In just a few years, being gluten-free has gone from being some obscure concept to becoming the fastest-growing grocery store category. We are finding a nice supply of gluten-free foods in just about every store we have visited these last few years. We were recently in a small store in Akumal, Mexico and found gluten-free linguine. It wasn’t cheap, of course, but still….
I am also happy to see the conversation shift from just celiac disease to include non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Some researchers have been working on this non-celiac form of gluten sensitivity for decades — it just takes time to get the research from the journals to the doctors and then to the public. Your local MD may be the last person to discover the significance of these gluten problems.
If you are like most of the clients at OVitaminPro, you are far better educated about health matters than the average person. We know because we talk with many of you on the phone. Not everyone out there is as educated and aware as you are.
If you have celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, you’re unfortunately aware of the stigma that some still attach to this condition. When you first announced that you were adopting a gluten-free diet, you probably encountered one or more of these commonly-held misconceptions or frequently-heard comments in poor taste about gluten sensitivity:
- “Are you trying to lose weight?” Weight loss plans are so common that many of your friends or coworkers will assume that this must be some weight loss fad. Suggesting t
hat a person dealing with an autoimmune condition is just on a vanity quest doesn’t show much in the way of understanding. - “What can you eat? Isn’t gluten in everything?”
- “Come on, can’t you have just one? These are really good.”
- “Want a beer?”
- “Is gluten, like, a nut allergy?”
- “Want some of my hamburger? I can take the bun off.”
- “If you have a gluten allergy, you should have the sourdough bread.”
- “Did a real doctor tell you that you should be gluten-free?”
- “Oh, you’ve got Rich Person’s Disease.”
- “Don’t you miss bread?”
If you are gluten-free, you are subject to a few nutritional deficiencies. We recommend supplementing your diet with zinc, B vitamins and magnesium. To be more exact with your nutritional needs, you can get a SpectraCell blood test. You can read more about this topic at OVitaminPro.com.
