Saturday 12 May 2012

Mads is Hot and Trendy!!! WOOOO!!!!!!

It's official!!! Our Maddie is hot and trendy! Everyone we know is soooo jealous that we have such a cool kid!!

                                               Looking hot and trendy whilst mountain-biking!

There is a lot of fuss being made in the states about a comment on The Today Show about coeliac disease being "the new, hot disease these days" and "the trendy disease". And it was a doctor that said this!! Now, understandably this has not gone down well amongst Coeliac/Celiac community. Is that right? Are we a community? Not sure that sounds as I want it to. I  was made aware of it through the amazing powers of Twitter. (To which, I am getting thoroughly addicted!!) I was led to the website of @InspiredRD. Or Alysa Bajenaru as she is known in the real world, a dietition from Phoenix, Arizona. She, like our wee Mads has Coeliac.

Im not going to get all militant here but I have to agree!! The new hot disease?!?!? Really?!?! Lucky Mads!!! Oh...no...hang on...she's two years old and needs cleaned from nipples to shoulder blades, the long way round if she so much as licks something with gluten. Is that hot or trendy?

Lets be realistic for a moment. I don't think this was a purposeful attack at the seriousness of Coeliac. It was a flipant, off the cuff comment or it was a badly scripted piece of comic relief. It was bloody stupid! That much I know for sure! How can a disease be hot? Or trendy? IT'S A DISEASE!!! Can you imagine the outcry if  she had said cancer was hot? Hey folks, Leukemia is awesome!!! All the cool kids have it!!!

OK, OK, big difference but my point still stands.You wouldn't trivialize cancer, so why would you with coeliac? Or any disease? She then went on to say it was easy fixed. Just stop eating gluten. Ta dah!! It's a miracle!! No mention of cross contamination issues or how gluten is in so many places you wouldn't expect etc. Or the general trials and tribulations of living with it.

I appreciate that there was probably a limited time slot but if they didn't have time to create awareness properly, should they have even mentioned it? Would it not have made more sense to create a time slot at a later date that is long enough to discuss the subject fully?

There is a trend for gluten free dieting for weight loss and certainly it would appear beneficial. Likewise, there are people who have reduced their gluten intake for the health benefits and I fully support these people for what they choose to do. Anything that makes you feel healthier has to be a good thing, right? But this could have a part to play in why the Coeliac message is being diluted. Is there confusion between those that want to and those that have to? I'm not saying there is but for Joe Average off the street that may well be the case as he may have no need to know. And that's fine...buuuuuut for someone who has a doctorate in medicine and has been invited to talk about it on a national television show I sincerely hope it isn't a point of view they share.

For the truth on Coeliac, here's a link:

http://www.coeliac.org.uk/coeliac-disease/what-is-coeliac-disease

For Alysa's blog including THE clip, here's another link:

http://inspiredrd.com/2012/05/celiac-disease-trendy.html

Love & kisses

Suzi. xx

4 comments:

  1. Thanks for the shout-out! I'm glad you are finding "community" on Twitter. I definitely enjoy that aspect of tweeting. And good for you for sticking up for your daughter. Keep up the good work!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. No probs. We love Twitter in this house. Great for info and talking to people in similar situations to ourselves. Had a good read through your site and absolutely love it!! We are a small blog so far but we're getting there. We are determined that by the time Maddie heads out into the big wide world of school, people will understand more about her diet.

    Link to your site is now fixed so I hope our readers will head to you next.

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  3. Hi Suzi

    I felt i must respond to your blog!! As a dietitian in the UK we wouldn't recommend a gluten free diet to anyone unless a firm diagnosis via a biopsy of intestine, confirmed coeliac disease. Then prescribable gluten free products can be got through the GP and specialist advice from a qualified dietitian so the diet can include the correct nutrients and help to avoid osteoporosis and bowel cancer in later years and appropriate monitoring of other parameters.

    There are lots of people out there getting blood tests from GPs and hospitals which is stating they have/may have coeliac disease. But only when you get a biopsy taken will this prove coeliac disease. There are a few other medical reasons why people require a gluten free diet such as dermatitis herpetiformis. But again the gluten free diet should be managed between drs, dietitians and the patient.

    Great work suzi on developing gluten free recipes and classes - there is a huge need out there for it for the people who medically need to follow a gluten free diet.

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  4. I'm not suggesting anyone who doesn't require a gluten free diet should try it. I doubt there is many people out there would be willing to give up gluten entirely if it was not necessary. But I am also not going to damn people for their choices in life as their is evidence to suggest that a reduction of gluten in your diet can be beneficial. What I am doing is attempting to offer up some awareness of coeliac and how being forced to go gluten free doesn't have to be the end of the world. In this post specifically I am merely questioning The Today Show and their handling of the subject.

    Thank you for taking the time to respond. I appreciate your input.

    ReplyDelete

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