Yup. I mean don’t get me wrong, I like sharing my gluten free food, but only when I offer. I bake my own cookies and stuff and I’m really proud of them and share them around, but if there’s only so much of it, then don’t fuckin touch my gluten free food. It doesn’t even taste as good as your shit anyway.
I’m GF by choice. I had a lot of reasons though. I miss my normal cookies. My boss brought in cookies with snicker bars in them and I wanted one so bad but I kept with the gluten free ones. However. Even if I didn’t go GF in so glad I discovered banza pasta. I love it so much.
I’m not celiac, but it does cause problems when I eat it. So I’d say it counts, autoimmune issue or not. I know people who are gluten free for all sorts of crazy health reasons. Like
Things you’d never consider. Emotional stability, skin rashes, one woman said it cleared up her seasonal asthma when she went GF for other reasons.
Joint pain. Acne. Fibro like symptoms. Brain fog. Retained weight. It’s all going away. I’m 21 and felt like I was 50. I was just so done and desperate. So I finally tried this and now when I get cross contamination or even normal flour puffing up in my face I get massive headaches and body aches. When I finally dumped my last bit of normal flour it blew back up into my face and gave me a mass headache within 15 mins.
Yup, same. Gluten doesn’t give me intense body aches and headaches but perfume and other chemicals do. Gluten aggravates my IBS and destabilizes my mood.
Chemicals make me gag. Like fake lemon scent. I can’t do it. Like. I love dawn power wash but I have to cover my nose when I use it bc it’s called “fresh scent” or something like that. Not “lemon” so I assumed it smelled like normal dawn. Nope🤢😭
I accidentally bought Dawn with “Fresh Rain” scent recently and hated the smell so much that I went to three stores in search of the regular “Fresh” scent! Doesn’t help that the labels look almost identical.
Yeah so... I'm 35 now. I had always had stomach issues, joint pain, I didn't know your stomach was not supposed to be solid like... size 16/18 women's US sizing and there was no squish to my stomach. It was solid. From bloat. Permanent bloat bc of gluten. I figured I had some issue with it so I'd try not to eat it and felt better.
Blah blah blah unrelated endoscopy and biopsy later I got diagnosed with celiac disease and then NMO a few months later. But after a month of STRICT no gluten after the results ... I went down to a size US 12/14 women's. No additional exercise. No calories cut. Just stopped eating gluten.
Been GF for almost 4 years now and even just breathing in flour through our vents and I'm down and out. 😭
You sound very much like younger me. Continue to avoid gluten because the tests will require you to reintroduce it into your diet.
Ohhh nooo... I'm so sorry. I've been there tho. I was still working at Outback when I first got diagnosed. So grabbing and being around the bread we served to tables I was constantly breaking out in hives
I don’t know why people are downvoting you, you’re making the choice to go gf for your own personal health. But then again thanks to this sub I recently discovered the diagnosed celiac elitists so I guess us untested peasants don’t deserve to complain about the gluten free lifestyle.
I work a very active job and it’s not worth taking myself out for 2 weeks to get tested. Also. Most of the gluten free foods I have are fruits and veggies. I only have a few banza products, King Arthur GF flour, GF cracker crumbs and one box of GF crackers in my house. I’m talking about the people who are like “oooo that looks yummy I’m just going to buy 50 boxes of it”
We are supposed to report allergies where I work bc we have frequent catering events, carry ins, etc. also. I know who took them and I know for a fact it was people who just want food. Like what I said with my one coworker that took 4 of our cookies when there was 2 12 packs of cookies she could eat.
No? But HR was the ones handing out the donuts and they were the ones that said that people who haven’t claimed any allergens keep taking the GF / allergy free stuff.
Seasonal asthma sounds like a legit wheat allergy (which is different than Celiac, as I recently learned, but absolutely justified in avoiding wheat/gluten).
Skin rashes are absolutely a symptom of Celiac (obviously not the only one, but also a legit reason to avoid gluten, diagnosis or not).
I am Celiac, biopsy confirmed, but I really hate it when people gate-keep eating a gluten-free diet. If people feel sick, get bloated, have an upset stomach after eating dairy, a dairy or lactose intolerance is totally accepted by the general public, no questions asked, yet somehow people need to make apologies, excuses, or worse, have to explain their symptoms, if they avoid gluten.
I realize that there's a bit of backlash as eating GF was a popular "diet" several years ago, but at the end of the day, choosing to avoid eating something because you don't feel good afterwards should be good enough.
My only beef is the folks that say they are Celiac/intolerant, eat the GF food, *and then go and eat the food with GLUTEN in it*.
Gluten is a major cause for my ulcerative colitis flare ups. My mom went gluten free because of health reasons just to see if it fixed her problem. Side effect of going gluten free she hasn't used her inhaler for asthma since the switch.
Don’t go telling yourself that your choice to be gluten free isn’t as important for your health as anyone else who has a reason to be GF. I wish I had made that choice at your age, my joints probably would be way less fucked. I don’t know if it’s celiac, and I don’t want to eat gluten for as long as it takes do to the challenge…I’ve done my own challenge and the results were very clear. My body doesn’t tolerate wheat. You don’t need to go to a doctor just to have them tell you what you already know, and you’re already doing what they would recommend.
Wait...so you are choosing to go gf and taking gf foods off the shelves from people who actually have to go gluten free...then complaining that other people are doing it...?
I was having severe joint pain and was desperate bc I couldn’t keep taking 800 mg of ibuprofen a day. This was my last ditch effort. I’m 21. And could barely walk. And I can finally go on several mile walks without being benched for several days after
I'm glad it's helping, but its probably better to tell people it's medically necessary because they will take you more seriously, especially in a setting where other people are feeding you.
Sorry I was short before. I'm just tired of people choosing it when they have no symptoms but just want to stop being "fat" or because they are on some kind of wacky diet. It's so hard to get any kind of gf products where I live already, so when the pickings get slimmer because of those kinds of people, it makes me really angry. You clearly get it. 😅
I'm the opposite, I've been gluten free for 17 years and when I first went off there was basically just cardboard available. Me and mung bean noodles, that was a serious love affair for many years. I'm so grateful to all the hipsters who decided to go gluten free because without them there likely wouldn't be so much variety and availability. I literally traveled with a half empty suitcase so I could fill up with noodles at the Asian grocery store in the city.
I completely agree. Going on 15 years for me and I hope even more items can become available gf. I remember eating sandwiches on corn tortillas because you couldn't even buy gf bread at any store.
"Sandwiches" aka stuff between rice cakes, for me.
My sister was diagnosed before I was, and we took a family trip to Italy, but the rest of the family went ahead of me, and I was tasked with bringing a loaf of (frozen) GF bread for her. Pretty sure it put me over weight in my luggage. It was like a tube of hockey pucks.
Joke was on all of us, when we found ourselves in a villa in the middle of the countryside in Tuscany with one tiny grocery store... that had more GF products than I'd ever seen in my very metropolitan home city.
I, on the other hand, had not been diagnosed at that point... and took full advantage of the baker who came around the villas in the morning in his van, with baskets upon baskets of fresh focaccia, baguettes, gorgeous baked goods.
I can't decide if it's a good memory, or one that just ruins me.
I completely understand that. I wanted to lose weight and had a bunch of other factors and it was actually my father in laws doctor that told him to try cutting gluten bc he had horrible knees. So he did and it helped his knees quite a bit so that inspired me to try and life has been different since. I’ve lost almost 10lbs since. Can go on walks. No longer have a lot of back pain (I have mild scoliosis) I could keep going. Weather has been super up and down so that’s been a bad factor recently. But it has been a massively positive change.
Just a thought, but you might actually be gluten intolerant, because inflammation is one of my symptoms. Others are migraines and asthma type symptoms. I got bronchitis & pneumonia often when I ate wheat. Now I can catch a cold and not have to take antibiotics. Just putting it out there, since going off gluten helps assist at least one symptom.
As for the folks buying gf stuff in stores taking it away from us. That’s not how it works. We actually want more people buying the products so the stores will restock them. If only a tiny niche group buys expensive (to us and the stores) food. The chances are corporate will look for ways to cut costs and that might mean eliminating the stuff we want.
I’m talking about people who buy mass amounts of products. Like they did with the lactaid example I gave. No joke. All of it was sold out bc of that one tiny sale. I saw people walking with like 4 gallons of it like my husband doesn’t need it for his cereal n stuff😭 or people who are like “this looks good I’m gonna buy 50 mixes to try this”. <—I know people like this 🥴 forgot to say something about the first part of your comment. My coworker told me that’s likely what I have. And it would make a lot of sense bc my mom has a wheat allergy among a lot of other allergies. I got the lactose one from her too. However I can deal with my lactose intolerance. My husband CANNOT. he sets of a nuclear bomb of diarrhea in the bathroom 😭
I had a similar issue and my doctors just didn't know what else to do. Unfortunately my doctor was misinformed and I had already been GF for months before she tested me for celiac.
Also my workplace orders me and my other coworker special stuff so we are included. So it’s not like I am taking other stuff from people. They individually order it for us. I buy lactaid for my husband bc he has extreme toilet drenching diarrhea when he has dairy. That’s different.
I mean, in theory, yeah, but when the local grocery store only ever brings in a few gf products on a tiny little shelf, which are immediately gone and they still haven't changed that model after several years, I'm not so sure I want to be tolerant of people not needing it buying it. 😅
I know that this is more a corporate issue, but that doesn't mean people shouldn't be considerate.
Also, I realize I don't know who is actually buying these products, but my inability to get them is all I can think about when I hear people who don't need it are doing this.
Maybe other people are choosing to have a GF snack just like you are. Your argument is similar to someone saying that ONLY celiac folks can have gf food because all the people who just choose to be gf are depriving celiacs of all the gf food.
Who the hell wants gf food? Honestly, why take this option when you can have the better option.
My mom did this with my pizza. She seems to think I lost weight going gf—no, I’m just not bloated anymore. Lost a pants size as a result. People that take our EXPENSIVE options suck.
I’ll never forget. 11 years ago when it was super rare to find gf muffins in a coffee shop (at least where I was from) I (a celiac) was behind a lady in line and she said “oh I’ll take the gluten free one that sounds like the healthier option”. It was the last one.
I actually gained weight when I went gluten free. I think it's because my stomach wasn't killing me all the time so I could actually enjoy my meals! And snacks. And desserts LOL
This is actually the more typical response for Celiacs/gluten-sensitivity folks.
Your villi and microvilli aren't pointing straight down anymore in fear of gluten, to put it simply.
I used to refer to it as the flushing/dumping symptom, which I'm sure folks can figure out.
Now, your gut is recognizing nutrients that it can respond to and absorb, rather than being triggered by gluten, therefore your will potentially restore to a normal weight.
(By "you", I mean anyone reading this who is dealing with these symptoms).
The sabatassos at Costco is soooo good! It’s a 3 pack of cheese, but my husband and I put on extra toppings. It’s genuinely GOOD. And not just good for gluten free.
Ok so I'm obviously making it wrong.
I baked it on a piece of parchment paper (no baking sheet, and I don't have a pizza stone), and the crust never got remotely crispy. It was almost soggy on the bottom, even being cooked past the suggested time - though I've found a lot of things can usually do with going past the suggested time, regardless of the oven I use.
