5 Lies You've Been Told about Celiac Disease Ep. 156

Could gluten from Europe actually be the secret to enjoying bread again for those with celiac disease? This pervasive and potentially harmful myth is just one of the 5 lies I debunk in the latest episode.
As we delve into the complexities of celiac disease, we unravel the confusion between this serious autoimmune disorder and a gluten allergy. Today's episode can prove clarity and understanding to empower those living with celiac disease.

This episode isn't just about busting myths; it's a deep dive into the reality of living with celiac disease and navigating the challenges it presents. Despite the allure of so-called wonder products promising a cure, we explore why skepticism is essential and why maintaining a gluten-containing diet prior to testing is crucial for accurate diagnosis. I also share why going gluten-free isn't an overnight solution.

Join me as I emphasize the importance of patience and the sometimes complex journey towards healing and managing celiac disease.

Previous Episodes Mentioned
How to Get a  Celiac Disease Diagnosis Ep. 106
21 Foods that are Cross-Reactive with Gluten Ep. 73

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https://belindawhelantraining.com/ultimate-celiac-system

Wish you could get gluten free meals on the table fast that the whole family will love? Check out Meal Plans Made Easy
https://belindawhelantraining.com/gluten-free-meal-plans-made-easy

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Music Credit bensound.com 

Chapters

• 0:00 Common Myths About Celiac Disease
• 3:55 Celiac Disease

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:24

Now, even though I am living with celiac disease and I would class myself as an expert in celiac disease, I still find that people tell me things about celiac disease as if they know the truth and that they know more than me, and this does not come from a place of arrogance, because these are people that clearly have no idea. So just this week, I had two people tell me that it's okay to eat gluten in Europe and that it's safe to do so, and one of the people that told me this was because one of their relatives had been over to Europe and had eaten gluten where normally they eat gluten free, and they were fine, and I had to explain why that is just not safe for people with celiac disease. So I thought this week it would be fun to talk about some lies that you may have been told about celiac disease and nut them out and get to the bottom of why they are not true and why we need to know that. So let's talk about that first one with the wheat in Europe to know that. So let's talk about that first one with the wheat in Europe. So you may have heard this from other people or in chats, like online forums, things like that. So, yes, people with gluten intolerance seem to find that they can eat the wheat in Europe and have no side effects that they would normally have, whether they live in America or Australia or wherever they would normally come from and normally would have to eat gluten-free. But for us with celiac disease, this is just not the case, unfortunately. So it does still trigger an autoimmune response in our body and we need to make sure that we are eating 100% gluten-free and not listening to these false ideas, because it's dangerous and it is a lie. So that is our first lie in today's episode.

Speaker 1: 2:18

Now the next one is that celiac disease is an allergy or you have a gluten allergy. That is not true. So an allergy is very, very different to an autoimmune disease. So when you have an autoimmune disease, what happens is your body literally attacks itself. When you have gluten, in our instance because of celiac disease so what happens is you accidentally consume gluten and your body will attack its own tissues and cells because it's going into a defense mode. It's not an allergy, okay, it's completely different. Some people have a wheat allergy alongside their celiac disease and that is a whole nother ballpark. But when we're talking about celiac disease. It is not an allergy.

Speaker 1: 3:05

And I know that some people do say that they are allergic to gluten when they eat out, and that's fine. Sometimes it can be too hard to explain it to the weight staff, so they tend to be a little bit more careful with allergies think of things like peanut allergies, things like that when eating out. So I get it that that's why people say that they've got an allergy. But if people are telling you that you have an allergy to gluten, you can inform them. No, I do not have an allergy. I have an autoimmune disease where my body literally attack itself and it is doing it so much harm that it is not safe to me for me to eat gluten. Okay, so I hope that clears that up, because that is one of the biggest lies that so many people are believing about celiac disease. It is not an allergy.

Speaker 1: 3:55

Now the next lie that you may have heard is that people have cured their celiac disease. You cannot cure celiac disease. As of today recording this episode in 2024, you cannot cure celiac disease. There's no cure. There's no magic pill, potion powder. There is nothing that we can do that cures celiac disease. So if someone has reached out to you and told you hey, I've done this or I've taken this and it's cured my celiac disease. That is not true. They have not cured their celiac disease. That is not the case. There are people that reach out to me on Instagram and they're literally pushing a product. They are selling a so-called wonder product that they believe heals celiac disease. So if anyone reaches out to you with this, you can either block them or just give them a piece of your mind that they are selling a load of rubbish. But it's not true. So, as of now, there is no cure for celiac disease. Maybe in the future there might be, but at the moment, no one can say that they have cured celiac disease. So please don't get caught up in that nonsense. If you hear people that say they used to have celiac disease and now they don't, they grew out whatever. Again, they probably never even had celiac disease in the first place. It may have been that they had IBS and they were reacting to certain foods that killed their gut and they're fine, but I would bet that they never had a celiac disease diagnosis. So don't believe those little fairy tales that people are sharing.

