No, I have not been diagnosed with Celiac Disease.
Celiac is another autoimmune disease that occurs in about one half of one percent of the general population. However, according to JDRF, about 1 in 10 people with Type 1 Diabetes is eventually diagnosed with Celiac. According to ADA standards just released, as many as 16 percent of Type 1s could be living with Celiac. During this week, I’ll be living and writing about the gluten-fee life from the perspective of someone newly diagnosed with Celiac Disease.
Thanks to Nikki at Celiabetes for her very valuable information and feedback for this series.
It’s day 6 of eating gluten free, just like someone newly diagnosed with Celiac Disease. In yesterday’s post, I promised to write about gluten free bread.
When talking to people about this week, probably the most asked question was “Did you try any gluten free bread?” Scully asked about it too in one of the comments. And Nikki followed up that comment with one of her own. Here’s how it went:
From Scully: “have you tried any gluten free bread yet?
it’s a slippery slope between taste, texture,cost and BG damage. I’m curious what someone who doesn’t have celiac thinks of the (sometimes sad) GF bread options.”
From Nikki: “Right on, Scully. GF bread tastes somewhere between Ok and Ish. Some can be as much as 25g of carb per slice, too, which can turn into a BG landmine. And that’s besides the fact that most start at $5 a (small) loaf and up.”
These comments make me think about sugar free options for People With Diabetes. To us PWDs (actually, to all of us), a sugar free option of a normally sugar laden goodie is just not as tasty. So maybe it’s the same with Celiacs and gluten free bread. Or any other processed thing that is often made from a flour, barley, malt, rye, or oat base. Not as good. And too expensive. And too hard to find. And the thing is, as a PWD, I can eat the stuff with sugar in it… I just have to bolus for it. But if you’re dealing with Celiac Disease, you don’t have the option to do something like that and still eat a pastrami on Wonder Bread.
After all of that pontificating (don’t you love those big words?), I am happy to report that I found a delicious gluten free bread. Udi’s Soft and Hearty Whole Grain Bread is the real deal. To me, it tastes just like flour-based bread. It is expensive– $4.79 per loaf, which has about 16 slices in it. That’s pricey. The carb count isn’t bad compared to other breads. 22 grams of carbohydrates in 2 slices, compared with 28-30 grams per 2 slices of flour-based bread. All of us in the house tried it out, and we all liked it a lot. I toasted it in the oven with a some garlic, celery salt, and butter. Your basic garlic toast. And it was so yummy. So if you have deep enough pockets to afford it, I would definitely recommend the Udi’s.
What else did I eat today?
Breakfast: I tried another new product:
The brand name here makes me giggle a little. When I was younger, Kinnikinnick was another code word for… grass. Ganja. Weed. Marijuana. Unfortunately, while decent, these muffins didn’t leave me with the same kind of feeling. Not that I would know this. But you get my drift, I hope. Total Carb Count per muffin: 28g
Lunch: More gluten free lunch meat, and cheese on some GF crackers. I also had some fresh strawberries which, while they’re probably not from the northern hemisphere right now, were still very nice. Total Carb Count: 38g
Dinner: The Great Spousal Unit decided that I should somehow be rewarded for going gluten free this week, so she picked up some steaks and potatoes. I cooked up the steaks in my brand new cast iron skillet, which I’ve been wanting for some time. Total Carb Count: 49g
I was going to write about my new favorite cookies… but it’s already late on a very busy Friday during a very busy week. So I’ll save that for tomorrow. Until then, here’s hoping the rest of your week is fantastic.
Carb counts are estimates only. Check with a registered dietician to find out what a healthy carb count is for you.
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