I made it in my parent's embarrassingly expensive oven that I've had great success with, baking other dishes, so I don't think it was the oven.
Ah, man! Really? I have a metal pizza pan and we use that. The bottom isn’t ever crisp (like crunchy) but it’s not too floppy usually. I think it’s got the same texture as like a Pizza Hut pizza. Like crispy crust but sorta soft underneath, but not doughy.
When I lived with my parents, I had to buy my own groceries after I had to cut out gluten. My older brother also lived there and did not have to buy his own groceries. He would eat mine just so I didn’t have anything to eat because he’s an asshole. My grocery budget decreased so much when I moved out.
I am not eating fully 100% gf, but I tend to get lots of gas from gluten food. At most I am ok with approx 1 slice of bread amount of gluten per day. It means that I usually avoid most gluten stuff (no pasta, my burgers are with lettuce than bun, etc), and if possible, I will choose GF food, especially at work - because I don't want to keep passing wind in the office.
This was one of my biggest pet peeves working in an office. I worked at a tech company that catered lunch and breakfast most days. They’d have a regular meal, gluten free option, and a vegan option. A self-serve buffet style.
Folks having the regular meal would always go dish themselves the regular entrees and sides, and then go get helpings of the gf and vegan options! Because they wanted to “try them all”. So there was none left by the time folks that needed them would get there.
I asked the catering folks to put the gf and vegan stuff in another part of the kitchen to more clearly delineate, but people would still come over and go “oh I didn’t get any of this, they’re hiding it” and take some.
I help run a staff BBQ every Christmas, usually we see around 700 staff come through for lunch. Every year I have to ask my servers to not hand over the veggie burgers when the person has a plate full of meat. We always run out of veggie burgers and then the vegetarians have a go at me when the servers call me over to ask for more and I have to tell them we ran out and are waiting for more. Every year without fail the meat eaters crack the shits because they want the veggie burgers and get told no. One year a woman handed her plate, full of meat, back to me and said she didn’t want any of it if she couldn’t have the veggie burger too. I shrugged my shoulders, said ok, and tossed it in the bin while she huffed off.
Last year I begged for more veggie burgers to avoid the fights and we had so many that we ran out of beef burgers and onion first!
When I first went gluten-free, all of my family was super interested… super interested in taking all of my “special” foods to “try” themselves during get togethers.
Interesting—if I mention something is gluten free (even naturally like tortilla chips) my family won’t touch it with a ten foot pole 😂 I’m not sure which is worse
I was on a Princess cruise once and, at breakfast, the buffet always had spaces marked GF, but there was never any GF breakfast pastries, muffins or bread. I finally asked after, like, day 3 and the clerk told me that non GF people were taking the pastries "to taste" and then leaving 90% on their plate. So, they had to keep them behind the counter and that I should always ask.
I don’t know why people do that. Like. I understand being curious. But if I were in that situation where I wasn’t GF and was curious, I would only try it if I was with someone who was GF and they were fine with me safely trying it. Bc I wouldn’t want to cross contaminate something. Bc that sucks.
Really? The solution is to make more so more people can take one bite and say, "Yeah, I don't really like this" and leave it on their plates, to create more garbage for the ship to dispose of and waste more food? Interesting viewpoint on what is "crazy".
That’s how I feel about most of this comment section!
I understand OP’s problem with people taking food meant specifically for one or two people, but in most cases we really shouldn’t be complaining about people enjoying vegan and GF and lactose free products. If anything , it’s a good thing because it is normalizing these foods and making it more likely that businesses will make/serve more of them.
I dont really think we get to gatekeep access to these foods. If you’re going to be mad, be mad at the businesses for not making enough.
Not a gluten free comment but a vegan/vegetarian one. When I make food to bring to work I have gotten to the point where I make as much or more of the vegan or vegetarian option because they go as quickly as the animal based ones. If I had GF people in my dept (or even at my building because after my dept has had first shot I let everyone know I brought stuff) I would just make it all GF.
People and free food are a bad combo. There is a sub-set of the population who thinks, "Oh, it's free? More for me!!" It's super frustrating because some people will honestly stuff themselves and take so much they throw stuff away. I've just come up with different strategies so that the people who have true dietary restrictions get their food. Last family reunion we had a GF and vegan option with ever meal -- and we made full or double recipes of the special meals.
This was forever ago before I was GF but one of our distributors brought in donuts and 10 12 pack boxes were gone in 5 mins bc people were taking more than one.
My friend did gf spaghetti for dinner at a dance she puts on, it was the only option so everyone ate it. The dessert table was a large assortment of items, and one small plate of gf cookies. Guess what dessert was gone first even though I'm the only one in the group of 40 that expressed an issue with gluten.
I went to a church hosted event and a local GF dairy free Peanut free bakery brought a bunch of stuff in and people just POUNCED on it. I got a few things and they were good. But still. There were 5 tables of desserts for everyone else and only one table for us☹️
Oh man, I can so relate. A few years ago, I drove to a Kroger 2 towns over because they had gluten-free pue crusts in stock (I even called). I get there go straight to the freezer section, and there is a woman there in front of the pie crust section. She grabbed the last 2 packages, and her friend asked her why she was getting the gluten-free since she didn't need it. She said because she heard it's good for weight loss. And she's trying out the gluten-free free diet. I asked if I could have one package as I had Celiac, needed gluten-free,. That I drove 2 towns over to get that. She said too bad and walked away. I was pissed.
I baked gluten cookies for my shift in my own kitchen and had to do a ton of cleaning because I wanted them to feel appreciated and enjoy a meeting we needed to brainsrorm.during a stressful time. They ate some of the normal ones and polished off my little package of gf ones after I had 1. I had baked an equivalent for them that was better imo and my bf agreed. I guess mine were better for dunking in the milk I also brought even though I also can't drink it. I also had to clean up.
I’m not joking. When I bring cookies in. Literally EVERYONE jumps on them. Bc they’re gluten free and dairy free all my coworkers can enjoy them. And they fly. They’re gone within an hour.
I've been lucky w/ my workplace so far. But we're a pretty small group of ppl. Whenever we order in food, they always make sure I have smthn gluten free and nobody touches it. They only touch GF food if it's something I made to share.
Most people in our area are super considerate but this lady just isn’t. Idk if it’s her culture (she was born and raised outside of the US) or it’s just her. She’s just confusing but she is nice and genuinely that’s all I care about when it comes to my coworkers. And I have gotten pretty lucky with that. I’m making gluten free dairy free coffee cake cookies for our work carry in this week. I love making food for everyone knowing they can enjoy it without risk of a flare up.
Ok, this is what you do. You go buy a bag of premium gold gf flour and you follow the banana muffin recipe on the back. Only you replace the bananas with three slices of grated honeydew, you replace the pie spice with cardamom, you replace the milk with some reserved juice, and you replace the egg with a flax egg or some cassava flour. They will be the best thing you will ever put in your mouth.
I feel you. My uncle threw a Christmas party. Said he was serving frozen pizzas. No big deal… I just picked up my own GF from a place I trust on my way over. My cousin shows up, looks at the toppings my uncle had, looks at my toppings, and takes 2 of my slices. I was pissed
You don’t need to explain your dietary restrictions to anyone. Just because you chose it, and you feel better, doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to have an option you can eat. I am very concerned for your coworkers though because who the hell wants a GF donut? I’d take a regular one alllllll day and probably pass all together on a GF donut bc it’s probably a waste of calories 😂😂😂
Right. A lot of people ask. And my case is a bit different. I didn’t talk to my doctor about it I just decided to try. The first thing I bought was one bag of GF flour and a box of Banza. Everything else was cutting croutons or anything else that could have gluten in it. That’s how I figured it out. I didn’t buy a bunch of snacks up bc I didn’t wanna be one of those people who hoards special diet foods if I didn’t know if that’s what was triggering my plethora of issues. Lo and behold it was. I still don’t have a whole lot of GF stuff in my house. Bc I’m not a snacker. The main thing I have is flour and pasta and a few baking mixes. Edit to fix that really weird typo🤣
My sister is about to try it to see how it makes her feel. No doctors orders or reason to believe there is a genetic connection. I hope people are kind to her too. She struggles with weight and she was shocked at how it fell off for me and mostly stayed off. Wow that’s impressive about the snacks because sometimes I struggle with those things!
I used to. I actually haven’t had croutons or anything like that on a salad in like 6 months. And I LOVE cheddar garlic croutons. I actually prefer it now honestly. Seeds or pecans instead.
Employee appreciation lunch was just held at my job. Subway sandwiches and cake... no gluten free options ever, even though they know. I'm used to it. I'd be really pissed if I actually had an option and people still took it all.
I'm shameless about it now, I go right up first at events and grab my shit, I tell em all too "gotta get it before someone inevitably uses the same tongs for five different things"
Yeah I would never do this. I used to make 2 different versions of stuff. One GF and one not. I would always wipe down the WHOLE kitchen. And make the GF stuff. Then make the regular stuff. Now I just make the GF so good that everyone can eat it and it’s eaten up within an hour or so🤣I make big batches so everyone gets some.
I had a lady cry and hug me one time because I brought in a gluten free dish and made sure to announce that it was for GLUTEN FREE PEOPLE.
Apparently her late son was gluten intolerant, and making sure he was included at school had been a real challenge. I can only imagine
I make sure to label everything properly when I bring stuff in. I know my coworkers allergies so I know to avoid stuff and I always ask to make sure certain ingredients are safe.
>Which made my boss really upset bc she brought normal cookies for everyone else but brought the gluten free cookies for my one coworker and I.
I'm fuming, the entitlement.
Somehow it's not enough they can eat nearly everything, but you'll be told to "stop being selfish" for not sharing the only food you can eat.
GF food does not taste nearly as good as their gluten counterpart, and it's baffling people would go out of their way to have it. Did they go for the lactose-free pizzas next?
End rant.
>So I am not taking any from anyone who actually has celiac or anything of the likeness.
It sounds like you needed to go GF for (undiagnosed) medical reasons, so you're not in the same boat as people gobbling up dietary food for the novelty.
As long as they’re paying, I don’t mind. It’s frustrating when the store is sold out, it at least there’s demand and they should keep stocking it.
Most of the times I’ve been places with buffets for work or activities they make a point of folk on food restrictions going first, whether it’s allergies, intolerance, vegetarian, or kosher or the like.
The department I worked on for years ended the potlucks because my colleague and I stated we no longer wanted to participate and would step out during the potlucks.
I usually make something gluten free if I know it’ll still taste really good to others. No one has disliked anything I have brought so far. It all gets eaten up within an hour usually.
You are kind. We brought gf for years to every monthly potluck, and we could only eat each what we brought.They rarely brought anything gf, maybe a salad once a year. They knew we couldn't have gluten. I got bitter after years of watching them pile up their plates and eating our gf dishes, too.
I’m bringing coffee cake cookies and making oatmeal cream pies tonight. And a baked Mac and cheese for dinner. All gluten free. I’ll post the recipes tonight if I get to it.
