Yum Yum in My Tum Tum
I've always been one of those people who seriously frowns upon "picky eaters." When I see a child with arms crossed, pouting at their plate full of vegetables, spaghetti, or anything that isn't a bag of M&Ms, I wish I could funnel the food into their mouth in an attempt to literally force feed nutrition--not to be too graphic. With this in mind, I really don't remember a particular food that I ever despised. I am a huge foodie (my new favorite term), enjoy experimental cooking, and I tend to go through bouts of heavy Food Network watching. In my 21 years of life, food has always been the highlight of holidays and what most my day was built around. But just over a year ago, my loving relationship with food changed exponentially. After months of miserable sickness, I went to the doctor, had some tests done, and found out I have Celiac Disease. Besides the increased health risks this disease presents, the dietary boundaries are what really changed my life forever. A protein called Gluten had been attacking and brutally murdering the small cilia in my small intestine for my entire life, causing me to absorb only a small amount of nutrition from the food I was ingesting. The funny thing about Gluten is that it's in just about everything. Bread, beer, pizza, cookies, cake, and so many other AWESOME foods. I was honestly heartbroken with this news and didn't eat out for probably eight months. It was awful. My friends would take drunken trips to McDonald's after the bar, order a greasy delicious pizza for dinner, drink beer straight from the keg, and never had to read labels to see what ingredients might be in the food they're eating. But since this beginning stage, I've definitely come a long way. And even though I am less bitter about my new diet, I still want everyone around me to seriously consider food as a thing of great appreciation. I'm sure this recent diagnosis plays a major part in my rally against picky eaters, because no food should be taken for granted. Eat up while you can, kitten.
I've always been one of those people who seriously frowns upon "picky eaters." When I see a child with arms crossed, pouting at their plate full of vegetables, spaghetti, or anything that isn't a bag of M&Ms, I wish I could funnel the food into their mouth in an attempt to literally force feed nutrition--not to be too graphic. With this in mind, I really don't remember a particular food that I ever despised. I am a huge foodie (my new favorite term), enjoy experimental cooking, and I tend to go through bouts of heavy Food Network watching. In my 21 years of life, food has always been the highlight of holidays and what most my day was built around. But just over a year ago, my loving relationship with food changed exponentially. After months of miserable sickness, I went to the doctor, had some tests done, and found out I have Celiac Disease. Besides the increased health risks this disease presents, the dietary boundaries are what really changed my life forever. A protein called Gluten had been attacking and brutally murdering the small cilia in my small intestine for my entire life, causing me to absorb only a small amount of nutrition from the food I was ingesting. The funny thing about Gluten is that it's in just about everything. Bread, beer, pizza, cookies, cake, and so many other AWESOME foods. I was honestly heartbroken with this news and didn't eat out for probably eight months. It was awful. My friends would take drunken trips to McDonald's after the bar, order a greasy delicious pizza for dinner, drink beer straight from the keg, and never had to read labels to see what ingredients might be in the food they're eating. But since this beginning stage, I've definitely come a long way. And even though I am less bitter about my new diet, I still want everyone around me to seriously consider food as a thing of great appreciation. I'm sure this recent diagnosis plays a major part in my rally against picky eaters, because no food should be taken for granted. Eat up while you can, kitten.
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