Now what the heck happened around here?

May is celiac disease awareness month so I thought I'd raise some awareness on a very misunderstood condition!

Celiac Disease Awareness (Outside of the US, it's often spelled Coeliac)

•Celiac disease is a genetic autoimmune disease triggered by the activation of the HLA genes, most notably HLA-DQ1 and HLA-DQ2.

•It is a condition that causes the sufferer’s immune system to attack the small intestines when gluten, a protein found in certain grains such as wheat, rye, and barley, is consumed. Repeat exposure can completely shave down the intestinal villi!

•It can be identified through endoscopes, biopsies, and blood testing.

•There are about 2-3 million Americans diagnosed with it, and an estimated 1 in 100 people worldwide suspected, but only 30% are diagnosed.

•Without treatment, it can cause permanent intestinal damage, osteoporosis, some types of cancer, brain damage, malabsorption, infertility, and even death.

•Celiac disease arose 10,000 years ago, was given a name 2,000 years ago, and its association with gluten was discovered in 1953.

•So far, the only treatment is to eat gluten free. Celiac disease has no cure and can not go away.

•A celiac can only eat as much as 20 ppm (parts per million) of gluten before being damaged. That is about a particle, or a fraction of a bread crumb.

•Gluten is not required to be labeled on foods, medicines, or any other product in the United States, despite being required in 85 other countries, including the UK, the European Union, Canada, Australia, Russia, China, India, Mexico, etc.

•The US FDA legally allows gluten to be hidden in ingredients (including the vague “natural flavors” and “artificial flavors”) KNOWING that it is sickening and killing celiacs.

•There is more stigma, bigotry, and ableism surrounding celiac disease than nearly any other autoimmune disease, digestive disease, or food allergy.

•There is significantly less national funding for the research of celiac disease than other similarly common medical conditions. It received some of the lowest amounts of NIH grants.

•The FDA declared in 2021 that sesame be required to be labeled on food products, despite there being much more people who have celiac disease than people who have sesame allergies. (Obviously a huge win for people with sesame allergies though!)

•Because of the rampant stigma, bigotry, and ableism surrounding celiac disease, we have seen many celebrities, politicians, and companies make fun of celiac disease and its sufferers at a rate that we have not seen with ANY other medical condition. Notable bullying perpetrators include: Disney, NBC, Netflix, Party City, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, etc. That's how normalized celiac disease stigma is!

•Gluten free food costs 158-242% more than its gluten-filled counterparts, and tends to have more calories.

•60-70% of diagnosed celiacs are women, and female celiacs tend to have more severe symptoms than male celiacs.

Fun-ish facts after all that depressing stuff:

•Bananas were thought to be the cure for celiac disease before the gluten component was discovered because people on an all-banana diet had fewer symptoms (but because they weren’t consuming gluten lol)

•The relation to grains was in part discovered when celiac patients happened to feel great during grain shortages (while everyone else was hungry and weaker)

•Even if you have both of the HLA gene mutations for celiac disease, there is still only a 3% chance you'll develop it! However, some people develop celiac disease with only one of the gene mutations. And remember, if you have the gene mutations, you can develop celiac disease at any time, even if you're old!

•If you have a family member with celiac disease, you have a 10% chance of developing it too. If you don't have any family history, you have a 1% chance of developing it.

•People with celiac disease are less likely to get breast and lung cancer <3

•A gluten free diet has been shown to decrease schizophrenia symptoms.

•Since making this post about a year ago, 2 more countries have started requiring the labeling of gluten! Unfortunately the US isn't one of them. The best thing that can happen for us American celiacs would be for the FLMA (Food Labeling Modernization Act) to pass! Please contact your local representatives about this! It would help a lot more people than just celiacs! Links will be at the bottom of the post.

I hope you learned something, and feel free to ask questions!

Recommended reading: https://tinyurl.com/2p97bnx6

Submit a comment in support of gluten labeling: https://www.regulations.gov/docket/FDA-2023-P-3942/comments

Support the Food Labeling Modernization Act (FLMA) and the Allergen Disclosure In Non-food Articles Act (ADINA): https://www.beyondceliac.org/connect-with-the-community/advocacy/

for trade thread

the water makes bats goooooo

My favourite colors and some of my fav pets

This is/was my first dress up scene EVER

I needed to see them all together in order LOL

O.o what did they do to that poor horse..?

purple and blue starry pets separated by the pink fox river.

B)

My seven pets I started with when I joined Chicken Smoothie all grown up and together in one scene now who is who you wonder well...

1. Dawnlight (Cat)
2. Belladonna (Dog with sun eye)
3. Untold Peace (Dog with bone)
4. Out for Love (Fennec Fox)
5. Beelzebub (Queen Bee) (Butterfly Wolf)
6. Stolas (Parrot)
7. Frabjous Day (Horse)

These are my rare pets!

Hello chicken smoothie. This is my first scene! I call it cyberpunk dystopia. In this world, AI destroyed the world (except for the internet and cool stuff) and destroyed every school because it's stupid. these smooths get to use magic because the ai robots gave them magic ability's once they went away. the one dog is reading (nerd) and the other is gaming. I game on a razer huntsman v2 TKL (quartz pink) so the keyboard is not like mine. I added the autistic cat playing with the stim toys for diversity. I wish i can go on cyberpunk dystopia island instead of my stupid life. I have to go to school EVERY DAY and it's so stupid i wish i can be here so i can just game all day. The reason why the one smooth doesn't have a monitor (i have a 1080p 180hz monitor it's pretty sick) is because he has VR (virtual reality) eyes. Please do not say that this is bad or AI generated. HOW WOULD I EVEN BE ABLE TO USE AI IN A SCENE? IT'S NOT BAD I KNOW IT'S GOOD I TRIED VERY HARD ON IT IT'S MY FIRST SCENE DO NOT BE MEAN IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT THEN JUST LOOK AT THE NEXT IMAGE STOP BEING MEAN TO ME. If you say this is bad or AI generated, I will report you to chicken smoothie AND the police! you will get banned and arrested.

Have a smooth-tastic day!

orang

Forum signature scene :p

:p yippee!

star rats

just to be clear not trading the pets in the picture

si senor

Hello!! I'm new to chicken smoothie, this is my first published scene, is it good??

Two little kitties who ended up finding sanctuary in a small cave during a post-apocalyptic era!

Boop
I took some inspiration from sailor moon for the dressup!