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?

Grain consumption predated farming because wild grains were eaten first.

20,000 BCE is the first evidences date of grain consumption but it most likely far predates that. Grain consumption is difficult to evidence because it’s more biodegradable whereas meat eating can be more precisely dated because it leaves more durable evidence (bones etc).

I’m not allergic but gluten definitely has a negative impact on me so I do restrict it. But I wouldn’t expect a dinner party host to cook me something different because it’s a preference to go gluten free.

I think doctors chalk many issues down to intolerances nowadays or people self diagnose. Coeliac disease isn’t common at all, gluten free is a fad for many people.

I have coeliac disease. There was one occasion in a restaurant, I asked the waitress if the gluten free pizza I ordered really was gluten free - she said "I think it should be fine, and giggled". I ate a tiny bit and then left the rest. Its wasn't and I was ill for days. The thing is, I only get mild symptoms straight away, stomach issues that people probably wouldn't notice. The bloating and sickness can be hours later. So, some people might think 'oh well, she's fine, she can't have a problem'.

It's evident in the thread that loads of people stop eating gluten for very valid reasons. I do think going gluten free can help people with IBS, hashimotos and other conditions. If they feel better, even without a proper diagnosis, that's good enough for me. I can't complain about these people. If you had managed to single out gluten as the cause for sickness, skin issues, fatigue - wouldn't you cut it out?

In any case, the increased demand means that there are more options for me and staff are better trained.

There's a completely gluten free Indian restaurant in Glasgow that I love because I can order absolutely anything on the menu without feeling like I'm causing a hassle. I'm introverted and hate being the centre of attention, so I hate having to ask people to accommodate my diet.

Completely agree @downthestrada, I feel exactly the same when asking about cross contamination and ingredients in restaurants as I feel like I am being a pain and causing a load of hassle for them. I also think that if people are coeliac or have intolerances, it is great that there are some many different options around.

Personally, what doesn’t help are the people in my social circle who go to great pains to state that they are intolerant and so much have gluten free food but then happily tuck into cake and pizza whenever it takes their fancy. If they said that they had noticed a few issues when they ate gluten and so were cutting down their consumption, it would be so much easier. If I had a pound for every time someone said to me ‘well X just had some cake, why don’t you just have a small piece’ or ‘Why can’t I do your pasta in the same pot that I just cooked ours in, X is fine with it?’ I could afford to open my own gf Indian down here and save the 700 miles round trip (that I am daydreaming about making right now )

*must have

@Dancingtothebeat I do understand what you are talking about but its judgmental attitudes like yours that make my life so difficult.
I can cope with missing out on all the cakes and biscuits that are passed around or offered at meetings.
I can manage with always bringing my own food in when we have all day sessions with food provided for everyone else. I only work part time because my health isn't good and I don't have lots of spare cash and it would be great to have a free lunch every now and then.
What I can't cope with, and does upset me, is the constant carping and questioning about what I'm eating and why. And this is why I don't ask work admin staff to cater for me.
I find it hugely upsetting. I don't have a formal diagnosis but I am following doctor's advice. To meet your criteria I'd have to pay for a letter from my GP detailing my dietary status. WTF?

Wednesday I guess I'm lucky that I'm not really around anyone who is inconsistent with there "intolerances". Everyone I know eats all the gluten and I'm having to move my glass or plate away to stop the "spray" getting in - but that's another issue!

I understand it can be frustrating - I have anaphylaxis to nuts and seeds and it really annoys me when people say they’re allergic to things when they’re not. My twins have a really nasty reaction to dairy and soy (eczema, raw and bleeding bums for at least a week etc) - I do understand it won’t kill them but it makes them so unwell for so long that I don’t treat it any differently.

Gluten is a difficult one because there are many conditions that appear to be exacerbated by gluten, for example Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. It’s not an allergy but gluten does seem to cause an immune reaction which can affect many autoimmune conditions.

My mother is a coeliac, was diagnosed at 15 so 59 years ago. I grew up with a mostly gluten free diet except us kids ate bread and biscuits (having a butcher for a dad helped). I've seen understanding and options improve massively over the time I've been aware what it all meant. My mum spent 6 months in hospital and they thought she was dying before a doctor suggested coeliac disease and she was diagnosed via a biopsy. She still after she recovered found it hard at times to miss out, she admits to going for burgers with her friends as an older teen because she didn't want to feel excluded. I've also known her risk things when she fancied them but couldn't guarantee gluten free think buckwheat pancakes (depends if it's pure buckwheat or mixed with regular wheat). So that's an example of a genuine coeliac who is prepared to take the risk sometimes (she does finally appear to have grown out of it and is now very strict)

This has been a very interesting thread to read.

