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  • Jean Duane PhD
    Jean Duane PhD

    Adults with Food Sensitivities Living with Adults Without - A Survey and Study

    Reviewed and edited by a celiac disease expert.

    Journal of Gluten Sensitivity Spring 2017 Issue

    Adults with Food Sensitivities Living with Adults Without - A Survey and Study - Image: CC--Jason Taellious
    Caption: Image: CC--Jason Taellious

    Celiac.com 04/21/2017 - Adults who have gluten sensitivities cohabitating with non-gluten sensitive adults may have a lot of unanswered questions that need to be asked. Dramatic changes in one family member's diet can have profound effects on a household (Bacigalupe & Plocha, 2015). Numerous studies document how parents and children handle everyday living when the child has food intolerances, but very few studies focus on adults living with food sensitivities. Wouldn't you like to know how other adults with food sensitivities adapt and manage over the long haul? Questions like: Does the person with the sensitivity live in fear of cross-contamination? Does the household employ methods to ensure s/he is safe? If so, what are those methods? Do the non-sensitive members of the household feel resentment? Or have they grown weary of compliance over the long haul? How adherent is the sensitive adult? Is it worth a little risk for a little pleasure once in a while? What do these cohabitating adults do to exist gracefully? These questions will be asked in a forthcoming study (on Celiac.com), and the results will be shared with viewers/readers.

    Food allergies affect 15 million Americans (FARE, 2015), which means that adults with food sensitivities have gone from being rare to more commonplace as the population ages (Norling, 2012). Dietary restrictions due to disease will soon become common in many households and this can be problematic because severe dietary constraints are positively associated with diminished family social activities (Komulainen, 2010). Studies indicate that adults cohabitating, when one has food sensitivities and others do not, could potentially result in problems between members of the household creating feelings of uncertainty and potentially less adherence to the diet.

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    Regimented dietary requirements affect the quality of life when virtually every bite of food must be scrutinized before consumption. For some households, compliance may fall on the shoulders of the person who cooks. The cook in the household, caregivers, and everyone sharing the same kitchen, must be actively involved in protecting the person with the sensitivities keeping gluten-containing crumbs off the counter, out of condiment jars, thoroughly cleaning utensils, etc. (Crowley, 2012; Bollinger, 2005; Merras-Salmino et al., 2014). Of course, those living with sensitivities know there is a lot more to staying "clean and safe." Family members who share a home with someone with pervasive food sensitivities must express empathy to ensure harmony and compliance (Komulainen, 2010). However, compliance comes with a price -- every meal must be planned and cooked using alternative ingredients to avoid accidental ingestion. This takes diligence, education and ability to accomplish meal after meal (Jackson et al., 1985) especially when allergies are to ubiquitous foods such as dairy, soy, gluten or corn.

    Dietary restrictions can cause misgivings on the part of the other family members, who may feel deprived of their favorite foods, compromised with recipe adaptations, or forced to unwillingly comply with the other person's diet. On the contrary, the person with food sensitivity may feel pressure not to comply with the diet in order to conform to the other adult's culinary demands. In the Jackson et al. study, forty percent of people with Celiac disease did not comply with the diet because it was too difficult (1985). The relationship between the cohabitating adults may be further complicated as trust issues develop between the sensitive adult and the cook, if the sensitive adult suspects foods that make them sick are creeping into their diet. Other food-sensitive adults report non-adherence because it is "too much trouble" and causes "social isolation" (Coulson, 2007). Non-adherence for those with sensitivities can lead to reactions, anaphylactic shock and even to death (Lee et al., 2003). Even those who do not react immediately risk long-term illness with non-compliance.

