Our Story

For more than 10 years, I (Nicole) never felt quite right when it came to eating and the digestion aftermath. I always felt bloated and uncomfortable. At the time, I was in college and living off of pizza, barbequed chicken sandwiches, French fries, and beer. Looking back and knowing what I know now – it all makes sense. I may as well have broken open a bag of enriched wheat flour, eaten it with a spoon, and rinsed it down with a beer.

Over several years, I visited a gastroenterology practice and saw three different medical professionals. I was repeatedly told to eat a high fiber diet and take a laxative every once in a while to treat my Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I took what the medical professionals said as gospel.

The high fiber diet, laxatives, and even a prescription medication did not help my symptoms. I just accepted that bloat and discomfort was just going to have to be my way of life.

Two years later, I met Greg. In more ways then I will write here, he changed my life. Initially, I would hide my discomfort after eating, but slowly began to open up about it. Greg suggested that together we track what I eat, how I felt, and then remove certain things from my diet on a trial basis. The first test… remove gluten. I laughed… I was raised in a family where every dinner had a sauce, was accompanied with bread, and followed up with some sort of cake, pie, or other treat. How was I possibly going to do this?

We spent months reading everything we could about what foods contained gluten. We spent hours in crowded grocery stores on weekends. Greg chased the wait staff many times because I was too embarrassed to ask for gluten free options. After three months of living gluten free, I went to a new doctor and again listed off my symptoms and added Greg’s suggestion of removing gluten. By taking a minute and actually listening to what I was saying and what I was feeling, she immediately thought that I likely had either Celiac disease or gluten intolerance. After blood work and an endoscopy, our suspicion was confirmed.

Something that we take away from this experience is to listen to your body. If something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t right. So at 32, I am completely changing everything that I have ever known in terms of food. I am constantly thinking and asking about ingredients. Greg is still running after the wait staff asking for gluten free options (thanks, hun!).

We started this blog and Gluten Free Promise to share our experiences with you, to assist you in your continual search for information, and to let you know that someone out there has probably felt the same way and asked the same questions.