DH has anaphylaxis food allergies. He has not eaten a meal in a restaurant for many years, it just isn't worth it as a simple error means he may die. He will venture into sealed supermarket sandwiches though, and is over the moon about the rise in veganism as it means they have greater choice of egg free options.

I have autoimmune thyroid disorder. I had the coeliac blood test and the gut biopsy as they were convinced I had that too. Both were clear, to my relief, so I then did am elimination diet and reintroduced one at a time. The difference in symptoms was obvious. As Pps have said, there aren't diagnostic tests available for everything food wise, this was sufficient for the doctor to recommend avoiding the foods that aggravated them.

So here we are. I know that if I eat biscuits, cake, cereal, bread, pasta, pizza, then all my joints become painful, I'm foggy and lethargic, I want to sleep for days, I get patches of eczema and blinding headaches that are untouched by painkillers. If I don't, I'm fine. None of this happens.

Unlike DH, I won't die if I eat it. So I'm prepared to risk eating in a restaurant or a catered meal. I ask to see the gluten free menu and then order from that. I expect every effort to be made to avoid cross contamination as it would be for any dish.

I make no apology for choosing to eat as I do. It's clear to me that there is a middle ground where a lot of us are falling, it does us harm to eat something so we avoid it. It won't kill us or give the life threatening issues that coeliac presents, but the results are sufficiently unpleasant and debilitating for us to make that choice. Finally you have the people who choose to cut groups out inconsistently. May be because they can tolerate a little bit, or they are choosing to deal with the repercussions? Or because they have self diagnosed when it suits them or because they are faddy. The rage seems to be directed at the self diagnosed and faddy.

I think the problem is the "faddist" people who say they are gluten free but then go on to eat gluten-laden food, often after people have really put themselves out to accommodate the gluten-free side, which isn't cheap!

I have a gluten intolerance, that also includes barley and rye gluten. Luckily not oats! I am extremely grateful that there are more gluten-free options available now, especially the rise in different gluten-free breads (as opposed to the old rice flour bricks). I used to be fine with spelt flour but even that is now causing some issues.

If I had ever any doubt that I have an issue with gluten, then a recent experience in a Harvester has set my mind at rest. My own fault for not checking the steak sauce would be GF (it may not have been) but I didn't know that there was a possibility that the chips would be coated with some kind of crispening thing containing gluten (found that out at a different establishment when I tried to order chips and the waiter told me they weren't GF - ffs!). Anyway, my stomach had distended to twice its size before we even left the Harvester, and that night I had a massive "expulsion episode" on the toilet that left me a bit wrung out!

I'm sorely pissed off that chips are now apparently a risk in some places because they buy in pre-coated ones - chips was always my go-to option :(

Yes to chips. Frankie and Benny chips are the same and I wouldn't have known unless I looked at the gf menu - coating sucks!

Sometimes chips are not gluten free because they are fried in the same oil as gluten containing foods.

I have never said I have a medical issue and I have never had the slightest problem with just waving away a bread bowl but I presume I am the sort of person some people don't seem happy to tolerate (allergy to those who choose not to eat bread even though they don't have to may me). That's not my problem. I eat gorgeous foods that make me feel really good and I am sorry if it annoys some people that I don't eat bread.

That may well be the case, Known - and for coeliac sufferers that may be too much.
Luckily for me I don't have quite that level of sensitivity but I was told specifically that the chips have a gluten-containing coating which I would be eating and, if that's what I did at the Harvester, then I am definitely sensitive to eating that coating!

One of my favourite things was when I worked in a swanky food and cocktail bar, people were bending over backwards to Tel me they are Gluten Free, can't even be near it etc, but then would order a cocktail with vodka in. I took great pride in letting them know that since they made me aware of their intolerance it was now my duty to ensure they did not consume gluten, therefore, no swanky cocktail for you!

There are those with genuine intolerances, I still work in the hospitality industry and you can usually tell when someone is genuine or following a fad diet. Obviously, whatever they eat is their own decision, that's absolutely fine, but don't kick off that I couldn't make your [enter generic dish here] gluten free, kick off that we should respect your allergies, then sit and gorge yourself on your friends left over pizza

One of my favourite things was discovering from a smug bar tender that I didn't need to buy gluten free beer as quite a few lagers were essentially gluten free anyway - his boss was a Coeliac and had checked it out and sure enough when I googled he was right - I can't eat rye, so as long as I avoid that and wheat beers, I can go normal, which is a real joy.

