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There is a great many cons to dealing with a gluten-free lifestyle. One of them in particular
is taste. I don't know if you have ever had bread without gluten in it, but as I said,
it?s the binding agent. It's basically like taking bread that you've had for three weeks
and then putting it on your sandwich. It's very dry and very tasteless. There is one
solution and I know this sounds bizarre, but they have gluten-free gluten, which is a gluten
substitute. So if I'm making pancakes for my son in the morning, this stuff is dry and
crumbly and awful. But if I have a teaspoon of this, then it makes it where it almost
tastes like a regular pancake. But you're not going to get this food to taste exactly
the way it's supposed to. I mean, you can taste the difference in a gluten-free pretzel
vs. a regular pretzel. But there are some good food choices that do actually taste good,
but it's trial and error. I wouldn't recommend filling your cart the first time you go to
a grocery store. Take a couple of things at a time and taste them and see what you think
will work for you, because in essence, if your child is not going to eat it, it's pointless.
The other thing of course, another con would be availability. These products I go literally
all over town for. I go to one place for his pretzels and his cookies, then I have another
place for his hot dogs, because meats also can have gluten in them as well, especially
processed meats. So if you're looking at hot dogs and pepperoni, and salami and lunch meat,
things like that, you're going to find a lot of gluten in them, so you have to go to a
specialized store. I literally go to three stores, just to get food for my son. I can't
just go through the drive through at a particular fast food restaurant and order what I want
off the menu. Also another negative, especially having a five year old, is going to parties.
He can't understand why he can't eat the big giant cake that's shaped like a clown. But
he has his own cake. But obviously the way he's going to react to the gluten, it's more
important for him to not have that cake. So at his party, I make gluten-free cake and
everybody understands. But going to another child's party, I always bring candies and
treats that he's able to eat, so he doesn't feel left out. But it is a big con, and obviously,
he is troubled by the fact that he can't have what the other children have. But they're
not going to go home and have diarrhea, and sweat profusely and abdominal cramps either.
And pretty much the last con I would say as a parent, is explaining this. People think
you're over-reacting or you're smothering your child with too much information, and
they don't really think of it as a reality that these things really happen. So they'll
slip your child on the side," oh you're mom's crazy, you can have this cookie," and then
when the child comes home you realize what happened. So I don't think people realize
the severity of the disorder. They minimize it and you're constantly having to explain
it. So that also can be a very negative thing to deal with when dealing with a gluten-free
world.