Alexa Prass is a Registered Dietitian who combines her personal experience with celiac disease with her education to support people with celiac disease and other medically necessary gluten-free diets. Alexa believes that living a gluten-free life does not have to hold you back and with the right knowledge and support you too can live your best gluten-free life.
She sheds light on what celiac disease is since there is often not much shared online beyond the name of the condition itself and an understanding that it impacts the gastrointestinal system. There are, in fact, over 300 documented symptoms related to celiac disease including migraines and fertility issues. She also shared that if someone is your family has celiac, you are more likely to have the condition yourself. This was the case with Alexa whose father was diagnosed with celiac long before she began showing symptoms herself.
Alexa notes that celiac disease, like every autoimmune condition, is not something that can be self-diagnosed. Removing gluten on your own can actually prevent a proper diagnosis if you have celiac. Patients need gluten in their diet for the intestinal endoscopy and biopsy results to properly confirm the presence of celiac disease. This puts patients in a rather difficult position.
For those who are not allergic to gluten but are trying to reduce or eliminate gluten from their diet for other reasons (e.g. they have Hashimoto's and are curious if removing gluten helps alleviate certain symptoms), Alexa's recommendation is to inform your friends and family why you are removing or reducing gluten to better educate your support system. She also stresses that everything is a result of a dietary and lifestyle pattern as opposed to a one time decision. Eating (or not eating) one type of food on a particular day will not make or break your current diet. For example, not eating fruits and vegetables one day is not going to derail your health. It's all about the big picture.
Alexa also notes that is it difficult for many patients to obtain a referral to a dietician, and those who are able to receive a referral often end up seeing practitioners who do not specialize in celiac disease or other autoimmune conditions. She started her business, in part, in an effort to address this issue.
Find Alexa:
Website: Gluten Freedom Nutrition
IG: @glutenfreedomnutrition @alexaprassrdn
Find your host:
https://www.paigelavell.com/
Instagram: @paigelavellofficial
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