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National Gluten Free Day was first organized in 2014 by Cassy Joe Garcia of Fed & Fit in order to bring awareness and excitement to the community on the upsides (and hardships) of gluten free living. Whether you have gluten intolerance, celiac disease, feel better without it, or just want to be more aware, today is a day to share in celebration.

According to the Natural Gourmet Center, about 1 in 133 Americans, or 3 million people, suffer from celiac disease. Gluten proteins are highly resistant to protease enzymes that break down proteins in your digestive tract and can trigger an autoimmune response in people with celiac disease by damaging the villi in the small intestine and reducing the body’s ability to absorb nutrients into the blood stream. This can lead to malnourishment and a variety of other illnesses and diseases. Celiac disease can also be incredibly difficult to diagnose, as it is a genetic disorder that can lie dormant until triggered by a stressful event. As such was the case for me.

Growing up, I was sick a lot — severely anemic, always underweight, constantly fainting, catching colds left and right, and battling stomach and digestive issues daily. Though my parents adamantly expressed their concern, my doctor kept insisting it was just IBS, and I figured this is just life. I was never sick enough to miss school because we were only allowed to stay home if we had a fever or threw up (and to this day, I have still never thrown up), and so I began to think that maybe everybody actually felt this way.

Things quickly progressively got worse when my mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. The stress of constantly worrying about my mom, graduating college, finding a job, and then moving to NYC was insurmountable. I unintentionally lost weight because suddenly I felt a burning sensation whenever I ate anything other than yogurt, and I just couldn’t stomach it. I always felt weak in my energy, yet the symptoms, at that point, were just something I learned to live with. Day in, day out. I persisted because I was trying to sustain a life in one of the most expensive cities, and I believed I needed to just keep going if all the doctors said I was fine. I lived assuming this was just the way my body was for another 3 years.

I don’t remember where I was coming from or where I might have been going. All I remember is fainting in Union Square. Once I came to, I picked myself up and hobbled to the closest urgent care clinic. I dizzily remember passing an old favorite, The Coffee Shop, to my right as I stumbled through the door. After mundane routine questioning and bloodwork, they pronounced that my tests showed the lowest iron of any person they had ever admitted into the clinic, that I shouldn’t be out walking or working or whatever I was doing, and that I needed an iron and blood transfusion immediately.

My mother passed later that week, and I ended up moving to Philly (to open 10Arts Bistro & Lounge with my Cheffy Jen Carroll) very shortly thereafter. My favorite lil Cuppycake, Nicole, will tell you how green and sick I looked when we first met. But I never gave up. After a long and arduous year-ish, I was finally diagnosed with Celiac disease, gastritis, esophagitis, oral thrush, and gastroparesis. All at the same time. (I’m happy to discuss any of those further later if you are curious).

It took two, maybe three years, of biweekly to monthly iron treatments, multiple blood transfusions, countless nutritionist appointments, and a lot of supplements to help restart my system. Progress was slow, but it was my relationship with food that led me toward health. Once I started giving my body what it needed to thrive, over time, little changes started to become noticeable.

When I went gluten free in 2009, the gluten free community was grossly underserved in terms of tasty and nutritious fare. Since then, I have made it my mission to create gluten free foods that nobody would know is gluten free so everybody could enjoy! And now there are so many delicious gluten free options readily available everywhere. I’m sharing this simple Molten Chocolate Cake with you in hopes that you are encouraged to learn a little more about going gluten free, listen to your own body, and never give up!