your celiac or gluten-free shirt today! Pictured: MN Governor Dayton and I at a celiac fundraiser in May 2011.
Here it is! National Celiac Awareness Day! A time to honor, educate, and even celebrate. Yes, celebrate.
What’s there to celebrate?
Celebrate your celiac diagnosis!
If it weren’t for that you might still be feeling awful all the time. In fact you’re one of the “few” who have been diagnosed. 1 in 133 have the disease but about 97% remain undiagnosed!*
Celebrate that you don’t need prescription medicine!
Using a specialized diet to control celiac is a good way to go. Gluten free as medicine? That is a great thing!
Celebrate the new products available!
In the last 5-6 years the gluten-free food options at the store have only gotten tastier and more abundant! Some may call the gluten-free diet a fad, but I call it progress for our selection of food. At a grocery store? You can always find something gluten-free. Yes, some of the foods that have been created over the last few years have been low in nutrition and have a lot of sugar or fat, but so do some “regular” foods. Celiacs should be able to have a gluten-free “Oreo” or a gluten-free ice cream sandwich on occasion too! It is just so nice to have choices!
Celebrate the increasing gluten-free options at restaurants!
I know we all still have to be VERY careful where we eat out and to double check the experience and knowledge of the chef and wait staff, and we rarely can be “spur of the moment” when deciding to dine out. But when my daughter was diagnosed 12 years ago, the ONLY place we could eat out at was McDonalds (bunless burger and fries). Now we can choose from many restaurants who are offering pizza, an occasional sandwich, pasta, burgers (WITH gluten-free buns) and much more.
Celebrate the community!
More information is available now than ever before about celiac and gluten-free lifestyles. Social Media has brought our community close together. Have a question? Throw it out on Twitter or a gluten-free Facebook page and see how quickly it gets answered!
So come on. Today is Celiac Awareness Day! Let’s celebrate and raise awareness! Have a great day!
*Source: University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center Fact Sheet
Tags: awareness, celiac, disease, gluten-free
September 13th, 2013 at 12:44 pm
I love love love the positive post today! We sure do have a lot to celebrate!