[insaneirish]

> The idea that it is nonsense to be avoiding gluten is harmful for people with celiac.

More like: "The idea that it is generally beneficial to be avoiding gluten is harmful for people with celiac."

Yesterday I had lunch with a friend with a gluten allergy as confirmed by blood test and endoscopy. Obviously he should avoid gluten.

People who think that gluten "is bad" should keep their mouth shut or get an actual diagnosis showing it's actually bad for them.

Those without an actual allergy who make a fuss over it desensitize the food service industry, and people at large, to the severity of the problem in people with a legitimate allergy.

[zaroth]

I understand your concern, but in my experience this has not been the case. Many times I have been asked, “Allergy or Preference” and the level of care changes depending on the answer.

In my case my daughter has diagnosed celiac and we eat out quite a bit. The number of dietary options both out at restaurants as well as at the supermarket, the general level of education around what even is gluten, I believe has greatly benefited from non-celiac positive people preferring gluten-free food (for whatever cockamamie reason they may have).

If it was not a dietary trend I don’t think we would have nearly the number of options, and certainly not entire gluten free menus at restaurants available to choose from.

[code_duck]

NCGS has not been proven to be a real condition caused by gluten, and there is no test for it - but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. I feel like it’s perfectly reasonable for people to do their own elimination diet to test for sensitivities, and others have no legitimate reason to not respect that. If someone don’t want something in their food, that’s my business and I’m not sure why that opens them to criticism.

When you try to be selective about your food, often there is struggle about it with others. While trying to debug my health, I was a vegetarian for years. For some reason many people are opposed to others being vegetarians or vegans, for reasons that seem too complex to analyze here. Importantly, though these diets have been proven to be healthy, but many people still act strongly opposed to others practicing them.

My experience at restaurants is that people are usually cool when I tell them I have a severe medical condition. However, I am so sensitive to gluten that I cannot eat at restaurants at all. Wheat is simply far too common, and they will never be ready for my level of sensitivity. The thing is, not all people with celiac are this sensitize or have symptoms they can notice. With people with mild or imaginary gluten conditions, food preparers can mess up significantly and the customer won’t come back and say ‘wow, you made me incredibly sick’ because they might not even have any ill effects. So, it essentially creates false negatives for their kitchen performance. Again, doesnt matter because I eat a strict medical diet and will never be able to eat at average restaurants.

One note, I realize you generally mean intolerance or sensitivity, but I have to point out celiac is not an allergy, it’s an automummune disease triggered by gluten.

Sorry it took me a few days to reply.