As I mentioned in my last article, I am allergic to gluten. Some of you are probably wondering what the heck that actually means. Basically, I have a reaction whenever I eat food containing the protein gluten, which is found in wheat and a bunch of other grains. That means I can't eat anything made with flour. Think about how many things are made with flour -- especially in the South, where bread is a staple of almost every meal.
Now some of you are wondering what the heck I eat and how I am still alive. Trust me, the struggle is real, but I've learned to adapt. It is still hard most days and here are a few reasons why.
Restaurants. Small, local restaurants don't know enough about what gluten is and what foods contain it for me to be able to eat anything there safely, and most chain establishments have a list of three foods that they know are gluten free and that's all I have to choose from. No substitutions for anything, though, because that's too complicated.
Family meals. Since I live four-and-a-half hours from home, my family has only had to actually deal with the reality of my gluten allergy a handful of times, which means they don't actually get it. They try, they really do, but the fact that you have to check the ingredients of the ingredients for recipes is a little lost on them.
Boredom. I eat all the same foods, all the time. I probably help keep the American rice industry in business. I eat a rotation of about the same 14 things, all the dang time. Mexican, I eat nachos. Burger joints, I eat salads or a burger with no bun. I eat a lot of salads when I eat out because they are usually a "safe" choice.
Some people don't actually believe me. I have heard some seriously crazy reasons that people think are the "real" reason I won't eat anything with wheat in it, ranging from "I'm lying and I'm actually on a diet" to "I'm a liberal hippie and an idiot for giving into the health food propaganda."
Trying new things. It's so hard to be open to new foods when you have to worry about whether you are going to have a reaction to it or not. And it's just embarrassing to have to ask for the food history of every single ingredient that went into this dish, especially when it was made by someone you don't want to be embarrassed around or have reason to impress.
Some people make it all about them. I have actually had people get angry at me and offended because I could not eat the food they made because it had gluten in it. Ridiculous. I did not choose to have a food allergy.They just don't get that a gluten allergy is a real thing and they don't realize that, yes, a little bit will actually hurt me.
I hope y'all enjoyed that little insight into my daily life. I know some of y'all are blessing my heart and are going to start praying for my mental and palate health, and I appreciate that immensely. So until next time, ladies and gents, have fun and make good choices.
