Family Doesn't Understand Gluten-Free

[Cooper]

Both my mother and I are sick from gluten, after being told what was gluten-free at the christmas party we went to yesterday.

We determined it had to have been the ham, as it's the only thing we've shared.

My grandma will cook chicken that is gluten free, then pour a sauce on it that isn't, then declare the chicken is gluten free. Mom was told the potatoes were gluten free, but then learned they were broiled in soup, so she told me not to touch them, as there aren't a lot of gluten-free soups out there.

Ugh...

[Luna Baby]

I'm so sorry that you are sick. It's also a shame that others don't/won't take the time to learn about your dietary requirements. I work with a fellow that has the celiac disorder where he cannot tolerate gluten. Very rarely does he partake in our company meals, even though we try to always provide options for him. Usually, if he wants to participate, his wife will make a dish and send it along with it's own serving spoon so as to not take a chance on cross contamination.

My youngest son is in the high school band. His section leader is vegan and has been for some time. Rarely is there anything at school that he can eat. Before all events where the band performs, we boosters feed those kids. This one child can eat pb & j as long as the bread is of certain breads (no milk or egg products). I even made a point of making an all veggie soup just so that he had a hot meal before our Christmas parade. When I offered him his usual pb & j, I had to check the bread contents. One mom made the snarky remark that if he had to be that careful, he should just not eat it! I cannot imagine NOT feeding a single one of those kids, even those with either medical dietary restrictions or chosen restrictions.

[wolfie]

There are 2 groups of people who cause problems with "potlucks" where dietary restrictions are concerned:

- The "don't care" crowd (mentioned earlier in this thread)
- The "don't declare" crowd (i.e. don't mention their restrictions until after the event has started, when it's too late to do anything)

Some years back, I was in a college program that was on the fringes of being healthcare-related. I knew that one classmate was allergic to apples (she had told us that), so when a potluck was planned I asked "Are there any dietary restrictions in the class besides an allergy to apples?". A number of my classmates shouted me down, saying there were no other restrictions. Fast-forward to the event. I brought a pot of my homemade chili (which would have been very easy to make as a vegetarian dish - leave out the bacon, and the beef boullion cubes in the water I use to reconstitute the TVP). As it turns out, roughly half the class (including those who were the loudest in shouting me down) were vegetarians, and there were NO vegetarian main-course items. Also, a couple people had brought apple pies.

[Cooper]

I guess I should have figured it out sooner, as shortly after I ate, I had to have a tums, and I had pain in an unusual spot. (If I have gluten, pain can travel anywhere, if I don't, it stays in the leg that was broken by a car accident.) Then I fell asleep on the way home, and went straight to bed.

[scruff]

I don't eat meat, and have been actively avoiding it for years, as my family are well aware.

I've had family members 'accidently' hide bacon in the pastry layers of an otherwise vegetarian pie, chop up meat and hide it in a stew as 'it doesn't count if it doesn't _look_ like meat.', and this xmas eve, hand out 'beetroot stew' that happened to also have meat in it.
I spent xmas eve in the bathroom with an upset stomach, as I'm not used to having to digest meat. I dread to think what they'd be like if I had a genuine allergy, instead of just a personal preference.

[AccountingDrone]

I don't eat meat, and have been actively avoiding it for years, as my family are well aware.

I've had family members 'accidently' hide bacon in the pastry layers of an otherwise vegetarian pie, chop up meat and hide it in a stew as 'it doesn't count if it doesn't _look_ like meat.', and this xmas eve, hand out 'beetroot stew' that happened to also have meat in it.
I spent xmas eve in the bathroom with an upset stomach, as I'm not used to having to digest meat. I dread to think what they'd be like if I had a genuine allergy, instead of just a personal preference.

Any of them violently carnivore? I have a friend who thinks soy anything is nasty and refuses to eat it, and requires that pretty much everything has meat in it ... make up a nice batch of something with quorn granules or TVP granules - the good ones that cook up to be just like ground beef or turkey. Let them go ahead and think it is meat until they are finished eating - bonus points for slipping in as a pot of leftovers they made or whatnot that would normally have meat. Then afterwards ask them innocently how they liked the soy/tofu/tvp whatever.

[XCashier]

I don't eat meat, and have been actively avoiding it for years, as my family are well aware.

I've had family members 'accidently' hide bacon in the pastry layers of an otherwise vegetarian pie, chop up meat and hide it in a stew as 'it doesn't count if it doesn't _look_ like meat.', and this xmas eve, hand out 'beetroot stew' that happened to also have meat in it.

I don't know about anyone else, but I think that's just plain rude and insensitive. If I knew a guest was vegetarian, I'd make sure to have vegetarian dishes, with no meat at all (and I'd ask if dairy or eggs were okay). Likewise, if I knew of a gluten allergy, I'd make sure there was no gluten flour in at least some of the dishes.

I'm allergic to bananas, and I tell people that. If someone who knew of my allergy stuck some in my food, I'd stick them with my doctor's bill.

[BlaqueKatt]

I don't know about anyone else, but I think that's just plain rude and insensitive. If I knew a guest was vegetarian, I'd make sure to have vegetarian dishes, with no meat at all (and I'd ask if dairy or eggs were okay).

