Against the Grain? A Diet Philosophy

Adopting a gluten-free lifestyle is the only treatment for celiac disease. It's an adjustment and requires a great deal of commitment, but I've also discovered it to be an impetus for trying new things. A couple years after being diagnosed I read Jax Peters Lowell’s The Gluten-Free Bible and while Peters Lowell has excellent advice about living gluten-free in a gluten-filled world (bring your own crackers, brilliant!); she is not someone I would like to go to dinner with. At first, I was intrigued by her recommendation to outlaw gluten entirely from my surroundings. It appealed to my selfish side; the absence of gluten would mean the absence of my cravings. For me, completely removing gluten from my life was never a viable option. I live with a roommate who enjoys a regular diet, I’m the only celiac in a family of six and, as much as my type-A personality would like to think I otherwise, I cannot control everything, everywhere. I could never be so inconsiderate and self-absorbed as to announce to my roommate/sister she can no longer bring gluten products into our apartment (although I will not relinquish my right to nag her about the cleanliness of the bathroom). My dining-out philosophy is “you catch more flies with honey, than with vinegar.” If I can’t find a gluten-free option on a menu, I’ll nicely ask the waiter for recommendations. I don’t think threats are necessary; if I eat a little bit of gluten, I’ll be uncomfortable- but I’m not going to sue anyone over it. As celiacs we might be living life “against the grain,” but we can’t expect the rest of the world to accommodate us. We have to be pro-active in our own dietary lives. Let your host know you cannot eat gluten, but never guilt-trip him or her if they forget and serve Grandma's chocolate cake- you want to be invited back, don’t you? Even better, adopt my strategy: always offer to bring dessert.

She has great advice, but some of her discussions of attitude just rub me the wrong way. But anyway, could I have ventured farther from my topic? I intended this post to discuss beer. I miss beer and it's taken me a long time to find a worthwhile substitute. This beer brewed by Redbridge Brewery and bottled by Anheuser-Busch (which means it’s readily available) fits the bill (thanks to Sarah for the discovery). It’s brewed using sorghum and doesn’t use wheat or barley. It’s not the greatest beer ever, although it has consistently taken gold in the Gluten-Free Beer category at the Great American Beer Festival (so what if there were only ten competitors?). The sorghum gives it a sweet flavor that takes some getting used to, but aside from that it has a very mild flavor; I might describe it as watery. I’ve been known to say “life is too short to drink gluten-free beer,” but, as far as gluten-free beers go, this is very drinkable.