As a professional in the field of patient advocacy, it is a natural fit to share personal insights and experiences that extend beyond the topic of celiac disease when given the right opportunity. So, during National Eating Disorders Awareness Week (NEDAwareness) I thought that I would join the country’s discussion of reducing the stigmas associated with disordered eating behaviors and body image issues.

According to the National Eating Disorders Association, an estimated 20 million women and 10 million men develop an eating disorder at some point in their life. I am one of those 20 million women.

When I read that statistic, it is hard to wrap my head around the number of people living in discomfort and unhappiness with their bodies. After all, to quote Baz Lurhmann, who sang the infamous “Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)” song adapted from Mary Schmich’s Chicago Tribune column, isn’t your body supposed to be “the greatest instrument you’ll ever own”?

As someone with a history of an eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS), I found my diagnosis of celiac disease to be more than just a relief; it was incredibly apt, almost too coincidental of a solution. I could begin to heal my body through nutrition.

For years I lived in a fog where each day revolved around the same slew of preoccupations: food, exercise and weight. Almost immediately, my celiac disease diagnosis uprooted these thoughts and I began to view food as medicine, not the devil.

Perhaps my perspective is a sappy one. But for those living with celiac disease who still wrestle with the all-consuming preoccupations that only those with an eating disorder too often can understand, I gently encourage you to focus on the content and not the frame: it is possible to heal when food is your medicine.

To read more about celiac disease and eating disorders, check out this research recap.

You can also join the NEDAwareness conversation over on their website.

Questions? Comments? Please feel free to email me: [email protected].

– Kristin