Hello. My name is Erin Smith, I am a Celiac since 1981, and I have consumed gluten. Yes, it is true and not something I am necessarily proud of but something I needed to admit to my readers. This consumption was not recent, but was part of my youth. I ate gluten more than once... knowingly. Are you shocked yet?
Honestly, I think a lot of my gluten consumption was one part youth rebellion/trying to fit in and one part complete lack of information. I was diagnosed in the pre-internet era. Although we had some information about being gluten-free, it was really limited. No one used the words "cross contamination" in the 80s and 90s. There were no "Top 8" labeling laws. My parents thought as long as I wasn't physically ingesting gluten-filled products, I was safe. This meant a lot of eating habits that I would NEVER do today.
I am in the middle of reading Don't Kill the Birthday Girl by Sandra Beasley and one page I read yesterday hit really close to home. So close to home that I felt like I was reliving part of my childhood and it prompted this post. Sandra has anaphylactic food allergies. This means she can die if she consumed the wrong food. I feel lucky that I have Celiac Disease and not anaphylaxis when I read things like this book.
At one point in her life, Sandra's mom took a piece of Kentucky Fried Chicken, peeled off the batter, skin, and fat of the chicken breast and then fed it to Sandra. This may sound so simple but for someone severely allergic to dairy this was a risky endeavor. The crazy thing is that my dad used to do the same exact thing. We would go to McDonald's for dinner and he would peel every chicken nugget in my Happy Meal. Yep, you read that correctly. I used to eat gluten-covered nuggets on a regular basis. Again, whether this was due to the lack of information or just plain confusion or understanding about cross-contamination, it is unclear. But I ate nuggets and so many other things that it is not surprising I had a stomach ache most of my growing years. Do you know what I did to feel better? I popped Pepto tablets on a regular basis. Know what makes this even worse??? Pepto in the 1980s and early 90s was coated in FLOUR!!!!
As part of this post, I wanted to list out some of the gluten consumption of years passed. Please note, I have not knowingly consumed gluten in years now. I NEVER EVER EVER CHEAT because the consequences are not worth it. If I eat gluten, I feel like shit for days after and don't want to put myself in that situation. Growing up, sometimes I did certain things to fit in, sometimes I ate things because I was hungry and sometimes I just didn't realize what I was doing could actually hurt me. Without further ado, here is the shocking list of things I did as a diagnosed celiac growing up in the 1980s:
Disclaimer: I DO NOT PROMOTE CHEATING ON YOUR GLUTEN-FREE DIET AS A CELIAC. This post is to simply point out how my lack of understanding of the disease during my childhood led to some really careless and dangerous eating activities throughout my life. I admit, it scares me how much gluten I consumed as a child. I worry about this consumption constantly and its how will affect my overall health for the rest of my life. But I cannot do anything about my past and all I can do is spread awareness to others to protect them in the future.
Honestly, I think a lot of my gluten consumption was one part youth rebellion/trying to fit in and one part complete lack of information. I was diagnosed in the pre-internet era. Although we had some information about being gluten-free, it was really limited. No one used the words "cross contamination" in the 80s and 90s. There were no "Top 8" labeling laws. My parents thought as long as I wasn't physically ingesting gluten-filled products, I was safe. This meant a lot of eating habits that I would NEVER do today.
I am in the middle of reading Don't Kill the Birthday Girl by Sandra Beasley and one page I read yesterday hit really close to home. So close to home that I felt like I was reliving part of my childhood and it prompted this post. Sandra has anaphylactic food allergies. This means she can die if she consumed the wrong food. I feel lucky that I have Celiac Disease and not anaphylaxis when I read things like this book.
At one point in her life, Sandra's mom took a piece of Kentucky Fried Chicken, peeled off the batter, skin, and fat of the chicken breast and then fed it to Sandra. This may sound so simple but for someone severely allergic to dairy this was a risky endeavor. The crazy thing is that my dad used to do the same exact thing. We would go to McDonald's for dinner and he would peel every chicken nugget in my Happy Meal. Yep, you read that correctly. I used to eat gluten-covered nuggets on a regular basis. Again, whether this was due to the lack of information or just plain confusion or understanding about cross-contamination, it is unclear. But I ate nuggets and so many other things that it is not surprising I had a stomach ache most of my growing years. Do you know what I did to feel better? I popped Pepto tablets on a regular basis. Know what makes this even worse??? Pepto in the 1980s and early 90s was coated in FLOUR!!!!
As part of this post, I wanted to list out some of the gluten consumption of years passed. Please note, I have not knowingly consumed gluten in years now. I NEVER EVER EVER CHEAT because the consequences are not worth it. If I eat gluten, I feel like shit for days after and don't want to put myself in that situation. Growing up, sometimes I did certain things to fit in, sometimes I ate things because I was hungry and sometimes I just didn't realize what I was doing could actually hurt me. Without further ado, here is the shocking list of things I did as a diagnosed celiac growing up in the 1980s:
- Ate peeled chicken nuggets from McDonald's
- Licked the creme from Bavarian creme Dunkin Donuts and munchkins
- Ate cheese off pizza
- Licked icing off birthday cake, cupakes, Oreo cookies, etc.
- Ate the salt from bottom of the Bachman pretzel stix boxes
- Peeled onion rings from the diner and ate the onions that had been battered
- Used soy sauce
- Ate the filling out of Chinese dumplings
- Take wheat-covered Pepto every damn day. (No labeling of top 8 allergens back then)
- Drank beer
Disclaimer: I DO NOT PROMOTE CHEATING ON YOUR GLUTEN-FREE DIET AS A CELIAC. This post is to simply point out how my lack of understanding of the disease during my childhood led to some really careless and dangerous eating activities throughout my life. I admit, it scares me how much gluten I consumed as a child. I worry about this consumption constantly and its how will affect my overall health for the rest of my life. But I cannot do anything about my past and all I can do is spread awareness to others to protect them in the future.
Labels: celiac, confessions
