By J1 Reporter Lilly Day

In a busy high school cafeteria, students with celiac disease navigate gluten options and possible safety concerns. This means daily challenges face those living with this disease. For sophomore Claire Chapman maintaining a careful watch over her diet is essential, she shares her experience living with celiac and things she has to watch out for. 

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that affects the digestive system and requires strict adherence to a gluten-free diet. For Chapman, this means careful attention to what she eats. She explains her experience like this, “I have to be careful and ask one of the workers if it’s gluten free, and I can’t share drinks with people who are eating gluten food.” 

Many people with celiac have to be cautious in the food that they eat and have to keep it in mind when getting lunch other than home. Chapman said, “I always ask to double check it is fully gluten free and if I want to try something new, I have to do it on a day I do not have anything in case anything were to happen.” This is another challenge celiacs face on a day-to-day basis. 

When Chapman first learned she had celiac disease she said, “My diet had to be changed to the gluten free foods and my old food favorite foods I couldn’t eat anymore.” This lead to craving foods she used to enjoy immensely. “I really miss bread, you don’t know how much you miss random things, like cheez-its and sandwiches.”

Additionally assumptions come when one has dietary restrictions and that can be annoying at times. “I also don’t like telling people I am gluten free, so I missed before I needed to do that,” Chapman said. 

However, while living with celiac disease, Chapman has found positive alternatives to her old favorite foods and found new gluten free favorites like gluten free penne with marinara and parmesan with gluten free French toast from Bakers (the frozen kind).

Since there are limited gluten-free options, she says the best places to go when you are celiac or avoiding gluten is HyVee and Aldi. “That’s where the good options are, and I know I can trust the food there,” Chapman said. 

Living with celiac disease is hard for many. One frustrating aspect is that you don’t know you have celiac when you are born, so you can go years of eating gluten before realizing. This makes it worse because you knew the taste of gluten before and all of a sudden it is restricted from your diet. According to the Celiac Disease Foundation, 1 in 1,000 people suffer with this disease worldwide and many go undiagnosed. 

When a student has celiac disease, ensuring their safety is crucial part. Marian’s lunch staff has a proactive approach for this and a routine for what to do. When students with allergies want an allergen-safe lunch, they are provided with the contact information of Ms. Stacey Dvorak and explain what allergy they have. Students can express their preferences for lunch options— ranging from wraps, salads, etc. Then the lunch staff members will do their best to accommodate the needs of students with allergies.

Reporter Note: For additional info, visit “20 Things You Might Not Know about Celiac Disease | Celiac Disease Foundation.” Celiac Disease Foundation, Celiac, 19 Aug. 2016, celiac.org/2016/08/19/20-things-you-might-not-know-about-celiac-disease/.