Pseudo Coeliacs

[come dance with me]

Just a minor vent, I suppose.  We went on a family road trip last weekend while my brother was down here visiting and my dad and his wife invited their friend along.  I'd met her before, she came for dinner one night and was a bit excited to find out that all my cooking is gluten free due to my child being coeliac, and that we also do not eat meat.  She's vegetarian and coeliac, so she told me, and even on our road trip we drove past KR Castlemaine where the ham and bacon products come from and she started getting upset about the treatment of pigs and saying this is why she can't stand the thought of eating them.  Anyway we were discussing where to go for lunch and I said there was one place I know that has gluten free, vegan options in one little town and also an Indian place where all the curries are gluten free and a couple of them are vegan.  This friend then told my brother that she, too, is coeliac so it's good to know she doesn't have to worry when she's with us.

 

Fast forward to lunch time, we made sure we were in that particular town at lunch time and went to the cafe, although we did check out the menu at other places.  I ordered a roast vege toasted sandwich to share with my daughter which was vegan provided no spread was used, and it was delicious.  I even had to double check the bread was gluten free it was so yummy! We also had the garden salad with it to share.  Friend, on the other hand, ordered a salmon wrap which was not vegetarian, nor gluten free!  All the while saying out loud in the cafe that she's a vegetarian coeliac!  The staff gave me "the look" whereby I knew they were thinking what I was thinking, but I still felt nervous about other people in the cafe who might now think that wraps are fine for coeliacs!

 

It's her life, her business, she might well be coeliac and willing to eat it at the risk of feeling very sick later on, but I think people being vocal like that about it then ordering something that isn't gluten free really does make it more difficult for everyone.  Like I said, just a minor vent but it's been playing on my mind for a full week now!

 

Happy Easter everyone, hope you have a good one

[NoGlutenCooties]

Wow.  People that call themselves vegetarian and still eat fish annoy the hell out of me.  (Personally I could never survive as a vegetarian... but don't be fake about it.)

And anyone who is Celiac - or calls themselves Celiac - and then orders a regular wrap deserves what they get.  Part of me hopes she was up half the night running to the bathroom...

[moosemalibu]

That really grinds my gears. She's not  a vegetarian she's a pescetarian. And the fact that she ordered a glutenous lunch is irritating and particular rude and misleading. Perhaps she's a silent celiac and doesn't understand the ramifications of cheating?

[BlessedMommy]

It is totally irritating! People can cheat or do whatever they want, just be quiet about it. Don't say that you're celiac and and then proceed to just eat whatever, it just makes it for people who are doing their best to eat 100% gluten-free. 

 

It doesn't really matter what people eat, provided that they don't mislabel it and make it harder for the next guy. Oy!

[Monklady123]

These kind of people annoy me because of what it might be "teaching" the servers in restaurants. If I go out and have a salad I ask to see the ingredients in the dressing. My friend who is gluten free "because I need to lose weight" (ugh) eats her croutons and whatever dressing she wants. But she's "gluten free" because she's given up pasta and bread. No, you are "low carb" maybe but you are not gluten free! 

[dilettantesteph]

That makes me mad because it makes people not take seriously those of us who get very sick from gluten contamination.  It is easy to see how someone might think that a little bit won't hurt when some idiot like that person is demonstating that "fact" before their very eyes.  It's their business, but: Grrr!!

[NoGlutenCooties]

Yep - on the rare occassion that I brave going to a restaurant I tell the server.. I'm gluten intolerant.  I'm not one of those annoying people to claim to be "gluten free" because they think it sounds cool.  If I get so much as a crumb I will actually get very, very ill.

[come dance with me]

My daughter got sick at school when she had a fruit salad that was being prepared on the board beside where sandwiches were being made.  The tuckshop staff were unaware of her condition (second day at a new school, I hadn't ordered tuckshop but miscommunication between myself, my daughter and the teacher meant she had a fruit salad) so didn't know to do the fruit salads first, seal the tubs then start on sandwiches which they now do.  She was sick for days, which is why I even questioned it having not been told she had a fruit salad at school.

