Though most of us (hopefully) try to eat healthy, we probably don't think about how the digestion of our food affects our bodies. Those who have been diagnosed as gluten intolerant, however, are forced to consider every ingredient at every meal. 

A cousin of the more severe celiac disease, gluten intolerance is an autoimmune disorder in which the intestines produce a reaction to gluten, a protein composite found in cereal grains including wheat, barley and rye. Symptoms include painful intestinal cramps, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, migraines, fatigue, itchy skin and more. Though the exact cause is unknown, over time the disorder can lead to a variety of other issues due to the body's inability to absorb important vitamins and minerals.

Army wife Tedra LaRonde, 36, has had symptoms of gluten intolerance for most of her life, but doctors have usually chalked it up to stress. When her husband, Lt. Col. Scott LaRonde, deployed last summer to Afghanistan with I Corps (his third year-long deployment in six years), however, her symptoms started to escalate.

By November, the mother of three (Isabelle, 9, Sophia, 6, and Seth, 3) was suffering bouts of cramps and diarrhea, extreme fatigue (sleeping as much as 15 hours a day) and constant hunger coupled with an inability to lose weight.

In February, she went to the family practice clinic at the Madigan Healthcare System on Joint Base Lewis-McChord.  Blood tests, including a celiac panel, determined that LaRonde was suffering from hypothyroidism - but also gluten intolerance. "It never dawned on me that I had trouble with gluten," she said. "Gluten is in so much food and I was eating so much of it that everything was making me sick."

The diagnosis forced a severe change in diet. Gone are wheat pastas and breads, macaroni and cheese, donuts and other comfort foods. "There is no treatment," LaRonde noted. "The only recourse is a gluten-free diet."

Often used as a binding agent, gluten is found in a variety of foods one wouldn't expect, including soy sauce, vitamins, sauces - even lipstick and skin care products. Nonetheless, for LaRonde, the change "was easier than I thought it would be," she said, noting that many stores, including the commissary, stock gluten-free products. "When I realized how much better I felt, it was easy. Honestly, right now I look at bread as poison." Since the condition is found in families, LaRonde is having her children, who have shown symptoms, tested as well.

Though the diagnosis may seem daunting, the good news is that there are still plenty of options, such as rice, quinoa, vegetables and fresh fruit, from which to choose. Flour can be made with a variety of ingredients, so bread, brownies and pasta are still available. In addition, most restaurants offer gluten-free options, and there is even a gluten-free beer on the market.

Though complete healing could take up to 18 months and the gluten-free diet is permanent, LaRonde is feeling "a hundred times better," she said.  "You have to go into this thinking about what you can eat," she said. "Not what you can't."