This has been annoying me for days
Jul. 12th, 2014 09:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chocolatepotSo, last week or the week before Jennifer Esposito was on the Daily Show to talk about her celiac disease and her new gluten-free (and generally vegan, nut-free, etc.) bakery. Even though it's Mom and not me with the sensitivity, I try to keep myself aware of the whole thing, look up recipes, etc. although she's always discouraging me from trying to make her/us GF things for some reason.
I know a lot of celiac sufferers get told there's nothing really wrong with them and get made fun of because ~obviously~ everyone can eat bread, but why is the response to turn around and say "celiac is real and crippling, but nobody else is sensitive to gluten at all"? Even if people are technically wrong about the part of the wheat that causes the reaction - which I've read may be the case - humans are intolerant of/allergic to so many things, what's the point of punching down and saying this one in particular isn't real because it doesn't affect other people exactly the same way it affects you? One person gets hives from strawberries and another has an asthma attack - that doesn't mean the first person is a loser who's glomming onto a fad.
And then the thing that really irritated me was that Esposito's bakery is still obviously catering to both people with gluten sensitivity and people who just think eating gluten/nut/dairy/whatever free makes them feel better or healthier. So basically, if you think eating gluten gives you diarrhea, you're trivializing celiac disease; if you think eating gluten isn't good but you pay her $15 for a couple cookies, you are a-okay.
I know a lot of celiac sufferers get told there's nothing really wrong with them and get made fun of because ~obviously~ everyone can eat bread, but why is the response to turn around and say "celiac is real and crippling, but nobody else is sensitive to gluten at all"? Even if people are technically wrong about the part of the wheat that causes the reaction - which I've read may be the case - humans are intolerant of/allergic to so many things, what's the point of punching down and saying this one in particular isn't real because it doesn't affect other people exactly the same way it affects you? One person gets hives from strawberries and another has an asthma attack - that doesn't mean the first person is a loser who's glomming onto a fad.
And then the thing that really irritated me was that Esposito's bakery is still obviously catering to both people with gluten sensitivity and people who just think eating gluten/nut/dairy/whatever free makes them feel better or healthier. So basically, if you think eating gluten gives you diarrhea, you're trivializing celiac disease; if you think eating gluten isn't good but you pay her $15 for a couple cookies, you are a-okay.
