Gluten-free for 4 Years Today

Today marks the 4th anniversary of my embarking on the gluten-free diet.  I received a call from my doctor on January 9, 2006 (my 33rd birthday) that my blood test for Celiac disease came back positive and the rest is history.  I can’t believe how much the gluten-free food market has changed over these past 4 years.  GF specialty food was close to impossible to find in the mainstream grocery stores.  Naturally gluten-free food was still as easy to find, but some of the questionable items that are now marked gluten-free weren’t as easy to identify.  Things have come a long way in just 4 years.  More & more companies are labeling their products “gluten-free” (Progresso Soups, Yoplait Yogurt, General Mills Cereal – just to name a few).  Many GF specialty foods have really exploded onto the market in the past 4 years.

So, today I celebrate being gluten-free.  I am thrilled that I am now following a diet that helps me feel better & is helping to make me the healthiest person I can be.  I celebrate that the “cure” is a diet change and not medication or surgery.  Things could really be much worse.  I have tried foods that I had never tried before & they have become new favorites.  So, if you are newly diagnosed & struggling, please take a moment to stop & think about it.  Mourn the beloved foods you are no longer able to eat & then move forward with an open mind.  You will discover a whole new world (try to think of that song from Aladdin – “a new fantastic point of view“).  Keeping a positive attitude will make your outlook seem much brighter.