rocketraider

I'm beginning to think this gluten free bandwagon has gone beyond ridiculous.

I bought a package of Bridgford brand salami last night that proudly announced "GLUTEN FREE!" on the packaging. Now, I might be from the woods, but last time I checked processed meats did not include any wheat products.

I donno, maybe low quality brands use cereal filler.

I know there are individuals with a legitimate allergy to gluten and need to know what might be hiding in their food, but seems to me that a lot of people are latching onto it as flavor-of-the-month.

I was watching something on TV last week and the resident brat in the show was pitching a fit because her parents hadn't bought gluten free. The brat went on to loudly proclaim that celebrities said gluten was bad for you and if a celebrity said it, it had to be so.

Astute young'un who played the part written for her very well, and have to give props to the writers too for lampooning the gluten free craze so neatly.

edzolz

100% agree. Also agree on the allergy to gluten by some individuals. My wife has that condition. She lost from 135 to less than 80 lbs before the dr's found the problem so that part is legit. Some people outgrow it but some don't know they have it until they nearly die.

boese1978

I am a chef / food service director at a private school, Gluten can be very harmful to those with the allergy. Agreed too many latch on for silly, self serving reasons BUT, put yourself in the position of one with the condition, you 'll understand that you have to read EVERY label......and you will be amazed at where wheat products show up.

z11375ss

Try corn. It's in EVERYTHING. Many times people go on the gluten free diet who don't need to and find they lose all their unneeded weight. That in itself is a huge side benefit. They cut out breads and such that the body recognizes as sugar and stores it as fat. We were meant to do this when we were living in a cave wondering when the next meal would come. I agree with the labeling thing though, everything is gluten free. Hey, gluten free coffee? There never was gluten in it, you dope! That's just good marketing to the ignorant.

Koda

There's gluten ALLERGY and then there's bad diet. I avoid gluten and wheat and potatoes and carbs because I am losing weight. If you put a nice meal in front of me with it, I'll thank you and eat it gladly, but my normal eating has little carbs. This results in me feeling better, less sluggish, no sugar crash after a meal "food coma", and I lose weight. I'm not allergic, but I do choose what I eat.

It's all in proportion. Is a big dense roll bad for you? If you haven't had anything to eat today, no, but if it's with a big meal, it's unneeded. Gasoline is not bad for your engine, but running rich is not good either.

Professur

I always know where to find my kids when I hear the laughter ... they've found yet another 'may contain nuts' on a bag of something that obviously contains nuts ... Like a bag of freaking peanuts.

oldsmobiledave

There is a huge difference between being a fussy eater & having celiac disease. Educate yourself so you do not seem so insensitive to a genuine affliction.

oldcutlass

I am a type II diabetic and count carbs. I think that maybe the food police are getting a bit carried away with their labeling requirements. Just keep it simple, if there is no way a food can contain something, quit mentioning it.

rocketraider

I also am Type 2 diabetic so I have to watch what I eat, but z1137 hit on it- gluten free is used as a marketing ploy to uninformed people now, and that disservices people who truly have this allergy. Especially when people who do not have the allergy latch on and prattle about it ad nauseam, just to be perceived as hip/cool.

A fussy eater can use things like this to bully their way thru their family's meals. There were a lot of things on our table when I was growing up that I didn't like but if I expected to be fed I ate them.

I can say that after several tries to make me eat turnip sallet (turnip greens for those not from southern US) only to have me throw it up shortly thereafter, Mama finally quit trying to get me to eat it. Allergy? probably not. I just did not like the taste of it.

hookem horns

X2, same with my wife. Mis-diagnosed for years with one doc saying she was in denial of her anorexia (guess he thought a psychology degree was was just 39 cents more with his MD).

I know it may be overly "popular" now but no one would ever tell someone with a peanut or bee sting alergy it's all in their head and get over it. That popularity is turning into a huge benefit for those who have struggled with the real deal for years - it's now much easier to order in restaraunts and less reading fine print on labels since you never know where gluten will be hiding. "Modified food starch" was a favorite - was it corn, rice, wheat?

z11375ss

A friend of mine wrote a very good book that can be purchased on Amazon. It's called, "Get Fit, Lean, and Keep Your day Job". J.D.Griffen. It has good sense eating habits. If you take only the nutrition part of the book away with you, it's worth the price. It goes into how most things are recognized by the body as sugar. Oh, that and South Park.

Diego

This is nothing new.

Companies have made claims for years to attract those with dietary needs, even though the claims are often superfluous, as the salami example demonstrates.

What about "a low-fat food" when it's loaded with calories? Or "fat-free" when it's laden with other junk to make up for the fat that was removed?

And how about our food supply? Lobbyists help industries be profitable, so now corn (as was mentioned) is in everything. And don't get me started with meat processing.

Ever read some of the ingredients in your favorite foods while growing up? Peanut butter and ketchup are junk. So is just about everything else we have in the US . . . and then we wonder why we're overweight.

Don't think I'm some person who only eats healthy - I am not - but if I ate the way I wanted to eat, I'm have the runs all the time. Food companies are not your friend - they are for-profit ventures who don't have your best interest in mind.

oldspackrat

Water, now(and always) gluten free!!!

Professur

Diego .. I dunno about you, but my peanut butter came out of a machine at the grocery store. Peanuts went in the top, peanut diarrhea came out the bottom.

Diego

Skippy, Jif, etc. have hydrogenated oils. Those are bad for you.

Their low-fat peanut butters are more of a "peanut-butter spread" as it has some soy. It's decent, but I think it still has hydrogenated oils.

The "Natural" versions only have palm oil so you don't need to stir it, but I don't know how bad that is.

