I did a search and didn’t see any ongoing gluten-free threads so I thought it might be a good idea to start one. I’d love it if people could share resources about specific schools, surrounding areas, travel, and general tips about living gluten-free.
I can be a resource for Colorado State.
I’m also currently trying to plan a Christmas Vacation trip for 2025 but get completely overwhelmed with having to worry about allergies (I am also dairy-free) in an unknown place. It makes it very much not a vacation for me as my family doesn’t really get all the planning it takes to make sure I actually get to eat each day. I’ve found a completely gluten-free resort in Costa Rica called Arenas Del Mar. It’s pretty pricey, so I was wondering if anyone has been.
I have a love/hate relationship with Find Me Gluten Free. I found it to be very inaccurate, while also somehow managing to miss some of the most gluten-friendly spots. I tend to just search all the restaurants in an area and go straight to their menus. The diary makes it tricky as it seems like places like to make up for the gluten by adding cheese to everything.
My husband and daughter went to Italy this summer and I chose to sit it out. Their travel style doesn’t lend to any type of planning around restaurants. As much as I’d like to travel more, I have anxiety just searching places to stay. And air travel has proven to be a nightmare with airlines and most airports not being able to accommodate both gluten and dairy allergies. It’s okay if there aren’t any delays or snafus, but you can only pack so many “snacks” to tide you over. Let’s just say, I feel very unsupported by my family. They get that I have to be careful, but they don’t get how that wears me down, especially in new places. They are all happy just eating power bars for a week so don’t get either my anxiety or my joy of finding a new gluten-friendly place.
I’m thrilled that S23 is going to school in such an allergy-friendly town. Fort Collins is a gluten-free paradise.
I know what you mean about the anxiety. The last time I inadvertently ate gluten it resulted in me getting so sick I ended up needing surgery. So I am always double checking every dish with the wat staff etc.
I get grouchy if there are only a couple of things on a menu I can eat, and my family knows I refuse to go to those restaurants.
Have you heard of/tried GluteGuard? No idea if it actually works (I’m dubious) but I was part of a focus group for them, and I do take it if I’m out and I’m worried a dish isn’t completely gluten free.
My son and DH were diagnosed as celiac in the 90’s. There is no pill that will keep their immune system from reacting to gluten, and I know this because they can’t even lick a stamp or envelope without reacting. Maybe for people that are just avoiding gluten but not worried about reaction.
Every school ought to have someone in dietary to talk with.
When we visited schools there were huge differences in the availability and quality of gluten free food. My daughter attends a small school with one dining hall, and while the food was marked, I would not have been able to put a meal together there. My son attends a large school where GF food is plentiful both on and off campus. There were even parents on the school FB page saying their kids transferred out of schools where they could not eat safely.
Yeah, I don’t know if GluteGuard works, and given how severe my reaction to gluten is, I am not going to test it!
However, the point of using it is to avoid being unintentionally “glutened” which happens. In a situation where you are unsure it’s potentially an added layer of protection.
They did a double blind trial that showed promising results, and in my research I found papers like this:
So, I wouldn’t claim the science is dispositive, but I also wouldn’t pooh pooh it. It is not meant so people intentionally can eat a pretzel, it’s meant to protect against accidental ingestion, presumably of a small amount of gluten.
I wonder if it’s a regional thing? I was in New Orleans earlier this year, and there was almost nothing I could eat safely and restaurants seemed very uneducated about what had gluten etc. The northeast is much better.
Agree. We visited one school that had dietary limits as icons on the menus — but there were only two choices that were gf. Yet we were expected topay full meal plan rates. When Ipointed that out, food service director said well maybe he should attend elsewhere. (He did)
Some schools are doing an excellent job, with dedicated allergy-aware cafeteria spaces or dedicated cafes (Penn State has a dedicated cafe and limited dining hall options across campus). Mypoint about dietary was just that the runof the mill admissions presentation won’t address the issue; we booked meeting with dietary on our own.
I have a friend that could not attend the college she wanted to because she couldn’t eat there. She opted for another (still very good) university where she has options.
The best gluten free brownies ever are King Arthurs. They used to carry a bigger box at BJs but I haven’t seen it there lately. I stock up as I’m always asked to bring the brownies.
S2 and DiL just returned from a much-delayed anniversary trip to London and Paris, and ate gf/df the entire time. Europe is so much easier than much of the US, apparently.