The Book that Changed Everything - Discovering Celiac Disease

Text Carrie!

 In this episode of The Gluten Free Engineer, I share how one special book became the catalyst for a life-changing journey. What started as a quest to lose baby weight and feel “normal” again after having my third child turned into a discovery of primal eating principles that transformed not only my health but my entire family’s well-being. By embracing a lifestyle focused on whole foods and avoiding grains, I began uncovering the root cause of lifelong health struggles—celiac disease. This book led me to identify gluten as the source of my symptoms and set me on a path to recovery, self-discovery, and answers that had eluded me for years. Tune in as I recount the early signs, the research journey, and the profound impact this book had on our lives.


Mentioned Resources:
The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson*


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Episode Transcript

Carrie Saunders (00:00):
Quick reminder before we get started on this
episode this podcast is based onmy personal experiences and
isn't medical advice.
After having my third child,all I wanted to do was lose the
baby weight and feel like myselfagain.
I wanted to get back to whatfelt normal to me.
That's when I startedresearching healthy yet simple
ways to lose weight.

(00:20):
I stumbled upon a method thatfocused on controlling insulin
levels by managing the types andamounts of carbs you eat.
Little did I know this researchwould lead me to a book that
not only changed my life, butultimately changed my family's
lives as well.
Welcome to the Gluten-FreeEngineer podcast.
I'm your host, k Saunders.

(00:42):
In 2011, I was diagnosed withceliac disease, a moment that
changed everything, but I wasdetermined not to let it hold me
back.
With my two engineering degrees, I set out to reverse engineer
the gluten-free lifestyle,breaking down recipes, safety
tips, travel hacks andeverything in between to rebuild
a life I love.
Whether you have celiac disease, gluten intolerance or simply

(01:04):
choose to live gluten-free, thispodcast is for you.
Join me each week as wesimplify the gluten-free
lifestyle, make it fun and provethat you don't have to miss out
on anything.
You see, looking back, Irealize now that I had signs of
celiac disease even as a babyand a young child, but back then
no one really thought to checkfor it.

(01:24):
As a baby, I was labeledfailure to thrive.
I was always the tiniest kidjust skin and bones in every
photo.
I can vividly remember when anew car seat law came out in
fourth grade If you weighed lessthan 40 pounds you had to be in
a car seat.
I was mortified.
Fourth grade I thought no wayam I sitting in a car seat.

(01:46):
But the truth was I weighedless than 40 pounds.
I should have been closer to 60pounds for my age, but no one
questioned it.
People just thought that's howshe is.
She's just tiny.
Fast forward to 2011.
As a mom of three boys, andlike so many moms, I was trying
to lose the baby weight and getback to a more familiar version

(02:09):
of myself.
That's when I discovered anew-to-me eating method called
eating primally.
The book that introduced me tothis was the book the Primal
Blueprint by Mark Sisson, whichI'll link to in the show notes.
At first I wasn't looking tochange my life.
I just wanted to lose a littleweight.
But what I didn't realize washow much this book would change

(02:31):
everything.
Mark's book talks about howeating primarily focusing on
whole foods, avoiding grains,limiting dairy and steering
clear of refined oils can helpstabilize blood sugar levels,
regulate insulin and burn fatinstead of storing it.
What really resonated with mewas this 80-20 rule Eat primal

(02:53):
80% of the time and allowyourself a treat meal once a
week so you don't feel likeyou're missing out.
This was super important to meas a mom of three kids too.
I didn't want to miss out onspecial birthday events.
I didn't want to miss out onyou know, maybe we wanted to
have pizza for the week.
You know, I didn't want to missout on those common things of

(03:15):
where you just kind of eatwhat's available or what's
enjoyable.
So I dove into the primal wayof eating.
For six days a week I avoidedgrains and followed the plan.
On Friday, though, I gavemyself a treat meal at lunchtime
.
My go-to is a turkey and goudasandwich from our favorite deli.

(03:36):
It was my one indulgence forthe whole week, but something
surprising started happening.
After the second week, Inoticed I didn't feel great
after eating that sandwich.
By the third week I felt evenworse, and by the fourth week I
was miserable.
I felt like I had the flu allweekend Body aches, stomach

(03:58):
aches, headaches and migraines,but no fever.
I wasn't actually sick.
At first I didn't really makethe connection, but several
weeks of this pattern I startedto wonder could it be that
sandwich?
I started doing some research.
Why would wheat make me sick?
I had eaten it my entire life.

(04:18):
I had never connected any of mycommon ailments that had grown
over the years and years andyears to the food I was eating,
and especially since I'd beentested negative for wheat
allergies and other commonallergies.
That's when I stumbled uponsomething I never heard of
before gluten.
I had learned that gluten is aprotein found in wheat, barley

(04:41):
and rye the most common sources.
So I decided to avoid allgluten entirely.
I felt better for a while, butone day I felt oddly sick again.
I remember meticulously goingthrough everything I'd eaten
over the past two days and thereit was malt flavoring in a bag
of chips, another hidden sourceof gluten I hadn't known about.