And my experience with catering has been amazing - if the website does not mention they are allergy friendly then we ask before we commit to staying or when booking, I always mention that we are not coeliac but we don't wish to eat wheat and dairy but we are not fussy after that. Ds was really excited that he could have a pudding last week at a restaurant - first time since he started his diet. I think only one place has been rubbish (and I had asked when I was booking) but it was a family event, so I said nothing.

Spirits like vodka are gluten free as the distilling process doesn't leave any gluten.

Cider and wine are ok.

It's beer that's not gf, although there are some gf brands available now.

I remember when Ds2 was diagnosed at 2 years old feeling sad that he wouldn't be able to drink beer when he grew up.

Aneurin I was exactly the same

There is an overlap between foods with gluten and foods that are high FODMAP. FODMAPs can cause IBS/IBS symptoms and some people who go gluten-free are cutting out the FODMAP that hurts them, and see a benefit. They (naturally enough) associate it with gluten.

From Monash University - www.monashfodmap.com/blog/avoiding-wheat-how-strict-on-low-fodmap/

"During the restrictive phase of a low FODMAP diet, wheat intake is reduced.

Wheat intake is reduced because it contains high levels of fructans, one of the oligosaccharides (a type of carbohydrate). Other high fructan grains include rye and barley. Therefore, during the strict phase of a low FODMAP diet, intake of wheat, rye and barley should be limited. However – it is important to note that this does NOT mean that you require a strict wheat-free or gluten-free diet when following the low FODMAP diet."

From an academic journal called Gut - gut.bmj.com/content/65/1/169

"Gluten, wheat and related proteins (eg, amylase-trypsin inhibitors, and fermentable oligo-di-mono-saccharides and polyols (FODMAPs) are the most relevant IBS symptom triggers, although the true ‘culprit(s)’ is/are still not well established;

Double-blind placebo-controlled with cross-over trials represent the current gold standard for confirming the dietary factor(s) involved in functional symptom generation.

Based on the different dietary factors responsible for symptom generation, patients can be labelled non-coeliac gluten sensitive or more broadly non-coeliac wheat or wheat protein sensitivity or, even, FODMAP sensitive.

A better understanding of gluten/wheat/FODMAP sensitivity can be translated into new effective dietary strategies for the management of patients with IBS."

A few people are truly allergic to wheat and it can cause anaphylaxis.
Some people are Coeliac and will be severely ill if they eat gluten.
Quite a few people have IBS (or other genuine issues) which is or appears to be triggered by wheat or gluten, or like most of us with IBS are just trying to figure out what the hell it is they can actually eat that won't leave them in considerable pain and embarrassing Diarrhoea.
Some people are faddy and jump on the gluten free bandwagon either in the hope to be less bloated, loose weight or whatever. Some of those are attention seekers.

What doesn't help anyone is people saying they are allergic when they aren't.

I have coeliac disease and I HATE it. I'm desperate for pizza, beer and bread. The substitutes just aren't the same. No idea why anyone would put themselves through the hassle of being gluten free if they don't have to? I'm eternally grateful to the faddy dieters though - thanks to them there are loads of gf products and restaurants! I do wonder if this is a "golden age" of gluten free and when it's no longer trendy it'll go back to like it was before when I had virtually nothing to eat!

I have an autoimmune disease but am not known to be coeliac. My gp recommended looking into the auto immune protocol as he'd heard lots of reports it was helping people feel better. I'm now gluten as well as other things free. I have gut reactions when I eat certain foods (also used to suffer with ibs so could be a massive cross over). I am properly gf though, I don't occasionally whomp a tiger baguette down.

Murane - I don't think it will go backwards, because more and more people are finding that they are sensitive to wheat/gluten/FODMAP, whichever it is. While there is still demand for it, companies will still make it.

A lot of people refuse to accept that they have a genuine problem with it for years and then try it and feel heaps better - I have a friend like this. She was diagnosed as coeliac when she was 9, but as a teen she rebelled against this and started to eat gluten again. She was in her 40s before she caved and went GF again. Now she is completely GF and feels so much better, and can't believe that she didn't do this for herself before.

I certainly hope that the supply of GF foods doesn't drop off again!