Introducing GlutenFreeQuestions.com

It is with great excitement that I announce the newest part of Celiac-Disease.com - a spin off website if you will – GlutenFreeQuestions.com. This is a place where the reader has a say in what we’ll write about  since we’ll be answering their questions. All questions about the gluten-free diet and the gluten-free lifestyle are welcome. We do ask that people refrain from asking for medical advice, since no one on the site is a doctor. Medical questions should be directed to medical professionals, of course.

If you read the wonderful article The Gluten-Free Rumor Mill by Tiffany Jakubowski on this site, you understand that trusting random people online regarding the gluten-free diet, might result in you avoiding perfectly safe gluten-free foods.  I think we can all agree it’s fairly difficult to avoid just gluten. It makes no sense to avoid foods that are actually gluten-free, due to gluten-free myths floating around in cyberspace.

For a while I’ve been wondering why some people don’t seem to be able to accept new information regarding our diet. It finally occured to me that if twenty years ago someone told me I had to drink only potato vodka, and then I found out pure distilled vodka (made with gluten grains) was actually gluten-free, I might be a little miffed. Did you know that distilled vinegar was once thought to contain gluten as well? That meant people were told they could not have mustard, mayo, ketchup, pickles - the list goes on an on. Knowing that all those years I’d been avoiding something that was perfectly safe might be annoying, upsetting – or both!    

I’ll admit that when I started eating gluten-free, I believed a couple of myths myself. Eventually I started asking people for references for  certain statements they’d made. Repeatedly, no one could offer me proof that the information they were spreading online was true – at least when they were spreading gluten-free myths. That was enough for me to stop taking advice about guten-free ingredients from faceless strangers.  These days I turn to actual experts for help and so far, none of them have steered me wrong.   

Since I’m not a dietitian specializing in the gluten-free diet, I am never far from my copy of Gluten-Free Diet : A Comprehensive Resource Guide, (current edition) by Shelley Case. She is the foremost authority on our the gluten-free diet in North America and has devoted over 20 years of her career to helping our community. Personally, I think Shelley’s book should be required reading for anyone following the gluten-free diet for health reasons. Certainly, I could not have survived as easily as I did my first gluten-free year, without this excellent gluten-free guide!  

My expertise lies in the social aspect of the gluten-free lifestyle. You would be surprised how many people retreat to their homes, give up friendships, stop traveling and never eat out – just because they can’t eat gluten. If they are perfectly happy doing that, more power to them. But for those who want to live full, healthy, happy and delicious lives – I’m proof positive that it can be done. And trust me, if I can do it, anyone can! 

Let’s break the cycle of people cheating on the diet or not being tested for celiac disease because the gluten-free diet is too hard. This will only happen when more people learn that living gluten-free is not the end of the world. In fact, it might even open up a whole new world of possibilities for them!

Special thanks to our readers, who made GlutenFreeQuestions.com a reality!  We welcome your gluten-free questions!