Do You Eat Gluten-Free?

[jacobsbd]

I am allergic to wheat. When I order at a restaurant I have to tell them that I can't have wheat. Then I tell them it makes me itch.

Otherwise they think I am just a fad dieter. They still get it wrong a great deal of the time. They also don't seem to trust what I tell them. I get questions like can you have mustard?

I have ordered food at a restaurant and asked if the item has carrots in it. I am told "No there are no carrots in our burritos" then when the food arrives and it has obvious carrots in it they barely mutter and apology and take it back to the kitchen. Then while everyone else eats and I wait they don't come back till they deliver the bill.

No food i can eat but my meal is still on the bill.

[palerider]

I am allergic to wheat. When I order at a restaurant I have to tell them that I can't have wheat. Then I tell them it makes me itch.

Otherwise they think I am just a fad dieter. They still get it wrong a great deal of the time. They also don't seem to trust what I tell them.

it's the fad dieters that cause you a lot of this trouble. I hang out on a professional chef's reddit and they're often posting mocking stories of people that say they're 'deathly allergic' to something and then end up ordering that, or turn around and say they were just saying that.

saying you have an allergy to something causes a LOT of trouble in a serious kitchen... stopping big interruption to the regular flow, wipe down everything, fresh knives, cutting boards etc.

gluten funnies: http://www.reddit.com/r/KitchenConfiden ... ance&t=all

[Paralel]

The gluten fad is a double-edged sword, like most things in life. Gluten-free food is more accessible for those that are genuinely afflicted by a gluten related disorder, such as celiac disease. The other side of it is that people take it less seriously now/completely ignore it thinking its a fad and nothing more, not knowing that for some people eating gluten could land them in the hospital.

[BlackSpinner]

Just great folks. America has an obesity epidemic therefor just mock any body who wants to eat healthier and better. Just a fad? How much do you weigh? How healthy do you eat?
There is 4 times the amount of Celiacs out there then was in the 70's and that is by doing a crappy blood test that reads negative a lot of the times. Eat you toxic wheat kiddies because it is hidden in EVERYTHING you buy along with a ton of sugar. But remember to feel superior and slam people who try to do something about it.

[Cereal Killer]

Eat you toxic wheat kiddies because it is hidden in EVERYTHING you buy along with a ton of sugar. But remember to feel superior and slam people who try to do something about it.

The issue is not about wheat. I strictly limit the amount of wheat and all other types of grain I consume. Wheat and sugar, as you know well, are high glycemic index/load with little vitamins, minerals and other things good for the human body and mind.

The issue is silliness over gluten sensitivity. The people who are trying to "do something about it" should have some correct information so that they spend their time/energy/money doing the right things. Instead they latch on to fads and waste their limited time/energy/money. Then they fail and latch on to the next fad that comes along.

How much do you weigh?

I will pose my firm body, narrow waist and flat stomach up against anyone's on this forum. Yes, some of that is genetics, but a lot of it is eating right and exercising. (and avoiding fads)

[Noctuary]

I was diagnosed 20 + years ago with a duodenal ulcer. I find that by eschewing bread that it doesn't bother me.

[Cereal Killer]

I was diagnosed 20 + years ago with a duodenal ulcer. I find that by eschewing bread that it doesn't bother me.

I bet you also changed some other things in your diet.

I developed a stomach ulcer when I got out of college, got my first job and lived on my own. I had been skipping breakfast, so I started back eating eggs, bacon/sausage and toast. The ulcer healed after some weeks and I became a lifelong breakfast eater and have never had another ulcer.

Now I do agree that strictly limiting grains in the diet is a very good thing to do. (I quit eating toast at breakfast some years ago.)

[Ogeo]

I'll go on a rant too. I can have the wheat (just can't be around the pollen in June and I live in Wheat country) but the baker's yeast is what I'm allergic to and they add yeast to more foods than you can imagine. A GF diet at restaurants is great for those who really need it. Me - I have to ask a million questions and lots of time the waitress has to go find out the answers before I can order. I'm getting pretty good at that and I'm finding that most restaurants are more than happy to put my hamburger in a tortilla instead of a bun if they carry that item. Rant over.

[archangle]

Celiac disease is a very real and serious disease with hard science and verifiable results. They can even tell you specific metabolic pathways of how it happens, show you pictures of the tissue damage, etc. It's also somewhat tricky to diagnose for some. In order to be tested, you have to go back to eating gluten for a period of weeks, then have a biopsy. There are some blood tests, but they're not necessarily "proven" or accepted yet.

As for those who think they have gluten problems but haven't been tested positive for celiac disease, screw you if you want to criticize. The test is expensive, invasive, and requires eating gluten for a long time and risking the damage gluten causes you. If gluten bothers you, do you care whether it's celiac or not? If you had the test and it says you have celiac, you're not going to eat gluten anyway because gluten bothers you.

The digestive system is complicated. It's entirely possible that gluten causes intestinal problems even if you don't have full blown diagnosable celiac disease. Do you really think you are qualified to tell someone else that the kind of food that they say bothers them doesn't actually affect them? If someone said that carrots give them the trots, would argue with them that they don't?

Now if someone's being a pain in the mask and is trying to convert you to the gluten free lifestyle or won't shut up about it, that's another thing entirely. I also have no tolerance for the idea that gluten is unhealthy in general.

[Cereal Killer]

Listen Arch, you make some good points, but

If gluten bothers you, do you care whether it's celiac or not?

not a one of my friends has solved anything by going gluten-free. They just added a talking point to make a big deal about at every meal. It gets very old.

[archangle]

Listen Arch, you make some good points, but

If gluten bothers you, do you care whether it's celiac or not?

not a one of my friends has solved anything by going gluten-free. They just added a talking point to make a big deal about at every meal. It gets very old.

Sounds like you need new friends. Or just tell them you're tired of hearing about it. If they weren't being a PITA about gluten, maybe they'd be a PITA about something else.

Do you really know they haven't solved anything? Do you know they're not feeling better, having less stomach problems, intestinal problems, etc.?

[chunkyfrog]

The world is full of people who insist the pain of others is imaginary.
We could wish upon them definitive proof they are mistaken--but that would be wrong.
--but we can imagine it.

[CowFish]

They just added a talking point to make a big deal about at every meal. It gets very old.

hahaha You can't get away from them. I was in line at a very nice buffet with plenty of healthy choices and a stranger behind me started telling me what was GF and what was not! hahaha

The world is full of people who insist the pain of others is imaginary.

Oh, I don't say these people don't have problems and they are probably even caused by years of eating a bad diet. But their problems are not gluten and going GF is not doing anything for them.

One of my dearest friends has celiac disease and gluten will make her extremely ill. She is the only one I know in this condition.

It is an insult to her that so many others act like gluten bothers them!

[ChicagoGranny]

They just added a talking point to make a big deal about at every meal. It gets very old.

OK, we got the point. Now you are going on and on.

[Cereal Killer]

Yes, you are right about that Granny. Bye for awhile.