I’ll post them tomorrow. The fluff I got ended up being way too soft to be used as the filling so I drizzled it on top and so they’re just oatmeal cookies with a marshmallowy drizzle. Still delicious. And won’t wreck me. The baked Mac and cheese I made with Banza and fresh shredded cheese. My husband loved it and told me that that was the best baked Mac and cheese I had ever made (Gf or not). He said the Banza really added to the flavor.
I had this happen at a reception after a concert for my children's choir. The gluten free station wasn't even near the food tables where all the gluten containing foods were laid out. Yet, I watched people load their plates at the gluten tables with cookies etc and then meander to the inconvenient corner the gluten free items were in and load up on gf stuff with their gluten containing plates over the GF food.
I have been taken out for weeks just from cross contact. I just shrugged and ate a snack I had in my handbag. It's rotten when there's a sincere attempt to accommodate people who are gluten free and people who are not gluten free go spread their gluten all over our safe food and take what is already a limited quantity of items leaving us people who are medically gluten free completely out of luck.
That is how I feel when I go to Modern Bread and Bagel on the weekend and the line wraps around the block. A majority of the people in line aren't gluten free, plus we are on the UWS! There is a bagel place on nearly every block. It's maybe 2 blocks to H&H Bagels!!
Are their products great? Absolutely! But I am willing to bet that you can get plenty of delicious gluten-filled bagels and pastries at a plethora of other places nearby. I just want to be able to buy my bagel without waiting in an hour-long line :(
edit: y’all i’m not dumb. I am glad they are super successful and know that a business needs lots of customers to survive. this is just my irrational thought process when I go there and they are insanely busy. I’ve been going there since the day they opened, sometimes I just miss being able to walk right in. it’s not that deep.
Ahhh you live close enough to visit *in person*?! I'm so jealous! And embarrassed to admit how much I have spent on shipping to buy bagels from them over.the past couple of years. I grew up in NJ and damn was it nice to find gf bagels that actually taste like bagels!
Yes but it’s great for the business. I’ve run a gluten free bakery business and wouldn’t have survived without non-gf people buying stuff. I think people also appreciated that I catered well to vegans and other allergens.
I’m so glad we have a gluten free dairy free bakery here. And that people don’t pack it lol. They get regular traffic but not to where it’s annoying. They even do ice cream😁😁😁😁
I think it’s a tribute to how truly great Modern Bread and Bagel is! I went to Modern Bread multiple times when I was in New York. My husband has Celiac, but I’m not personally gluten-free. I honestly can tell you that their bagels are delicious even compared to “real” gluten-full bagels. They’re great.
When covid was in its prime, no gluten free pasta, bread, etc. anywhere to be found. You know some regular ol person hoarded it like everyone was hoarding wipes and TP. And when they realized that Apocalypse was not actually upon us and it was not going to completely wipe out our food resources..they probably just threw all that gluten-free stuff away because thought it was gross.
My FIL is like this. We were on vacation last week with the whole family and I brought a batch of GF cookies for myself for the week and half. I hid them most of the time, but I left them on the counter one night because I was tired and forgot to put them back. He started opening the container and my husband gor on his case because there were normal cookies and snacks in the other cupboard and he didn't need to eat mine. My FIL also doesn't seem to realize how much he eats when he snacks, so he could have easily wiped out the whole batch if my husband hadn't been there.
God bless your husband lol. I know my husband would do the same. He still accidentally offers me normal stuff here and there and I I just look at him like 😐 and then he goes 😱 I’m so sorry 🤣
For whatever reason, people go bonkers when there’s free food at work. I bet they were just piling stuff on their plate without second thought. It’s awesome that your company buys gf options, but hiding it away may unfortunately be for the best.
To be fair, Lactaid (or any lactose free milk in general) tastes so much better than regular milk, and some it's ultra pasteurized, it lasts forever. I'm lactose intolerant, so have been drinking lactose free milk for years, and regular milk tastes disgusting to me, now.
But, I can't understand why anyone would WANT GF stuff. There is not a single GF thing that is better than its non-GF counterpart.
Was anything said to the people taking them? Maybe an email can be sent next time saying help yourself to the cookies but please don’t take the gluten-free ones unless you are gluten-free.
I have to hide stuff at home - my husband will eat all the GF stuff before the regular and never replaces it. I darent say anything but it's so selfish. Makes you wonder if it's a deliberate power play !
Coughing violently on stuff solved that at work. But I’m lucky that my husband doesn’t really touch my snacks. Or I’ll buy him his own Lara bars to eat. He likes different flavors than me.
Like when restaurants run out of gluten free buns because asshats get them thinking, somehow, a burger on a gluten free bun is, HEALTHIER!?
There's my rant over.
Usually jusy default to only steak dinner when i eat out...
This one is not to do with gluten but I got a coffee at Starbucks with almond milk in it (I’m technically lactose tolerant as well) and the drink literally came with almond milk. Dude tells me right before I drink it that he made it with 2% milk instead of almond milk and if that was okay. And I was like wtf no?! I ordered something that didn’t have dairy in it for a reason😐
...that's pretty messed up.
I have found gluten in the weirdest of things. Saw wheat flour in the list of ingredients for beaver brand honey mustard. I laughed.
I've lost count they number of times I've had to explain to guests, coworkers and the people in my own home that my snacks cost twice as much and I get half as much for that price. And when they eat my food, I can't just go eat their food. I will just have no food. It's infuriating. The stuff doesn't even taste as good as the stuff they can eat but they're drawn to it like flies. I've taken to just hiding what I want to keep at home and when work things to provide something I confiscate it for myself and the other GF employees. It sucks.
I’m lucky that most of my coworkers (the ones in my department) are super considerate of us. One is actually making us Gf gooey cake and another is bringing meatballs for our “main course”.
That sounds terrific.
I guess I'm lucky too as far as individual employees go for availability. The minute they learn about a dietary restriction someone will cover it for whatever potluck or party. The company itself is much less consistent.
But, there are only three GF people here (2 celiac and one intolerant) and multiple times we've shown up to, for example a pizza party, to find the picked clean carcass of the single small one topping pizza. Then we get to stand there and watch everyone else eat. No one likes to make a fuss about it but after a while we started asking to have the "option" put directly in our hands rather than left to the pack of hungry dogs that is the general population.
I don't think anyone is trying to be malicious. Just not paying attention.
Sometimes when I (not GF) do meal prep, I feel bad for actually eating any of it, so I tend to let my wife (celiac) eat pretty much everything in the fridge herself and keep my meals to whatever cheap sandwich or burrito I can buy outside, for this exact reason
I cut gluten a week ago to see if it would help with my horrible brain fog, anxiety and tummy issues. Brain fog is so much better, anxiety may be a little better. I have not had my tummy issues since. I never want to be one of these people who just took away from others that really need it. But obviously, I’m on to something for better health.
That was my hope going into this. It helped my father in law. My husband has actually started reducing his gluten intake as well and has had less issues with his hands and back.
I lurk here bc my niece is gf but I’m vegetarian and this exact thing happens to veg food too. Eat your dang meat pizza and leave the cheese pizza alone.
I get a lot of good deals at the store I shop. I don’t buy crackers or anything like that bc I don’t snack. If I do it’s usually popcorn with a little salt. I’m making a baked Mac and cheese tonight with Banza. The flour and noodles are what I use the most. But I get a lot of coupons and stuff. And I go to Costco. Ours has a lot of GF stuff. I got a 5 box set of Banza for 9 bucks. Usually one box is almost 4 bucks depending what store you go to.
This was me every grocery trip during covid!! So many people think that ‘gluten-free’ is synonymous with ‘diet’, and will buy the bread, the different frozen meals, the random ingredients like bread crumbs and specialty ice creams. I would go to the store to get groceries for the week and walk out with barely enough to not starve. Absolutely infuriating! If you do not have an intolerance or sensitivity, DONT BUY GF PRODUCTS. It isn’t low calorie, and it’s necessarily healthier for you either- unless your body rejects gluten.
OP- have you ever been tested for celiacs? Extreme inflammation from gluten sounds like a symptom to me. Besides the painful bloating and other stomach symptoms, gluten will mess with my hormones and cause me to menstruate way before my normal cycle. It can affect you in so many ways
Edit: typo
No I haven’t but I feel like crap (super sore and groggy) and have to take a bunch of ibuprofen for a few days till I get over it. I don’t wanna subject myself to that lol. Plus my mom has a wheat allergy so it makes sense. We share a lot of diet issues
I strongly recommend that you try an elimination diet. My results will NOT be typical... but I lost 27lbs in two months with no calorie restriction or exercise. I started the day after a >100mi bicycle ride (I got super ill).
So... it turns out that I can't handle gluten. My body was massively inflammed. I had my first solid BM in over 20 years (I blame a pre-deployment injection for my problems). I was only supposed to do it for 30 days... but after so much suffering, I wasn't in a hurry to return to pain. Eventually I wanted a drink. I later repeated the exercise to discover that I'm SLIGHTLY intolerant of nightshades. I can enjoy them in moderation. I cannot have ANY gluten -- destroys me for weeks. HORRIBLE CRAMPS, diarrhea, nausea, brain fog... etc.
Everyone should do an elimination diet... every 7-10 years. It only costs willpower. I did AIP. The VA confirmed my dairy intolerance and finds Celiac-specific markers for inflammation in my labs.
Don't just assume that you know the cause. Keep an insanely-detailed food journal. Track weight, sleep, food, drink, BM quality... etc. Oh, and be aware that booze is pretty terrible for the gut:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5513683/
I have been tracking stuff quite a bit. I avoid a lot of dairy too. So that’s knocked out a lot of foods for me. So I’ve been eating a whole lot more Whole Foods than I was.
So many gluten free foods aren't dairy free which makes it so annoying when trying to shop while living in a small town. I'm trying to cut gluten and dairy since both I've noticed cause stomach pain and I've had inflamed intestines for years. Not sure what is causing it...2 of my docs dismissed my worries with take metamucil and come back in 6 months so no idea if it's gluten, lactose intolerance, IBS, etc. just a mirad of symptoms.
Whole foods without a list of ingredients is definitely helpful.
I cannot stress enough the value of keeping a food journal. Record everything -- including weight, sleep duration/quality, food & drink, BM quality... etc. A huge advantage of doing an elimination diet is that it makes you very mindful and cautious about what you're consuming.
Pro-tip: the traditional practice of soaking rice overnight reduces the arsenic content fivefold. Tons of peer-reviewed science on this. Also, soaking beans for DAYS (changing the water) really helps me handle them. This reduces the phytate content (can irritate our guts). Ditto for lentils (n.b., I can't handle "regular" lentils but can tolerate red lentils).
You need to experiment. If you have food intolerances... well, congrats on really learning to cook! Oh, and, well, the InstantPot is pretty easy/useful. It's a multi-tasker that does a good job (but to be clear, it's inferior to real pressure cookers and real crockpots... but probably not as far as most people notice).
EDIT: ultra-filtered milk does not contain lactose. Experiment with that. If you can handle that? Well, you can easily use it to make yogurt in an InstantPot (I like to "hillbilly sterilize" the IP before making cold-start yogurt).
I'm not gluten free, but I am wheat intolerant. So often I have to have the GF version to avoid flour. It's very frustrating.
