The life of a gluten-free college student

Hi, I'm Samra, and this is my story of the road to being gluten-free.

For years, I got sick whenever I ate and never knew why. I just assumed that I was a little different than everyone else and that I was eating some unknown allergen. For example, every time I went to Chickfila and got sick, I thought I was allergic to peanut oil--yet I never got sick when I ate peanuts. I knew I was MSG-intolerant and intolerant to many fruits, so whenever I could blame them, I did. For years, I even avoided corn products and Mexican food, thinking that it must be that, since corn was in everything. I looked for things with wheat instead, never realizing that it was making me sicker.

Then came my senior year of high school. I went on a no-carb diet to boost my energy levels, and I felt AMAZING. I had never had so much energy, and being able to eat without fearing that I'd get violently ill or bloated or ache all over like I had the flu was a wonderful feeling. Then I reintroduced gluten and everything went downhill. I was having to leave school multiple times a week for food-induced migraines and doctors appointments, trying to figure out if my gallbladder or spleen were causing these symptoms. They finally put me on generic librax, which seemed to ease the symptoms.

Fast forward two years, and I finally, after having a friend be diagnosed with Celiac Disease, realized that gluten was my problem. I took gluten out of my diet, and like my senior year of high school, I felt amazing. It turns out that my grandmother was celiac for years, which had led to her having colon cancer. Hearing that, combined with this new healthy feeling, there was no going back to a gluten-filled life.

That being said, it isn't easy. As a college student, I'm not exactly able to spend hundreds of dollars on groceries, and that's what it seems like I'm doing sometimes. Plus, not all of the gluten-free substitutes are good, and finding them in a small town is next to impossible. I remember my first trip to the grocery store after discovering my gluten-intolerance. I read every label religiously and wanted to cry when I realized almost nothing was there. I felt like I had no control over what I could eat, and I was so afraid I'd mess up and eat something with gluten and be sick all over again. It didn't help that the one bread substitute I found that day tasted like cardboard. Two years later, thanks to Kroger, Whole Foods, and good friends who've been down the same road as I have, I've been able to find good substitutes, although those have to be done in moderation because of the high calorie content. The way I feel, however, makes it all worth it. This also encourages me to cook with vegetables that I buy at the Farmer's Market and eat lots of protein, which is much better for me anyway!

The only thing I miss, honestly, is convenience. You can't trust everyone who says the stuff in their restaurants is gluten-free, and often, people will believe it truly is because someone who is on a fad diet will say they're gluten-free and then eat a loaf of bread. Question everything, and realize in the long run, it's worth it. As much as I might want to pick up take-out or a pizza when I have a busy night ahead, I've learned that it's not an option for me. It's a medical condition, and I had to accept that. Just like diabetics or people with heart problems or high blood pressure have to monitor and control their food intake, so do I, but that doesn't mean it has to control my life.

If you have any questions about what to eat, here's a couple of things I've compiled that might help. Here is my gluten-free grocery guide that I've compiled on pinterest, as well as a quick link to gluten-free restaurant menus.

All the best,
Samra

What do you mean? Gluten free?

Gluten free? What does that mean? You can't imagine how many people have said that to me. I have Celiac disease, an autoimmune disease, and that means I can't have anything with gluten in it. Wheat, oats, barley, and rye... they all have gluten. MSG stands for monosodium glutamate.... gluten in its purest form. So what is gluten? What does it do? Well gluten is an artificial filler. Food companies put it in their food so they can make more without using more product. Really they do it to save themselves money, but they still charge us the same price. Farmers use it too. Farmers fertilize their crops with gluten. It makes the crops grow much bigger in a much smaller amount of time, so the farmer gets to produce more. The farmer makes more money. See the pattern here? Gluten is actually really bad for your body. It is detrimental to your body and causes a lot of problems as you age. It is a man-made product. The problem is that food companies don't tell you about this. They are required by law to label it on their foods. But if you don't know what gluten is, what does that matter to you? It should. Your health can be affected. Get active. Learn about what you're putting into your body. Become more informed, and then you can tell others. What can it hurt? 

Anne Lea Finn