So you probably have heard at some point in your life, someone mention the word “gluten” or perhaps you were in a supermarket and saw a product that was labeled “gluten-free“. Maybe you thought to yourself, “Well Geez….what is gluten and why are people making such a big deal about it?” Or maybe you’ve even considered going “gluten-free” yourself because you’ve heard about some of the positive aspects of doing so. Well for people like me that have to eat things that are gluten-free, there’s always a story behind this process.
How it started:
In 2005, I was noticing slowly and slowly that the things I was eating were making me sick. It started off little things until one night after a heavy meal at a seafood restaurant, I got really sick and remained so for about a week. Not too long after, I was diagnosed with a condition called Celiac Disease which basically means that I”m allergic to gluten, which is basically a protein found in wheat and other grains similar to wheat like barley and rye. In addition to that, sometimes having Celiac Disease means you can’t properly digest lactose either, which is found in dairy products so I’m also lactose intolerant. Some people are just born with these conditions and don’t know any differently but unfortunately for me, I had spent the first 18 years of my life eating whatever I wanted without the side effect of an allergic reaction. Once I discovered my allergies, I was, needless to say devastated.
The Long Journey:
I’ve always been a really picky eater so to find out that I had to basically change my entire diet did not sit well with me. I was so reluctant to try the products that were gluten-free like the breads especially because I thought they would be nasty (and don’t get me wrong, some of them were) but I sucked it up and tried them anyway because the alternative, not having anything to eat or eating the wrong thing was much worse.
The next seven years was spent finding “dupes” for the things I loved to eat and alternative ways of making them. So naturally, all the sweets stuff was first. I replaced dairy ice cream with soy milk ice cream (my favorite brand is Purely Decadent from Soy Delicious). Baked goods like cake were easy because all I had to do was replace the wheat flour with gluten free flour and the milk with a Lactose Free version like Farmland Dairies Special Request Lactose Free Skim Plus Milk. Then the more savory items that required the use of either flour or milk (like fried chicken, gravy, mashed potatoes, cheese, pizza, etc…) came next. Now that I’ve had a lot of time to experiment, I’ve pretty much mastered alternatives to my favorite dishes. I even have the “non-celiac diseased” members of my family and friends eating this stuff too!
The Drawbacks:
Even after all this time there are still things that bother me about my allergies. The main thing is what I refer to as “outside food.” Its hard for me to find anything substantial to eat at restaurants or fast food places because nearly everything has gluten and or dairy in it. Just think about the menu from MacDonald’s for example…hamburgers? No. Fruit Parfait? No. I can’t even eat their french fries because, guess what…they have gluten in them! If that wasn’t bad enough, when I do go out to restaurants with friends or family, I have to endure the psychological pain of watching them eat all this yummy food while I’m stuck with something like a grilled chicken salad. This usually results in me bringing food with me almost everywhere I go just so I don’t starve.
I do have a few go to places when it comes to “outside food” like basically any Chinese food restaurant which is, for the most party, dairy free and it’s easy to distinguish what has gluten in it or not. And more and more restaurants, supermarkets and stores and slowly but surely adding gluten free menus and items to their stock. I was so ecstatic when Bisquick came out with a gluten free pancake mix! (I’m just waiting for Ihop to get the hint!)
I basically wrote this post in hopes that someone who is recently diagnosed will read it and know that 1. They’re not alone and 2. It does get better. Back when I was diagnosed, there was very little information I could find about gluten free diets and now there are cookbooks, websites, organizations, blogs, bakeries and so much more!
I hope you enjoyed this reeealllly long post! And now I gotta go because all this talk about food made me hungry!
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