To ask if everyone who is 'gluten-free' has an actual allergy to it?

[Caribou58]

I'm not being disingenuous here. Time was when people suffering from coeliac disease were few and far between, but yet another acquaintance has declared themselves suddenly 'gluten-free' (when we were out as a group for dinner recently).

I wasn't near enough to ask her about it discreetly.

Has there been a sudden upsurge in allergies?

@DoJo

How did you get a diagnosis so quickly for a baby?

Someone I work with is gluten free. She has read all sorts on the internet and apparently gluten is the devil an no one should be touching it. I have no idea if she has a point as she reads so much about everything on the internet I don't listen any more.

What foods would someone who is gluten free be avoiding?

I'm coeliac so am gluten-free and I know a few people who are g-f but not coeliac.

The way I look at it, is when I was first diagnosed many years ago, there was some g-f stuff but not tons - you had to look fairly hard, go to organic/wholefood-type shops and generally eating out was fairly tricky.

These days because it's all the rage, I've got whole sections of supermarkets to choose from and most restaurants have lovely clearly marked menus and g-f choices. So although I sometimes want to say "I'm a REAL coeliac", I'm just grateful that there's lots of choice now and it's far less tricky when I'm out and about

Meglet Soy sauce was one of mine too - a teaspoonful in a chicken marinade and all hell broke loose.

I've got a medically diagnosed allergy to wheat. I ask for gluten-free food because it covers wheat-free. The disdain people express for people who ask for gluten-free food is deeply deeply deeply unhelpful. No, I am not coeliac. Please don't spread the word that we are all attention-seeking faddists. You haven't got access to people's medical records.

DH and I both suffer from unexplained ongoing stomach / bowel issues, dispite tests. We did an food elimination diet and we both have an intolerance to gluten. Whenever we try to include some gluten now, we feel tired, achy and sick. I’m starting to wonder if we both need to be tested for celiac. As a carb addict who loves pasta, bread and also eating out and Chinese , it’s not something I’d choose to cut out, if it didn’t makes us feel so sick. I’m just hoping it’s only an intolerance, so I can occasionally have something naughty.

My DH doesn’t eat much gluten, he’s not gluten free but eats a reduced gluten diet. He has asthma, eczema and IBS and they all get worse if he’s eaten a lot of bread for example, especially the IBS.

lamerde He was showing signs of pain which wasn't cured by a range of treatments for reflux, so he was referred for a blood test which came back positive. He is one of the youngest to be diagnosed by the clinic he is under, and the information about breastfeeding is limited, presumably for this reason, but if I eat gluten it definitely affects him negatively.

It remains very hard indeed to get an allergy diagnosis, and even a coeliac diagnosis, so people acting on "gut instinct" (haha) should be respected. And I agree with DottyDot. Why a tiny minority of coeliacs get huffy about it, I'll never understand. There are other diagnoses in the world.

I would say all people who eat gluten free feel they have a reason to eat gluten free and it’s not really any of your business?

Coeliac here, diagnosed at the age of 13 when all you could get was shitty biscuits on prescription. It’s SO much easier to eat out now, it’s great.

My husband has just been diagnosed coeliac after blood tests and an endoscopy. He doesn't really have symptoms apart from occasional bloating- but it's the damage it is doing to his body as an Auto Immune Disease.

He was absolutely gutted - he's already dieting due to pre diabetes so this has been a real blow. While I understand that some people choose not to eat gluten it does mean that many people think it's a fad and can be a bit disparaging - difficult when you are trying to adjust to a new way of life.

I've a work colleague who is gluten free when it suits her. If there's something nice then she'll suddenly forget. I've another colleague who is a coeliac. She hates the first colleague. Passionately.

I think a lot of people have other allergies/intolerances which make their bodies react to wheat and so they cut back on it- my mum is lactose intolerant and as a result has a not-great reaction to gluten as well. If she managed her lactose intolerance better, she probably wouldn't react to wheat. From what I can work out after a few years of bad IBS, once your digestive system gets overwhelmed it's quite hard to identify what the problem is.

I think there are a lot of people who feel better going gluten-free largely because they were eating such overproccessed junk that their system was overloaded, I think there are many who have another allergy/intolerance that's hard to identify- e.g. Onions, nightshade, etc- which means their bodies struggle to digest food so find large quantities of gluten hard so all they know is they feel better when they cut back on gluten. And then there are of course lots of people who are actually coeliacs.

