Is Gluten-Free Trendy?

I just read a friend's post on Facebook. She said she brought 6 loaves of bread to a potluck and most of the women mentioned that they couldn't eat gluten. Some of her friends commented that gluten seems to be a trend. Are people really going gluten free who don't actually have to?

Four years ago when I was still relatively new to the gluten-free concept, and somewhat resistant to it (this was before I knew that gluten was the reason my body was attacking itself, and before I passed out on an airplane after eating a donut because I thought a little gluten wouldn't really hurt me, and before I had a seizure at work and spent the day at the hospital undergoing tests) I joined some girlfriends at a local restaurant. I chose the restaurant because it's the only one in Anchorage I trusted, and it's the only one I still trust, to serve food that is totally free of gluten and not likely to be contaminated. I mentioned that I didn't eat gluten and one girl responded "Oh, I don't eat wheat." and continued to explain how her naturopath had suggested she cut wheat out of her diet, and she's felt so much better since doing so.

But then we ordered our food. And the girl who said she didn't eat wheat ordered angel hair pasta with lemon pesto.

This was my first experience with someone who says they don't eat wheat or gluten, but who is apparently not fully committed, probably because they don't really have to avoid it. If they understood why some of us don't eat wheat or gluten, they would not take this lightly. If they couldn't sleep at night because their legs were restless. If they woke up every morning and could barely get out of bed because their joints were so swollen. If they had panic attacks. If their stomach bloated like a balloon every time they put food in their mouth. If their life span was expected to be as much as 75% shorter as a result of eating gluten.

My experience is that someone who can't eat gluten for a real medical condition is doing so not because they want to or because it's trendy, but because their life depends on it. Someone who casually says she doesn't eat wheat but then orders a meal comprised almost entirely of wheat and gluten is avoiding wheat only when she thinks it's the trendy thing to do.