Celiac Disease aka Gluten Intolerance

Over the last couple of weeks, I have had the pleasure to get to know some wonderful people that have given me the opportunity to work with them on their fitness goals and dreams with regard to becoming healthier individuals for this new year. As a result, I recently met a woman who wanted to hire me as her fitness professional through a program that I offer called the Virtual Trainer's Program. This program is neat in which it is an online personal trainer service design specifically for the person’s needs that still gives them the benefits of having their own personal trainer. However, when we started to converse she told me of a condition that she had called Celiac Disease or commonly known as gluten intolerance. This was the first I had heard of such condition and so as we started to work alongside of each other and began building a good healthy working relationship, she started to educate me on this condition. There isn't a lot out there about this condition that I knew of in comparison to such disease like cancer, diabetes, and hypertension (the 3 Amigos as I like to call them). Likewise, yesterday, I went into the store to get a couple of items and to see what products are out in the market to accommodate someone who has Celiac Disease. I was amazed at how painstaking it was to go on this safari, as it felt, and how frustrating a person must feel if they don't already know what foods are out there that are gluten-free. Yesterday in the time that I spent at my local grocery store, I only found 4 foods that were marked "Gluten-Free". They were two margarine products and two bread-type products (one muffin mix and another brownie mix).

As a result, this month in honor of my client, I will be doing my own research and education on this disease and how individuals with it cope and try to live a normal healthy life. So I guess this is the first of many in this series. I hope you that find it informative and as well enjoyable.

Today I wanted to just give some general information about the disease and a website that people can go to to read more about Celiac Disease.

Celiac Disease is also know as gluten intolerance and is a genetic disorder that affects 1 in 133 Americans. There is an estimated 2.18 million people in the United States with this condition.

Though the disease affects mostly people of European descent, there are cases of the disease seen in Hispanic, Black or African American, and Asian descent as well. Celiac Disease is cause by the damage of the villi in the intestines when a person eats specific food-grain antigens that are found in wheat, rye, and barley.

Celiac is difficult to diagnosis due to the broad range of symptoms that an individual may occur. Again these symptoms include chronic diarrhea, progressive weight loss, abdominal bloating, weakness, and bone pain. Studies show that if a person with Celiac Disease continues to consume products that have gluten in them, they will increase their chances of gastrointestinal cancer by 40 to 100 times.

Diagnosing someone with Celiac Disease includes blood testing for antigliadin (AGA) and endomysium antibodies (EmA) and/or performing a biopsy on the areas of the intestines.

Treatment for Celiac is pretty simple in theory, but can be hard and frustrating in application. They must adhere to a 100% strict gluten-free diet for life. Likewise, they must avoid any products with wheat, rye, and barley or any of their derivatives.

We will continue this series with helpful strategies (i.e. recipes, shopping, and other helpful information) to inform and educate you on how people with Celiac Disease should and can make their lives as normal as possible. Until then keep moving.

Here is a helpful website if you want more information on Celiac Disease and ways to deal with it.
www.Celiac.com

Personal Trainer in Charlotte, NC