(05:02):
I discovered that malt isusually made from barley, one of
the main gluten grains.
It was a light bulb moment andit taught me just how sneaky
gluten can be.
Around that time my hairdresserhad started asking if I was
under a lot of stress too.
My hair was thinning no oneelse noticed because I always

(05:22):
had such thick hair to beginwith and my nails were also
getting weaker than they used tobe.
They were always super strong.
But after 30 years of notknowing or more, it was probably
more like 35 years of notknowing I had celiac disease.
This was starting to take atoll on my body and on my
nutrition.
And after cutting out glutenentirely, something amazing

(05:44):
happened New hair growth.
My nails got strong again.
I had a dramatic improvement inmy quote bathroom issues.
The more I researched gluten,the more I discovered something
called celiac disease.
I was dumbfounded.
Why hadn't thegastroenterologist tested me for
this?
Years ago when I came to himwith IBS symptoms, frustrated
but determined.
I came to him with IBS symptoms, frustrated but determined.

(06:06):
I went to my primary caredoctor for blood tests.
Unsurprisingly, they came backnegative for C-like disease.
After all, I had been offgluten for several months.
Everything I had read said thatyou need to be eating gluten
regularly for months for thetests to be accurate in your
blood.
I also went to my allergist,who dismissed my improvements as

(06:27):
mere sensitivity.
It was another dead end.
I was so frustrated, but itdidn't stop there.
Months later, I brought up myconcerns with my children's
pediatrician.
I explained how I'd becomeprogressively more sensitive to
gluten the longer I was off withit and I asked if we should
test the kids.
I had learned that celiacdisease is her with it, and I
asked if we should test the kids.
I had learned that celiacdisease is hereditary and I

(06:49):
wanted to make sure they weren'taffected too.
And we didn't know it.
Finally, a doctor who took meseriously.
After all these years, testingwas confirmed that my oldest son
had celiac disease.
His immune system was matureenough to show the markers in
his blood.
After a two-month wait, wevisited a new gastroenterologist

(07:12):
.
I brought him a detailed listof all of my son's symptoms that
had disappeared and my ownsymptoms that had improved or
completely disappeared.
He had listened carefully andagreed Both my son and I truly
had celiac disease.
Most people might feel dread ata diagnosis like this, but for
me it was honestly a true relief.
Finally answers.
Finally a doctor who wanted toget to the bottom of our health

(07:35):
issues.
As I learned more about celiac,everything from my childhood
started to make sense beingseverely underweight, constant
skin issues, migraines and eventhe emotional struggles like
suppressed anger.
Month by month, the fog lifted.
My world went from fuzzy tohigh definition.

(07:56):
I was me again.
I'm so thankful for that book.
It didn't just change my life,it saved my son from years of
undiagnosed celiac disease.
It also helped us identify thatmy other two children and even
my husband have celiac disease.
Here's what I want you to takeaway from this episode.
Number one listen to your body.

(08:19):
You know it better than anyoneelse.
And two push for answers.
Don't stop until you find adoctor who will take you
seriously Because, like I saidin point number one, we know our
bodies better than anybody elseand we're a huge, big puzzle
that sometimes needs to be takenapart.

(08:39):
The clues need to be takenapart.
And number three start foodjournaling.
Track what you eat and how youfeel can be a game changer.
Keep in mind that reactions tofood aren't always instant as
well.
They can take hours or evendays.
Journaling helps you spot thesepatterns.
If I hadn't paid attention tomy body, if I hadn't pushed for

(09:03):
answers, to this day I still maynot have known I had celiac
disease If I didn't start payingattention to the food I was
eating.
Once I started going down theright track of realizing I had
celiac, I wouldn't have put itall together either.
I would have thought, well, I'mjust sensitive to wheat.
But I really started digginginto everything that I ate and

(09:25):
paid attention to my body and mymind.
So I encourage you to listen toyour body, push for answers if
you don't feel well and askdoctors, go to a different
doctor if you need to, and startfood journaling.
We are what we eat and whilebeing gluten-free may not be for

(09:47):
everybody, for many people theyfeel so much better off of it
and especially if you haveceliac disease, it is a must to
not be on it.
Thank you for listening to thisepisode of the Gluten-Free
Engineer.
If you found value in thisstory, please share it with
someone who might needencouragement on their own
gluten-free journey.
For more tips, recipes,resources and even links to my

(10:10):
YouTube channel, head on over totheglutenfreeengineercom.
It's your one-stop hub to makegluten-free living simple, fun
and full of flavor.
And don't forget to subscribeso you never miss out on an
episode, and we will see younext week.
The Gluten-Free Engineerpodcast is for informational and

(10:30):
entertainment purposes only.
I share my personal experiencesand stories about living with
celiac disease and navigating agluten-free lifestyle.
This podcast does not provide amedical advice.
Always consult with a qualifiedhealthcare professional for
medical questions, concerns oradvice specific to your health.