A
Celiac Disease is NOT:
~ a food allergy (IgE response)
~ Intolerance to food.
Celiac Disease IS:
~ a serious genetic autoimmune disease that damages the villi of the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. Essentially the body is attacking itself every time a person with celiac consumes gluten.
~ is triggered by consumption of the protein called gluten, which is found in wheat, barley and rye (oats are often considered into the equation as they are rotated crops with wheat. Oats also have a protein called avenins that is similar to gluten. On that same topic, some individuals cannot tolerate milk proteins as well because of the similar make up of proteins and the damaged Villi)

B
How Do You Get Celiac Disease?
First Thing to address is Celiac disease cannot be “caught,” the gene for celiac disease is in the body from birth. Celiac disease can develop at any time during a persons’ life and it’s not gender specific although more women are diagnosed than men at present.
It is not known exactly what activates the disease; however three things are required for a person to develop celiac disease:
~ a genetic disposition: being born with the necessary genes. The Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) genes specifically linked to celiac disease are DR3, DQ2 and DQ8…and others.
~ An external trigger: some environmental, emotional or physical event in one’s life. While triggering factors are not fully understood, possibilities include, but are not limited to adding solids to a baby’s diet, going through puberty, enduring a surgery or pregnancy, experiencing a stressful situation, catching a virus, increasing gluten containing products in the diet, or developing a bacterial infection to which the immune system responds inappropriately.
~ A diet: containing gluten.

C
How do you Cure or treat Celiac Disease?
There is no cure for celiac disease; the only treatment is a gluten-free diet. The standard treatment calls for complete avoidance of gluten for life. The principles of a gluten-free diet include:
~ Avoid all foods made from wheat, rye, and barley. Examples are breads, cereals, pasta, crackers, cakes, pies, cookies, and gravies.
~ Avoid oats. Some patients with celiac disease can tolerate oats in the diet. But long-term safety of oats in celiac disease patients is unknown, and some oat preparations can be contaminated with wheat. Thus, it is probably best to avoid oats at least during the initial treatment with a gluten-free diet. Once the disease is in remission with a strict gluten-free diet, it may be possible to reintroduce small quantities of oats into the diet under medical supervision.
~ Pay attention to processed foods that may contain gluten. Wheat flour is a common ingredient in many processed foods. Examples of foods that may contain gluten include:
Canned soups
Salad dressings
Ice cream
Candy bars
Instant coffee
Luncheon meats and processed or canned meats
Ketchup and mustard
Yogurt
Pasta
~ Beware of tablets, capsules, and vitamin preparations that contain gluten. Wheat starch is commonly employed as a binding agent in tablets and capsules. Gluten also can be found in many vitamin products, and cosmetic products such as lipstick. Tell your pharmacy of your Disease, the pills you are taking to help you recover may be doing more damage than good.
~ Avoid beer, and check your alcohols. Malt is a common ingredient in wine coolers.
~ Avoid milk and other dairy products that contain lactose. Untreated patients with celiac disease often are lactose intolerant. With successful treatment, dairy products can often be reintroduced slowly into the diet later.
~ *See Notes below* Because people with celiac disease who have severe malabsorption can develop vitamin and mineral deficiencies, vitamin and mineral supplements are important. Ask your doctor if a multivitamin is right for you. Patients with iron deficiency anemia should be treated with iron. Patients with anemia due to folate or B12 deficiency should be treated with folic acid and B12. Patients with an abnormal ProTime should be treated with vitamin K. Patients with low blood calcium levels or with osteoporosis should be treated with calcium and vitamin D supplements.

Here is a basic symptom checker I found online, remember symptoms vary greatly. I was misdiagnosed for many years because I didn’t have the classic symptoms. Listen to your body.
http://www.celiaccentral.org/disease-symptoms-checklist/
Bottom Line and some personal points about this are:

• Celiac is an auto-immune disease, and this makes you susceptible to all the other auto-immune diseases out there. Please be pro-active on your health and go with your gut instinct about things.
• Take it slow; Rome wasn’t built in a day. Absolutely take out 100% of the gluten and dairy however don’t beat yourself up when there is a mistake and you accidentally eat something, I still make mistakes after 10 years (major mistakes). Add things like dairy and oats in slowly after you are 100% better. Took me about 6 years to add in dairy safely and I still can’t overdo it.
• Pills, watch your pills. I was so anemic for years they threatened blood transfusions, had me on major doses of iron and vitamins (all synthetic) and I was getting worse each day. Turns out I have MTHFR which is another genetic gene mutation and all they were doing was killing me.
• MY ADVICE, all natural, no synthetic crappy vitamins and minerals. Get it all the natural way with essential oil vitamins, foods, and natural supplements. Find a good natural health doctor. I love MD’s but they were literally killing me slowly. I use to take steroids to counter act the other steroids symptoms that I was taking to counter another medication and even another medication. At one point I kid you not I was on 20 pills a day and literally laying in my bed slowly dying. Please please be proactive about your health.
• I want to help you feel better; I started this blog to help others. It’s a safe place to come and ask questions and learn. I have been to people who charge outrageous fees and have learned nothing. I help others by trial and error and living through what they are going through. If I don’t know an answer I will find out. However never would I suggest taking my opinion over a certified doctor or natural health doctor.

Last but not least, get into a good support group. I can’t tell you how much relief it is to talk to someone who has gone or is going through this. I was a crazy physco person and it just felt good knowing I was not alone. I would suggest GFCFrecipes@yahoogroups.com.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel, there is a rainbow waiting after the storm subsides, there is a piece of chocolate at the end of that conveyer belt and its gluten free………………………………

Check out my Facebook websites where I post a lot of little odds and ends:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gluten-Free-Alaska/166715226719341?ref=hl
& https://www.facebook.com/Essentialabundanceak?ref=hl
If you have personal questions you don’t want posted on my site you can email me as well:
EAdoterra@gmail.com
References:
Most of this info can be found and was taken from sources like webmd & Celiac support association. Just be careful on the information you find out there on the web as sometimes it is quite tangled like the sites that say you can cheat a little and just take an enzyme pill and enjoy your gluten. Really?