Gluten free problems suck. I’ve been gluten free for four years now, since a test showed that I have coeliac disease, and it’s one of the hardest diets that I’ve ever done. I’ve never had to check packets and ingredients so carefully! It seems that it’s not just coeliacs that are ditching the gluten, though. More and more diets are recommending cutting down the amount that you consume, too. If you’re following one, or thinking about it, you’ll definitely recognize these gluten free problems!
Yep, this has to be the most annoying of all the gluten free problems. You have to check the ingredients on absolutely everything. You have to ask the waiter to find out what you can safely eat in the restaurant – it’s not as simple as looking for the “gluten free” mark, because those dishes are usually cooked using the same utensils as standard dishes, so gluten cross-contaminates both meals. And you have to read the packet again every month, just incase there has been an ingredient change, unless you want to be caught out. The month you don’t look will definitely be the month that it changes!
If you’re going gluten free, you better get used to eating salad. Gluten free bread is usually pretty gross – my nieces and nephews find it hilarious that something so rock-like is known as ‘bread’ – and nobody knows if there is gluten in dressings like mayonnaise or honey mustard. So that means you get a salad, tossed in oil. ALL. THE. TIME.
After calling in advance and telling the waiter that you can’t have gluten, your food still comes with croutons. It doesn’t matter if it’s soup or salad, if the menu mentioned croutons or not, you can guarantee that the little squares of gluten-y goodness will be floating around somewhere, just waiting for you to eat them.
The worst thing about the new sushi trend? Gluten free soy sauce is more expensive, and it’s hardly ever available. Even if restaurants do have it, you can guarantee that it’ll be one almost-empty bottle that another table has already laid claim too. Which means that when you go for sushi, you have to take your own soy sauce – and even if you take a new one, you’ll need multiple bags to stop it leaking in your purse on the way back. Grrr.
You’ll need to get used to allocating around a third of your suitcase to food. I don’t mean secret chocolate bars, either. I mean something that you can eat for breakfast every day when hotels bring out those croissants, or snack on instead of bread rolls in restaurants. Which means a whole lot less clothes and shoes, unless you buy extra luggage.
Forget saving money by stocking up on own-brand products. Most gluten free products cost at least double the price of the regular version, and sometimes more. There are loads of things that don’t come in a gluten-free version yet, too. It’s rubbish.
No potatoes don’t contain gluten. And yes, you can eat rice. And you are totally sure, and you don’t need them to look it up on Google, or ask their mum, or tell you about the time they last ate something that disagreed with them. It’s borne out of concern, but boy is it annoying when it gets to the two-hundreth time…rice and potatoes are major gluten free problems!
That’s not to mention the guilt trip when you visit a bakery or a nice little old lady offers you “just a bite” of gluten food or cheesecake…explaining why one little bite WILL harm has to be one of the toughest gluten free problems. Are you gluten free? Does it cause you any problems?