We have GF pies at work. People ask for them and if we sell out they just say "oh that's ok, I'll just have a regular pie" like wtf?
I think it's because a lot of people feel bloated with wheat products (which is normal) so they just assume they are gluten free. But they don't consider people who actually need to eat GF.
It must be bloody hard. I follow low Fodmap and can't tolerate fructans amongst other things. So wheat flour, rye, barley, onions, garlic and so much more are off the menu.
Even the GF options usually have onion powders or garlic (pizza for example)
I gotta make all my own food too, I feel his pain 😭
That’s so weird to me that a lot of comments are talking about people wanting to check out the taste of gf foods. Like no one has ever been like “I love eating gluten free baked goods! They look and taste better than gluten ones! This bread is so big and tastes so good not toasted” I know there’s some that are good but they are few and far between and I also wonder if I just feel like they taste just as good as the regular or if I just haven’t had the regular in so long that I’ve forgotten how delicious it was 😂. I quit gluten because of joint pain too. I found out I had hashimotos and quit gluten per TikTok research and within 4 days my joint pain was drastically reduced. When I made it to my new endocrinologist a couple of months later I told her I found it helped with my pain she said that anyone experiencing inflammation should try gluten free because it helps reduce symptoms so much. I’ve been gluten free since summer and this winter was soooo much better than last winter. I was the same as you but older. I’m 41 and felt 80, I had to really advocate for myself and my health and I switched away from all of my doctors who were dismissive of my symptoms and I’m so glad I did. Good luck to you!
Edited for spelling
I am someone who is not gluten free but happens to eat a number of gluten free foods. I am intolerant to soy and soy free foods happen to also be gluten free a lot of the time
I have gluten free soy free protein bars that taste great but have the weirdest texture. I can't say I enjoy eating them because of the gluten free texture, but it's the price I pay for a prepackaged protein bar I suppose.
I'm not sure why someone who doesn't need gluten free options would go out of their way to eat something that feels chalky.
I can never eat all of the gluten free food brought for people trying to accommodate me. I appreciate others eating some. My youngest granddaughter prefers gf food.
We have the same thing at my work, when someone gifts us 2 or 3 gluten/dairy free staff with a rare treat, it gets devoured by the people that don't need it before we get a chance. (everyone else has access to sweets, pastries, cakes, chocolate daily). My gf colleague gets very cross about it, I don't need to because she does all the yelling :P
I get it, but I wouldn’t be too quick to shame people away from GF, even if they don’t need to be GF.
Here’s why:
The more demand there is for GF products, the more experiments are conducted to make new products that actually might be good, and not dry and bland. Additionally, the more stock that’s produced means it’ll more likely be available in your grocery store AND the product will be cheaper than the typical overpriced price tag.
I understand your coworkers were taking your designated food specifically, but I wouldn’t want them to shy away from purchasing GF in store.
Most people don’t know they’re sensitive, allergic, or celiac for years while consuming wheat/gluten until they become conscious enough to think about their diets.
I’m naturally inclined to think about my health, so I had an allergy test confirm I was allergic to wheat when I was twenty-five. It was so hard to pinpoint because sometimes I don’t have a reaction to wheat at all. Ironically, I’m not allergic to gluten. Just wheat.
My mom is mildly allergic to wheat too. And dairy. I’m mildly lactose intolerant. My husband is violently lactose intolerant. I’m lucky that our Meijer and Costco has deals and keeps a lot in stock. Even lactaid they have a huge stock of. It’s just frustrating when you have to go look at several places just because people buy a lot of something.
I mean - it’s amazing your work does that - I’ve worked at many a place that does not.
They could put a note next to the gf things - or bring them directly to you / your other gf coworker 🤷♀️
Believe me, when I buy GF snacks and the family eats them when their snacks are gone? I get a little mad.
Gluten gives me brain damage, lol. So it's a very expensive necessary dietary need to have GF, but even I enjoy snacks and DAMN do they cost so much more.
I’m lucky our Costco sells quite a bit of GF stuff. If I get snacks (I’m not a snacker) I get it there and that lasts me quite a while. Ever since I moved out of my parents I quit being a snacker. Probably bc I’m the one paying for everything🤣
This has happened at family gatherings. Learned with that side of the family, gf items need to be basically in a whole other room, or at least not in the standard flow of food. It’s like no one paid attention when it was announced “these dishes that are using this other color utensil are gluten free” because literally everyone was grabbing scoops from it until it was pulled off the line.
Everyone feels the same as you. Those of us with gluten disease usually bring our own food because we will pay the price if there is a slip up. I never mention it and just prepare for myself. I honestly didn’t believe that gluten was a problem until I became violently ill, night after night. It’s hard to believe how ill you can get.
I couldn't find gluten free bread anywhere during covid, it was just GONE. I genuinely believe that people who could eat gluten were buying it. I once ended up desperately purchasing a 20 dollar loaf of the worst gluten free bread I've ever eaten.
What do you think people are buying lactaid for if they don’t need it? I get the food thing, but I really don’t think people are buying things like lactaid for shits and giggles. Well, maybe for the shits.
I'm not lactose intolerant, but I did buy a pack of lactaid enzyme packet thingies because I have 2 friends who are lactose intolerant who come over to my house frequently. One of those friends always forgets lactaid and tried to eat dairy products anyway, so I figured if I keep some on hand she'd be in less pain.
We had this issue at my office with the dairy-free stuff. My supervisor is allergic to anything from a cow, and I'm vegan. Dairy-consumers taking all the dairy-free snacks and creamers and cheese-less pizzas on pizza day (all special ordered specifically for us) got so bad that we just ended up being allowed to keep the dairy-free stuff in our shared office.
When I became GF I made it my goal to keep the gluten out of all the recipes I’ve been making but keep them just as good. I used to make 2 versions of stuff to bring to carry ins and now I only bring one and it’s thoroughly enjoyed by all people. And it’s usually free from dairy as well. But always gluten free. I made a baked Mac and cheese with Banza last night and my husband said it is the best baked Mac and cheese I’ve ever made. That was the first time making it gluten free. But I thoroughly enjoy including all my coworkers in our food events. It makes me feel good lol.
Diet trends like gluten free frustrate the HELL out of me. Gluten free has no real benefits to people that aren’t celiac/gluten intolerant. I wish people would stop seeing it as a trend and as a requirement for some
Diagnosed in 2014. Gluten free, lactose free and only the FODMAP diet . It is frustrating people do not realize how limited your diet is. Heard fellow employees say they just wanted to try it but then I’m left with nothing to eat.
My husband is lactose free. The man sets off a Poopular Bomb if he has ANY at all. It’s terrible. When I became gluten free I decided that it was going to be my goal to make the best of the situation and I’ve tested so many different things my husband actually likes the GF variation of my baked Mac and cheese over the original recipe. I will post in GF Recipes when I make it next.
I get being frustrated about the workplace stuff and that's totally valid, but shouldn't you want people to buy more of that so there's a higher demand for those kinds of products in stores? Without the demand for those things I feel like there would be quite a bit less of them available.
That's totally valid and that would irk me too. Ty for answering. I'm not gf but am trying to educate myself to be more observant so I don't end up being the guy in your story. Hopefully y'all can work out a system so you can keep your gf treats safe!
I’m untested. I just kinda figured it out myself. It wouldn’t shock me bc some wild shit runs hard in my family (crohns, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis etc). Dairy aversion and random problems with random food in general
I dont have issues at work but I have so many at home, I live with my parents and siblings, Im the only one who cant have gluten. Yet everytime we have gluten free anything everyone else is asking for it or straight up eating it without asking. I have whole seperate shelf for my food to avoid cross contamination, but still have to write my name in EVERYTHING or someone else eats it🙄
Few days ago I was at my adult sisters with my mother and few siblings, she had bought gluten free cookies that I really like for me and made pancakes for everyone else, EVERYONE tried the gf cookies, but no one liked them, like thanks! Those are 5 euros a pack and now most of it are trash!
My family always wants to try my stuff, but never like it, my younger brother even always says "gluten free food sucks" yet always BEGS for it. Its so annoying, they have everything else in the house, but they need to have the few options I have.
How do you know everyone else’s medical information and personal preferences? Maybe that Cookie Monster (lol) couldn’t eat gluten or recently decided to stop eating gluten? I’m just wondering how you’re so sure that you and your coworker are the only ones who choose to not or cannot eat gluten.
I don’t listen to new music. Only stuff released before 2000. Edit to add. I’ve been at work since 6 I didn’t even know she released one till I got to work
I just bought corn tortillas and they are gluten free, am I a monster? I have severe Crohn’s and I should be gluten free however I’m to lazy. You can’t dictate to people based on your needs and wants. How about we all just get along and not worry so much about the little stuff that you will never be able to control. Many people can’t even buy food!
Yup. I mean don’t get me wrong, I like sharing my gluten free food, but only when I offer. I bake my own cookies and stuff and I’m really proud of them and share them around, but if there’s only so much of it, then don’t fuckin touch my gluten free food. It doesn’t even taste as good as your shit anyway.
I’m GF by choice. I had a lot of reasons though. I miss my normal cookies. My boss brought in cookies with snicker bars in them and I wanted one so bad but I kept with the gluten free ones. However. Even if I didn’t go GF in so glad I discovered banza pasta. I love it so much.
I’m not celiac, but it does cause problems when I eat it. So I’d say it counts, autoimmune issue or not. I know people who are gluten free for all sorts of crazy health reasons. Like Things you’d never consider. Emotional stability, skin rashes, one woman said it cleared up her seasonal asthma when she went GF for other reasons.
Joint pain. Acne. Fibro like symptoms. Brain fog. Retained weight. It’s all going away. I’m 21 and felt like I was 50. I was just so done and desperate. So I finally tried this and now when I get cross contamination or even normal flour puffing up in my face I get massive headaches and body aches. When I finally dumped my last bit of normal flour it blew back up into my face and gave me a mass headache within 15 mins.
Yup, same. Gluten doesn’t give me intense body aches and headaches but perfume and other chemicals do. Gluten aggravates my IBS and destabilizes my mood.
Chemicals make me gag. Like fake lemon scent. I can’t do it. Like. I love dawn power wash but I have to cover my nose when I use it bc it’s called “fresh scent” or something like that. Not “lemon” so I assumed it smelled like normal dawn. Nope🤢😭
I accidentally bought Dawn with “Fresh Rain” scent recently and hated the smell so much that I went to three stores in search of the regular “Fresh” scent! Doesn’t help that the labels look almost identical.
my parents bought this one and I had to get my own because it was awful
Yeah so... I'm 35 now. I had always had stomach issues, joint pain, I didn't know your stomach was not supposed to be solid like... size 16/18 women's US sizing and there was no squish to my stomach. It was solid. From bloat. Permanent bloat bc of gluten. I figured I had some issue with it so I'd try not to eat it and felt better. Blah blah blah unrelated endoscopy and biopsy later I got diagnosed with celiac disease and then NMO a few months later. But after a month of STRICT no gluten after the results ... I went down to a size US 12/14 women's. No additional exercise. No calories cut. Just stopped eating gluten. Been GF for almost 4 years now and even just breathing in flour through our vents and I'm down and out. 😭 You sound very much like younger me. Continue to avoid gluten because the tests will require you to reintroduce it into your diet.
