Entertainment
Miss Universe reveals celiac disease after weight criticism
Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu cleared up rumors and proved once again that anyone is prone to suffer from any kind of disease
April 7, 2022 10:41am
Updated: April 7, 2022 3:42pm
At one point in her career, Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu was widely criticized for being extremely thin. Now, many have singled Miss Universe out for gaining weight.
That is why the Indian model had to clarify the rumors and prove once again that anyone can suffer from any kind of disease, even beauty queens.
"About 10-30 percent of the world's population suffers from food allergies. I have a gluten allergy which is common and can be linked to a large proportion of people worldwide, which can be controlled by simply eliminating some food groups from the diet. Thank you for understanding," Harnaaz said on Twitter.
Around 10-30% of the global population suffer from food allergies. I am having gluten allergy that is common and relatable to a major proportion of people worldwide which is manageable by just eliminating a few food groups from the diet.
— Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu (@HarnaazKaur) April 3, 2022
Thank you for understanding. @MissUniverse
"The shape of your mind is more important than the shape of your body," she also wrote on Twitter.
Speaking to PTI Harnaaz, she said she suffers from celiac disease, an immune reaction to eating gluten, a protein found in foods such as wheat, barley, and rye.
"I'm one of those people who first got picked on by saying 'you're too skinny' and now they bully me by saying 'you're fat.' No one knows about my celiac disease. That I can't eat wheat flour and many other things," she confessed.
She also commented on the changes her body has undergone when moving from one city to another. "When you go to a town, you see changes in your body. And I went to New York for the first time... It's a whole different world," she said.
"I am someone who believes in body positivity and one of the Miss Universes for the first time is going through that. On the Miss Universe platform, we talk about women empowerment, femininity and body positivity. And if I go through that... I know there are a lot of people who are trolling me and that's fine because that's their mentality, their stigmas, but there are a lot of other people who are trolled every day, regardless of their Miss Universe or not. I'm empowering them by making them feel that if I feel beautiful, you are beautiful too," she said.
