Trendy Dieting

Details: Created on Thursday, 07 May 2015 15:34; Written by Alex Farnworth

VERMONT- The gluten-free marketplace has been on the up-and-up over the last few years. From Weight-watchers, to Atkins, to even low-carb diets... it seems as if nothing has hit society quite like the gluten-free trend. The new fad has nearly no medical reasoning behind it, but the diet is beginning to shape the way restaurants and grocery stores stock up. With no scientific explanations to support the diet, an allergy to gluten has been considered a myth. Food Service Dietician, Sharon Anderson, says, "It's not really an allergy, an allergy causes a rash or reaction that would have a rash and breathing problems and things like that."

There is no physical implication of an allergic reaction to gluten... but patients who have a Celiac disease are affected. "It's an intolerance of the body where the intestines of the don't tolerate gluten and it will actually damage the intestines. It [Celiac] is the only disease where the only treatment is food. There's no medication to treat [it], it's just completely avoiding gluten," Anderson added.

Juniper's at the Wildflower Inn has one of the largest gluten-free menus in Vermont with about 98% of their items being free of the ingredient.

Jim O'Reilly, owner of the Wildflower Inn, said "One of our daughters had Celiac... and this is back when she was diagnosed at sixteen... so about ten or so years ago. In the early days, when you said you were going out to dinner and you're gluten-free people would be like oh really? Well, we have a salad. It was very limited and we decided since we have a restaurant that we would get a gluten-free menu and go full-board."

Ramunto's owner, Mike Heath, agrees with the trend, saying, "It seems like the younger crowds are leaning towards that direction. It really runs the gamut, it's a little bit of everybody."

Every diet seems to have a catch. One of the first obstacles of living this lifestyle was finding places that offered gluten-free foods; now the catch is that gluten-free foods are prices.

"There is an upcharge for gluten-free items, they are certainly more expensive than the gluten items. I think most people understand that and they are willing to pay a few extra bucks... I, myself don't mind doing that," Heath said.

"The biggest expense is that we use gluten-free flours. Those cost probably 30%-40% more than what everything else costs," O'Reilly said.

Both owners said that going incorporating gluten-free items doesn't affect their business's budgeting, but it does end up having an impact on the menu prices. Heath also added on that, at first, it was tough to find gluten-free distributors but the landscape of the industry has changed dramatically over recent time.

Northern Vermont Regional Hospital's Sharon Anderson spoke about how there are virtually no advantages to eating gluten... but sometimes it is difficult to avoid. Anderson also talked about how cutting out gluten could potentially prevent a lot of other health problems. "I think because we're finding out that a lot of chronic disease is related to inflammation and I think there is some thinking that the human body may be responding to gluten in an inflammatory way."

On the bright side, Anderson also said, "When people eliminated gluten, they eliminate a lot of processed foods so I think it forces a lot of people to eat more healthfully. If it's something the body doesn't tolerate, their body may just work better and it may be easier to maintain a healthier weight without it. As far as digestive issues, if you have Celiac disease, you are going to feel better if you avoid gluten."

Many trendy diets only last for a few years (if they even last that long), but many believe gluten-free fad is going to stick around.

Jim O'Reilly said "We certainly (Juniper's) have surprised people because their perception is that it's not going to taste good or it's going to have a weird texture to it and in reality the gluten-free industry has grown tremendously from when our daughter was diagnosed with Celiac. Back in the day you couldn't go to the grocery store and find anything that was gluten-free and now there's gluten free sections and some stores have eliminated gluten-free sections because it has made it's way to the mainstream aisles.

Ramunto's in St. Johnsbury is currently working on a new menu that will offer even more gluten-free options than they already have. As for Juniper's, they re-open for dinner tonight after undergoing some kitchen renovations.