For those who work in the restaurant industry, grocery stores or have a friend more food conscious than the average university student, you might have heard the following question: Is this gluten free?
This is a question I must ask repeatedly, without shame, to the dismay of impatient waitresses and food vendors.
Most people have no idea what the concerned diner is asking. The all-too-common reactions are snarky comments from friends accusing the questioner of being “health-food obsessed,” or my personal favorite, a “food Nazi.”
Adherents of gluten-free diets are not trying to conform to “trendy” food habits, such as buying everything organic from Whole Foods or stores like it, as most people would believe.
Gluten is a specific protein most prevalent in wheat and related grains, such as barley. And in extreme cases, like for those with Celiac disease, the ingestion of this protein leads to severe intestinal inflammation that can render them helpless.
Gluten-free diets are also used as a form of food therapy to treat numerous other illnesses. Those who suffer from Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome and autism benefit greatly from modifying their diet to exclude glutens.
However, most people have only an acute intolerance where gluten is unable to be digested correctly, leading to headaches, fatigue, skin rashes and respiratory problems.
I find myself in the latter category. And if you know that the majority of products in your nearby grocery-store will list wheat in the ingredients, you might be asking yourself what gluten-intolerant people can actually eat.
This is where it gets tricky.
As someone who dabbled in vegetarianism for a while, I can say sticking to a gluten-free diet is substantially more difficult and requires a level of attention to the things you eat that borderlines paranoia.
What you choose to eat in the absence of gluten really depends on what you can’t live without. Even though stores carry limited supply of gluten-free products, there’s almost no ingredient that cannot be substituted in order to make your favorite dish safe.
Cooking with quinoa, garbanzo, or corn flour are great alternatives. Initial attempts at using these products in place of wheat flour are always full of surprises, but by no means difficult.
For those struggling with the allergy, or for considerate friends wondering what to suggest for lunch, there’s one reality you can’t escape. Fast food and highly processed products are out of the question. Gluten is frequently used as a binding agent in processed foods, which means that it shows up in places you wouldn’t expect, like rice or sauces.
Not every strain of wheat contains gluten — Buckwheat, for example, is a great, gluten-free alternative.
So, if you have a gluten allergy, the key is to diversify. Grocery stores and restaurants are offering more options all the time, but searching out safe grains and ingredients is your best bet. Just don’t expect your nearest Taco Bell to start adding gluten-free to their menu anytime soon.
Reach the columnist at damills3@asu.edu
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