The Importance Of Being Gluten Free Diet

📌Category: Food, Health, Health Care
📌Words: 828
📌Pages: 4
📌Published: 22 January 2022

Imagine going to eat out with close friends, who believe the food is safe for one to eat, but you cannot order anything on the menu. Eating at restaurants should be safe for everyone. Sadly, when it comes to ordering food, the descriptions are not always accurate. If someone orders a peanut free dish, one would assume it is safe for people with a peanut allergy to eat. However, when it comes to gluten free options, many times it is unsafe for me to eat. With lack of knowledge, restaurants may falsely label something as gluten free without taking the time to learn about gluten and cross contamination, which needs to change.

Cross contamination occurs when gluten free food comes in contact with gluten.  Gluten is a protein found naturally in wheat, barley and rye. In people with celiac disease, even a crumb of gluten could make them sick for a week. Holly Strawbridge, a writer for Harvard Health, describes how for celiacs “... gluten in the bloodstream triggers an immune response that damages the lining of the small intestine. This can interfere with the absorption of nutrients from food, cause a host of symptoms, and lead to other problems like osteoporosis, infertility, nerve damage, and seizures.” Most people know gluten free as a fad diet, but for me it is how I must live. 

At twelve years old, I received a diagnosis for celiac disease. While waiting for my results, we traveled to Frontier City, a small amusement park in OK. Seemingly straightforward, we thought living gluten free meant not eating bread, from an uneducated viewpoint on cross contamination. I thought that taking bread off a barbecue sandwich meant the meat met the gluten free requirements. Bread aside, the barbecue sauce likely contained gluten. Once my results came back positive, we purchased books explaining about living gluten free. We bought Suzanne Bowland’s book Living Gluten- Free. As president of GF Culinary Productions, Inc. , a company devoted to building awareness to how hard the gluten-free lifestyle is, Bowland states in her book, “Some small glutens are elemental to certain recipes or styles of food preparation and can’t necessarily be removed. These can include breading on meats, flour for dusting meats, crusts used for desserts, flour for sauteing, breadcrumbs for meatloaf, flour to thicken soups, wheat scratch in frozen French fries...You should always be on the lookout for gluten in things used for dressing up a meal, like… gravies, salad dressings, flavorings, spice mixes, and dairy products unless you ask and have the server investigate the product label.” 

The textbook definition of gluten neglects to describe cross contamination and hidden gluten, leading readers’ misassumptions that the gluten-free diet is simple. Weight loss programs suggest the gluten-free diet as an easy way to lose weight. Eating less sugary pastries helps with weight loss, but the alternatives to wheat bread are more fattening, made from sugar, rice, and potatoes. Places romanticize the gluten free diet without taking precautions. Beth Hillson, founder of the Gluten-Free Pantry, states “These days there’s no excuse for restaurants not being fully educated about gluten-free options. The challenge is that so many people have chosen the gluten-free lifestyle as a lifestyle, not a medical choice.”

 Domino's, a prime example of falsely claiming to offer gluten free accommodations, offer a gluten free crust, unfortunately they use the same tools to cut wheat pizza. Domino's is not alone, often at pizza eateries flour is thrown around and contaminates other food. At these restaurants they offer salad, which is naturally gluten free. Most people assume salad would be safe at these pizzerias; however, the same chefs preparing the food use the same cutting board as gluten food or possibly add wheat containing dressings. A cheap way to add thickener to sauce uses gluten. Another way cross contamination occurs when wheat compromises gluten free food cooked in the same water, oil, or grill.  

Some places understand cross contamination. One of my favorite joints, Five Guys, takes gluten free seriously. I always order a hamburger patty, without a bun, and fries. Only fries are cooked in the oil and the employees change their gloves before preparing the food. Fries cooked with gluten containing foods would be unsafe. From Wendy’s and McAlister's Deli, I always safely eat plain baked potatoes. While places like these are comforting to have, it is hard having limited food choices. 

The most magical place in the world, Disney World in Florida, is notorious with celiacs for their safe and delicious food. Fish and chips, noodles, churros all are prepared safe for me to eat. At Universal Studios they provide buns for hamburgers, turkey legs, corn on the cob, and French toast. It meant a lot for me to eat normal food, without restrictions. That feeling of eating a hearty meal with other people is magic.

Since most places lack the proper knowledge of cross contamination like Disney World, I always research beforehand. On the surface eating gluten free seems uncomplicated, but with inaccurate labels it makes it difficult to eat safely. Restaurants need to take the effort to learn what labels they are putting on their foods. When a menu says an entree contains no gluten, one should be able to trust it is safe. I do not expect restaurants to offer gluten free food. If they offer options, businesses should take it as seriously as any food allergy.

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