It’s funny – I’ve noticed myself occasionally apologizing to a waiter for having to be gluten free. I think it’s because of all the negative press the gluten free industry is getting – that maybe people don’t really need to be gluten free. Some say that it’s in “fashion” to say that you are gluten free even if you aren’t for medical reasons. And some are even stating that even with the diagnosis of gluten intolerance that maybe you can eat gluten every once in a while! Can you believe that?? A lot of people (and including my doctor) say that if you need to stay away from gluten for medical reasons, then you need to stay away from gluten altogether! Seems logical to me – I don’t know why other people can’t understand that. You know what I say to those people when they say to me, “Oh, a little bit is not going to kill you!” I say, “Well, here’s some rat poison – a little bit won’t kill you, here, go ahead, have some.” They don’t have much to say after that.
I think the wheat industry is also purporting a lot of negative press – big surprise there! It’s their entire industry we are staying away from and it hurts their bottom line. Funny, but I don’t feel bad about saying that I have to be corn free – they seem to be a bit more empathetic about that one. Last night the waitress said, “Oh, you’re gluten free AND corn free?” Anyway, I’m not apologizing anymore! It’s poison to my body and if they don’t understand that, then tough cookies (g-free of course)!
Hi Shelley.
I know, right?
I have a list of issues to deal with, as in gluten, oats(even g/f), dairy, pine nuts(only that nut) and soya. The list keeps growing too. Even family get togethers are an issue as they’ll have ice cream with cones after a bbq with rolls and pasta salad and things like that. I don’t mind too much if there’s a warning so I know what to bring with.
Thanks for all the research done.