Although those chocolate chip cookies from the cafeteria may look and smell delicious, the chances are they are NOT gluten-free. One cookies may seem like no biggie but in the long run it is not worth the cheat! Here are the top five convincing reasons to AVOID THE COOKIE!
5. Malnutrition. It is easy for celiac patients to become malnourished because by eating wheat you are not absorbing the nutrition from the foods. Rather than in taking the vitamins and nutrients, both are excreted in the stool. Some side effects of untreated celiac malnutrition are: weight loss, anemia, and vitamin deficiencies.
4. Decreased Calcium Levels and Osteoporosis. Because vitamin D and Calcium are not being absorbed, osteoporosis is seen to be more common amongst celiac patients. However, there is good news! It has been proved that once transitioned to a gluten-free diet bone density can be recovered!
3. Psychiatric Complications. Certain patients with celiac disease have reported these symptoms when cheating on their diets: depression schizophrenia, anxiety, balance disorders, seizures, and severe headaches.
2. Miscarriages. This symptom is obviously geared towards woman, but in my life this has been a HUGE motivator to sticking to my diet. Because of the nutrition absorption problems, eating gluten may lead to miscarriages or even congenital malformations. If you’re thinking about having children someday and have any celiac symptoms be sure to get checked!
1. Cancer. Although it may seem like in this day and age everything is giving you cancer this one is serious! According to studies a person eating gluten with celiac disease has a greater risk of gastrointestinal cancer, such as lymphoma. On a happier note, these studies also show that with a strict gluten-free diet a Celiac patients odds of being diagnosed with cancer is the same as any other person.
So although one cookies may not hike on ALL of these complications, these are still some scary facts that should make any celiac patient think twice!
Coping in College with Celiac 