What would you do if you found out that you could no longer eat wheat, rye, and barley? Foods that are staples of your diet, now completely restricted? Over two and a half years ago, I found out that I had an allergy to gluten. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley.
For most people, they can digest it normally. For others, it can cause a varying degree of negative reactions.
Up until being diagnosed with gluten intolerance, I was gradually feeling sicker and sicker. Eventually, after a number of tests, it was discovered that I had a severe thyroid disorder.
What triggered this? A combination of genetics and an undiagnosed intolerance to gluten.
The only solution to gluten intolerance is to remove gluten-containing foods completely from your diet. At first, it was a hard pill to swallow. I now had to give up a lot of favorite foods, and be vigilant about reading labels.
A Gluten-Free Lifestyle For the most part, it hasn't been too difficult staying on a gluten-free diet. There are still many things that I can eat, and more stores are stocking up on gluten-free products.
One of the main problems, however, is that many gluten-free products are really expensive in California. I have to go to upscale health food stores, such as Whole Foods, in order to find gluten-free replacements. They're just not available at normal supermarkets.
Before coming back to London, I wasn't sure what the gluten-free food situation was going to be like.
My first day back in London, I stopped into my local Sainsbury's to get some food. I was pleasantly surprised to find a whole section of gluten-free foods. Not only that, but the items were actually reasonably priced, and there was a large variety of things to choose from.
As you can see, I could barely contain myself!
It was just refreshing to be able to go into a normal supermarket, and find so many reasonably priced options.
So, London, you get my gluten-free thumbs up of approval!