TECHNOTES: Gluten-Free? Technology Can Help

Whether you’ve been diagnosed with Celiac disease or just want to eat gluten-free for a healthier lifestyle, going breadless can be a daunting task.  I know, I’ve been gluten-free for five years now. 

After suffering from symptoms for 8 years and going through two colonoscopies with a “nothing’s wrong,” synopsis, I took to the Internet to see why I all of a sudden had digestive issues that continued on every day since.

After my Mom passed away, my symptoms got worse to where I had anxiety and a lot of trouble getting to sleep every night.  I also felt like I was in a mental fog.  Searching my symptoms online finally brought me to the realization that I could have Celiac disease.  Asking for the right blood tests, I found out that my suspicions were true, I had Celiac autoimmune disease.

They say deaths come in three’s.  After Mom died, my 12-year-old dog, Bear, died about three months later.  I consider saying goodbye to bread the third death that year.  Three months after going completely gluten-free, most of my symptoms disappeared.  My anxiety was gone, I could sleep again, and the fog had lifted.

I often think that had I been diagnosed 8 years earlier, when I first noticed my digestive issues, I wouldn’t have been able to handle it.  Back in those days, there were no gluten-free options like gluten-free breads, cookies, cereals, pizzas, etc.  And I can only imagine how hard it would be to eat out, I would have had to skip it.

Today, there are a lot more options.  I can get a gluten-free pizza at Pizza Hut, Domino’s, my favorite local eateries, and plenty of more places.  There are gluten-free bakeries in various big cities, and I can even get a gluten-free cupcake at my favorite Sprinkles Cupcakes – they have them every day at every one of their locations.

Although Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease (my body attacks itself when gluten is consumed), I often refer to it as a severe allergy.  Restaurants understand what a severe allergy means.  I can easily get the point across without having to go into a deep explanation.

Traveling Gluten-Free

I remember traveling to several different countries in Europe a few years ago.  I was very nervous because I didn’t know the language for any of them.  How on earth would I be able to tell them about my issues with wheat, barley, rye, malt, and more?

My best friend, who also is a celiac, told me about Gluten-Free restaurant cards. These cards are literally a life-saver.  Gluten-free restaurant cards are instructions you can give the waitstaff to give to the chef/kitchen to make them aware of your celiac issues. 

They are written in the language of the country you are visiting.  In fact, they have translated these cards in over 60 different languages.

I used my at home laminator to laminate the instructions.  This kept them looking in good shape through the messiness of travel and also indicated value, so a waiter would be sure to bring the gluten-free restaurant card back to my table after having the chef review it.

At first, I thought it would be handy if Gluten-Free restaurant cards would be available in an app but after giving it some thought I realized it’s not a good idea.  After all, you’d have to trust the waiter to take the phone to the chef who would then also touch it (probably with hands that touched gluten) and then the waiter brings it back.  Better to stick with the cards.

Gluten-Free Apps

Nonetheless, there are some helpful apps to help you when traveling in the US to ensure you find gluten-free food.  Here are my favorites:

Find Me Gluten Free – this is my go-to app when I’m in a different city and I am looking for a restaurant our whole family can eat at.  I use it all the time after my daughter’s volleyball matches & tournaments when we find ourselves in a city we rarely frequent.  I’ve used it in New York, Florida, South Carolina, Washington, DC, Alabama, Arizona, California, and more.

I found another gluten-free restaurant finder, that helps with everyone’s allergies.  I plan to try out this app on my next trip alongside the Find Me Gluten Free app.

The Gluten-Free Scanner – a free app you can use to scan in the barcodes of products in the grocery store.  Its database houses over 50,000 products and once scanned, the app tells you whether the product is gluten-free, not gluten-free, or at risk of being not gluten-free.  I upgraded to the $3.99 app so I could search for products in addition to scanning them.

Oh, and in case you really need a translated restaurant card and you don’t have one with you, the upgraded version includes nearly 30 languages restaurant cards translated for you.

According to FARE (Food Allergy Research and Education), over 15 million Americans have food allergies, including 5.9 million children under the age of 18.  This is equivalent to 1 in 13 children having an allergy in each classroom. 

Restaurants would do well to create and offer allergy-free menu items and teach their kitchen staff how to keep things contaminant free.  Often it’s not just the person suffering from an allergy that is not dining there, but their whole family.  And often not just one occasion, but numerous possible dining occasions.

I close with this great infographic I found from GoodnessDirect.co.uk.  If you’re traveling in Europe, this handy infographic will help you identify key phrases and safe consumer brands to make your travels more enjoyable.

Bon Appetit! 

source: Goodness Direct