“I didn’t choose the gluten free life, the gluten free life chose me.”

Hey all who have chosen to join me in my discussion for my second blog post! I’m going to begin by talking about some common quarrels I have daily with people in my daily life while being gluten free, and hopefully educate you enough so you won’t be tempted to ask a stupid question about me being gluten free.

  1. This is not a choice. As my title above states in a humorous way, I didn’t choose to skip the free pizza or cake at my friends birthday parties! (Who in their right mind could choose to pass these up as a kid!) Once again, I have a disease by the name of Celiac Disease and my intestines will literally be destroyed if I ate gluten… not a choice, more of a will to live.
  2. It is not in any means a healthier way to live (unless gluten would kill you…  *me*) It pains me when I hear people saying they’re on a “diet” and not eating gluten, dairy, wheat, etc. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye: avoiding it will get you nowhere. A common misconception is that eating gluten free can help people lose weight, and believe me, I can eat as many cookies, cakes, pizza, and junk food while remaining on a gluten free diet so It wouldn’t do much good. A better way of going on a diet would be to limit your simple carbohydrates and eat less junk food. Gluten is found in some of these foods, but is definitely not the source of weight gain.
  3. My food does not taste like cardboard. Another common misconception is that all gluten free food tastes bad. Believe me, I am a great baker and I have gone to the state baking competition several years in a row without the judges even suspecting my brownies were gluten free. Most people shrivel up their noses if you say something is gluten free but most of the effect is simple because of the name.
  4. It’s pretty serious. Not going to lie, having Celiac Disease is really hard sometimes. In addition to simply avoiding foods with gluten in them, I also have to avoid foods that may have even touched something glutenous (I have now created a new word). For example, If I order a salad and I ask for no croutons but croutons are still added on top, I cannot simply pluck them off with a smile and carry on with my day (that sounds lovely). Instead I have to ask for a new salad (as the waitress rolls her eyes). So please, If you take anything away form this post, be considerate and understanding if you happen to be that waitress. Like I said, I didn’t choose this life.

Thanks for reading these misconceptions and hopefully you have learned something about my glorious lifestyle of avoiding gluten! Please keep these in mind the next time you think someone with food allergies is just “making a big deal” out of something. It really is serious. And those people who chose this lifestyle, I have no sympathy (sorry, not sorry).

My advice to you is to eat as much gluten as possible in your lifetime to make up for the loss of gluten from my diet. So take advantage of the free pizza and delicious birthday cake (as long as you understand how lucky you are to have these wonderful opportunities)!

Feel free to take a peek at my recipes page for a recipe for my prizewinning brownies! (And you wouldn’t even know they were gluten free!)

Enjoy!

(gluten) Free Pizza Girl

One thought on ““I didn’t choose the gluten free life, the gluten free life chose me.”

  1. I love how good-humored this post is despite Celiac disease being a serious problem people often make light of. I knew of the disease before but not much of the details, especially that a person with it can’t eat anything that touches something with gluten it. Not only do you inform the reader of common misconceptions and correct them, but you also share foods that people can enjoy regardless of the recipe. Overall, I enjoyed this post. I’m a big fan of baking as well and just might look into that brownie recipe of yours 🙂

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