Showing this video would be a great way to explain celiac to someone.  Even when I tell people what it means to be gluten intolerant, I can’t get the idea across this well.

1. What are your favorite restaurants? Are these different than before you followed the diet?
I’ve always liked different ethnic foods so many of the same restaurants are fine (e.g., Indian, Mexican, Japanese, Thai). I now also go to steakhouses since they tend to have the fewest dishes with gluten.

2. Are food industry workers knowledgeable about Celiac disease?
Not very many are but I always ask for recommendations from the chef and often the chef will even come out to ask about my meal.

3. Do you trust that the food you receive from restaurants/friends/family members is gluten free?
I trust restaurants more than friends, simply because I expect that chefs will have some knowledge of ingredients and what is and is not gluten free (although in a recent restaurant experience, the chef told me a dish contained soy sauce but it was gluten free so I asked him to check the ingredients on the soy sauce and he was surprised to see it contained wheat).

4. What were some things you believed about Celiac disease that have proven false?
I can’t think of any at the moment.

5. What precautions do you take when eating at family and friends’ houses?
I always go over ingredients in dishes with friends and do not eat dishes which might be questionable. At my parents house, we always cook gluten free and my sister and I orchestrate the meals to be sure that they are gluten free.

6. What is the biggest difficulty with having Celiac Disease?
Eating out with friends and family.

7. What are the foods you missed the most?
Pretzels and beer, especially dark beer.

8. Does your significant other/friends eat gluten free with you?
My husband has been wonderful and he went mostly gluten free at home from day one. The one exception was bread; we needed to find a bread he would like since he eats most of the bread in our house. Once we did that, our house is now only gluten free.

9. If you initially did not follow the gluten free diet. What made you change your mind?
I have followed it since I was officially diagnosed with celiac and felt better within 2 weeks.

10. Has Celiac Disease affected aspects of your life other than your diet and health?
Yes, I dislike always having to explain to coworkers, friends and family about celiac and what I can and cannot have. I would just like to go out and order whatever I wanted and not think about the ingredients.

11. Why did you start your blog? What are your goals with the blog?*
I don’t blog but I do tweet! (Follow Debra on Twitter)

12. What are the most common topics on the blog?*
I tend to tweet about exercise and food!

This will always be a work in progress, so comment or email me  your blog address, and a short description and icon-sized photo.  I want to assure people that the blog is active, being updated, and includes up to date facts, so I will only accept submissions from the owner or author.  Let’s build this list quickly and huge!  Also, if you enjoy my blog, I’d appreciate a link on your blog also.

In alphabetical order: Here we go….

Switch2GlutenFree:  Mike started blogging about his personal journey, but his blog has become a comprehensive resource for the gluten free community.  He frequently organizes contests for gluten free products, writes restaurant reviews, shares recipes, reviews products, and much more.  He is best known for creating the Gluten Free Awareness Wristbands.

Check out the Gluten Free Community on Twitter!

What are the foods you missed the most?
Crackers, chips, most breads.

If you initially did not follow the gluten free diet.  What made you change your mind?

I’m going to add this addendum to say I am almost 60 and didn’t know I was allergic to gluten until I was about 55. As a child the doctor (this was the 1950′s) told my Mom I was definitely allergic to wheat. My mom being fairly naive switched me to white bread (now that I think about this it’s laughable) and kept giving me gluten all my young life. Thinking there was no wheat in white bread and pasta, crackers and such. I was sick all my life. I wheezed, I had no energy to play sports in school, I had mysterious rashes, and 2x a year I had bronchitis. Still gluten intolerance was never mentioned again. It wasn’t until my mid 50′s that I went on a very low carb/high protein diet for the reason of weight loss and suddenly felt great–had energy and all my ailments vanished. I began to do research and realized I probably had been eating wrong (for me) my entire life.

Thank you for your story, Bella!

I can’t “love” many of my favorite foods anymore, but after switching to gluten free, there are two things I do love: Mary’s Gone Crackers and hearing other people’s stories.  For the next month, I am able to combine the two!

The Contest: Answer as many, or as few, of the following questions as you wish.  EMAIL your answers to me.  I will post them as a new article on my blog so that others can enjoy and learn from your story.  After many submissions, a third-party will then select which three responses they enjoy the most and another three as runners-up.

The Prizes: The first three selected will receive a box of Mary’s Gone Crackers goodies!- including Mary’s Gone Crackers in original, Caraway, Black Pepper, Herb and Onion and Sticks & Twigs in Sea Salt, Chipotle Tomato, and Curry.  Please visit their website for more information on these great products.  The runners up will each receive a Gluten Free Awareness Wristband.

The Questions: Recently, my sister had to interview someone and write a paper on a food related business.  My answers can be found HERE.  Here are your questions to choose from:

1. What are your favorite restaurants? Are these different than before you followed the diet?
2. Are food industry workers knowledgeable about Celiac disease?
3. Do you trust that the food you receive from restaurants/friends/family members is gluten free?
4. What were some things you believed about Celiac disease that have proven false?
5. What precautions do you take when eating at family and friends’ houses?
6. What is the biggest difficulty with having Celiac Disease?
7. What are the foods you missed the most?
8. Does your significant other/friends eat gluten free with you?
9. If you initially did not follow the gluten free diet.  What made you change your mind?
10. Has Celiac Disease affected aspects of your life other than your diet and health?
11. Why did you start your blog?  What are your goals with the blog?*
12. What are the most common topics on the blog?*

Submitted Answers:

• Me/Mike
• Bella
• Velmoose
• Janelle
• Laurie
• Sarah
• Amy
• Debra