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Ways to Celebrate Celiac Disease Awareness Month

The month of May is Celiac Disease Awareness Month. It is a time to educate others and advocate for yourself and others with celiac disease. In the past, I’ve celebrated Celiac Disease Awareness month in many ways, today I’m celebrating by sharing ways YOU can celebrate Celiac Disease Awareness month.

Before we get into it, I want to acknowledge that these are just some ideas on how to celebrate but you should do what feels best for you. Your comfort level matters and if you want to sit celiac awareness month out for personal reasons, that is totally fine.

Educate others on celiac disease

The first way to celebrate celiac disease awareness month is to educate others on celiac disease. Seems like an obvious choice right? It is but educating others is easier said than done. Let’s talk about some tactics and tools you can use to do this.

  • First, make sure that you are adequately educated. Brush up on celiac disease and related topics (like cross-contact) to make sure you feel confident in discussing the disease with others.
  • Develop a quick 10-second pitch and a 5-minute pitch on how you would describe celiac disease to someone.
  • Teach people the acronym “BROWS” which stands for the top gluten-containing ingredients you need to avoid (barley, rye, oats (unless certified gluten-free), wheat, and spelt).
  • Come up with a list of things you wish people knew about celiac disease and share them with the people around you.
  • Make a list of the common myths and doubts people have and educate yourself on how to debunk them. Ex. people are often confused about the difference between celiac disease and gluten intolerance.
  • Share reputable resources and posts to your social media for your friends to read on their own time.

Educating other’s doesn’t have to be a long drawn out process, it can be whatever you’re comfortable with.

Ways to Celebrate Celiac Disease Awareness Month - Tayler Silfverduk, DTR - celiac disease education, celiac disease journal, celiac life, celiac info, celiac disease info, celiac disease awareness, #celiacdiseaseawareness #celiacdisease #celiac

Be active on social media​

Social media is a great way to build awareness about anything. Whether it be social purposes you support or spread awareness for celiac disease, social media can be a powerful tool. Here are some ways to use social media to celebrate Celiac Disease Awareness month:

Follow celiac disease related accounts​

Following them can help you stay in the loop and access helpful and inspiring info. Here are my fave accounts:

  • My Facebook: @celiacdisease
  • My Instagram: @celiacdietitian
  • Vibrantlygfree
  • foodchallengedguy
  • the_celiac_space
  • celiacsimplified

Support Celiac Disease Focused Accounts

Supporting Celiac Disease social accounts helps their content reach more people and thus quickly spread awareness. You can support these accounts by following, liking, commenting, and sharing their posts.

Plan something with your gluten-free friends

Celebrate celiac disease awareness month by connecting and planning something with your gluten-free friends. I know a lot of people with celiac disease don’t know anyone else nearby with it so here are some things you can do with friends no matter their location:

  • Share your favorite recipes with your online gluten-free friends (start a favorite recipe list together)
  • Plan a zoom or other online call and enjoy gluten-free snacks while talking with each other
  • Send you friends a gift certificate for YOUR favorite gluten-free brands so they can get a chance to try it

If you aren’t yet part of a virtual gluten-free community, check out my post on gluten-free lifestyle support where I share many different ways to access it, including virtually.

Get Screened For Celiac Disease

If you have celiac disease, encourage those at risk around you to get screened for it (FYI: those who are most at risk, are those who have relatives with celiac disease). If you don’t have celiac disease, consider getting screened for it. Now is a better time than any.

Journal

If you have celiac disease, journaling can be a great way to practice self-care. Not only that, but depending on how you journal, it can be a great way to keep track of how you’re coping with celiac disease and track areas of improvement.

Those are my ideas on how to celebrate celiac disease awareness month, now share how you’re celebrating with me in the comments below!

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