I'm lactose intolerant: I can eat certain forms of dairy that have had lactose removed, I can eat butter because it naturally only has trace amounts of lactose left, and I can eat regular dairy once I take lactase enzymes alongside it- if I don't do that I'll be in absolute agony. I'm sure people think it's odd when I ask about ingredients, then cheerily eat things with butter, or eat the odd thing containing dairy sometimes when I'm actually taking enzymes which are the only reason I can digest it.

The idea that lots of gluten-avoiders are faking it is frustrating- if you claim to be coeliac and are eating sneaky croissants regularly then you're obviously not really, but it's entirely possible a gluten intolerant person knows they can manage one treat food containing gluten every week without a symptom flair-up.

My brother has had various non specific issues over the years. No allergies, nothing has shown on blood tests etc. My SIL suggested he try going gluten free two years ago and he now feels fabulous. Definitely an into,errands...he's tried reintroducing wheat but it just makes him feel sluggish and tired.

Has there been a sudden upsurge in allergies?

No, it’s a “fad” and seen as “trendy”, reading any of the difficult customers in restaurant threads will tell you that, people make a big song and dance about not being able to have gluten and then will happily chow down something that unbeknownst to them contains it (because of course they’re not stringently following a gluten free diet enough to check and make sure).

As mentioned correctly by PP. Celiacs is a disease, I’ve only met 2 people that I “know” have it, (niece and ex manager), niece will sometimes think “fuck it” and have a pasta dish as she really likes it, but knows she will pay for it after (I’ve seen it).

Ex manager used to be practically in tears at the cakes, biscuits etc that were forever going round the office and she couldn’t have them (and would NEVER take them). She also said the odd occasion she’d have a pie sandwich as she loves them, but always knowing there is a price.

People are free to follow whatever diets they wish, but the ones that irk are the ones who really seem to make a song and dance about not being “allowed” gluten (I get some are genuine, but in the 2 above cases they don’t make a song and dance).

Me, I’d never follow a GF diet, I’m surprised I’m not a loaf of bread, I couldn’t give that up and would cry my eyes out if I had to.

My son has recently been diagnosed with servers allergies to gluten, wheat, diary and egg. He has been ill on and off for a very long time and we could never pin point what it was but after lots of tests we now know his body can’t process it. I’ll be honest having to cut so much out of his diet is an absolute pain as it takes a really long time to read through everything tha has gluten in it, I also dislike it as you end up sometimes having to buy highly processed food, which isn’t very good for you. I don’t know why you would choose to be gluten free unless actually diagnosed with a problem when eating it as it’s such a bloody faff. Gluten is in everything.

Severe not servers!

Doctors are far more aware of Coeliac disease these days. Time was that only sickly, pale people with constant diarrhoea were tested so the vast majority of people suffering were missed. I’ve had it my whole life apparently but as my outward symptoms weren’t too dramatic I was only diagnosed 2 years ago. So yes there is an explosion of diagnosis however there are also many people who are on a ‘fad’ GF diet. Personally I am grateful to these people as the range of food available is amazing now.

I have Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis - an auto immune condition - there is some (limited) research suggesting that going gluten free improves outcomes so I have given up gluten.

Some people have an allegy. Some have a disease. Some are intolerant. Some read to much Goop and too many issues of Cosmo and declare they can’t touch gluten cos, they’re like, so intolerant. When these people say that I feel ridiculously defensive for the people who ACTUALLY have to deal with it!

As you've been informed, coeliac disease is not an allergy. I think it's more an awareness. I was told for 10 years I had IBS before finding out it was coeliac disease.
I don't find it a faff to cook gluten free. The only thing that frustrates me is that I don't have the confidence in others to eat out, or to eat a meal someone else has made. I seem pretty sensitive to cross contamination because I occasionally get caught out in my own kitchen because DP has non-gluten free food and despite having separate toasters, chopping boards, utensils, etc, accidents have occasionally happened and the pain is unbelievable. I have experienced nothing more painful than a bout of gluten-induced pain.

I think It's called non-coeliac gluten sensitivity. I have it.

Although considering my stomach blew up like a balloon after eating melon I'm wondering if it's more complicated.

I really want to go gf but can't just yet. I have a few other autoimmune diseases and coeliacs is that he related to ones I have.
My consultant thinks I may be but it didn't show up on the last bloods but I'm having them done at the hospital next week so it might show. If not then I'm probably looking at a scope to have a look inside. My digestive system is shot to shit, my bowel habits are just a random nightmare and the gurgling and wind are bleurgh.

That said I love everything pastry and bread 😭

Those calling it a fad should think of the good this 'fad' has done. It is now so much easier to get gluten free foods that being coeliac is much, much easier than it used to be.