How to be Your Own Gluten-free Diet Advocate

I can't agree more on how less spontaneous I can be now that I am gluten free. I attended a wedding this weekend where they served ice cream. My gluten-free daughter wanted some but the serving staff could not tell me if it was gluten free. I know. It was just vanilla ice cream. How could it possibly have gluten? Well, I was upset that the staff could not tell me the ingredients. My daughter at 4 years old proved to be more flexible than me and appeared not to care so much that we could not have the ice cream or the toppings since they were self-serve and the cookie crumb topping was right in the middle of the rest of the fruit toppings. Arrrrghh!!! Well, we had a wonderful time at the wedding without ice cream and without vomiting from accidental ingestion. When it comes to eating at someone else's house, my close friends already know that we only eat fruit and fresh veggies at their house and it has to be cut up on a plate (not on their cutting board). To one friend, I gave a cutting board to be kept gluten free at her house since my kids always end up at her house. So far, we have never had reactions from eating fruit and cut up veggies at friends' houses. On other occasions we just invite friends to our house for dinner or bring our dinner over to their houses. So far, it has worked out. But I never leave the house without back up food.

I know how it is. Good article!

What get's me is that these so-called natural stores don't seem to get that gluten free foods have to be stored SEPARATE from wheat, barley, and rye foods! I personally talked to that day manager as to why this isn't being done. Strangely enough, having a gluten sensitive herself and after being showed a shelf where gluten-free and regular boxed crackers where stored next to each other despite the fact that cross contamination could cause serious problems, we both promised to contact the stores headquarters with suggestions on arranging gluten-free items totally separate in area of the store. Still waiting on reply.

And as soon as my so-called friends found out about my gluten-free diagnosis, the invitations stopped coming. And I no longer try to make friends. SUCKS!

Being recently diagnosed with 30+ years of gluten loving happily shoveled down my throat and an 8-year old still grieving the end of fast food mostly burgers it's hard. Unlike peanut or shellfish allergies where you can see an reaction I get that eye roll of here we go, you're just a trend following yuppie parent with a groan in passing. Eating now becomes a scavenger hunt with passing the boxes or bags between both parents before hoping what they say is true and it doesn't taste or resemble pretend food. I've only met one server that understood my grilling or great at practicing their acting skills. There's so many hidden gluten sources I can relate to the wedding ice cream post. Why would you need any gluten in basic not mixed with toppings flavors? I don't know other than to cut production costs. My daughter is so freaked that she'll ingest some by accident and miss school mostly a fun activity at school. Her worst was after eating a normal sized muffin, it was a week nursing her stomach trying to rebuild her gut because there's no meds to negate it overnight that I know of. Where the most judgement comes from is at her school. Why can't she have one pancake not like she's going to stop breathing. We have to adjust our whole class party because your kid can't eat normal food grumble even if I offer to provide her food and hover over it to make sure her plate isn't mixed up. If she had a nut allergy it would be pity and due diligence but I feel like a nutjob saying no it's a real condition wanting to scream, "well do you want to clean up her vomit or sit with her on the toilet be my guest." I have to be that mom that says no to everything or pack a lunch for parties hoping she doesn't get tempted by her friends. I can send the links and all that but since they can't see a reaction then it's not that bad a little won't hurt.