Does your restaurant meal truly honor your gluten-free diet? Join me, Belinda Whelan, certified health coach, as I tackle the vital distinction between menus labeled 'gluten-free' and those that are genuinely celiac-safe. Discover the hidden perils often lurking behind the 'gluten-free' tag, which could pose health risks to individuals with celiac disease or gluten intolerance.
We're not just talking about eating gluten-free; this is about respecting your health, educating those around you, and demanding what you deserve. I'll share my own trials dining out with celiac disease, shed light on the issues of cross contact, and empower you to communicate your dietary needs fearlessly. It's time to vote with your dollars and support eateries that respect your needs. Listen in and learn how to navigate this world without feeling like a burden, because you're not just eating for today, you're eating for your future health.
Learn more about Ultimate Celiac System here
www.belindawhelan.com/ultimateceliacsystem
Join my free community and grab your copy of 11 Mistakes People Make Living Gluten Free here www.belindawhelan.myflodesk.com/11mistakes
Check out my Daily Health Tracker here
HEALTH TRACKER | The Healthy Celiac (belindawhelan.com)
And I would love to connect with you on Instagram thehealthyceliac
If you have a spare moment, please pop over to Apple Podcasts and leave me a review. Thank you!
Music Credit bensound.com
Does your restaurant meal truly honor your gluten-free diet? Join me, Belinda Whelan, certified health coach, as I tackle the vital distinction between menus labeled 'gluten-free' and those that are genuinely celiac-safe. Discover the hidden perils often lurking behind the 'gluten-free' tag, which could pose health risks to individuals with celiac disease or gluten intolerance.
We're not just talking about eating gluten-free; this is about respecting your health, educating those around you, and demanding what you deserve. I'll share my own trials dining out with celiac disease, shed light on the issues of cross contact, and empower you to communicate your dietary needs fearlessly. It's time to vote with your dollars and support eateries that respect your needs. Listen in and learn how to navigate this world without feeling like a burden, because you're not just eating for today, you're eating for your future health.
Learn more about Ultimate Celiac System here
www.belindawhelan.com/ultimateceliacsystem
Join my free community and grab your copy of 11 Mistakes People Make Living Gluten Free here www.belindawhelan.myflodesk.com/11mistakes
Check out my Daily Health Tracker here
HEALTH TRACKER | The Healthy Celiac (belindawhelan.com)
And I would love to connect with you on Instagram thehealthyceliac
If you have a spare moment, please pop over to Apple Podcasts and leave me a review. Thank you!
Music Credit bensound.com
Hello and welcome back to this week's episode of the show. My name is Belinda Whelan. For those of you that haven't met me yet, I'm a certified health coach and for those of you that are joining me again, welcome back. It's great to have you here Now. Today I want to talk about why the gluten-free diet is not the same as a celiac disease diet, because there is so much confusion about this and I think it's time that we need to share a bit more about this and maybe get it out there to the world, because it is frustrating the heck out of me when people, mostly in restaurants and cafes, don't get the difference. I feel that you know some people are brushing us off and kind of, you know, dismissing the importance of it, and I don't know about you, but I've been out to hundreds and hundreds of restaurants and cafes and different places to eat gluten-free food since becoming diagnosed with celiac disease and there have been a handful of times when I've ordered my meal and I've asked all the questions and I've explained my needs and then the server or the wait staff has turned around and said, oh, is it a preference or do you have, like, celiac disease? It's like, yeah, I've got celiac disease Like. I strictly need this to be 100% gluten-free, no cross contact, all of that. So you know, when we order out, there are differences between having just a gluten-free meal and having a strict celiac disease meal. So I wanted to cover that off today so that we're on the same page and so we can help you know, help you as well as help the community and help more people have an awareness of the difference. Okay, so let's jump into it.
Speaker 1:So one of the things that we are seeing more and more when you eat out is the labeling on menus. So here in Australia, I personally think we are very, very lucky with all of our labeling laws, all of our labeling laws for gluten-free food. It's fantastic. So that has not been an issue for us. But for eating out, we're going to be able to see changes in restaurants and cafes in their menus.
Speaker 1:So there used to be not so much recognition, I guess, on a standard menu of gluten-free options. So it used to be. So back when I first got diagnosed with celiac disease, it wasn't very often listed on a menu whether something was gluten-free. It was more the case that I would have to request something to be made specifically gluten-free or I had to ask if anything on the menu was already gluten-free. So that was always much more time consuming, whereas now what we see is more and more cafes and restaurants you know, places that you eat out will have GF at least written next to some of their options on the menu, and this has been happening now for quite a number of years.
