Me and my enemies, the breadcrumbs. Gabbi Shaw/Insider November is Gluten-Free Diet Awareness Month. People eat gluten-free for a variety of reasons, like Celiac disease, which causes inflammation.
To understand what a gluten-free life is really like, I went gluten-free for a week. It wasn’t easy. One of the trendiest diets these days is going gluten-free, but people who have celiac disease don’t have the luxury of cheating once in a while to eat pizza or drink a beer.
Pizza and beer. Irene Jiang/Business InsiderCeliac disease is a serious autoimmune disease that affects more than 3 million Americans. When a person with celiac eats gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye, their immune system causes the body to attack itself, specifically the villi in the small intestine.
The villi are small, finger-like structures that provide a large surface area for nutrients to be absorbed — unless they’re damaged. According to the Celiac Foundation, the disease can lead to more serious complications down the line, such as deficiencies, infertility, and neurological issues. I decided to try eating gluten-free for a week to see what a diet might be like for someone with the disease.
I quickly discovered that many, many things I assumed were safe to eat were actually a source of potential gluten exposure and, as a result, meals and snacks need careful planning. Of course, my morning two slices of toast with poached eggs were out of the question, unless I opted for gluten-free bread. I skipped the bread entirely and ended up just eating the eggs.
My eggs. Gabbi Shaw/InsiderShout-out to my Dash rapid egg cooker, which I use almost every day. If I had wanted gluten-free bread, it would’ve set me back more than my usual whole-wheat loaf.
At Target, a loaf of whole-wheat costs $3. 29, while a loaf of gluten-free would be $7. 39, for a smaller loaf.
Instead, I just ate the eggs. Another breakfast option was oatmeal . .
. or so I thought. My oatmeal.
Gabbi Shaw/InsiderI added copious amounts of brown sugar to my oatmeal. However, after the fact, I realized that I wasn’t 100% sure that oatmeal is gluten-free — and it isn’t, not 100%. According to Healthline, oatmeal should be good for anyone with a gluten sensitivity, since it doesn’t directly contain gluten, but it might not be safe for people with celiac, as the oats could come into contact with gluten during processing.
To be certain, people with celiac should look for oats explicitly labeled as “gluten-free. “I stuck to one snack: Bamba, an Israeli peanut snack that is totally addictive. While the packaging didn’t say gluten-free, the internet told me I was safe.
Bamba. Gabbi Shaw/InsiderGoogle’s first auto-complete response to almost every food item I typed had to do with whether or not it was gluten-free, from sauce to candy to burgers to Bamba. NY Mag called Bamba one of the best gluten-free snacks, and the “most famous snack food you’ve never heard of.
” Another snack was this loaded hummus that I paired with, of course, gluten-free crackers. My hummus. Gabbi Shaw/InsiderI’ve never taken more pictures of food ingredients in my life, just so I could look up if everything was safe to eat — this was only a taste of what people with serious gluten allergies face.
Hummus, generally, is gluten-free. Hamburgers — a food item I didn’t think I needed to be worried about — stood out to me. These Bubba Burgers proudly stated they were gluten-free.
Bubba Burgers. Gabbi Shaw/InsiderSometimes breadcrumbs are mixed into frozen burgers to help bind the meat and add some texture. This never occurred to me, but it’s something that people with gluten allergies need to be on the lookout for.
When eating the burgers, I skipped a bun and stuck to the plain patty, along with some roasted carrots, zucchini, and peppers. My bun-less BBQ. Gabbi Shaw/InsiderNothing says end-of-summer like a Labor Day barbecue, where I was luckily able to eat almost everything.
I could’ve thought ahead and brought a gluten-free bun, but I was OK with skipping it. However, there was one thing I missed . .
. This macaroni salad was definitely taunting me. Macaroni salad.
Gabbi Shaw/InsiderThere is no shortage of gluten-free macaroni salad recipes on the internet, but by the time the pasta salad was taunting me, it was too late to shop and prepare it — this diet needed more planning than I anticipated. I went to the movies one night, and at this point I was checking whether or not Diet Coke and M&Ms were safe. My movie snacks.
Gabbi Shaw/InsiderCoke products are generally gluten-free and so are M&Ms, except for the peanut and pretzel varieties. I settled for the classic M&Ms for this movie experience. Movie-theater popcorn should be safe, but I didn’t want to risk any cross-contamination.
Before going gluten-free, I had ordered a HelloFresh delivery and still wanted to make the meals. I was glad I didn’t have to adjust them too much. My HelloFresh meal.
Gabbi Shaw/InsiderI made the zucchini and feta fritter pita pockets, which involved making zucchini fritters with a tempura mix that included flour. Instead, I just made my own zucchini fritters without the tempura mix. I also needed to skip the pita, which left me with a salad that I quite enjoyed.
But most of my meals ended up being some variation of salmon, potatoes, and veggies. A typical dinner. Gabbi Shaw/InsiderMy younger brother follows the low-FODMAP diet, so this is essentially what I’d eat when I’m back at home at my parents’ house anyway, give or take some sides containing gluten.
On this particular night, these mashed potatoes were made from scratch, so I was sure that there was no gluten in them, though in general, mashed potatoes are safe. I also had more roasted carrots and a piece of salmon doused in dill dressing. During the week, I went to the Hamptons for a day.
At a café we stopped at for breakfast, there was a gluten-free pastry available: a blueberry banana muffin. Blueberry banana muffin. Gabbi Shaw/InsiderThis muffin was the same price as the gluten-filled muffin — unfortunately, it didn’t taste good to me.
I thought it was chalky and dry, and I was only able to eat a few bites. For dinner, I ordered a shared appetizer with my meal. We chose burrata but made sure to get the breadcrumbs on the side.
My appetizer: Burrata with the breadcrumbs on the side. Gabbi Shaw/InsiderThe full list of ingredients were: burrata (cheese), peaches, basil, olive oil, and tomatoes plus the breadcrumbs, which were part of the dish for texture. My dinner was this teriyaki salmon with rice and bok choy — it didn’t occur to me until after I ate to check the teriyaki sauce.
My final meal. Gabbi Shaw/InsiderThe restaurant’s menu was almost entirely sandwiches, which led me to this salmon which — just my luck — was the most expensive thing on the menu. It didn’t occur to me before that sandwiches, which are traditionally cheaper than entrées, are inedible for people on a gluten-free diet, unless they ask to skip the bread.
Instead, I wondered if many people following a gluten-free diet are forced by necessity to order more expensive food. I knew that rice, salmon, and bok choy are gluten-free, but I had already eaten a few bites before I realized I should’ve checked the teriyaki sauce — Google told me that most teriyaki sauces have soy sauce, which has gluten. Overall, I do not envy those who must eat gluten-free.
It was stressful, more expensive, and at the end of the week, I didn’t feel any different. Me and my enemies, the breadcrumbs. Gabbi Shaw/InsiderSome people have said they feel immediately better after going gluten-free — I did not find that, although admittedly I only tried the diet for a week.
I did find that I was more hungry than normal, and I had to be creative with my snacking and eating. I was also stressed out every time I was eating or ordering, trying to double-check if a food had any gluten in it. I don’t envy those who have to deal with this on a daily basis, much like those with a peanut or fish allergy.
I have something called oral allergy syndrome, which prevents me from eating certain types of raw fruits and vegetables, and that’s nothing compared to this. Celiac is a serious disease, and those living with it can’t have a slip-up like I did over the week without any consequences. Read the original article on Insider.
From: insider
URL: https://www.insider.com/gluten-free-for-a-week-experience-2021-9
