Relatives on my side of the family have an autoimmune disorder called Celiac Disease or Celiac sprue. When you have the disease you are very sensitive to gluten. When you eat gluten you may have a variety of symptoms; bloating, gas, diarrhea, constipation or vomiting. There are about 200 different symptoms.
My Dad was diagnosed in about 1999. In retrospect his brother Adolf most likely died from it in 1998. My Aunt Anna was diagnosed a number of years ago about the same time as Cousin Geraldine.
My sister Julie has been diagnosed with it and her son Jacob who not only has the gluten intolerance but a dairy intolerance also.
Our youngest daughter Jennifer was diagnosed about two weeks ago.
Cross contamination in kitchens, the same spatula used to flip a pancake and then used to flip your egg can cause you to become ill. Using the same toaster for regular bread and then gluten free bread. If someone in your family has Celiac then you are better off having the whole household go gluten free.
From the Celiac Foundation:
When people with celiac disease eat gluten (a protein found in wheat, rye and barley), their body mounts an immune response that attacks the small intestine. These attacks lead to damage on the villi, small fingerlike projections that line the small intestine, that promote nutrient absorption. When the villi get damaged, nutrients cannot be absorbed properly into the body.
Celiac disease is hereditary, meaning that it runs in families. People with a first-degree relative with celiac disease (parent, child, sibling) have a 1 in 10 risk of developing celiac disease.
So far I have escaped this disease. I do not eat certain foods…pancakes which I love but rarely eat. There are also certain places I do not eat…some resturaunts are worse than others…some must not be as clean as my system likes. Here at home I adhere to a clean side and dirty side of the kitchen and if they meet, then everything gets disinfected. I also have a limited amount of fru fru on my kitchen counters.