Hence, the best choice is the annoying one where you have to mix in the peanut oil, which is never consistent. The trade-off is that it doesn't have processed junk or things that could be patently unhealthy other than, perhaps, being high in sodium.

garys 68&72

Consumer: Gluten free! Must mean gluten is bad for everyone....because I'm ignorant....Must buy only gluten free products....btw, anyone know what gluten is?


Advertiser: We can sell more stuff to idiots..... Gluten free ads


Been done with every product for years....what's new?

Professur

I'm still waiting on a bunch of people to get back to me as to what ALS is. Poured water all over themselves ... and they haven't a clue

oldspackrat

Diego & others,
Here is the pb we choose. Like you said peanuts & palm oil, that's about it. We read labels & avoid as much crap as we can. I did a quick search on palm oil & like most other things, some say it's ok, some said it can increase LDL. Just like a most other things I think moderation is the key.

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rocketraider

That one was another pet peeve, because people did it to be trendy. A lifelong friend's wife died of ALS last year aged 57 and a workmate's dad died of it the week before Christmas, also aged 57. I chose to make memorial donations to the ALS Association in their names as I thought that would ultimately do more good than an icewater challenge.

gs72

I was hoping someone would post the South Park gluten free episode. Too funny!

MDchanic

Well, amusingly (if you can use that word when discussing ALS), the one thing it's not is Lou Gherig's disease.
They've determined that he actually died of a different horrible progressive neurologic illness.

... And what the heck is it with that ice bucket thing, anyway?

- Eric

TripDeuces

I have Celiac Disease and it is a big deal. I've had it all my life as I inherited it from my mother. Unfortunately I never knew I had it until 2003 when I was 45 years old! I always felt bad after eating certain foods (those with wheat gluten or it's relatives) but Celiac was relatively unknown back in the 60-90's so I thought those feelings were just the way life was.
I was 5' 10 3/4 inches tall in high school and by 2003 I had shrunk to 5'9" due to the damage Celiac had done to my skeleton. Ever since HS I had always been 175 pounds and in the span of a couple months during 2003 I was down to 130 pounds and looked liked a POW.
In 2009 my bones were so thin they looked like copper tubing in the CT scan. I suffered a severe fracture in Aug that year when the top of my tibia caved in and all I did was try to stand up. I'm now on permanent disability due to that accident.
Celiac Disease attacks the cilia in the small intestine (hence the name) and wipes them out stopping your body from ingesting needed vitamins, minerals and nutrients. You basically waste away and will die if ignored.

To the OP, wheat gluten is used in everything as a binder. Finding it in luncheon meats is not uncommon and is practically in every type of processed food. If it comes in a box, can, jar etc. you can just about guarantee it's present unless stated otherwise. It's even in McDonalds french fries as a binder for the beef flavoring that's added to them.

Myself and others like me that have Celiac don't have a choice in what we eat. Those that choose to go gluten free are making a choice that can't hurt them. The fact of the matter is that 3% of the population are pure Celiacs like myself but 15% have a gluten intolerance.

Oldskeeper

TripDeuces, I also have this problem, I inherited it from my grandfather. I blooted up to a 45 waist size and couldn't sit down. Once we figured out the problem and I stopped eating anything that had gluten in it I lost 40 pounds in two months. Glenn, when we were at Sturbridge for the nationals we had dinner at the hotel and other spots near by and I paid extra for pot roast gluten free which meant no gravy and the mashed potatoes had gluten in them as a thickener.
My daughter has this condition now and if she eats something with gluten hidden in it she will spend at least 3 days in bed in pain. I'm in the same boat, if I eat the wrong food I'm out of commission for a few days. The food without gluten taste like card board and falls apart in your hand, a fad sure lets pay more money for gluten free and have bread that looks like melba toast and is 6 bucks a loaf. Gluten is in the spices that you use on that steak so I have mine without. Sure you can make your own spices and steak sauce. We have a burger joint here that makes gluten free and the fries are in a dedicated frier so they are gluten free, hows 12 bucks for a burger and fries work for you? But for us it is a safe meal and when you have celiac disease the price does not out weigh the fear of being glutened.
The drug companies are working on a pill that will help people with this disease so we can eat food that might not be as safe as gluten free but at this time I'll take it.
Enjoy that beer or rye or bourbon or any other spirit that has barley in it as a malt.
Steve

drop top olds

My wife has Celiac and I have watched her struggle. She went from 120 lbs to 92 lbs before the allergy is identified. Yeah, sometimes the hype is annoying but when you see what happens to people with the allergy when they ingest something with gluten in it it's not too fun.

You would also be "surprised" to find out what is in medications. Many pharmacies use gluten as a filler in pills. For those dealing with it education is your best defense.

Me? I'm an omnivore. I can eat anything. Makes things interesting around the house.

nonhog

My wife and stepson deal with this crap. Yes it does sometimes seem ridicules but it is (as other have mentioned very serious)
My wife has less than a third of the migraine headaches she use to have after figuring out the food allergy/ celiac issue.
My stepson was hospitalized due to doubled over pain and cramping.


My wife also has lost weight, she kind of likes that part
Its tough when we are eating out and she gets to watch.

rustyroger

Linking to this topic I watched a TV program a couple of nights ago running down the nations with the healthiest diets.
Mexico and the USA were among the very worst, (the UK was Europe's worst), mostly because of a diet of processed foods with lots of corn derivatives. Mexican children have some othe worlds worst dentition mainly because of the way sugary soda drinks are agressively marketed to them.
Eastern European nations are developing unhealthy eating habits as they follow the Western lifestyle.
I dare say it will be no surprise to hear that Mediterranean, Japanese and South Koreans have among the healthiest diets, the Ethiopeans eat well, but the healthiest diet award goes to.........Iceland!.

Of course this may not apply to all of us, but it concerns nations as a whole.

Roger.