May is celiac disease awareness month, a time to celebrate the acceptance and discovery of gluten-free diets for those diagnosed with celiac.
When I was told I would have to follow a strict gluten-free diet for the rest of my life nearly five years ago, I was terrified. No one in my family, as far as I know, has found out they carry this genetic disease, but with my luck, I was the chosen one.
Being strictly gluten-free for half a decade has not been easy, to say the least, and there are many more years to come, but I also feel that this diagnosis has opened doors to a future of journalism and gluten-free reporting thanks to this blog.
According to the National Institutes of Health, about 1% of Americans are diagnosed with celiac disease. With that being said, about 30% of the general population carries the non-activated gene for celiac, Medline reported.
The month of May is a time to celebrate all that has come of celiac disease becoming more known, and all that is to come in the future. Let's take a trip through the history books about gluten-free diets and how they were handled over the past 100 years.
In 1924, doctors believed that a "banana diet" would cure children of celiac disease, some prescribed to consume 200 bananas weekly. This diet forbade eating starches, but allowed meat, cheese, vegetables and milk, NPR reported in 2017.
This diet was so successful that the University of Maryland endorsed it in the 1930's, but we later find that this was not a cure, because celiac is not a curable disease.
A century ago, nearly 30% of children diagnosed with celiac disease had died, pediatric gastroenterologist at Harvard Medical Center told NPR.
At this time, what celiac was, and what causes celiac disease, was a mystery to medical professionals. When someone says "explain why all this 'gluten-free' talk started in the last 20 years," this is your rebuttal.
Although our timeline goes back a century, it is believed that celiac began showing up in humans during the first agricultural revolution, according to Beyond Celiac.
In the 1940's, a Dutch pediatrician discovered a connection to wheat and celiac, creating a hypothesis about the foods that need to be avoided to preform a safe diet for those affected. Following this, rye and barley were included in medical findings, as well.
It wasn't until circa 1970-1990's that the HLA-DQ2 gene was associated with celiac, and labelled as an autoimmune disorder, Beyond Celiac reported.
With this, in present day, circa 2008, the American Disability Association recognizes gluten-related disorders as a protected disability, opening doors for those affected.
Like I said, being gluten-free is not easy, and it never will be. But that doesn't mean that people aren't working day after day to expand the gluten-free lifestyle and push for maximum inclusion.
In the United States, gluten is still not recognized as a major allergen, and the ADA is currently undergoing a lawsuit to press for businesses to stop charging extra for gluten-free meals at restaurants. It is not perfect, and I believe it never will be. But without the long timeline of banana diets to genetic testing, we wouldn't be where we are today.
Celebrate being gluten-free and celebrate your diagnosis, because your life wouldn't be the same without it. Happy celiac disease awareness month to my fellow readers. <3.
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