Gluten free living is on the rise. And labeling is starting to get just plain silly.
What is gluten? Gluten is a protein found in the grains wheat, barley, and rye. Most of us unknowingly love it, because gluten gives our favorite foods that special touch: It’s what gives your pizza dough stretch, your bread that great texture and it’s used to thicken sauces and soups. But hey! There are so many ways to thicken without using gluten. So I guess the restaurant industry is getting the ‘heads up’ to go another route, these days.
And it doesn’t stop there!
The Girl Scouts have adopted the ‘trend’ with a gluten free option, there’s gluten free vodka, cake, breads and the list goes on and on. Things that can’t be ‘gluten free’ cause they naturally don’t have gluten in ’em to begin with, like popcorn are now labeling their items ‘gluten free’, to call attention to themselves.
And that’s the craze.
When I think of gluten free? Here’s what comes to mind:
- We shouldn’t eat a bunch of it, even if the product is branded Gluten Free because it still make have sugar and other things that inflame your insides (sort of reminds me of the ‘fat free’ days, where people would eat the entire box of cookies because…. hey! It’s fat free)! lol
- If you have celiac’s disease, yes … you should keep yourself gluten free to avoid getting sick
- Still…. Gluten Free or not, my friend…..READ your labels
Those are my thoughts.
I actually tested myself by cutting out all gluten to see if it makes a difference. Not for me. Not really unless I eat a ton of it. Then, I’m tired. Not a big gluten free symptom. In terms of weight? Of course! It’s a great idea to adopt the concepts. Especially if I’m cutting out all bread and pasta…. in the name of a gluten free diet, and instead of substituting gluten free pasta, substituting kelp noodles for the iodine! lol
So ok. Here’s where I’m at: I’m cutting out all wheat, which means almost everything I love, because I want to take off a few pounds and get back to last year’s weight (ahhh… how we love the holidays, no matter how hard we try to resist)….
And so that takes most of the gluten out of my diet with the bread and pasta gone (I’m not substituting, I’m cutting out ‘mostly’). But I’m not a saint. I slip up and I think what that does? It keeps my body able to process gluten. So for me? It’s a good thing that I’m not perfect with it. Not eating an entire loaf of bread on a slip up…. just tastings…. but that’s how I’ve been eating for years anyway…. tastings, not big portions. I personally think it’s a combination of ‘off the wagon’ beer drinking, fried food (but never fast food), sugar, white rice, bread and pasta that makes me fluctuate in weight.
C’mon! You can’t go to Shakespeare Pub & Grill (an English Pub in San Diego) and not have fish n chips and a beer, right?
I KNOW CHEF! RIGHT!
So, I fluctuate. And all this attention to gluten free is sort of making me ‘ok’ with cutting out bread and pasta, personally, although I will say every so often Sausage, Onions, Peppers and Pasta, using chicken sausage and only half the box of pasta, really makes me feel like I’ve had a huge tasty treat, even if I eat a huge salad and only a small bowl of sausage veggie pasta. So I indulge…. maybe once every 2 weeks. (And now I’m doing meatless Mondays, which is a big boost to weight loss).
But people with celiac’s disease can’t play around with it like that. They experience terrible cramping, bloating, sometimes headaches and they may have to make a beeline to the toilet, because they’re exploding with diarrhea.
Not a pretty picture….
THANKS FOR BEING SO GRAPHIC CHEF!
No worries. I enjoy grossing you out!
According to a recent NY Times article: “The portion of households reporting purchases of gluten-free food products to Nielsen hit 11 percent last year, rising from 5 percent in 2010.
In dollars and cents, sales of gluten-free products were expected to total $10.5 billion last year, according to Mintel, a market research company, which estimates the category will produce more than $15 billion in annual sales in 2016.
A Mayo Clinic survey in 2012 concluded that only 1.8 million Americans have celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that causes the body to attack the small intestine when gluten is ingested and can lead to other debilitating medical problems if not diagnosed.
An additional 18 million people, or about 6 percent of the population, is believed to have gluten sensitivity, a less severe problem with the protein in wheat, barley and rye and their relatives that gives elasticity to dough and stability to the shape of baked goods”.
But what you and I are seeing in the marketplace is gluten free is the new ‘green’. And I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. I think considering gluten which focuses you on bread and pasta, and soups as well…. puts your focus on eating healthier. And if that’s what it takes? I’m all for it.
Just be aware that we are all driving this industry to put gluten free labels everywhere! Next label? On apples! Or better yet? Water! lol
Borderline ridiculous. So let’s use our trip to the store as an opportunity to laugh. Figure out if a product ever even had gluten in it? Then laugh as hard as you can. It’s good for the soul!
Happy Eating,
Chef Marian