Chef with Celiacs disease
In this blog, I share my personal story, the starting point of Happy Belly.
The day you’re told you have celiac disease, your whole life changes. After years of vague complaints, I hit rock bottom at the end of 2019. Almost all the symptoms came together: weight loss, extreme fatigue, diarrhea, bloating, stomach pain, anemia, and rashes. I kept finding excuses for my symptoms; my stressful job as a chef on a cruise ship, the endless workdays, and my love for beer and unhealthy food.
At the beginning of 2020, after an endoscopy and several tests, I finally got the diagnosis from the gastroenterologist. Although I knew deep down that gluten were the cause of my symptoms, I kept hoping it was something else. The confirmation felt like a cold shower; my world collapsed at that moment.
On the way home, I considered indulging one last time that evening with a plate of pasta or pizza, along with my favorite beers. The rumbling stomach and pain would just be part of the deal. But I decided not to do it. Why delay starting this life changing diet? I wanted to get rid of those symptoms, and preferably right away.
Just starting as a head chef in a beautiful restaurant in Eindhoven, I faced a huge challenge. The restaurant brewed its own beer, baked sourdough bread on a daily basis, and during the summer months, Neapolitan pizzas came out of a wood-fired oven. While eating my homemade gluten-free sandwiches, I navigated through all the gluten-filled dishes. I let others do the tasting and judged the freshly baked sausage rolls based on smell alone, with a healthy dose of envy.
The first year after my diagnosis was a journey of discovery into the gluten-free life. I tried every gluten-free bread I could find in supermarkets, online stores, and bakeries, and quickly realized how hard it was to eat out spontaneously anywhere. Luckily, I wasn’t alone in this. My girlfriend, Camila, fully supported me. From day one, we committed to a gluten-free diet together. All cookies, crackers, pasta, breadsticks, and other gluten-containing products were banished from the house.
It quickly became clear that living a healthy gluten-free life meant I had to start baking my own bread, which marked the beginning of a challenging period.
In a future blog post I will go more into the details of baking bread for personal use, to starting a micro bakery from home.