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Celebrate Celiac Awareness Day

September 13, 2012

Celebrate Celiac Awareness Day

Easy ways to celebrate National Celiac Awareness Day

Celebrate Celiac Awareness Day

Today is National Celiac Awareness Day, and I for one am incredibly excited. Our mission at NFCA is to raise awareness of celiac disease and other gluten-related disorders, so a day dedicated solely to our mission is pretty exciting.

We are celebrating Celiac Awareness Day by announcing the Grand Prize winner of our first-ever Gluten-Free Pantry Raid. (Meet the winner here.) Our friend Jehangir Mehta who was a finalist on “Next Iron Chef” and will compete again in the upcoming season, is hosting a Celiac Awareness Day dinner at his New York City Restaurant, Mehtaphor. You can join in on the celebration, too! Stuck for an idea? Check out these ways to do your part to raise celiac awareness.

Share the Celiac Disease Symptoms Checklist

This one is simple. Head to NFCA’s website and download the Celiac Disease Symptoms Checklist. Print it out and give to your friends and family, or share the link through e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or whatever social networking site you prefer. An estimated 3 million Americans are living with celiac disease, but 85% of them remain misdiagnosed or undiagnosed. By sharing the symptoms checklist, you can make a huge difference in the lives of people who may still be undiagnosed!

Bake a Gluten-Free Cake

Or cupcake. Share your gluten-free creation with your friends, family, coworkers, neighbors, whoever! Your delicious cake will be a big hit and will open up the door to talking to people about celiac disease and the gluten-free diet.

Wear Green

Green is the official color for celiac disease, so sport a green shirt, tie, dress, shoes, or whatever green accessory you can get your hands on. Be sure to tell everyone why you’re rocking your green gear.

Change Your Profile Pictures

Change your Facebook or Twitter photo to the NFCA logo (you can grab it from our Facebook page) or upload a picture of yourself decked out in your green gear. Then…

Update Your Status

Tell all your friends that it’s Celiac Awareness Day by updating your status and telling them so. You can even toss in a few facts to help people understand the autoimmune disease:

  • Celiac disease affects 1 in 133 Americans, but 85% of them are misdiagnosed or undiagnosed.
  • There are no pharmaceutical cures for celiac. The only treatment available is a gluten-free diet.
  • On average, it takes 6-10 years for a person with celiac disease to get an accurate diagnosis in the United States.

Get more fast facts here.

Buy a Ticket for Appetite for Awareness

Appetite for Awareness is NFCA’s signature gluten-free event hosted at the Historic Strawbridge Building in Center City, Philadelphia on September 23. The event is packed with gluten-free food, live chef demos, giveaways and free samples from local vendors. If you don’t live in the Philly area, you can still support NFCA with a donation (even a dollar helps!) or sign up for the newsletter so you can stay on top of all the latest celiac and gluten-free news.

Make a Celiac Advocate a Health Hero

Our founder Alice Bast is a semi-finalist in the Be Well Philly Health Hero Challenge. It’s a voting contest from Philadelphiamagazine’s health blog that honors people making a contribution to health in the Philly area. Even if you don’t live in Philly, you can still vote. A win for Alice would help launch celiac into the spotlight even more. Voting only takes a minute and you can vote for her once daily until Monday, September 17.

Experiment with New Gluten-Free Ingredients

Think outside the box with your recipes and try using a different ingredient that you’ve never tried before. There are a lot of delicious and nutritious gluten-free recipes out there that go beyond plain ol’ chicken and veggies. NFCA has entire recipe boxes dedicated to giving you some gluten-free cooking inspiration. Invite your friends over to share in the cooking experiment and use it as a chance to talk to them about celiac disease.

So what will you do for Celiac Awareness Day? Leave a comment or tell me on Facebook.

Happy Celiac Awareness Day!

– Alicia

Think you may have celiac disease?

Symptoms Checklist
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