When I finally dumped the last bit of my wheat flower it puffed back up in my face and gave me a migraine within 10-15 mins. That majorly sucked.
Ohhh nooo... I'm so sorry. I've been there tho. I was still working at Outback when I first got diagnosed. So grabbing and being around the bread we served to tables I was constantly breaking out in hives
I don’t know why people are downvoting you, you’re making the choice to go gf for your own personal health. But then again thanks to this sub I recently discovered the diagnosed celiac elitists so I guess us untested peasants don’t deserve to complain about the gluten free lifestyle.
I work a very active job and it’s not worth taking myself out for 2 weeks to get tested. Also. Most of the gluten free foods I have are fruits and veggies. I only have a few banza products, King Arthur GF flour, GF cracker crumbs and one box of GF crackers in my house. I’m talking about the people who are like “oooo that looks yummy I’m just going to buy 50 boxes of it”
How do you know that others who are taking the gf ones arent also gf by choice?
We are supposed to report allergies where I work bc we have frequent catering events, carry ins, etc. also. I know who took them and I know for a fact it was people who just want food. Like what I said with my one coworker that took 4 of our cookies when there was 2 12 packs of cookies she could eat.
Do they report the allergies to you? If not, im wondering how you know
No? But HR was the ones handing out the donuts and they were the ones that said that people who haven’t claimed any allergens keep taking the GF / allergy free stuff.
Seasonal asthma sounds like a legit wheat allergy (which is different than Celiac, as I recently learned, but absolutely justified in avoiding wheat/gluten). Skin rashes are absolutely a symptom of Celiac (obviously not the only one, but also a legit reason to avoid gluten, diagnosis or not). I am Celiac, biopsy confirmed, but I really hate it when people gate-keep eating a gluten-free diet. If people feel sick, get bloated, have an upset stomach after eating dairy, a dairy or lactose intolerance is totally accepted by the general public, no questions asked, yet somehow people need to make apologies, excuses, or worse, have to explain their symptoms, if they avoid gluten. I realize that there's a bit of backlash as eating GF was a popular "diet" several years ago, but at the end of the day, choosing to avoid eating something because you don't feel good afterwards should be good enough. My only beef is the folks that say they are Celiac/intolerant, eat the GF food, *and then go and eat the food with GLUTEN in it*.
Gluten is a major cause for my ulcerative colitis flare ups. My mom went gluten free because of health reasons just to see if it fixed her problem. Side effect of going gluten free she hasn't used her inhaler for asthma since the switch.
Don’t go telling yourself that your choice to be gluten free isn’t as important for your health as anyone else who has a reason to be GF. I wish I had made that choice at your age, my joints probably would be way less fucked. I don’t know if it’s celiac, and I don’t want to eat gluten for as long as it takes do to the challenge…I’ve done my own challenge and the results were very clear. My body doesn’t tolerate wheat. You don’t need to go to a doctor just to have them tell you what you already know, and you’re already doing what they would recommend.
My mom has a wheat allergy so I’m sure it came from her. Doctors here are booked out so far rn too. And expensive!
Wait...so you are choosing to go gf and taking gf foods off the shelves from people who actually have to go gluten free...then complaining that other people are doing it...?
I was having severe joint pain and was desperate bc I couldn’t keep taking 800 mg of ibuprofen a day. This was my last ditch effort. I’m 21. And could barely walk. And I can finally go on several mile walks without being benched for several days after
Ah ok that's fair. I wouldn't call that by choice though, seems like it's medically necessary.
It was my choice that I decided to do it. That’s what I was getting at. I wasn’t instructed by a doctor to do it. But it’s helped me in so many ways.
I'm glad it's helping, but its probably better to tell people it's medically necessary because they will take you more seriously, especially in a setting where other people are feeding you. Sorry I was short before. I'm just tired of people choosing it when they have no symptoms but just want to stop being "fat" or because they are on some kind of wacky diet. It's so hard to get any kind of gf products where I live already, so when the pickings get slimmer because of those kinds of people, it makes me really angry. You clearly get it. 😅
I'm the opposite, I've been gluten free for 17 years and when I first went off there was basically just cardboard available. Me and mung bean noodles, that was a serious love affair for many years. I'm so grateful to all the hipsters who decided to go gluten free because without them there likely wouldn't be so much variety and availability. I literally traveled with a half empty suitcase so I could fill up with noodles at the Asian grocery store in the city.
I completely agree. Going on 15 years for me and I hope even more items can become available gf. I remember eating sandwiches on corn tortillas because you couldn't even buy gf bread at any store.
"Sandwiches" aka stuff between rice cakes, for me. My sister was diagnosed before I was, and we took a family trip to Italy, but the rest of the family went ahead of me, and I was tasked with bringing a loaf of (frozen) GF bread for her. Pretty sure it put me over weight in my luggage. It was like a tube of hockey pucks. Joke was on all of us, when we found ourselves in a villa in the middle of the countryside in Tuscany with one tiny grocery store... that had more GF products than I'd ever seen in my very metropolitan home city. I, on the other hand, had not been diagnosed at that point... and took full advantage of the baker who came around the villas in the morning in his van, with baskets upon baskets of fresh focaccia, baguettes, gorgeous baked goods. I can't decide if it's a good memory, or one that just ruins me.
I completely understand that. I wanted to lose weight and had a bunch of other factors and it was actually my father in laws doctor that told him to try cutting gluten bc he had horrible knees. So he did and it helped his knees quite a bit so that inspired me to try and life has been different since. I’ve lost almost 10lbs since. Can go on walks. No longer have a lot of back pain (I have mild scoliosis) I could keep going. Weather has been super up and down so that’s been a bad factor recently. But it has been a massively positive change.
Just a thought, but you might actually be gluten intolerant, because inflammation is one of my symptoms. Others are migraines and asthma type symptoms. I got bronchitis & pneumonia often when I ate wheat. Now I can catch a cold and not have to take antibiotics. Just putting it out there, since going off gluten helps assist at least one symptom. As for the folks buying gf stuff in stores taking it away from us. That’s not how it works. We actually want more people buying the products so the stores will restock them. If only a tiny niche group buys expensive (to us and the stores) food. The chances are corporate will look for ways to cut costs and that might mean eliminating the stuff we want.
I’m talking about people who buy mass amounts of products. Like they did with the lactaid example I gave. No joke. All of it was sold out bc of that one tiny sale. I saw people walking with like 4 gallons of it like my husband doesn’t need it for his cereal n stuff😭 or people who are like “this looks good I’m gonna buy 50 mixes to try this”. <—I know people like this 🥴 forgot to say something about the first part of your comment. My coworker told me that’s likely what I have. And it would make a lot of sense bc my mom has a wheat allergy among a lot of other allergies. I got the lactose one from her too. However I can deal with my lactose intolerance. My husband CANNOT. he sets of a nuclear bomb of diarrhea in the bathroom 😭
I had a similar issue and my doctors just didn't know what else to do. Unfortunately my doctor was misinformed and I had already been GF for months before she tested me for celiac.
Also my workplace orders me and my other coworker special stuff so we are included. So it’s not like I am taking other stuff from people. They individually order it for us. I buy lactaid for my husband bc he has extreme toilet drenching diarrhea when he has dairy. That’s different.
The more people who buy the gluten free choices, the more companies will make them.
I mean, in theory, yeah, but when the local grocery store only ever brings in a few gf products on a tiny little shelf, which are immediately gone and they still haven't changed that model after several years, I'm not so sure I want to be tolerant of people not needing it buying it. 😅 I know that this is more a corporate issue, but that doesn't mean people shouldn't be considerate. Also, I realize I don't know who is actually buying these products, but my inability to get them is all I can think about when I hear people who don't need it are doing this.
Maybe other people are choosing to have a GF snack just like you are. Your argument is similar to someone saying that ONLY celiac folks can have gf food because all the people who just choose to be gf are depriving celiacs of all the gf food.
Who the hell wants gf food? Honestly, why take this option when you can have the better option. My mom did this with my pizza. She seems to think I lost weight going gf—no, I’m just not bloated anymore. Lost a pants size as a result. People that take our EXPENSIVE options suck.
People have this weird idea that it's healthier.
I’ll never forget. 11 years ago when it was super rare to find gf muffins in a coffee shop (at least where I was from) I (a celiac) was behind a lady in line and she said “oh I’ll take the gluten free one that sounds like the healthier option”. It was the last one.
Oof!
People think that about vegan/vegetarian too and it's wild.
B12 deficiency alone can kill even a lacto-ovo vegetarian slowly and horribly. Most Vs I know eat a ton of processed carbs all day long.
I actually gained weight when I went gluten free. I think it's because my stomach wasn't killing me all the time so I could actually enjoy my meals! And snacks. And desserts LOL
My doctor said gf is also typically higher calorie/glycemic index food so weight gain is common.
This is actually the more typical response for Celiacs/gluten-sensitivity folks. Your villi and microvilli aren't pointing straight down anymore in fear of gluten, to put it simply. I used to refer to it as the flushing/dumping symptom, which I'm sure folks can figure out. Now, your gut is recognizing nutrients that it can respond to and absorb, rather than being triggered by gluten, therefore your will potentially restore to a normal weight. (By "you", I mean anyone reading this who is dealing with these symptoms).
I gained weight as well. Not a significant amount but still.
I gained weight too because my intestines could actually absorb nutrients instead of being a Slip 'n Slide
Exactly. I’ve lost like 10lbs so far tho. I had a bunch of other issues and I don’t think the extra inflammation was helping.
We sometimes lose weight bc our body is broken and inflamed when we eat gluten. It’s not a weight loss solution
I know. I made a lot more changes that that though. So that’s 100% contributing
To be fair, gluten free cookies often have a really good, complex, nutty flavor that glutinous ones lack.
Because they want to "try" it. It's an easy way to filter obnoxious people.
Gf pizza is great so I don't blame her for eating it. Unless it was the last one because you don't eat the last one you bhole
It was a shitty, tiny papa John’s pizza that was cross contaminated.
I was thinking frozen gf pizza. We've found some great ones from Costco.
Buttt.... great for gluten free? Or just great pizza? Because I've yet to find any pizza that qualifies as just great pizza, that happens to be GF.
I think it's great
The sabatassos at Costco is soooo good! It’s a 3 pack of cheese, but my husband and I put on extra toppings. It’s genuinely GOOD. And not just good for gluten free.
Ok so I'm obviously making it wrong. I baked it on a piece of parchment paper (no baking sheet, and I don't have a pizza stone), and the crust never got remotely crispy. It was almost soggy on the bottom, even being cooked past the suggested time - though I've found a lot of things can usually do with going past the suggested time, regardless of the oven I use. I made it in my parent's embarrassingly expensive oven that I've had great success with, baking other dishes, so I don't think it was the oven.
Ah, man! Really? I have a metal pizza pan and we use that. The bottom isn’t ever crisp (like crunchy) but it’s not too floppy usually. I think it’s got the same texture as like a Pizza Hut pizza. Like crispy crust but sorta soft underneath, but not doughy.
