“Gluten free in Afghanistan” is a fairly new book published in 2012 by Captain Donald Andrasik who served in the Army National Guard. In the book Andrasik shares his story of maintaining a gluten free diet while being overseas fighting at war in Afghanistan. In “Gluten Free Soldier in Afghanistan” by Amy Ratner she breaks down Andrasik’s book and reviews it while expressing her thoughts throughout her article. Ratner graduated from Penn State University and is currently a member of Beyond Celiac, a nonprofit organization that unites with patients and partners to drive diagnosis, advance research and accelerate the discovery of new treatments and a cure. As Ratner says, “It's fighting two battles on foreign soil” the article captures Andrasik’s …show more content…
That encounter dealing with some fists being thrown, never stopped Andrasik and his fellow service men from having “The first gluten free pizza party that turned out to be a success” (Andrasik). Most soldiers keep their disease a secret, Andrasik writes, “Having a weakness where strength is required and demanded poses a conflict, so we blend in”. They blend in and “Go to war with their bodies” (Ratner) sometimes when soldiers have very little to nothing to eat “They are willing to get sick if they have to when they can not find safe food” writes Andrasik. In fear of being sent home or discharged they lay low and remain …show more content…
Pakistan closed their borders making it nearly impossible for him to get any “safe food”. Throughout his last deployment Andrasik lost 20% of his original weight of 178 lbs. “I was literally starving, and I started searching for new sources of food and taking risks when I did not fully understand the ingredients or was pressed for time.” says Andrasik. Losing 40 lbs over one deployment is very unhealthy but Andrasik and many others are willing to fight for our country while fighting with their