What annoys me is...

[Melrick]

What annoys me is people deciding to go on a gluten-free diet. This annoys me because there is absolutely nothing whatsoever that is even vaguely unhealthy about gluten!

Gluten is a protein that naturally occurs in wheat, oats and barley. Nothing wrong with it at all. Unless you have coeliac disease. This is an autoimmune condition where sufferers are gluten intolerant, to greater or lesser degrees. Coeliac disease suffers have to eliminate gluten from their diet because it can make them very sick, as well as damage their bowel, and even potentially develop cancer.

Coeliac suffers is the reason why gluten-free foods first started, not because gluten is unhealthy. What’s more, Gluten is what makes cakes and bread soft and springy, so to compensate for that, gluten-free foods are often high in fat to improve their texture and make them a bit more palatable.

So if you’re considering whether or not to go on a gluten-free diet just ask yourself one question: “Do I have coeliac disease?” If the answer is no then you have your answer!

[WillowDarkling]

Actually, gluten can also be bad for people with Hashimoto's thyroiditis...

...and I noticed that a great deal of food containing gluten agitated my colitis, when I was having serious symptoms. When it's dormant, the gluten doesn't bother it, but when the symptoms flare up, gluten is one of the worst things I can eat.

Edited February 16, 2014 by WillowDarkling

[DemonGoddess]

I agree overall with Melrick. Why go gluten free unless it's for a health issue? If it's because you're doing it because everyone else is, don't.

[BronxWench]

It's the same with most fad diets. There is no reason, other than a health issue, to eliminate carbs, or naturally occurring fats, or even refined sugar from your diet. The key, as with everything else, is moderation. There is no one at all holding sharp or projectile-ejecting objects to your person and demanding that you super-size that meal.

My daughter is a type 1 diabetic who's been diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, currently not requiring medication, thank all the gods. Trust me, diets are something I deal with daily. She eats as normally as possible, within reason, and primarily fresh foods and homemade foods. Junk food has never been a staple for us, even before her diagnosis.

My son is a fairly high-functioning autistic. My daft bugger proposed a gluten-free, dairy-free diet for him after reading an interview with Jenny McCarthy. I told him in no uncertain terms that I don't get my information from the pages of People magazine, and when JAMA and the Lancet told me to starve my son, I'd still want to see a few more opinions from reputable doctors not affiliated with any crackpot organizations. It was worth the price of a new skillet, trust me.

Edited February 16, 2014 by BronxWench

[daycrump79]

My 16yr old daughter who is nerd #1 thank god is now cutting back on junk food. I started this thing with a few of my friends to not to try & eat healthy but cook with fresh ingredients & believe me its hard in my part of nyc... but I can say that fresh salsa, homemade quesadilla & fresh guacamole is really a feel great meal. So yeah my daughter & I are not cutting anything out but going back to our roots with the fresh stuff.

[BronxWench]

My 16yr old daughter who is nerd #1 thank god is now cutting back on junk food. I started this thing with a few of my friends to not to try & eat healthy but cook with fresh ingredients & believe me its hard in my part of nyc... but I can say that fresh salsa, homemade quesadilla & fresh guacamole is really a feel great meal. So yeah my daughter & I are not cutting anything out but going back to our roots with the fresh stuff.

Oh, believe me, I completely understand. Some neighborhoods are wickedly underserved, and it's infuriating. Fresh food should never be a luxury, not in this town. I'm actually a native of Manhattan, but I've spent the past nineteen years in the Bronx, hence my pen name.

I'm old enough to remember shopping in a dozen neighborhood stores, because each one specialized in something. There was the fish store, the butcher, the greengrocer, the Italian grocery for cheeses and canned puree or plum tomatoes, the delicatessen, the bakery for fresh made bread and rolls. Food was fresh, and good. Not only that, but all the shopkeepers knew my grandmother, and remembered my mother when she was little.

Now, it's all prepackaged, full of things I refuse to even try to pronounce, and we pay insane amounts of money for it to boot. I actually caught myself lecturing firemen the other day because they were talking about buying premade pasta sauce in a jar. Ugh! It takes no time to make a fast marinara sauce from canned puree and paste, some garlic, onions, olive oil, and a few spices. Add a bit of red wine and some browned ground beef, and you have Bolognese sauce, in under half an hour, and it's healthy and tasty. Fortunately, the firemen are all very sweet and good sports about being lectured by crazy people.

[Cuzosu]

I learned through hard experience that drastically changing diets causes physical problems more than it cures anything. I grew up eating a lot of meat, a lot of cheese, pickles, olives, crackers, beans, rice, stews and the occasional soup, cereal (hot or cold), and peanut butter sandwiches with either honey or jelly. My dad's current wife decided "everyone" in the house needed to eat healthier and changed our meals to include pasta three or four nights a week. I ended up sick more often, physically uncomfortable because my body couldn't process the sudden change and lack of iron, and it probably factored into making me more cranky and unhappy. When I moved to my mom's and my meals reverted to what I was used to, my body stabilized again.

I don't care what the diet is; drastic change traumatizes the body, and unless it's for a health reason, I won't do it. Even then, I don't trust doctors and I will look into other options first, before researching and asking around to find out what other people have experienced with that method.

But, yeah, I agree with y'all. No sense going on a diet unless it's for a health reason.

[daycrump79]

Oh wow I am a Brooklyn native & also live in

the bronx & yes I know what you mean I miss the mom & pop stores. They knew their product not like now where I go in the supermarket & on one knows what I am asking for. And in the Bronx I have to go all the way to castle hill just to go to the Chinese super market.