Gluten-Free EXPLOSION

I have had almost a month hiatus from blogging...as you know life's priorities are often numerous ;) Do not think, though, that for any of those days I was not contemplative about FOOD.

One of the more recent themes occurring is the absolute EXPLOSION of gluten-free-ness everywhere I look! Almost every chain restaurant I have dined at has handed me a gluten-free menu: P.F. Chang's (as always), Claim Jumper, BJ's, Maggiano's, and Yard House, to name a few. BJ's even goes farther than just cutting out gluten-containing ingredients, they actually are making gluten-free pizzas with a designated "gluten-free" section in their kitchen! Bisquik now has GF pancake mix, and Betty Crocker offers GF cake mixes. I even recently bought GF macaroni and cheese in the frozen section of my local GAS STATION! (granted, I do live in West LA) But clearly the market for gluten-free products is taking its place in the mainstream food economy.

What's more, behind this movement I am experiencing even MORE abundance of gluten-free foods at my specialty stores. Last week at Whole Foods I bought cinnamon buns, animal-shaped "graham" crackers, and yogurt-covered pretzels...I can hardly tell you how long it has been since I've eaten any of those things! Very exciting for me. Manufacturers are finally mastering the skill of making GF food that actually tastes good.
And clearly GF consumers' buying power is rising. After all, Celiac Disease Foundation estimates that 1 in 133 Americans have celiac disease.

Along with this GF popularity is coming the trendy belief that gluten is "hard to digest", or just downright "bad for you". I do not doubt that as consumers see more and more "gluten-free" labels on products on the shelves, they increasingly wonder if this is a new ingenious health discovery that could benefit them...the bandwagon phenomenon of advertising. I am coining it the New Low-Carb diet: media taught you in the past decade that carbs make you fat...now media is telling you that carbs make you bloated, "inflamed", and ultimately are still why you're fat!

At this point I'm not very knowledgable about the digestion of gluten in a non-celiac body, nor the validity of or research behind these claims. So I am making it my personal goal to become better educated on this issue, and of course I will in turn share it all with you :) But for now...I'm just enjoying feeling like I can eat food from anywhere other than MY kitchen!

P.S. I'm still waiting for GF goldfish crackers...hint hint