Speaker 1:But what I've noticed recently is gluten-friendly. So instead of writing gluten-free, they're writing gluten-friendly. We don't want gluten-friendly, we want gluten-free. So when we go out, you know there might be GF, there might be gluten-free, there might be gluten-free options, or there might be gluten-friendly written on there. So there's all these different GFs that mean all these different things to different people, and it's up to us, as people with celiac disease, to really make sure that what we're getting is truly gluten-free and truly celiac safe.
Speaker 1:So if just say, for example, someone was eating gluten-free because they think it's trendy or they think it's going to help them lose weight, you know you might find that they'll go out and they'll see gluten-free on a menu rather, and they'll order that gluten-free meal, not have to ask any more questions and just assume that they're getting this wonderful gluten-free meal, and then, low and behold, they go on order garlic bread to go with it. So you know it makes it tricky for those of us with celiac disease that you know those people are kind of messing it up for us because On one hand they want a gluten-free meal but then they go and get something that's got gluten in it. So you know it does make it confusing for weight staff and to take us seriously. And this is why whenever I order out anywhere, whether it's takeaway, whether it's in a cafe, whether it's a restaurant, any time I'll always specify that I have celiac disease, because most people now I'm finding here in Australia they have more an awareness of what celiac disease is and if you say that you've got celiac disease, they will be more careful with your order. Now, for those people that don't care, because it's not a it's not a, I guess, a prescription to their health, they're doing it just because it's a lifestyle thing or that you know it's trendy or whatever it is. It doesn't matter for them. They can just get their gluten-free food and it can have, you know, cross contact. It can have like whatever going on with it.
Speaker 1:But for us we strictly need to make sure that our food is safe. So this is where a gluten-free meal is not waist gluten-free. So another example could be you could go out and on the menu is a gluten-free meal and it comes with a side of hot chips. That's very popular here in Australia for pubs. So a lot of pub type meals will come with a serve of hot chips. And you know, the more questions that you ask, the more you'll probably find out that those hot chips are deep fried in the same deep fryer as the schnitzels and you know the calamari and all of the different things that get deep fried in breadcrumbs and then that automatically makes those chips unsafe because now they've been, you know, cross-contact with those breadcrumbs that have been in the deep fryer. So for us with celiac disease, that's something that we need to avoid because there is that high risk of getting sick from that cross contact, whereas someone that's just eating gluten-free for the sake of it, they could eat those chips and it's not a problem because they don't know any better. They don't know any different. So it is really important for us, as people living with celiac disease, to make sure we're asking the questions about our preparation of our food. You know what's going into the food.
Speaker 1:Sometimes there's different chefs that might be working from the last time that you went to that restaurant. And last time you went there and you had this amazing meal and it was delicious and it was gluten-free, and you asked all the questions and you go back to that restaurant and you think that was so enjoyable. I'm just going to get the same meal. It was safe, I didn't get sick and I really enjoyed it, and you know I've already done all the hard work and I've asked all the questions. So today I'm just going to get that and it'll be fine. You still need to check. You still need to make sure that it's gluten-free and safe for you, because on this particular day there might be a different chef working to the last time that you were there eating and they might just happen to use a different ingredient, or they might just happen to have used up something that the chef last time used, just say, for a sauce or something, for example, and he's not being, or she is not being, as careful with that because you haven't specified that you strictly need gluten-free. And this is where it comes down to. These little mistakes can happen when we just assume that something is going to be gluten-free, because the last time that you ate there it was. So always ask all your questions, always make sure that they clearly know that you need a meal safe for someone with celiac disease, with no risk of cross contact, and to make sure that it's safe.
Speaker 1:And something I do want to point out as well, because I've been chatting to a lot of people online recently on my Instagram account, and so many people are saying that they feel like they are a bother, they feel like they're making a scene and they feel like you know their friends and their family are getting frustrated with them for doing this, and I want to remind you that that is not the case. You are not being a bother. You are not being a fuss. You are doing what you need to do for your health and, if you haven't figured it out by now, this is what you have to do for your future. This is not just for today to feel good. This is not just for tomorrow, so you're not sick and on the couch or in bed because you can't, you know, function. This is for the future of your health, so that you can live a really full life and really enjoy yourself for many, many years to come.
Speaker 1:So please don't ever feel like you are a bother or a burden, or you know that you have to put other people's feelings before your own, because at the end of the day, you are the most important person in your life. That is a fact. You are the most important person because without you, you are nothing. You are not even here. So you have to look after yourself and you have to make sure that you are eating gluten-free and a celiac, celiac, safe diet. You have to make sure that you are asking all of these questions and not worrying about what the person that's eating out with you is thinking of you or, you know, is embarrassed or whatever. Don't worry about that person if they are seriously sitting there going. Oh my God, she's at it again, asking all the questions or she's making such a scene. That's not a good friend. That is not a good friend at all because, the way I look at it, true friends will support you. They'll look out for you and they'll make sure that you are eating a safe meal, because they love you and they want you to be at your peak and at your best and it's, you know, having the right people in your corner and looking after you and you know when you eat out. It's the same thing.
