What celiac disease has taught me
I was diagnosed with celiac disease in third grade when I was only nine years old. At that age, I didn’t understand autoimmune disorders or intestinal inflammation. I only understood one thing, my stomach was in serious pain. As this was the early 2010s, gluten free wasn’t a common term and being celiac was confusing and very hard to navigate. Grocery store shelves didn’t have gluten free sections. Restaurants rarely labeled menus and cross-contamination was never mentioned. As a family, we were all new to it. My parents were learning. I was learning. There was no roadmap. It was a lot of label reading and question asking.
Some of the most difficult moments of growing up with celiac were not medical but social. I would go to birthday parties, team events, any kind of celebration, and the food was usually pizza, pasta, cake, or cookies. I remember bringing my own food or entirely skipping the meal, all while trying my best not to not stand out. Having to do that at a young age was really difficult; not because anyone did anything wrong or on purpose, it was just a situation that was different and new to most people. When you’re a kid, different can feel isolating.
While there were plenty of negatives that came with being diagnosed so young, there were also some positives. The diagnosis forced me to be more aware about what I was putting into my body at a really young age. I had to read labels and ask questions about the ingredients of the food being served. This helped me learn to maintain a high attention to detail, and that I needed to advocate for myself if I didn’t want to get sick. Over time, I learned what my body needed. I learned which foods worked for me and which didn’t. I learned how to ask questions confidently and how to manage the unexpected.
Fast forward to the present where I’m training at the highest level of my sport. As an elite swimmer, fueling isn’t optional, it’s fundamental. Now that I am older, I fully understand what is really happening when I ingest gluten. It's not just a stomach ache: it’s inflammation, impaired nutrient absorption, fatigue, and countless days of feeling off. When competing at an elite level where small margins matter, managing celiac becomes a necessary part of a daily routine just like sleep, recovery, and mobility.
Even today, celiac presents a constant challenge: mislabeled food, cross-contamination, shared kitchens, buffet lines at meets, travel dining, uniformed wait staff. All of which create high-risk environments. I still read labels. I still ask questions. I still have to plan ahead. However, I no longer feel awkward advocating for myself. I understand my body. I know what’s worth the risk and what isn’t. I’ve learned that protecting my health protects my performance.
Celiac didn’t hold me back from becoming an elite athlete. If anything, it shaped the way I approach my sport by forcing me to be intentional about what I put in my body long before performance nutrition became a priority. It taught me discipline long before I realized its value in the pool. Looking back, being diagnosed at nine was difficult but growing up with celiac made me resilient. Like everything else in sports and life, the more responsibility I take, the stronger I become.