Coeliac NZ has 3 copies of Jodie Clapp's new book to give away to celebrate Coeliac Awareness Week

To go into the draw email admin@coeliac.org.nz with details of your.. "What the ...? I can't eat that anymore?" moment and how you turned Lemons into Lemonade !

Hello my name is Jodie, and I'd like to share with you a little journey of turning lemons into lemonade. Have you ever gone through years of your life knowing that there was something wrong inside you but couldn't figure it out? Have you spent countless visits at the doctors trying to get some help and guidance, only to walk out feeling that it's apparently "all in your head?" Know, you're not alone.

I’m a true-blue Aussie girl through and through (and like a lot of Kiwi’s) aside from work, my life consisted of BBQ's on the beach, beer and galivanting around the world, tantalising my taste buds with some of the most sumptuous foods available! I gorged myself on sourdough baguettes in France and frequented Italian restaurants for fresh pasta where possible. I ate my way around the world without getting a single belly ache, so it was the biggest surprise to me when a haematologist gave me the life-changing news:"You have Coeliac Disease!" I followed up on some health concerns throughout my fun and adventures and discovered I was suffering from low iron. Trying everything possible and countless doctors later, I pleaded to a haematologist for help. Despite the referring letter from the GP stating "No suggestive symptoms of Coeliac Disease", the blood tests and biopsies proved an indisputable positive result. What a conundrum.

Coeliac Disease never once entered my mind as a possible cause for my health concerns, so the diagnosis hit me like a slap across the face. In a flash, I felt like my life of culinary, care-free adventures was ripped away from me. I didn't get sick from food, so why can't I eat certain foods now? Turns out, I was an 'Asymptomatic' aka 'silent' Coeliac Disease sufferer.

From that very moment, I cut out gluten immediately, but what followed was completely unexpected. My body deteriorated quickly; I was breaking out in rashes, I had flu-like symptoms for months, but no cold and I felt like I was losing my mind. Needing to understand what was happening, I dove deep into research of this disease and uncovered some shocking truths along the way to discovering a new way to live.

Firstly, I learned that gluten can have an addictive hold over the brain and body. So, it turns out I was actually detoxing from this drug-like effect[i]! I was relieved to know I wasn't going crazy after all. Remarkably, the brain has opioid receptors in it, the same ones that bind to morphine to elicit the effects of getting high. Sections of the gluten protein have the ability to pass through the protective layer that surrounds your brain and bind to these same receptors, causing a similar effect. So it turns out, I was getting high off my bread without really knowing it! To prove that point even further, this effect from wheat can be blocked by taking opiate-blocking drugs, or, stop eating wheat. But, what happens in this instance can be withdrawal symptoms and this is exactly what happened to me. I was coming down and having withdrawal symptoms for months from this drug-like effect that had been going on in my brain for the best part of 30 years. Wow!

The second shocking truth I learned was that even though I had removed gluten from my diet, I was still at risk of staying sick. Some gluten-free foods (which most people reach for when newly diagnosed) can cause inflammation in the gut long after gluten is removed. So you think you are supporting your body by not eating gluten, but perhaps wonder why a couple of years later, you really don’t feel as amazing as you are supposed to. Inflammation can affect every part of the body from your little pinkie toe on your foot, to the hair on your head and it usually starts in the gut.

So, what was supposed to be a simple diet switch was not what it seemed.

This was the fundamental changing point in my life when lemons became lemonade. I spent the next few years reading, studying, attending seminars, and speaking with physicians worldwide to better understand this disease and take back some control of my life and my body.

After a few years of successes and failures, I wanted to share my journey and what I learned along the way to help as many others as possible. So, I wrote a book titled "What the…? I can't eat that anymore?" and started a community centred blog website called "The GF Hub." In the book, I share my intimate struggle with health concerns that led to my diagnosis. The emotional roller coaster of transitioning to a gluten-free life which includes learning what and where gluten came from, why some of us have Coeliac Disease and others don’t, how to read labels, cook, eat out, travel safely and how I integrated back into society where I could live again.

My Everyday tips for staying well

1. Be mindful of starches. In gluten-free alternative food, the main substitutes are soy, rice, corn and tapioca (and Modified) starches. Whilst these give the product a light and fluffy texture similar to wheat, refined starches can convert to sugar quickly in the blood stream and can cause excess weight gain. So look for better products filled with ‘flours’ rather than ‘starches’ like Brown Rice flour for example.
2. Get your emergency kit in place. Accidental gluten exposure in one form or another is going to happen throughout your lifetime. Having an action plan to quickly recover is just as important and learning how to avoid gluten in the first place. Some people live by digestive enzymes, others it might be charcoal, for me it’s bi-carb soda. Chat with others and find out what and how they handle gluten exposure incidents and develop your own emergency kit and keep it with you.
3. Explore Pinterest for recipe ideas. This will help prevent you from falling into a boring gluten-free diet funk where eating can become a monotonous, un-fulfilling task. Create a set of your Pinterest boards to collate your favourite go-to recipes and give you inspiration for those times when you just can’t think of what to have.

I’ve taken everything that I've discovered over my coeliac journey, from geeky science stuff to survival tools for this new world and compiled it all into this book. A book where you can laugh at, cry at, but most of all, a book that may give you some answers, understanding, or even just hold your hand through this process if you need it.

Well, that’s a small touch on my story. If you would like to learn more, the book is available on Amazon in both print and E-version along with other retailers for purchase. TheGFhub.com is filled with interesting videos and articles that could help you on your journey and please feel free to reach out and connect.

Article provided by: Jodie Clapp, Founder and Author of thegfhub.com

[i] Pruimboom L. and de Punder, K. (2015). “The opioid effects of gluten exorphins: asymptomatic

celiac disease.” J Health Popul Nutr, 33:24. doi:10.1186/s41043-015-0032-y