The real deal on eating gluten free

In recent months and years I have become quite popular at social gatherings and it is not always due to how much people actually prefer my company but by the disbelief and questions involving my inability to eat gluten. Within these interactions, the males tend to retreat in disbelief and state, “You can’t F*%^i$ eat anything” and at least one female sizes me up and down and categorizes me as slim or not.  Based on their perception they they then approach and probe with questions like, “So how did you feel when you would eat gluten?” and “How much weight did you lose?” soon comes after.

With gluten free being the hottest label that merchants can put on their items, many people truly do not understand the genuine challenges that a person with this issue may face and by genuine, I am not referring to your new found promise to your trainer to avoid carbohydrates or your color coded containers that allow you a morsel or two of gluten based foods but the real fine print that comes with such as diagnosis.  Don’t get me wrong, it has been life changing and has awarded me some benefits especially to my health but it has not always been easy.

So here goes. Here are ten real issues that a person having to avoid gluten has to face: 

1. NO cheats allowed

 We cannot cheat EVER…in fact even cheating just once can have severe repercussions on our bodies that range from individual to individual and can take out bodies anywhere from 48 hours to weeks to completely eliminate from our system.

I will never forget an acquaintance that told me that she couldn’t eat gluten because she had a gluten sensitivity and it nearly cost her an operation to repair the damage in her intestines.  Fast forward a few months later at an event I watched in dismay as she shoveled Italian homemade pizza in her mouth bite after bite. She justified it by saying that “lately she was feeling fine when ingesting it”.  People that truly have a celiac or gluten intolerane problem are not ever able to go back to ingesting gluten. EVER. Period.

2. What weight loss?

Although it is true that your body may shed some weight when initially cutting out gluten, like anything our bodies also are made from an evolutionary perspective to constantly adjust and adapt.  If it were that easy for us to lose weight, no one would be carrying around excess weight. We would all be mean lean machines.  Those that do not have a gluten issue may lose weight initially but then when you reintroduce the items, you will likely gain it back, the same way most people regain their muffin tops every holiday season.

Those of us that actually do have to stay off gluten for life, well in our case, losing any weight sometimes can be even more difficult as we have made so many cuts and adjustments that our body may go into starvation mode and store calories.  I would win a contest on being the most clean and healthiest eater from all of my entourage.  I cook fresh healthy clean meals and have done so for years.  So when friends suddenly lose weight because they decided to eat healthy, this can be frustrating for us “celiac folk” because many of us already do eat healthy and have not reaped the same bonus.

3. Gluten free options are not always healthy

Eating a rich diet in nutrients and unprocessed foods is healthy, but you must caution with gluten free items.  The flours used to make gluten free items may contain more starch and sugar than regular gluten filled items or empty calories.   May I add that potatoe starch is not good for your waistline period whether they are in your gluten free items or not.  Do not assume that gluten free items are better.  Sometimes they are but sometimes they are not.  

4. Eliminates choice

Here is a picture of my garden.

What may not be obvious in this picture is that it is November 12th.  I have been grazing with the salad in my garden like a cow since May and quite frankly do not need to eat another salad.  I love salad but when I go to a restaurant and a friend excitedly tells you that you can eat a salad that is real lame.  If it is so appealing why are you not ordering it yourself? The whole point of going to a restaurant is the element of choice and when you remove that it may remove the pleasure of going out to begin with. With time, we are seeing many more choices being offered by restaurants; however, there is still much more improvement to be made.

5. Cross contamination is a real deal

It makes my life ten times more difficult and thanks to many of you and your internet fad diets people are just not getting the danger of cross contamination.  Those of you following fad diets will NOT get sick or be endangered if their chicken was grilled on the same grill as the garlic bread you eat and lick your fingers with but we will.  Cross contamination does not only mean not making items touch but also ensuring that there is no contact at all. A person with celiac disease cannot consume more than 5 micro-units of gluten.  Look up what a micro-unit of gluten means and you will see that it is the equivalent to one microscopic crumb.  That’s all it takes to get me sick and having experienced this it is not walk in the park.  

6. It’s not your place to decide how bad the symptoms are.  

Many people will ask “What’s the worst that will happen?” and look at you wide eyed expecting you to say something along the lines of “I will implode” The truth is some people may have different symptoms, each time, depending on how much or little they have ingested, how many times they have been sick, and so on.  Many of you will listen to our symptoms and judge them to be “not so bad” but the thing is,  it’s not your disease to live with so it’s not up to you to decide how bad the symptoms may or may not be. The real deal is that gluten will eat away at our intestines and put us at risk for other medical issues including cancer.  How’s that for bad?

7. Not everything is replaceable

I appreciate how much my family and friends mean well and want to bake you some treats or feed you things they believe may be gluten free but some things just do not taste as good.  After three years there are some things I have had that are OUTSTANDING and better than the gluten versions (stay tuned for my go to places in an upcoming blog) and others that are not at all the same.  A good Montreal bagel is just not replaceable. While it may be so kind of you to think of us and buy us some gluten free cookies that you found on a shelf, they may really taste terrible so if you want to help, you are better off asking us for advice or brace yourself for witnessing a good case of the gags.

8. Gluten is in EVERYTHING

When avoiding gluten it is not just about not eating breads, cookies or pasta based foods. When I say it is in everything, let me tell you it is actually hidden in many foods that it should not be in.  Many restaurants use flour or other gluten items to thicken their sauces, or add some texture to their foods.  Coming from an Italian heritage where my parents always taught me to cook from fresh local ingredients and to make everything from scratch, I find it appaling that anyone would tamper with basic fresh ingredients, but many people and places do.  Gluten can be present in spreads, shelled nuts packages, salad dressings, soy sauce and more.  Living with celiac disease means we must constantly be reading every single food label or ask a ton of questions to ensure that it does not have any gluten or that it has not been processed in a facility where cross contamination can occur.  

9. Celiac disease  can lead to other dietary or autoimmune issues

Being diagnosed with celiac disease should come with a welcome booklet.  Welcome to a family of autoimmune disorders or many other ailments and vulnerabilities that your body will encounter.  The doctors warned me that celiac disease and other autoimmune issues may arise within months or a few years.  As predicted, a few years later, I am now suffering from skin inflammation, chronic hives and a slew of possible food or other allergies that no one seems to be able to pinpoint their root causes.  So excuse me for being cynical, but I have no patience for people and their fad diets when I can’t even eat a tomatoe because it will produce a high level of histamine in my body.

10. A pricey lifestyle

I find it wonderful that many people I know make enough of an income to be able to enjoy entertainment such as eating out yet this is not my reality.  I spend probably the equivalent of a mortgage to ensuring that I get to eat gluten free items that are safe.  While you can eat your Planters Peanuts at $1.99 a package, a 200 gram package of pistachios that are certified gluten free will cost me $16.99.  I most likely am being ripped off but the alternative which is getting sick is not any more appealing so I will let my wallet take the hit to do my best to stay healthy.  Care to indulge in some morning toast? That will cost you $8.00 a loaf my friend.

So the next time that you want to forsake your morning toast because your Instagram group would not approve or you offer your gluten free friend a salad while you chomp away at the greasiest meal on the menu, be a gem and understand that while being gluten free may have its health benefits for the person that has to endure it, it does have a heavy price to pay personally, socially, medically and financially.  

Thanks for your understanding and eat a cannoli while you can.  Life can bring an onset of unwanted or unexpected ailments and you never know when simple pleasures will be taken away from you.