    In my twelve years experience working with people in this arena, I have observed that dietary adherence in the household seems to go through phases. The first phase is what I'm calling the "transition" stage when a person is newly diagnosed, and everyone in the household is learning the new rules. The second stage is the "status quo" stage where cohabitants understand, and hopefully comply. Finally, the third stage is what I'm terming as 'turbulent' when other adult household inhabitants are feeling weary of compliance, may have doubts about the other's sensitivities, or even rebel. This stage may be triggered by an event that disrupts the "status quo", such as a holiday where traditional foods are expected, and where their gluten-free substitutions may not be as satisfying to the other household members. It may be triggered when the food sensitive adult decides they may be reacting to different foods than they thought before, and want to experiment with dietary changes. Dynamics between cohabitants may become turbulent during these times. After the event, the household adjusts back to equilibrium until the next triggering event, which throws them into a different part of this phase-cycle, where they may cheerfully welcome a "transition," or react with "turbulence." This cyclical pattern seems to continue as cohabitants move in and out of phases as life-events occur. One of the goals of this survey will be to determine the validity of this cycle.

    I also want to test the hypothesis that a component of household compliance may also be associated with the status of the adult who has the dietary restrictions – whether the head of the home enjoys full household compliance, or if a subordinate adult must comply while others are eating the foods s/he are sensitive to. Another factor that may affect compliance is how the sensitive adult was initially diagnosed. Did a medical doctor conduct tests? Or did they read an article, and notice that they had symptoms consistent with gluten sensitivity and decide to go "gluten free?" Does the diagnostic process affect the compliance of the other adult members of the household? There are many factors that need to be assessed in order to help those of us who have food sensitivities who are living with other adults.

    This survey/study will focus on family interactions when dealing with dietary restrictions, with the potential to increase family member's compliance. It will seek to gain insight on the impact food restrictions for one adult has on the rest of the family. This study has social significance because family unity in the future may rely on developing constructs for compliance to address this emerging social problem.

    I'll collect data for this study and then share it with Celiac.com and the Journal of Gluten Sensitivity readers in order to create awareness by thoroughly examining the lifestyle of food sensitive people, shedding light on how social influences affect dietary adherence. As a PhD student at the University of Denver, and an adult with Celiac disease and a lifetime of other food allergies, living with another adult who has no food sensitivities, I know first-hand that it takes cooperation and commitment from everyone to ensure my health. I hope the study can help others improve their quality of life with the insight gained from conducting this study. I'll be launching this study on Celiac.com.

    Thank you to Scott Adams for allowing this study to be conducted on Celiac.com.



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    Guest Mary Knight

    Posted

    Soon to be Dr. Duane. I look forward to your PhD research study. Your work will likely help me feel less alone and perhaps validated. I have been living this for years (likely misdiagnosed) and painfully so for over a year as gluten the first domino led to a plethora of more food intolerances and sensitivities. Good luck.

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    Guest Cindy

    Posted

    Is there a way to get involved in this study? Hopefully it will also include questions regarding the stability of the relationship for the celiac and the co-habitor as well as personality traits. I think that makes a lot of difference. It is not straight forward.

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    Guest Carol

    Posted

    I look forward to the study.

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    Guest Pippy

    Posted

    Looking forward to reading this study! Thank you Ms/Dr Duane.

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    Guest Lizzy

    In what medical journal can we find actual results from this study? 

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  • About Me

    Jean Duane PhD

    Dr. Jean Duane is a social scientist and author of Gluten Centric Culture – The Commensality Conundrum, which summarizes a nation-wide study on understanding the social aspects of food/gluten sensitivities and celiac disease. Join Dr. Duane for workshops on the step-by-step transformation process of living gracefully with food allergies. Cookbooks include Bake Deliciously! Gluten and Dairy Free Cookbook and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Gluten Free Cooking Cookbook. Dr. Duane produced several spots for Comcast's Video on Demand, made television appearances on PBS and has been a featured speaker at two International Association for Culinary Professionals' Conferences and at the Gluten Intolerance Group of North America's International Conference. Dr. Jean Duane is a certified chef, has an MBA, and a PhD. A researcher, cooking instructor, speaker, and magazine writer, she won Kiplinger's "Dream in You" contest in 2006. To sign up for workshops, discover nearly 50 FREE recipes, or to reach Dr. Duane, please visit alternativecook.com.


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