We all have these days, where we think, I don’t give a f*** about having celiac disease and I eat what I want, no matter what. And these are the moments that we eat gluten-containing cakes, pizzas etc. even though we know what harm it will do to our bodies. But why can’t we stay away from the food that harms us?
Let me get one think straight ahead: it has nothing to do with us being stupid or not knowing the consequences. Smokers i.e. know the risks as well that any puff they take will harm them – but that is not a big enough reason to stop.
So why is it so difficult to stop eating gluten?
Are we all addicted to bread and cakes?
As a matter of fact we are a little bit. As strange as it sounds, our brain composes substances we get addicted to because of celiac disease. Please bear with me – it sounds strange, but it is all pure science and works like that: when we eat gluten, our bodies react with stress. More often than not our body then produced endorphins. Endorphins belong to opiates like for example morphine. Opiates let us feel good, we want to get more and more of it to feel even better – and so we can become addicted. It is a vicious circle which consists of ravenous appetite for gluten and the chemical reaction. We are becoming downright junkies!
It is extremely difficult to break this vicious circle
But especially with celiac disease, it is indispensable to life! First you need to acknowledge being in that circle and accept it. Without this it is nearly impossible to solve the problem. One way to get a grip is to write down when and where the unstoppable appetite for gluten occurs.
For example, is it in the evening in front of the TV? Then boredom might be the reason and the body just wants to get a kick. In that case boredom should be avoided. Or do you eat gluten in the office? In that case boredom or stress or dissatisfaction could be the main problem. We don’t like either of these feelings and so our body wants a bit of “lucky drug” to get us through the day.
I hope you see that on the long haul it can’t be the solution to avoid the real problems in your life with a wrong nutrition. Because at one point your body will be harmed too much and the damage is beyond repair.