The Gluten Blame Game: Laugh, Learn, and Raise an Eyebrow
Sometimes people make me laugh, shake my head, and then wonder. There seem to be a lot of folks out there who blame gluten for just about everything. I’ve seen enough silly statements to draw a comparison to an old country music joke. (No offence to anyone who enjoys country music 😉)
Let’s remember that misinformation spreads like wildfire. Celiac is not contagious—but stupidity and ignorance sure seem to be. Believe it or not, many of the points below have been wildly debated in Celiac forums.
I certainly don’t blame the newly diagnosed—it’s a learning curve. But so many people add fuel to the fire by constantly spreading falsehoods about this complex and misunderstood disease. Heck, most doctors don’t even fully understand it!
- Celiac Disease is not responsible for your fear of heights.
- The dog did not do its business inside to protest your gluten-free ways.
- A mosquito landing on a piece of regular bread and then biting you will not make you ill. (Unless it’s some West Nile Virus kind of thing.)
- Meat from a cow that enjoys wheat will not cause a Celiac reaction.
- The scent of the bakery section at your grocery store is not making you ill. That’s called anxiety—and you may be making yourself sick by fearing a reaction.
All jokes aside, the problem with blaming gluten or Celiac for everything is actually quite serious and could be detrimental to your overall health. Since no two Celiacs are alike, it’s up to us to understand our personal reaction(s) to gluten.
By blindly condemning gluten when it’s not the real culprit, we risk further harm by not seeking the medical attention we might actually need.