I got sick often and couldn’t gain weight, no matter how much pasta and bread I ate. After being diagnosed with a hernia in ‘95, preliminary blood tests showed alarmingly low levels of iron, fat and vitamins. After visiting five different specialists and a bevy of tests, no one could figure out what the problem was.
My younger sister Gina is a well-respected chiropractor on Long Island (visit her website at www.align-me.com) and she came across a little known condition called Celiac Disease, which is an autoimmune disease affecting the small intestine when gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley, is ingested.
I high-tailed it to the local gastroenterologist at St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan and after
an exciting upper endoscopy and some blood work, I was confirmed a Celiac.
My nutritionist/cousin Bettina Newman helped me find the right gluten free foods to eat, and within a week I started feeling 100% better. The timing couldn’t have been better as I was suddenly cast as one of the members of the international percussion sensation, STOMP. I went on tour with the show to 65 US cities, as well as Canada and South America and learned how to follow the gluten free diet on the road. Within a year, my weight was normal, my anemia was gone, and so were the stomach aches. And after a few years of being on the gluten free diet, I thought it was time to raise awareness of this rare condition.
