When I was first diagnosed with celiac disease, my doctor actually said, “The results of the blood test suggest you have celiac disease. This means that you should follow a strict gluten-free diet for the rest of your life. Good luck with that. Gluten is in everything – even toothpaste.” Not exactly the caring, compassionate or even informative response one might hope to receive! Throughout the ups and downs involved in going gluten-free, I’ve ended up in tears in grocery sto

Digestive health issues affect one in six Canadians – are you one of them? I’d like to share some science-based strategies to help you feel better when managing a chronic digestive condition. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is the most common digestive issue we see in Canada. Celiac disease and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD; Chron’s or colitis) are less common, but still life changing. Dietary changes can often help people to effectively manage and/or treat these conditions

We all want to FEEL better, right!? So how do you practice self-compassion when struggling with digestive health? Just last year my good friend and colleague, Dr. Mary Jung and I published a paper on the effects of self-compassion on coping with celiac disease. We found that higher levels of self-compassion directly predicted higher levels of quality of life and better adherence to a gluten-free diet. 1. Practice self-kindness. A key part of practicing self-compassion is simp

Welcome back to Justine’s Journal! Last month I began with sharing a bit of my health journey in dealing with celiac disease and other health issues over the past 20+ years. Each month I plan to share more about my story, my research and upcoming events to help you on your journey to optimal wellness. It is an understatement to say that I was pretty stressed out while I was finishing up my PhD. Everything I had worked so hard on for 3.5 years all had to fit into one documen