You may have heard about the gluten-free diet and how many celebrities are following it. However, eating gluten-free is not the last diet in fashion. Many people get ill after ingesting food contaminated with gluten (the protein found in wheat, barley, and rye). It’s incredible how many foods contain gluten hidden in the ingredients, so it’s not easy to follow a gluten-free diet.
Why I want to write about this topic? A year and 4 months ago I was diagnostic with None Celiac Gluten Sensitivity or NCGS. It has been hard to follow this diet, especially, because I travel for work at least twice a year and it’s difficult to find gluten-free substitutes at all airports. I need to remind our event coordinator that I have foods restrictions all the time. Also, it limits the number of restaurants I can go, my family have had a hard time to understand my new limitation and the changes on the menu on our favorite holiday dishes and obligate me to cook at home every day. Since the gluten intolerance or sensitivity is a new thing, it’s hard to find real gluten-free substitutes for my favorite dishes since most of the brand says GF following the gluten-free boom, but the may be cross contaminated.
Despite all these negative aspects, I have found many positive things about the diet. I have to keep my weight since I’m forced to reject all delicious birthday cake and unhealthy dishes at work. Believe me, my work is the wrong place to be if you want to be fit. I work for a cooking magazine, so they taste plenty of dishes in my work’s kitchen/studio (free food all the time). Also, and the best of all, I finally feel well, I got rid of my depression, I have more energy, less pain, more active, I’m happier and the list goes on and on. It is a win-win situation. Nevertheless, a gluten-free diet is not for everyone.
People should know how unhealthy is to restrict food from your daily intake. Sugar, salt, alcohol, and oil should be your only restrictions or limitations unless you are allergic or intolerant to a specific food. According to ABC Health & Wellbeing:
“As diets come and go, and #cleaneating amasses millions of Instagram hashtags, the old adage of “everything in moderation” — with lots of fruit and veggies — still reigns supreme.” (Willis, 2017)
In other words, if you don’t have Celiac Disease, NCGS, wheat allergic or any related illness, don’t follow a Gluten Free diet. Living on a Gluten free diet is a necessity for people like me. It is not a lifestyle to follow if you are not sick, either a way to lose weight nor a fashion diet.
If you want to read more about it, stay tuned to my next article about understanding NCGS and its difference with Celiac disease and other related illness or conditions. If you have been living with Celiac disease or NCGS, share me your experiences. I will also like to share some of the gluten-free recipes that I have created with the blogger communtity, but that is an outgoing project. Wish me luck!
Source: ABC Health & Wellbeing.
Photo Credit: Ryan McGuire.
The Freedom of Life 
I was diagnosed last year as having Celiac, but now that I’ve learned so much about gluten, I think I suffered for years before with gluten intolerance/sensitvity. I definitely know what you mean about being free from pain now that I’m eating gluten-free (GF)!
If you are in the USA, then you should have no problem with anything that is labeled GF. It’s my understanding that food in the US cannot be so labeled unless it fully qualifies for that label–meaning there is no need to worry about cross-contact/contamination in the manufacturing process. The real potential for cross contact for otherwise naturally GF foods is why you will see a GF label on some potato chips and sandwich meats! So if you’re in the US and the processed food says “gluten free” anywhere on the package (it may be in small print on the back side), then you should feel free to enjoy it with no worries!
Consequently, those of us who NEED GF foods can be thankful for how the GF diet fad has inspired more companies to identify their products that have been GF all along or that they could adjust how they made them so they could be GF. The diet fad has provided more foods for us to eat! Still, you are correct to say that the GF diet is NOT something that everyone else can or should embrace.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Raylene, thank you for reading my post and sharing your thought. I live in US and living with NCGS have been difficult. I also have read a lot about the topic, and the thing is we don’t too much about this disease as we know about celiac disease. Scientific are even sure gluten is the cause. The Celiac Foundation recommend to read the levels even if says GF https://celiac.org/live-gluten-free/glutenfreediet/label-reading/. For me, eating less processed food is helping me a lot. My boyfriend complaint that I spend too much time cooking, but he is learning more and more every day why I need to do it in that way. I will continue writing more about the topic in the future. I hope you stay around and share your opinion about my post :).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, the cooking routines change and the loved ones are affected, for sure. You also rightly make the point that we cannot confuse these conditions, assuming they are one and the same. There is so very much to be learned. Truly we are “fearfully and wonderfully made!”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, the topic is still premature. For now, my boyfriend is loving the quality and the taste of homemade food 😉😍
LikeLike