Hello my name is Megan and I am eighteen years old and a freshman in college. Half way through my freshman year I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease along with numerous other food sensitivities. My first response was, "Celiac" what? Celiac Disease, means your body attacks itself when “gluten” has been ingested. Gluten, can often be found in breads, pastas, cakes, soy sauce and some seasonings. For a college kid who soley lived on peanut butter sandwiches, this is definately a huge challenge. The hardest part of my “special diet” as I like to refer to it, is not only do I have to be on the look out for gluten, but I also have to monitor all of my other food sensitivities. Some food sensitivities that I have include; corn, soy, dairy, turkey, beef,pinto and kidney beans ….the list goes on. Basically, it would be easier to tell you what I can have on a daily basis. Some might think that I am being dramatic but unfortunately I am not. I can rotate most things however, meaning I can have spinach or chicken once every four days but its just not the same. At the moment my diet consists of rice, almond butter, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, rice pasta and few veggies. It has definately been tricky especially trying to make food without a kitchen. Living in a dorm has been the hardest portion of this whole lifestyle but it has made me think outside the box and create things that are delicious yet safe.
I challenge those who read this, to go to the grocery store and read the labels that are found on a product, and see how often you see it say: Contains soy, Contains Corn, Contains traces of wheat.
Remember that corn syrup is the same as corn!!!
And if it says "Wheat-free" that doesn't mean that it is "Gluten-free."