Speaker 1: 5:39

And the next lie is you don't have celiac disease if your test has come back negative. Now, this one I wanted to touch on because so many people think that they have got celiac disease. They go and get tested and then the doctor or the gastroenterologist says, no, you don't have celiac disease. This can actually be a lie. This is not always the truth, and why is that? It is because so many people get tested for celiac disease but they don't have the correct information in the lead up to the testing for celiac disease. So for people that get a false negative, as we like to call it, they basically haven't had the correct procedure done. So you need to be consuming gluten in the lead up to getting tested for celiac disease. So if you know that you feel better not eating gluten, so you've cut it out, and then you want to get tested for celiac disease, that test will not give you a true answer. You need to be consuming gluten.

Speaker 1: 6:42

Now I will link another episode that explains all about what you need to do in the lead up to celiac disease testing. Because if this is you, you may wish to do it again and get a correct response. Because, like I said, there's so many people that get tested incorrectly and then they go on. They keep eating a little bit of gluten here and there, even though they feel better without it. They're not as strict. Because they're not, you know, living with the mindset that, hey, I've got celiac disease, I cannot eat any gluten. So that's a. That's a big lie that people go around believing. So something very interesting to think about.

Speaker 1: 7:22

If that is you, you've come here to learn a little bit more about celiac disease and you think, huh, hang on a minute, I did get tested for celiac disease, but I wasn't consuming gluten in the lead up to that test. That is probably why you've got a incorrect response to your test and you very likely have got celiac disease. So please listen to that episode. Get tested again. Do it the right way. Make sure that you're on board with your doctor and your gastroenterologist. Whoever's doing the testing for you. Make sure that they're following all the procedures correctly, because if they don't know what they're doing, like I said, you're going to get the incorrect answer for your results. If you do have celiac disease, all right. So the next one is you'll feel better once you go gluten free. How many people can say that is a load of rubbish? Okay, that is not always the case so many people. They get their celiac disease diagnosis and they don't feel better straight away. So for me, I got my celiac disease diagnosis.

Speaker 1: 8:30

I felt better within the first week of going gluten free, but I didn't feel great. I didn't feel how I felt prior to all my symptoms starting. I didn't have that full vitality. I didn't have like no more stomach pain. There were so many symptoms that I still struggled with. And so many of my students, so many of my clients, tell me the same thing as well that they went gluten-free, but they still don't feel great and on top of the world.

Speaker 1: 9:01

So it's about learning that there's so much more to just eating gluten-free. You need to figure out what else is causing you problems, because often things tie hand in hand with that. There are foods that are cross-reactive with gluten, which means that they are gluten-free, but when you eat them, your body reads them as being gluten and you react to them. And I've talked about this so many times, about my experience with brown rice. Brown rice when I consume brown rice, it's as if I've eaten gluten and it gives me so many of the symptoms that if I had eaten gluten, so I avoid brown rice like the plague it makes, makes me so tired, it gives me brain fog. It just makes me feel terrible, and it did take me a little while to work that one out. So I'll also link below the episode to listen to 21 foods that are cross-reactive with gluten, because it is an eye-opener and it can be really helpful to figure out which other foods could be giving you grief.

Speaker 1: 10:03

So it's not always just go gluten-free and everything's wonderful and you know sunshine and rainbows all over again. It can be that your body is also just healing. You just need to give your body time and you need to understand that your body will take, you know, a different amount of time to feel better to the next person. So one person with celiac disease might feel better within six months. The next person might feel better in two years. So it's about how your journey is different to other people and you may have experienced symptoms longer than the person that's telling you they felt better straight away. So just know that your journey is so unique and so special to you and it's about knowing what you know. What is your trigger, what is the thing that makes you feel better? Because you know stress and things like that can also play a part and the way that you treat your body, whether you're nourishing your body, whether you're exercising, there's so much more that goes into healing your body body rather and feeling better quicker. So again, everyone's journey is different and you know you don't have to compare yourself to others, but you can feel better, quicker, by doing all of these steps to getting faster along in your journey, if that makes sense.

Speaker 1: 11:27

So these are five lies. So just to recap so it's you can't eat the wheat in europe, so you can't eat gluten in europe. Please avoid that one. That is, that is a no-no. It's not an allergy. You know, it is an auto disease. We don't need to be eating any gluten. We are not allergic to it as such. We have an autoimmune response to gluten.

Speaker 1: 11:51

You cannot cure celiac disease at this point in time. The only way that we can deal with celiac disease is a 100% gluten-free diet. And then the next one is if someone has come back with a negative celiac disease test, they don't have celiac, not true? Again, go get tested again. Do it correctly. And then the last one is you can feel better after going gluten-free, but you may not always feel better after going gluten-free. So I hope these lies are enlightening for you and you've learned a thing or two today. And, as always, please send me a message over on Instagram at any point. Tell me what resonated with you, tell me what helped you. You can find me at the Healthy Celiac. So thanks so much for tuning in and I look forward to talking with you again on the next show. Take care, bye.