[GluFree4Me]

I actually had a conversation on the phone today about this very thing.  Celiac or not, if you are gluten free for ANY health reason, I'm backing you up one thousand percent.  However, if you come off with "to lose weight," "because *insert your favorite "gluten-free" celeb here* is doing it" or even start to say the word "trendy," I sincerely want to punch you in the face.  That makes it so much harder for us, people who have to take her gluten-free diet seriously or intense ramifications occur.  Also, it is highly irresponsible to loudly proclaim your "gluten-freeness" while chowing down on a gluteny wrap.  I'm also a type 1 diabetic, and I would never use diabetes as an excuse to get out of, say, eating something I don't like. The person I say that to may go the rest of their lives thinking that diabetics cannot eat said food.  There is enough ignorance about diseases in this world, and that is simply contributing to that.

[NoGlutenCooties]

I actually had a conversation on the phone today about this very thing.  Celiac or not, if you are gluten free for ANY health reason, I'm backing you up one thousand percent.  However, if you come off with "to lose weight," "because *insert your favorite "gluten-free" celeb here* is doing it" or even start to say the word "trendy," I sincerely want to punch you in the face.  That makes it so much harder for us, people who have to take her gluten-free diet seriously or intense ramifications occur.  Also, it is highly irresponsible to loudly proclaim your "gluten-freeness" while chowing down on a gluteny wrap.  I'm also a type 1 diabetic, and I would never use diabetes as an excuse to get out of, say, eating something I don't like. The person I say that to may go the rest of their lives thinking that diabetics cannot eat said food.  There is enough ignorance about diseases in this world, and that is simply contributing to that.

 

I'm with you!  When I first told a friend of mine about the whole Celiac diagnosis and what I couldn't eat, etc. her first question was, "have you lost weight?" - I'm skinny.  Always have been.  There have been times in my life when I have needed to gain weight and couldn't.  But I have never been chubby, let alone needing to lose weight.  I just answered her, "No, thank God!"

[BlessedMommy]

Yeah, I don't get the whole gluten and weight thing myself.

 

My theory is if someone lost weight by cutting down on gluten or going gluten-free that it was because they cut down on processed foods and sugars and ate more fruits, veggies, lean protein, etc. not necessarily because gluten itself had that much to do with it.

 

One side effect of going gluten-free is that I can never eat the cake or cookies at potluck dinner. LOL!

[kareng]

I know lots of people lose weight on a "gluten-free diet" because they cut out the large amounts of bread and pasta they were eating.  Also, stopped all the fast food.  

[BlessedMommy]

^Yes, exactly!

[GluFree4Me]

Before my diagnosis, I was heavier than I am now.  If I look at gluten funny, I gain weight.  I can't explain it, but it's true.  So, I guess going gluten free made me lose weight...but that's now why I'm gluten free!  I really don't understand how some of us can be super skinny before we are diagnosed (that one makes sense, since we are malnourished), but then some of us are overweight.  The world may never know.

[kareng]

Before my diagnosis, I was heavier than I am now.  If I look at gluten funny, I gain weight.  I can't explain it, but it's true.  So, I guess going gluten free made me lose weight...but that's now why I'm gluten free!  I really don't understand how some of us can be super skinny before we are diagnosed (that one makes sense, since we are malnourished), but then some of us are overweight.  The world may never know.

I thought you were diagnosed with Celiac disease? The weight lose should just be a happy side effect of eating gluten-free for your Celiac disease health. But, I guess if weight lose is what motivates you to stay gluten-free....Ok.... I just worry you won't care about your weight one day or decide it is OK to gain a little , and start eating a bit of gluten here and there.

[GluFree4Me]

Oh, no, I am diagnosed! I meant that's not why I'm gluten free instead of that's now why I'm gluten free (night shift is killing me right now) so sorry about that! I felt so miserable after my suprise glutening last week, that I can honestly say I will never willingly eat gluten.

 

So sorry about the mix up! 

[come dance with me]

My daughter was super, extra skinny before diagnosis because the food she was eating was going straight through her, she wasn't keeping enough in to be of a healthy weight.  She's still thin, but she does dancing, gymnastics, martial arts, AFL, netball and swimming, but she's not skeleton thin and unhealthy looking anymore.  I guess it's about how your body absorbs the food.

 

People can be on a strict gluten free diet for a number of reasons, I'm not judging anyone, I just don't like when people claim it then straight up order something that isn't gluten free.  Even with the vegetarian ones, it's people like her who are the reason other vegetarians are offered fish, it's hard enough for people to understand without others confusing matters.