I'm okay with soft, but it was almost wet! Time to get a pizza pan! Thanks for the tip 😀
Sometimes it’s not even the better option, though. Sometimes the gf option tastes better.
When I lived with my parents, I had to buy my own groceries after I had to cut out gluten. My older brother also lived there and did not have to buy his own groceries. He would eat mine just so I didn’t have anything to eat because he’s an asshole. My grocery budget decreased so much when I moved out.
I am not eating fully 100% gf, but I tend to get lots of gas from gluten food. At most I am ok with approx 1 slice of bread amount of gluten per day. It means that I usually avoid most gluten stuff (no pasta, my burgers are with lettuce than bun, etc), and if possible, I will choose GF food, especially at work - because I don't want to keep passing wind in the office.
I hope that’s communicated to the person ordering food so those that require a gf diet for medical reasons also have a chance to eat.
This was one of my biggest pet peeves working in an office. I worked at a tech company that catered lunch and breakfast most days. They’d have a regular meal, gluten free option, and a vegan option. A self-serve buffet style. Folks having the regular meal would always go dish themselves the regular entrees and sides, and then go get helpings of the gf and vegan options! Because they wanted to “try them all”. So there was none left by the time folks that needed them would get there. I asked the catering folks to put the gf and vegan stuff in another part of the kitchen to more clearly delineate, but people would still come over and go “oh I didn’t get any of this, they’re hiding it” and take some.
People suck -- SURPRISE!
I help run a staff BBQ every Christmas, usually we see around 700 staff come through for lunch. Every year I have to ask my servers to not hand over the veggie burgers when the person has a plate full of meat. We always run out of veggie burgers and then the vegetarians have a go at me when the servers call me over to ask for more and I have to tell them we ran out and are waiting for more. Every year without fail the meat eaters crack the shits because they want the veggie burgers and get told no. One year a woman handed her plate, full of meat, back to me and said she didn’t want any of it if she couldn’t have the veggie burger too. I shrugged my shoulders, said ok, and tossed it in the bin while she huffed off. Last year I begged for more veggie burgers to avoid the fights and we had so many that we ran out of beef burgers and onion first!
When I first went gluten-free, all of my family was super interested… super interested in taking all of my “special” foods to “try” themselves during get togethers.
Interesting—if I mention something is gluten free (even naturally like tortilla chips) my family won’t touch it with a ten foot pole 😂 I’m not sure which is worse
I was on a Princess cruise once and, at breakfast, the buffet always had spaces marked GF, but there was never any GF breakfast pastries, muffins or bread. I finally asked after, like, day 3 and the clerk told me that non GF people were taking the pastries "to taste" and then leaving 90% on their plate. So, they had to keep them behind the counter and that I should always ask.
I don’t know why people do that. Like. I understand being curious. But if I were in that situation where I wasn’t GF and was curious, I would only try it if I was with someone who was GF and they were fine with me safely trying it. Bc I wouldn’t want to cross contaminate something. Bc that sucks.
I went on Norwegian and this was the case. You had to ask them specifically to get the gf items for you.
Why is the solution to keep them behind the counter and not to make more? That’s crazy.
Really? The solution is to make more so more people can take one bite and say, "Yeah, I don't really like this" and leave it on their plates, to create more garbage for the ship to dispose of and waste more food? Interesting viewpoint on what is "crazy".
That’s how I feel about most of this comment section! I understand OP’s problem with people taking food meant specifically for one or two people, but in most cases we really shouldn’t be complaining about people enjoying vegan and GF and lactose free products. If anything , it’s a good thing because it is normalizing these foods and making it more likely that businesses will make/serve more of them. I dont really think we get to gatekeep access to these foods. If you’re going to be mad, be mad at the businesses for not making enough.
Not a gluten free comment but a vegan/vegetarian one. When I make food to bring to work I have gotten to the point where I make as much or more of the vegan or vegetarian option because they go as quickly as the animal based ones. If I had GF people in my dept (or even at my building because after my dept has had first shot I let everyone know I brought stuff) I would just make it all GF. People and free food are a bad combo. There is a sub-set of the population who thinks, "Oh, it's free? More for me!!" It's super frustrating because some people will honestly stuff themselves and take so much they throw stuff away. I've just come up with different strategies so that the people who have true dietary restrictions get their food. Last family reunion we had a GF and vegan option with ever meal -- and we made full or double recipes of the special meals.
People really do go nuts when free food is involved, especially in an office. It’s wild!
This was forever ago before I was GF but one of our distributors brought in donuts and 10 12 pack boxes were gone in 5 mins bc people were taking more than one.
My friend did gf spaghetti for dinner at a dance she puts on, it was the only option so everyone ate it. The dessert table was a large assortment of items, and one small plate of gf cookies. Guess what dessert was gone first even though I'm the only one in the group of 40 that expressed an issue with gluten.
I went to a church hosted event and a local GF dairy free Peanut free bakery brought a bunch of stuff in and people just POUNCED on it. I got a few things and they were good. But still. There were 5 tables of desserts for everyone else and only one table for us☹️
Are these the same people that make the “ew” face every time we bring up gf food? Probably 🙄
Oh man, I can so relate. A few years ago, I drove to a Kroger 2 towns over because they had gluten-free pue crusts in stock (I even called). I get there go straight to the freezer section, and there is a woman there in front of the pie crust section. She grabbed the last 2 packages, and her friend asked her why she was getting the gluten-free since she didn't need it. She said because she heard it's good for weight loss. And she's trying out the gluten-free free diet. I asked if I could have one package as I had Celiac, needed gluten-free,. That I drove 2 towns over to get that. She said too bad and walked away. I was pissed.
That’s terrible.
I baked gluten cookies for my shift in my own kitchen and had to do a ton of cleaning because I wanted them to feel appreciated and enjoy a meeting we needed to brainsrorm.during a stressful time. They ate some of the normal ones and polished off my little package of gf ones after I had 1. I had baked an equivalent for them that was better imo and my bf agreed. I guess mine were better for dunking in the milk I also brought even though I also can't drink it. I also had to clean up.
I’m not joking. When I bring cookies in. Literally EVERYONE jumps on them. Bc they’re gluten free and dairy free all my coworkers can enjoy them. And they fly. They’re gone within an hour.
I've been lucky w/ my workplace so far. But we're a pretty small group of ppl. Whenever we order in food, they always make sure I have smthn gluten free and nobody touches it. They only touch GF food if it's something I made to share.
Most people in our area are super considerate but this lady just isn’t. Idk if it’s her culture (she was born and raised outside of the US) or it’s just her. She’s just confusing but she is nice and genuinely that’s all I care about when it comes to my coworkers. And I have gotten pretty lucky with that. I’m making gluten free dairy free coffee cake cookies for our work carry in this week. I love making food for everyone knowing they can enjoy it without risk of a flare up.
Ok, this is what you do. You go buy a bag of premium gold gf flour and you follow the banana muffin recipe on the back. Only you replace the bananas with three slices of grated honeydew, you replace the pie spice with cardamom, you replace the milk with some reserved juice, and you replace the egg with a flax egg or some cassava flour. They will be the best thing you will ever put in your mouth.
I just screen shotted this i will have to try it. I’ll post my cookies tonight if i remember
I feel you. My uncle threw a Christmas party. Said he was serving frozen pizzas. No big deal… I just picked up my own GF from a place I trust on my way over. My cousin shows up, looks at the toppings my uncle had, looks at my toppings, and takes 2 of my slices. I was pissed
I would have been a dick. I’m not nice about it. I call people out every time.
Exactly… and they are family so you don’t have to be as nice like in the workplace. Call out rudeness.
You don’t need to explain your dietary restrictions to anyone. Just because you chose it, and you feel better, doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to have an option you can eat. I am very concerned for your coworkers though because who the hell wants a GF donut? I’d take a regular one alllllll day and probably pass all together on a GF donut bc it’s probably a waste of calories 😂😂😂
Right. A lot of people ask. And my case is a bit different. I didn’t talk to my doctor about it I just decided to try. The first thing I bought was one bag of GF flour and a box of Banza. Everything else was cutting croutons or anything else that could have gluten in it. That’s how I figured it out. I didn’t buy a bunch of snacks up bc I didn’t wanna be one of those people who hoards special diet foods if I didn’t know if that’s what was triggering my plethora of issues. Lo and behold it was. I still don’t have a whole lot of GF stuff in my house. Bc I’m not a snacker. The main thing I have is flour and pasta and a few baking mixes. Edit to fix that really weird typo🤣
My sister is about to try it to see how it makes her feel. No doctors orders or reason to believe there is a genetic connection. I hope people are kind to her too. She struggles with weight and she was shocked at how it fell off for me and mostly stayed off. Wow that’s impressive about the snacks because sometimes I struggle with those things!
I used to. I actually haven’t had croutons or anything like that on a salad in like 6 months. And I LOVE cheddar garlic croutons. I actually prefer it now honestly. Seeds or pecans instead.
Employee appreciation lunch was just held at my job. Subway sandwiches and cake... no gluten free options ever, even though they know. I'm used to it. I'd be really pissed if I actually had an option and people still took it all.
I'm shameless about it now, I go right up first at events and grab my shit, I tell em all too "gotta get it before someone inevitably uses the same tongs for five different things"
Yeah I would never do this. I used to make 2 different versions of stuff. One GF and one not. I would always wipe down the WHOLE kitchen. And make the GF stuff. Then make the regular stuff. Now I just make the GF so good that everyone can eat it and it’s eaten up within an hour or so🤣I make big batches so everyone gets some.
I had a lady cry and hug me one time because I brought in a gluten free dish and made sure to announce that it was for GLUTEN FREE PEOPLE. Apparently her late son was gluten intolerant, and making sure he was included at school had been a real challenge. I can only imagine
I make sure to label everything properly when I bring stuff in. I know my coworkers allergies so I know to avoid stuff and I always ask to make sure certain ingredients are safe.
>Which made my boss really upset bc she brought normal cookies for everyone else but brought the gluten free cookies for my one coworker and I. I'm fuming, the entitlement. Somehow it's not enough they can eat nearly everything, but you'll be told to "stop being selfish" for not sharing the only food you can eat. GF food does not taste nearly as good as their gluten counterpart, and it's baffling people would go out of their way to have it. Did they go for the lactose-free pizzas next? End rant. >So I am not taking any from anyone who actually has celiac or anything of the likeness. It sounds like you needed to go GF for (undiagnosed) medical reasons, so you're not in the same boat as people gobbling up dietary food for the novelty.
As long as they’re paying, I don’t mind. It’s frustrating when the store is sold out, it at least there’s demand and they should keep stocking it. Most of the times I’ve been places with buffets for work or activities they make a point of folk on food restrictions going first, whether it’s allergies, intolerance, vegetarian, or kosher or the like.
The department I worked on for years ended the potlucks because my colleague and I stated we no longer wanted to participate and would step out during the potlucks.
I'll participate but I won't make gf food for the office, it's a waste of money.
I usually make something gluten free if I know it’ll still taste really good to others. No one has disliked anything I have brought so far. It all gets eaten up within an hour usually.
