5 TIPS FOR TRAVELING GLUTEN FREE (CH5)
DISCLAIMER - THIS ESSAY SHARES TIPS FOR TRAVELING YET ITS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER AS SOMEONE WITH CELIAC DISEASE, ANY FOOD NOT PREPARED (INCLUDING PROCESSED) BY YOURSELF PRESENTS A RISK OF CROSS CONTAMINATION.
Celiac disease can be hard to manage at home. Inevitably those of us with Celiac disease end up joining friends or family at restaurants and taking the ultimate chance with our condition…cross contamination. Suffering with a gluten contamination is bad enough at home, but it’s a much bigger problem when traveling. The last thing anyone wants is to be sick for their vacation or work trip! Luckily, gluten free foods are relatively easy if you know where to look. If you are used to eating gluten free already, taking simple precautions can keep you safe and healthy. Here are 5 tips to help you when traveling…
1. ASK QUESTIONS AND COMMUNICATE WELL:
Asking lots of questions is simple and necessary if you have dietary restrictions. Restaurant owners or managers are usually always present and happy to talk to visitors. Let the owner/manager know that you have a severe dietary restriction that can cause you to go to the hospital. Literally as soon as they hears the word HOSPITAL, they will pay close attention to ensuring that you are ok. Let him or her know that it is so severe that ANYTHING that touches your food such as cooking surfaces, hands, pots and pans all must be thoroughly cleaned to keep you from getting sick.
Some people have a hard time efficiently expressing the severity of celiac without going into a medical diatribe. You can stress the importance of how sensitive you are by saying things like “less than a crumb can make me sick.” If you are traveling with a significant other, you can say “I can get sick even if he kisses me after eating gluten.” My partner always is sure to tell people how just kissing me cause me to GO TO THE HOSPITAL (memorize those magic words). Discussion of medical distress is a bummer. You can lighten your conversation by adding in jokes or small talk. I like to say something goofy like “A crumb can kill me but don’t worry, my head is so hard, its bullet proof.” Restaurant owners are often more than happy to retrieve their ingredients so that you can read labels and ensure you are safe. When in doubt, ask to read the label of sauces and any other processed ingredients the restaurant uses in cooking. Sometimes, you encounter restaurant workers that are suspicious of the severity of reactions experienced by gluten free eaters. We are often mislabeled as trending a fad diet. American restaurant industry workers often don’t take time to understand that Celiacs are ailed by a serious systemic autoimmune disorder that can have deadly complications as represented in this episode of House MD. I have found that higher end restaurants are more attentive than lower end restaurants. Also, many mom and pop restaurants are attentive. Asking questions is the key to successful gluten free eating. However, that being said, always do your own due diligence. A small oversight by the one new guy in the kitchen can be all it takes to contaminate your food. Additionally, if you ever feel that your questions are being met with suspicion or you do not think you are getting through to the restaurant worker, I strongly advise that you do not take the risk of ordering food at that establishment.
2. RENT AN AIRBNB – WITH A KITCHEN AND SHOP:
This tip applies to all long term traveling and is suggested for short term as well. It is extremely important that you have access to a kitchen as a Celiac and that you know where your local grocery stores are. You can’t risk getting sick just because you are so hungry that you don’t know what else to do. It takes a lot of effort and time to find safe gluten free restaurant food. Sometimes you arrive at a restaurant after extensive research and still find that you are not comfortable ordering from there. Even if you are successful twice a day at finding gluten free restaurant options, you still have a third meal to account for. Now, two out of three ain’t bad, but the risk of getting sick increases with every chance you take and multiple contaminations in a row will certainly land you IN THE HOSPITAL – sooo…yeah, be sure to have a way to cook at your home away from home. It is entirely possible that you go for extended periods of time where all you have near you are fast food and pizza places. When you arrive at your destination, be sure that you go to a grocery store. If you are not near a grocery store, stores like Target and in a pinch CVS and Walgreens offer gluten free selections. If for some reason your AIRBNB kitchenette isn’t all that you thought it would be, Wal-Mart the drug store chains all have table top ovens and single burner stoves for $20-$40. Don’t forget to grab plenty of basic fruits, veggies, nuts and cheeses.
3. FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH THE CUISINE BEFORE YOU GO:
For a Celiac, part of travel is education. Lucky for our tech savvy world, we have access to as much information as we need. Before you go anywhere, research the cuisine. There may be nuances to cultural cooking that make a seemingly safe food, unsafe for you. For example, man y Mexican restaurants use soy sauce in their fajita mix. Also many places fry gluten free foods in a fryer with gluten containing foods. If traveling to a place outside of your country or regionally different that your home, be sure that you look at recipes of common cultural cuisines to determine common ingredients and cooking methods. This extra step helps you feel confident when asking questions.
4. DOWNLOAD AN APP:
If you are on the go, there are several Apps that can help you find gluten free foods. My very favorite app is by Gluten Dude. He vets all restaurants on the app. He also offers lifetime memberships for his app at discounted rates (sometimes he offers a pay what you can rate) multiple time a year. When I travel, I rely heavily on this app and I have been extremely successful at preventing cross contamination. There are other apps with mixed reviews. Be sure to be cautious of apps that are sponsored as not all sponsored apps are quite “safe enough” for the extremely sensitive. I am not going to out any particular app in this essay, however, I can say that I rely almost solely on Gluten Dude (and no I’m not sponsored by him, I just know his app is safe). If you are traveling in a county in which you do not speak the language fluently, be sure to download a translation app. I like Google Translate! This is an important step to help you read labels. And on that note, remember to ALWAYS CHECK each and every label. Never take for granted that you ate a food “like” what you are grabbing off the shelf. With the amount of processing involved in our modern food systems, you can never assume something is celiac safe. Not only do I look at labels, I often double check to see of anyone has had a reaction to the product by doing a quick google search of “PRODUCT gluten free.” Often time, if other people with celiac disease has had an issue with the product, you will be able to find a thread about it. I err on the side of safety and sadly never assume that just because something is labeled gluten free that it is safe for me.
5. ALWAYS CARRY SNACKS;
If you plan to venture out and attempt going to a restaurant with friends, its important that you are prepared with snacks JUST IN CASE. Be ready to bounce from one place to the next and don’t be surprised if you are unable to find something you feel safe eating. Be sure that you bring enough snacks for you and your travel buddy, as most buddies aren’t going to eat at a place that you cannot. On a trip I took to Puerto Rico with a friend, we rented a car and kept a backpack stuffed with fruits, nuts, and other easily accessible snacks. Having snacks on hand brings the pressure to find food in a rush down significantly. Food sought in a rush is more likely to be compromised in safety. Visiting Puerto Rico the menu varied wildly depending on the time and plans for the day. On days that we were on the road, we depended on quick solutions like hard cured meats (pepperoni, gluten free jerky), cheeses, chips, nuts, and juices.
To continue the example of my trip to Puerto Rico, I must mention that I did my fair share of cooking. We actually had an odd challenge of having to cook on a holiday (Thanksgiving) when most stores were closed! We ended up going for bangers and mash made in a microwave as the first AirBNB in fact did not have the kitchenette we expected. We were able to find an amazing Puerto Rican sausage and plenty of rum and tropical juicy drink mixes to make our occasion festive. After Thanksgiving was over and it was back to business as usual, we did enjoy Mofongo in San Juan and Pernil in Rincon. We also found a wonderful sushi restaurant in Rincon that had an extremely knowledgeable staff. I still had to supplement meals eating out with meals cooked at the AirBNB. I found rotisserie chicken at the grocery store as well as Udis gluten free pizza. Overall, finding gluten free food in Puerto Rico was fairly easy. Anywhere you travel, you will find a lot of cuisine that is not celiac safe. However, there is still plenty to while traveling even if you are unsuccessful at finding safe restaurant food. It is easy to get bummed out when we realize that we cannot eat local cuisine. However, ultimately the best way to enjoy your vacation is to enjoy the serene views, adventurous outdoor activities, museums, art, music and architecture or the places you visit. I hope these tips help you if you are Celiac and trying to travel.
I am not a medical professional and am not giving medical advice. I am just a girl diagnosed with Celiac disease over a decade ago that is trying to stay healthy. I hope that these tips are helpful but please consult a medical profession for any medical questions! Let me know if this helps you out!