It is the explicit goal of Custom Choice Cereal

• to inform consumers about celiac disease and different degrees of gluten-intolerance
• to educate about the various (dietary) implications these conditions have and
• to serve as a platform with tips and tricks how to best master daily life as a celiac.

We primarily aim to improve the quality of life for all people suffering from celiac disease or gluten-intolerance.  At the same time, we believe that it is important to increase general awareness for celiacs and celiac needs. Because we are great fans of cereal and realized that most cereals contain wheat, rye or barley (and thus gluten), we started Custom Choice Cereal to remove the trade-off between "tasty" and "healthy" and allow everyone to create their personal favorite gluten-free cereal.  Start your gluten-free cereal mix by clicking here!

What is Celiac Disease?
Celiac disease - sometimes also referred to as coeliac disease or celiac sprue - is a digestive autoimmune disorder that damages the small intestine and interferes with the absorption of nutrients from food.  If you suffer from celiac disease you cannot tolerate gluten, a protein found in all foods that contain wheat, rye, or barley.  However, gluten can also be found in medicines, vitamins, and lip balms.  Damage to the small intestine also occurs every time gluten is consumed even if none of the symptoms (see below) show.  It is not a contagious illness but a chronic, inherited disease, which means that you must inherit the gene and the gene must be triggered to become a celiac.  It is estimated that roughly 1% of the population has celiac disease.  However, only a fraction is diagnosed correctly while the rest suffers without knowing the reason.  Our blog contains a helpful video in which Dr. Joseph A. Murry from the Mayo Clinic discusses findings from his research on celiac disease.

Unfortunately, celiac disease cannot be cured, and the only effective treatment is a life-long strict adherence to an entirely gluten-free diet.

Symptoms and Diagnosis
Typical symptoms include but are not limited to abdominal pain, anemia, bone or joint pain, chronic diarrhea, depression, fatigue, unexplained weight loss or weight gain, weakness, and tooth discoloration or loss of enamel.  Children in particular might experience bahvioral changes or learning and concentration problems.  Our blog contains another video with Dr. Joseph A. Murray, this time discussing the symptoms of celiac disease.

The diagnosis is done in two steps and only possible when the person being tested is consuming gluten at the time.  In a first step, a physician takes specific antibody blood tests.  These tests should at least include the following:

• Tissue transglutaminase antibody (tTG - lgA/lgG)
• Anti-endomysial antibody (lgA EMA)
• Anti-gliadin antibody (AGA-IgG, AGA-IgA)

There is a very strong indication for celiac disease if the results of these tests turn out positive.  Only in very rare instances does a person with celiac disease show negative blood test results.  In a second step, a biopsy of the small intestine should be completed endoscopically in order to confirm the preliminary diagnosis.