“Gluten free” is a term that everyone hears, yet many people probably couldn’t tell you exactly what it is, or what foods meet the criteria. I actually met my first gluten free friend just this year, and she has provided me with many learning experiences, including some gluten free etiquette. Too many times have I offered her food, only to realize a second too late that she can’t eat it. She is not simply on a gluten free diet for the fun of it – she has Celiac disease. I know that she is often left out when it comes to group meals, snacks, or treats. I also know that I wouldn’t have a clue what to do if I had to make her an actual meal.
Since meeting my friend, I have become extra aware of the gluten free lifestyle, and this blog caught my eye right away. Gemma Sampson, RD, APD, is an Australian dietitian and also the woman behind her blog name, “Dietitian Without Borders.” I was pleased when I read that she has taken on a variety of clinical roles as a dietitian, because I am interested in clinical nutrition as well. She works full time for Vitaflo International as the Senior R&D Dietitian for inherited metabolic disorders. Along with this, she has also traveled the world and been able to experience nutrition from an international perspective.
One thing that I especially like about Gemma’s article “Catering for a Gluten Free Friend” is that she acknowledges how difficult it can be for people to come up with gluten free meals if they are not familiar with the condition. I know what gluten free means and what foods are and aren’t gluten free, yet I struggled to think of more than about three good meals that would be totally gluten free. Catering to the needs of people like me, she provides a list of foods and ingredients to keep on hand in case you ever need to prepare a GF meal on the fly. Several of the options that she lists were surprising to me because I didn’t realize there were gluten free options available, like couscous. She also points out that having celiac disease or voluntarily following a gluten free diet can be a hassle and big inconvenience for those people, so it would be very gracious to keep them in mind when grocery shopping and preparing meals.
Gemma’s blog is more formal than other blogs that I’ve read, which makes it a little less interesting to read because it is pretty impersonal. However, she made up for this fact by keeping her article short and simple, and keeping her paragraphs very small. This allowed me to take in all of the information that she was giving, without feeling overwhelmed. Her main strategy for drawing in readers is the educational aspect of the post. It wasn’t extremely exciting, but I was definitely able to learn something useful, which is something that I like to see in a blog. I don’t like to see bloggers just chatting about how their day is going. As a whole, her blog site looks professional, yet still has a fun element to it. This is how I would want my blog to appear, because it looks very credible but not too stuffy.
Link to the Blog: http://dietitianwithoutborders.com/catering-gluten-free-friend/