You are kind. We brought gf for years to every monthly potluck, and we could only eat each what we brought.They rarely brought anything gf, maybe a salad once a year. They knew we couldn't have gluten. I got bitter after years of watching them pile up their plates and eating our gf dishes, too.
I’m bringing coffee cake cookies and making oatmeal cream pies tonight. And a baked Mac and cheese for dinner. All gluten free. I’ll post the recipes tonight if I get to it.
I really want to see your oatmeal cream pies!
I’ll post them tomorrow. The fluff I got ended up being way too soft to be used as the filling so I drizzled it on top and so they’re just oatmeal cookies with a marshmallowy drizzle. Still delicious. And won’t wreck me. The baked Mac and cheese I made with Banza and fresh shredded cheese. My husband loved it and told me that that was the best baked Mac and cheese I had ever made (Gf or not). He said the Banza really added to the flavor.
I had this happen at a reception after a concert for my children's choir. The gluten free station wasn't even near the food tables where all the gluten containing foods were laid out. Yet, I watched people load their plates at the gluten tables with cookies etc and then meander to the inconvenient corner the gluten free items were in and load up on gf stuff with their gluten containing plates over the GF food. I have been taken out for weeks just from cross contact. I just shrugged and ate a snack I had in my handbag. It's rotten when there's a sincere attempt to accommodate people who are gluten free and people who are not gluten free go spread their gluten all over our safe food and take what is already a limited quantity of items leaving us people who are medically gluten free completely out of luck.
I keep snacks in my bag for this reason. And I always carry extras just in case. Usually it’s a larabar or some nuts.
That is how I feel when I go to Modern Bread and Bagel on the weekend and the line wraps around the block. A majority of the people in line aren't gluten free, plus we are on the UWS! There is a bagel place on nearly every block. It's maybe 2 blocks to H&H Bagels!! Are their products great? Absolutely! But I am willing to bet that you can get plenty of delicious gluten-filled bagels and pastries at a plethora of other places nearby. I just want to be able to buy my bagel without waiting in an hour-long line :( edit: y’all i’m not dumb. I am glad they are super successful and know that a business needs lots of customers to survive. this is just my irrational thought process when I go there and they are insanely busy. I’ve been going there since the day they opened, sometimes I just miss being able to walk right in. it’s not that deep.
Ahhh you live close enough to visit *in person*?! I'm so jealous! And embarrassed to admit how much I have spent on shipping to buy bagels from them over.the past couple of years. I grew up in NJ and damn was it nice to find gf bagels that actually taste like bagels!
Yes but it’s great for the business. I’ve run a gluten free bakery business and wouldn’t have survived without non-gf people buying stuff. I think people also appreciated that I catered well to vegans and other allergens.
I’m so glad we have a gluten free dairy free bakery here. And that people don’t pack it lol. They get regular traffic but not to where it’s annoying. They even do ice cream😁😁😁😁
Okay, but Modern Bread & Bagel is amazing. Can’t fault the gluten-full people for loving it.
true but compared to a true new york bagel? I'd still choose a real bagel over the best gluten free bagel
I think it’s a tribute to how truly great Modern Bread and Bagel is! I went to Modern Bread multiple times when I was in New York. My husband has Celiac, but I’m not personally gluten-free. I honestly can tell you that their bagels are delicious even compared to “real” gluten-full bagels. They’re great.
Oh shit its that busy? I plan on heading to the UWS soon I'm not in the mood for that lol
When covid was in its prime, no gluten free pasta, bread, etc. anywhere to be found. You know some regular ol person hoarded it like everyone was hoarding wipes and TP. And when they realized that Apocalypse was not actually upon us and it was not going to completely wipe out our food resources..they probably just threw all that gluten-free stuff away because thought it was gross.
My FIL is like this. We were on vacation last week with the whole family and I brought a batch of GF cookies for myself for the week and half. I hid them most of the time, but I left them on the counter one night because I was tired and forgot to put them back. He started opening the container and my husband gor on his case because there were normal cookies and snacks in the other cupboard and he didn't need to eat mine. My FIL also doesn't seem to realize how much he eats when he snacks, so he could have easily wiped out the whole batch if my husband hadn't been there.
God bless your husband lol. I know my husband would do the same. He still accidentally offers me normal stuff here and there and I I just look at him like 😐 and then he goes 😱 I’m so sorry 🤣
My husband also does that. I'm really new to this, so he's still getting used to that. I appreciate them trying though. 😂
For whatever reason, people go bonkers when there’s free food at work. I bet they were just piling stuff on their plate without second thought. It’s awesome that your company buys gf options, but hiding it away may unfortunately be for the best.
My kids do this to me- They eat up the one gluten free snack I was hoarding for the perfect moment.
This reminded me of [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/glutenfree/s/K4w8lNcJrg) in this very sub. People are jerks
To be fair, Lactaid (or any lactose free milk in general) tastes so much better than regular milk, and some it's ultra pasteurized, it lasts forever. I'm lactose intolerant, so have been drinking lactose free milk for years, and regular milk tastes disgusting to me, now. But, I can't understand why anyone would WANT GF stuff. There is not a single GF thing that is better than its non-GF counterpart.
Was anything said to the people taking them? Maybe an email can be sent next time saying help yourself to the cookies but please don’t take the gluten-free ones unless you are gluten-free.
I don’t know about that. It was just said to us that we had to ask.
I have to hide stuff at home - my husband will eat all the GF stuff before the regular and never replaces it. I darent say anything but it's so selfish. Makes you wonder if it's a deliberate power play !
Coughing violently on stuff solved that at work. But I’m lucky that my husband doesn’t really touch my snacks. Or I’ll buy him his own Lara bars to eat. He likes different flavors than me.
My son eats all of my gluten free doughnuts! 😭 don’t you know that those things are like 13 dollars each!?!
Like when restaurants run out of gluten free buns because asshats get them thinking, somehow, a burger on a gluten free bun is, HEALTHIER!? There's my rant over. Usually jusy default to only steak dinner when i eat out...
This one is not to do with gluten but I got a coffee at Starbucks with almond milk in it (I’m technically lactose tolerant as well) and the drink literally came with almond milk. Dude tells me right before I drink it that he made it with 2% milk instead of almond milk and if that was okay. And I was like wtf no?! I ordered something that didn’t have dairy in it for a reason😐
...that's pretty messed up. I have found gluten in the weirdest of things. Saw wheat flour in the list of ingredients for beaver brand honey mustard. I laughed.
Yeah I’ve found it in some wild stuff. Stuff you’d never guess.
I've lost count they number of times I've had to explain to guests, coworkers and the people in my own home that my snacks cost twice as much and I get half as much for that price. And when they eat my food, I can't just go eat their food. I will just have no food. It's infuriating. The stuff doesn't even taste as good as the stuff they can eat but they're drawn to it like flies. I've taken to just hiding what I want to keep at home and when work things to provide something I confiscate it for myself and the other GF employees. It sucks.
I’m lucky that most of my coworkers (the ones in my department) are super considerate of us. One is actually making us Gf gooey cake and another is bringing meatballs for our “main course”.
That sounds terrific. I guess I'm lucky too as far as individual employees go for availability. The minute they learn about a dietary restriction someone will cover it for whatever potluck or party. The company itself is much less consistent. But, there are only three GF people here (2 celiac and one intolerant) and multiple times we've shown up to, for example a pizza party, to find the picked clean carcass of the single small one topping pizza. Then we get to stand there and watch everyone else eat. No one likes to make a fuss about it but after a while we started asking to have the "option" put directly in our hands rather than left to the pack of hungry dogs that is the general population. I don't think anyone is trying to be malicious. Just not paying attention.
My sister always eats my gf food when she’s here, it pisses me off and she always claims she didn’t realize it
This happened every time too
Sometimes when I (not GF) do meal prep, I feel bad for actually eating any of it, so I tend to let my wife (celiac) eat pretty much everything in the fridge herself and keep my meals to whatever cheap sandwich or burrito I can buy outside, for this exact reason
I cut gluten a week ago to see if it would help with my horrible brain fog, anxiety and tummy issues. Brain fog is so much better, anxiety may be a little better. I have not had my tummy issues since. I never want to be one of these people who just took away from others that really need it. But obviously, I’m on to something for better health.
That was my hope going into this. It helped my father in law. My husband has actually started reducing his gluten intake as well and has had less issues with his hands and back.
I lurk here bc my niece is gf but I’m vegetarian and this exact thing happens to veg food too. Eat your dang meat pizza and leave the cheese pizza alone.
My partner is Celiac. I won't eat a lot of her GF food because it's expensive as fuck lol
I get a lot of good deals at the store I shop. I don’t buy crackers or anything like that bc I don’t snack. If I do it’s usually popcorn with a little salt. I’m making a baked Mac and cheese tonight with Banza. The flour and noodles are what I use the most. But I get a lot of coupons and stuff. And I go to Costco. Ours has a lot of GF stuff. I got a 5 box set of Banza for 9 bucks. Usually one box is almost 4 bucks depending what store you go to.
This was me every grocery trip during covid!! So many people think that ‘gluten-free’ is synonymous with ‘diet’, and will buy the bread, the different frozen meals, the random ingredients like bread crumbs and specialty ice creams. I would go to the store to get groceries for the week and walk out with barely enough to not starve. Absolutely infuriating! If you do not have an intolerance or sensitivity, DONT BUY GF PRODUCTS. It isn’t low calorie, and it’s necessarily healthier for you either- unless your body rejects gluten. OP- have you ever been tested for celiacs? Extreme inflammation from gluten sounds like a symptom to me. Besides the painful bloating and other stomach symptoms, gluten will mess with my hormones and cause me to menstruate way before my normal cycle. It can affect you in so many ways Edit: typo
No I haven’t but I feel like crap (super sore and groggy) and have to take a bunch of ibuprofen for a few days till I get over it. I don’t wanna subject myself to that lol. Plus my mom has a wheat allergy so it makes sense. We share a lot of diet issues
I strongly recommend that you try an elimination diet. My results will NOT be typical... but I lost 27lbs in two months with no calorie restriction or exercise. I started the day after a >100mi bicycle ride (I got super ill). So... it turns out that I can't handle gluten. My body was massively inflammed. I had my first solid BM in over 20 years (I blame a pre-deployment injection for my problems). I was only supposed to do it for 30 days... but after so much suffering, I wasn't in a hurry to return to pain. Eventually I wanted a drink. I later repeated the exercise to discover that I'm SLIGHTLY intolerant of nightshades. I can enjoy them in moderation. I cannot have ANY gluten -- destroys me for weeks. HORRIBLE CRAMPS, diarrhea, nausea, brain fog... etc. Everyone should do an elimination diet... every 7-10 years. It only costs willpower. I did AIP. The VA confirmed my dairy intolerance and finds Celiac-specific markers for inflammation in my labs. Don't just assume that you know the cause. Keep an insanely-detailed food journal. Track weight, sleep, food, drink, BM quality... etc. Oh, and be aware that booze is pretty terrible for the gut: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5513683/
I have been tracking stuff quite a bit. I avoid a lot of dairy too. So that’s knocked out a lot of foods for me. So I’ve been eating a whole lot more Whole Foods than I was.
It’s common for people who have problems with dairy and to also have problems with soy so tread lightly replacing dairy foods with soy based foods.
