If you have been diagnosed with gluten intolerance, you may have begun to experience a new kind of stress.
You may discover potential stresses associated with adapting to a strict gluten-free lifestyle.
Please rest assured that you can and will adapt just fine and once you are over the hump of this challenge you will enjoy much greater health and energy.
Dealing With A Lack of Understanding and Sympathy I wish I could say that everyone will be supportive and understanding, but I am afraid that is just not the case.
Instead, you may discover a few too many of your fellow humans to be remarkably insensitive.
You will find some insensitive and impatient individuals are not crazy about helping you when they should.
This includes the customer support at various manufacturers, the employees at restaurants and if you are the parent of a child with celiac disease, you will even find this problem among other parents in your child's class or on his or her soccer team.
However, I can assure you that understanding and sympathy for the trials and tribulations of someone with celiac disease has increased exponentially in the past decade.
In many areas, it has become commonplace to find gluten-free labels both in grocery stores and on restaurant menus.
And many parents will come around when they get to know you and understand the seriousness of your child's dietary restrictions.
After all, they are parents too and hopefully their maternal or paternal instincts shine through eventually.
Dealing With the Gluten-Free Diet Dealing with the gluten-free diet used to be the most difficult part of being diagnosed with any form of gluten sensitivity (celiac disease or not).
However, thanks in part to the natural and organic foods movement, finding suitable replacements for your gluten-containing standards is easier than ever.
Grocery chains like Whole Foods and the dearly departed Wild Oats Markets pioneered gluten-free awareness and labeling, and now even mainstream chains often have explicit labeling or a gluten-free area.
Manufacturers like Amy's Natural Foods and Bob's Red Mill now offer a wide range of foods without gluten.
These range from ready-to-serve packaged meals to the core ingredients you need to replace gluten in common recipes, like tapioca flour, brown rice flour, xanthum gum and guar gum.
So whether you want to bake from scratch or microwave to go, you will now find a plethora of selections for your gluten-free diet.
Again, I know that there will be stressful times ahead.
But please hold on to hope.
I can assure you the greater strength and vitality you gain through your new gluten-free life will be well worth it.