Unfortunately a lot of people wrongly think*, "Oh if I sneak in meat and they like it they'll become a ravenous carnivore again and I've won the internets." Not realizing, because they've never asked or done so themselves, that it can make a person HORRIBLY ill. (a popular comedian made fun of this in his act because his vegan friend got sick from beef broth "you've got to be in sad shape if your body rejects broth" hyuck, hyuck)

I ended up being vegetarian for a year because my body was suspected to be having issue digesting animal fats(dr. saw no reason to do testing as I was fine not eating meat, and that solved the issue), I started eating meat again very slowly, small amounts of fish, and when that was ok, small amounts of chicken, then beef-it took 6 months and I'm now back to chicken & fish 2-3x a week, and beef maybe once a week or less.

*possibly because of a lot of "meat substitutes" are marketed as being close to the flavor, so obviously vegetarians/vegans "want" to eat meat. It couldn't be that we eat it if we just don't feel like cooking, or because we don't want certain people commenting on our diet.

[AccountingDrone]

I did byetta back when it first came out. I didn't have the original nausea issue, what happened to me was I lost the ability to eat various foods. First I lost pig - I was eating a lovely sausage and I hit this point where my body said one more bite and i am going to projectile vomit. So I stopped eating sausage, then it happened with pork roast. So I stopped eating any form of pig, and it got to where I could barely tolerate the smell of it being cooked in the house. Then it happened with beef, then chicken and suddenly I was down to tofu and cod ... so I reluctantly went off byetta. I got back the ability to eat meats over the course of the next year but I still have issues with it. I can be fine, and almost through a portion of something and then my body will shut down my ability to take another bite and I have to stop eating. I do know that if I pushed myself and I do chunder, I will adversely condition myself to that food - that is how one typically sets up an avoidance to a food. [typically it is a result of being too drunk and setting up the conditioning, but it can be done with foods without being drunk.]

[vikingchyk]

I did byetta back when it first came out. I didn't have the original nausea issue, what happened to me was I lost the ability to eat various foods. First I lost pig - I was eating a lovely sausage and I hit this point where my body said one more bite and i am going to projectile vomit. #snip#

That's interesting - I have the same reaction sometimes when I eat, ever since I started using Victoza. It's in the same class of drugs as Byetta. I'll be hungry, but something will say to me "if I take another bite of this, I'm going to hurl!" Usually it is something like sausage (both pork and beef based) or pork tenderloin. I thought it was just its weird appetite suppressant thing, but maybe it's really something else going on. It doesn't happen every time I eat sausage or pork. Weird.

[NecessaryCatharsis]

Both my mother and I are sick from gluten, after being told what was gluten-free at the christmas party we went to yesterday.

Ugh...

Knowing from experience cooking for a cousin that's a celiac gluten-free is one of the toughest cooking challenges (although it's getting easier for those who are allergic/intolerant as it gets 'faddy' to eat gluten free)

You can buy a product for years and then they will change the ingredients without changing the packaging - you have to read every package every time

Things that don't really have ingredients can have gluten in them and you wouldn't even think to check (ex some paprika)

That last minute taste 'hmm this still needs something, I know' whatever spice or acid (like a vinagerette) is handy and not even thinking because it's not an ingredient in the recipe

Keep educating your family, and if they aren't up to the challenge just make sure family occasions are pot-luck so you know at least you are bringing something you can eat.

Just curious will you trigger if it is present like an allergy (cross-contamination, shared utensils etc) or just if you eat it like an intolerance?

[wolfie]

I've had family members 'accidently' hide bacon in the pastry layers of an otherwise vegetarian pie, chop up meat and hide it in a stew as 'it doesn't count if it doesn't _look_ like meat.', and this xmas eve, hand out 'beetroot stew' that happened to also have meat in it.

That's disgusting. For someone who's both a vegan and keeps Kosher, they might not even declare the religious element. After all (AFAIK), no plant-based foods are inherently trayf. To slip bacon into their food is beyond the pale. As to what happened to you (they snuck something into your food, and it resulted in health problems), I believe the legal term for that is "poisoning".

[cindybubbles]

I tried to go veg once, but I got sick. I have anemia, so I need to eat meat, especially red and dark meat.

[AccountingDrone]

That's interesting - I have the same reaction sometimes when I eat, ever since I started using Victoza. It's in the same class of drugs as Byetta. I'll be hungry, but something will say to me "if I take another bite of this, I'm going to hurl!" Usually it is something like sausage (both pork and beef based) or pork tenderloin. I thought it was just its weird appetite suppressant thing, but maybe it's really something else going on. It doesn't happen every time I eat sausage or pork. Weird.

Interesting. I have noticed that my whole digestive system has slowed down again so I am getting a bit of appetite suppression going on, but since the byetta debacle I wouldn't be able to tell if I were getting it with victoza, as I will still occasionally get the pork reaction after almost 5 years. It is actually nice to meet someone who has the hurl reaction and doesn't think it is all in my head [though my PCP doesn't, we have a great working relationship.]

[Aethian]

It's not in your heads. I had that too except it was almost everything made me want to throw up. But then I would get the nauseated hunger pains. So I was screwed either way. It made me cry during the first few weeks cause my stomach hurt so much. I think that first week I lived in mandarin oranges...just cause they came up the easiest.

Bydurian hasn't done that to me yet.