Speaker 1:If you are being treated with disrespect by the wait staff or the chef or whoever is taking care of you, or rather not taking care of you, you have every right to get up and leave. You do not have to give that business a cent of your money. You owe them nothing. They actually owe you because, when it comes to it, anyone that's in business is there to make money. They have a business to run and if they don't have customers, they don't make money. So you can vote with your dollars. I've said this for many, many years with everything, we vote with our dollars. So if you're voting with your dollars towards a restaurant or cafe that treats you like crap and doesn't give you what you need and that's, you know, support, that's safe food, that's guidance that they're doing the right thing and offering you a safe meal, then you get to vote with your dollars by getting your butt out of that chair and going I'll go eat somewhere else and you leave and they'll be like oh what, we just lost a customer and more and more businesses are switching on to the needs of those of us with celiac disease and gluten intolerance and, knowing that it's a big market, there is a big need to support those of us with celiac disease and, you know, the more restaurants that are onto it the better.
Speaker 1:There's a fantastic new cafe that's near me it's about 10 minutes away and they are doing amazing things with looking after people with celiac disease and from the moment they opened, I could not believe the steps that they had already put into place to make sure that their safe, gluten-free food was kept away from the gluten food or the poison, the food that we can't have. You know separate glass cabinets to the gluten food for you know their cookies and treats and just, really, on top of things, you know, straight away they were like well, you know, we're gonna cater for people with celiac disease. We're gonna dedicate a gluten-free fryer for our fried chicken and anyone that comes in here and orders fried chicken they are getting gluten-free fried chicken. That's as simple as it is. So they're doing things to make it better for us, but it makes it easier for them.
Speaker 1:So the last time that I went there, the girl that served me, she was like oh, we have to do some different processes to make sure the fried chicken is safe for celiac disease, but I'll let them know. And I kind of got a little bit hesitant because I thought, hmm, the last time they were here, they did say that the deep fryer was dedicated, no matter what, for fried chicken and they were always doing it gluten-free. So I just asked her to double check, because I've asked all the questions and made sure that things hadn't changed since last time, and it turned out she was brand new and she didn't actually know what she was talking about. So she went and checked for me and the chef explained no, no, no, the fried chicken is always gluten-free. And she got a lesson.
Speaker 1:And I had a bit of a conversation with the owner on Instagram later that day because he shared a picture that I'd posted on my Instagram and he was apologetic that this girl had said that and I was like no, no, no, like it was fine because she did the right thing and she asked the questions and that's all that I wanted. And he explained he had two new staff on that day and he was training them and they didn't know the answers and he was actually really grateful for all of the questions that I had asked them, because it made them really check everything and make sure that they were looking after me so that in future, anyone else that goes in to get a meal that had to be safe for people with celiac disease they would be able to then help those people even further, because it's kind of like a mini training for them when they get all the questions thrown at them. So don't think of it as you're being a burden or a bother. Think of it as you're helping the next person as well that goes in to ask those questions and to get better support with celiac disease. So you're never a bother, you're never a burden. Don't ever think of yourself like that.
Speaker 1:And one of the things that I truly believe in is we teach people how to treat us. Okay, so you teach people the way that you get treated. And if you think that sounds like rubbish, it's true. It is absolutely 100% true, because if someone treats you with disrespect, you either put up with it or you stick up for yourself and they won't do it again, okay. And if they keep doing it again, then those are the people that you need to have a really good, strong look at your life, and whether you need them people in your life or whether you push them away a little bit and spend time with people that respect you.
Speaker 1:That's a whole other subject. I'm pretty sure I've covered a little bit of that on the podcast as well. But yeah, that's something that I do definitely go into deeper within my courses. But if you need help with that, reach out, because yeah, that's that is full on. But in the restaurant world and the cafes, you definitely don't need to be putting up with people's nonsense. Like I said, you vote with your dollars and you can vote by leaving and going elsewhere, because a kid you're not. There are people that will look after you and we'll find a way to get you a safe, gluten-free meal. So I hope that inspires you to look for safe, gluten-free food and to really look after yourself and to stick up for yourself and advocate for yourself and make sure that you are in the best hands when you are being catered for. So thanks for listening and I look forward to talking with you again next week on the show. So I'll talk to you then. Bye.