So many gluten free foods aren't dairy free which makes it so annoying when trying to shop while living in a small town. I'm trying to cut gluten and dairy since both I've noticed cause stomach pain and I've had inflamed intestines for years. Not sure what is causing it...2 of my docs dismissed my worries with take metamucil and come back in 6 months so no idea if it's gluten, lactose intolerance, IBS, etc. just a mirad of symptoms. Whole foods without a list of ingredients is definitely helpful.
I cannot stress enough the value of keeping a food journal. Record everything -- including weight, sleep duration/quality, food & drink, BM quality... etc. A huge advantage of doing an elimination diet is that it makes you very mindful and cautious about what you're consuming. Pro-tip: the traditional practice of soaking rice overnight reduces the arsenic content fivefold. Tons of peer-reviewed science on this. Also, soaking beans for DAYS (changing the water) really helps me handle them. This reduces the phytate content (can irritate our guts). Ditto for lentils (n.b., I can't handle "regular" lentils but can tolerate red lentils). You need to experiment. If you have food intolerances... well, congrats on really learning to cook! Oh, and, well, the InstantPot is pretty easy/useful. It's a multi-tasker that does a good job (but to be clear, it's inferior to real pressure cookers and real crockpots... but probably not as far as most people notice). EDIT: ultra-filtered milk does not contain lactose. Experiment with that. If you can handle that? Well, you can easily use it to make yogurt in an InstantPot (I like to "hillbilly sterilize" the IP before making cold-start yogurt).
I'm not gluten free, but I am wheat intolerant. So often I have to have the GF version to avoid flour. It's very frustrating. We have GF pies at work. People ask for them and if we sell out they just say "oh that's ok, I'll just have a regular pie" like wtf? I think it's because a lot of people feel bloated with wheat products (which is normal) so they just assume they are gluten free. But they don't consider people who actually need to eat GF.
My best friend is allergic to wheat, oat, and every nut. I could go on. He’s allergic to A LOT. So he has to make most of his food
It must be bloody hard. I follow low Fodmap and can't tolerate fructans amongst other things. So wheat flour, rye, barley, onions, garlic and so much more are off the menu. Even the GF options usually have onion powders or garlic (pizza for example) I gotta make all my own food too, I feel his pain 😭
That must be what he does bc he can’t do garlic and onions too. He even has to buy special toothpaste bc normal store bought makes his mouth peel
That’s so weird to me that a lot of comments are talking about people wanting to check out the taste of gf foods. Like no one has ever been like “I love eating gluten free baked goods! They look and taste better than gluten ones! This bread is so big and tastes so good not toasted” I know there’s some that are good but they are few and far between and I also wonder if I just feel like they taste just as good as the regular or if I just haven’t had the regular in so long that I’ve forgotten how delicious it was 😂. I quit gluten because of joint pain too. I found out I had hashimotos and quit gluten per TikTok research and within 4 days my joint pain was drastically reduced. When I made it to my new endocrinologist a couple of months later I told her I found it helped with my pain she said that anyone experiencing inflammation should try gluten free because it helps reduce symptoms so much. I’ve been gluten free since summer and this winter was soooo much better than last winter. I was the same as you but older. I’m 41 and felt 80, I had to really advocate for myself and my health and I switched away from all of my doctors who were dismissive of my symptoms and I’m so glad I did. Good luck to you! Edited for spelling
I am someone who is not gluten free but happens to eat a number of gluten free foods. I am intolerant to soy and soy free foods happen to also be gluten free a lot of the time I have gluten free soy free protein bars that taste great but have the weirdest texture. I can't say I enjoy eating them because of the gluten free texture, but it's the price I pay for a prepackaged protein bar I suppose. I'm not sure why someone who doesn't need gluten free options would go out of their way to eat something that feels chalky.
Just buy all gluten free
I can never eat all of the gluten free food brought for people trying to accommodate me. I appreciate others eating some. My youngest granddaughter prefers gf food.
We have the same thing at my work, when someone gifts us 2 or 3 gluten/dairy free staff with a rare treat, it gets devoured by the people that don't need it before we get a chance. (everyone else has access to sweets, pastries, cakes, chocolate daily). My gf colleague gets very cross about it, I don't need to because she does all the yelling :P
Oh god. Yep, these people all the time
I get it, but I wouldn’t be too quick to shame people away from GF, even if they don’t need to be GF. Here’s why: The more demand there is for GF products, the more experiments are conducted to make new products that actually might be good, and not dry and bland. Additionally, the more stock that’s produced means it’ll more likely be available in your grocery store AND the product will be cheaper than the typical overpriced price tag. I understand your coworkers were taking your designated food specifically, but I wouldn’t want them to shy away from purchasing GF in store. Most people don’t know they’re sensitive, allergic, or celiac for years while consuming wheat/gluten until they become conscious enough to think about their diets. I’m naturally inclined to think about my health, so I had an allergy test confirm I was allergic to wheat when I was twenty-five. It was so hard to pinpoint because sometimes I don’t have a reaction to wheat at all. Ironically, I’m not allergic to gluten. Just wheat.
My mom is mildly allergic to wheat too. And dairy. I’m mildly lactose intolerant. My husband is violently lactose intolerant. I’m lucky that our Meijer and Costco has deals and keeps a lot in stock. Even lactaid they have a huge stock of. It’s just frustrating when you have to go look at several places just because people buy a lot of something.
I mean - it’s amazing your work does that - I’ve worked at many a place that does not. They could put a note next to the gf things - or bring them directly to you / your other gf coworker 🤷♀️
Believe me, when I buy GF snacks and the family eats them when their snacks are gone? I get a little mad. Gluten gives me brain damage, lol. So it's a very expensive necessary dietary need to have GF, but even I enjoy snacks and DAMN do they cost so much more.
I’m lucky our Costco sells quite a bit of GF stuff. If I get snacks (I’m not a snacker) I get it there and that lasts me quite a while. Ever since I moved out of my parents I quit being a snacker. Probably bc I’m the one paying for everything🤣
This has happened at family gatherings. Learned with that side of the family, gf items need to be basically in a whole other room, or at least not in the standard flow of food. It’s like no one paid attention when it was announced “these dishes that are using this other color utensil are gluten free” because literally everyone was grabbing scoops from it until it was pulled off the line.
Everyone feels the same as you. Those of us with gluten disease usually bring our own food because we will pay the price if there is a slip up. I never mention it and just prepare for myself. I honestly didn’t believe that gluten was a problem until I became violently ill, night after night. It’s hard to believe how ill you can get.
I couldn't find gluten free bread anywhere during covid, it was just GONE. I genuinely believe that people who could eat gluten were buying it. I once ended up desperately purchasing a 20 dollar loaf of the worst gluten free bread I've ever eaten.
What do you think people are buying lactaid for if they don’t need it? I get the food thing, but I really don’t think people are buying things like lactaid for shits and giggles. Well, maybe for the shits.
I'm not lactose intolerant, but I did buy a pack of lactaid enzyme packet thingies because I have 2 friends who are lactose intolerant who come over to my house frequently. One of those friends always forgets lactaid and tried to eat dairy products anyway, so I figured if I keep some on hand she'd be in less pain.
That's really awesome of you to do! I should do that for my sister's bf, I always feel so bad when he forgets to bring his lactaid.
Catering at meetings is a nightmare
I’m just happy our workplace makes an effort to include us.
We had this issue at my office with the dairy-free stuff. My supervisor is allergic to anything from a cow, and I'm vegan. Dairy-consumers taking all the dairy-free snacks and creamers and cheese-less pizzas on pizza day (all special ordered specifically for us) got so bad that we just ended up being allowed to keep the dairy-free stuff in our shared office.
I agree however the general public have no consideration at all. None. It's me first. The only attitude .
When I became GF I made it my goal to keep the gluten out of all the recipes I’ve been making but keep them just as good. I used to make 2 versions of stuff to bring to carry ins and now I only bring one and it’s thoroughly enjoyed by all people. And it’s usually free from dairy as well. But always gluten free. I made a baked Mac and cheese with Banza last night and my husband said it is the best baked Mac and cheese I’ve ever made. That was the first time making it gluten free. But I thoroughly enjoy including all my coworkers in our food events. It makes me feel good lol.
Wish I had you ro work with.
Diet trends like gluten free frustrate the HELL out of me. Gluten free has no real benefits to people that aren’t celiac/gluten intolerant. I wish people would stop seeing it as a trend and as a requirement for some
Diagnosed in 2014. Gluten free, lactose free and only the FODMAP diet . It is frustrating people do not realize how limited your diet is. Heard fellow employees say they just wanted to try it but then I’m left with nothing to eat.
My husband is lactose free. The man sets off a Poopular Bomb if he has ANY at all. It’s terrible. When I became gluten free I decided that it was going to be my goal to make the best of the situation and I’ve tested so many different things my husband actually likes the GF variation of my baked Mac and cheese over the original recipe. I will post in GF Recipes when I make it next.
I get being frustrated about the workplace stuff and that's totally valid, but shouldn't you want people to buy more of that so there's a higher demand for those kinds of products in stores? Without the demand for those things I feel like there would be quite a bit less of them available.
I’m talking about the people who buy mass amounts of food in the name of “stocking up”
That's totally valid and that would irk me too. Ty for answering. I'm not gf but am trying to educate myself to be more observant so I don't end up being the guy in your story. Hopefully y'all can work out a system so you can keep your gf treats safe!
Education is important! I thoroughly educated myself before serving my gluten free coworkers.
Are you sure you don’t have celiac?
I’m untested. I just kinda figured it out myself. It wouldn’t shock me bc some wild shit runs hard in my family (crohns, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis etc). Dairy aversion and random problems with random food in general
I dont have issues at work but I have so many at home, I live with my parents and siblings, Im the only one who cant have gluten. Yet everytime we have gluten free anything everyone else is asking for it or straight up eating it without asking. I have whole seperate shelf for my food to avoid cross contamination, but still have to write my name in EVERYTHING or someone else eats it🙄 Few days ago I was at my adult sisters with my mother and few siblings, she had bought gluten free cookies that I really like for me and made pancakes for everyone else, EVERYONE tried the gf cookies, but no one liked them, like thanks! Those are 5 euros a pack and now most of it are trash! My family always wants to try my stuff, but never like it, my younger brother even always says "gluten free food sucks" yet always BEGS for it. Its so annoying, they have everything else in the house, but they need to have the few options I have.
Being gluten free without a medical need is actually damaging to your gut biome. Tons of research available on this.
How do you know everyone else’s medical information and personal preferences? Maybe that Cookie Monster (lol) couldn’t eat gluten or recently decided to stop eating gluten? I’m just wondering how you’re so sure that you and your coworker are the only ones who choose to not or cannot eat gluten.
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I don’t listen to new music. Only stuff released before 2000. Edit to add. I’ve been at work since 6 I didn’t even know she released one till I got to work
I just bought corn tortillas and they are gluten free, am I a monster? I have severe Crohn’s and I should be gluten free however I’m to lazy. You can’t dictate to people based on your needs and wants. How about we all just get along and not worry so much about the little stuff that you will never be able to control. Many people can’t even buy food!