Miss Universe Harnaaz Sandhu discusses her battle with celiac disease; learn everything you need to know about the condition

Miss Universe 2021 Harnaaz Sandhu, who is presently in India, recently walked the Lakme Fashion Week runway for designer duo Shivan and Narresh. While she was praised for her marvelous style, she was mocked for her excess weight.

She recently said in an interview, “Many people do not know I am allergic to gluten. I’m one of those individuals who was first bullied that ‘she’s too skinny and now they bully me by saying ‘she’s fat’. Nobody knows about my celiac disease. That I can’t eat wheat flour and many other things.”

She further explained, “When you go to a village, you see changes in your body. And I went to New York for the very first time, it’s is a whole other world altogether.”

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that is caused by the consumption of gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. "When someone with celiac disease consumes gluten-containing foods, their body overreacts to the protein and damages their villi, which are small finger-like projections found along the wall of their small intestine." And if your villi are damaged, your small intestine will be unable to absorb nutrients from food," Payal Sharma, Senior Dietitian, and Nutritionist at Dharamshila Narayana Superspeciality Hospital, explained.

Celiac disease, according to the expert, can cause malnutrition, bone density loss, miscarriage, infertility, neurological diseases, and certain cancers.