May is Celiac Awareness Month, and though I’d venture to say
people with Celiac are aware of it all the time, it’s important for others to
know what Celiac is and if they need to be tested. Five years ago, I did not know what Celiac
was. I didn’t really know what gluten
was. We got a super-fast education.
What I notice now is pretty much EVERYONE knows what gluten
is, or they know the term gluten-free.
Back in 2011, I called my general care practitioner after D was
diagnosed to ask if she was familiar with Celiac disease. Her nurse responded, “Is that, like, a
disease you get from cats?” Not
joking. I did not feel reassured.
There are tons of benefits to suddenly being the hot thing
in town, as gluten-free is at the moment.
The FDA has put out measurable limits and guidelines for what counts as
gluten-free (they haven’t bothered to actually measure or due diligence to find
out if anyone is following them, but for the FDA, this is progress,
sadly). Tons of foods are catered to
the gluten-free crowd. Gluten free mac n
cheese? Yes! Gluten free Oreo-looking cookies? Oh yeah!
Gluten free soap? What? Yes, it’s happened.
But with all this attention and all these products, the
inevitable backslash has come. My friend
relayed a story of how she knew someone who was indignant about gluten-free
soap. “Hasn’t this gone a bit far?” she griped.
To this woman I say come talk to me when your three year-old with Celiac
swallows bath water with soap in it. We
need that soap.
And that’s not all.
As people who do not have Celiac go gluten-free, suddenly all of us
gluten-free eaters are “trendy” and therefore worthy of being made fun of. My whole family has dealt with the comments
at some point, even though gluten can actually kill people in our home. Trending is apparently the ultimate sin, as
opposed to say ignoring your child’s dietary needs so they won’t be made fun of
for following the latest trend.
Honestly, I’m not sure why gluten eaters care what
gluten-free eaters eat, or why they eat it for that matter. Some people are gluten-free because they have
Celiac; some are gluten-free due to gluten intolerance or because they have
health issues that are made worse by gluten.
And some people, yes, are just jumping on the bandwagon hoping to lose
weight or just look cool (better check the fat content on those GF Oreos. GF processed food don’t play in the fat
department.)
My question is why is
this a thing? In a country where the
acronym for the Standard American Diet is SAD, what does it matter if people
decide not to follow it? Not knowing
anyone’s situation, it’s okay to refrain from the eye rolling when viewing a
grocery cart full of only gluten-free food or when hearing someone put in an
order at a restaurant for gluten-free. I
have seen the people behind me in line seethe as I’ve asked a server to change
their gloves before touching our gluten-free food. Those people don’t know. They hear gluten-free and assume that’s code
for difficult, therefore making my child who has no choice in this feel like
every time she advocates for her health she’s being a diva. On the upside, there ARE actually places we
can eat out safely now. Being popular is
hard.
I would say the most important issue is this: don’t let the trending hate keep you from
getting tested for Celiac. I’m not sure
if all the attention towards gluten-free is helping or hurting the effort to
actually get people properly diagnosed, but I hope it’s helping. People eat gluten-free for many reasons, and
Celiac disease is one of them. Food is
the cause and the cure for Celiac sufferers.
Throughout this month I am going to attempt to write and
post about Celiac related issues. I’ve
never been in the trendy category before, so I’m going to strike while the iron
is hot. Happy Celiac Awareness Month!
No comments:
Post a Comment