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Rachel Kessler's avatar

Great article and topic. So true about the shame too. A server told me she could tell which people are on a "diet" and which people have celiac because the celiac people apologize and say how sorry they are for the inconvenience (with shame). Lately, I have been saying "I am FORCED to eat gluten free." Btw, in Istanbul there's a saying that if you stand between two people who have the same name then you get a blessing. So here are two Rachels for you. :)

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Christina Heiser's avatar

Thank you so much for reading! The shame around food choices is real. I love how direct you are—we have no choice in how we eat, so yes we are forced to be gluten-free. And I’m so glad my two favorite Rachels are here! 😊

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Tawny Lara's avatar

You really nailed this one, BB!

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Christina Heiser's avatar

Thank you!! ❤️

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Karen Wettstein's avatar

Interesting. I never associated eating disorders with celiac disease. I'm aware of the psychological effects of being required to be entirely different from others at the table.

I don't refer to celiac as a diet. I can see how it's easy to get lumped into all the other fads — Keto, Mediterranean, Paleo. That oversimplifies our celiac disease doesn't it?

If asked I say that I have celiac disease and I am “medically required to avoid eating gluten.”

Thanks for sharing the reading resources to check out!

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Christina Heiser's avatar

Thank you for reading and sharing! I was interested to read the research on celiac disease and eating disorders. It does seem like it particularly affects celiacs who have a history of disordered eating behavior prior to diagnosis. There’s definitely also the psychological component of feeling different from everyone else too. I like the way you phrase being medically required to be gluten-free!

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Rachel Ciordas's avatar

Thank you for this- diet culture is really harmful from intense fear of food to scarcity mindset - it's something that comes up over and over. Seeing all of this through a child's eye (my sons) and his friends has shown me over and over how harmful it can be

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Christina Heiser's avatar

Thank you so much for reading! I’m not surprised at all at the research that shows celiacs are at higher risks for eating disorders. I wish mental health treatment was recommended at the time of celiac diagnosis to help navigate these things.

I’m really glad I was not diagnosed when I was a child and that social media didn’t exist either when I was younger because I can only imagine how much harder it would be to tune out the diet talk and have a healthy relationship with food.

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