The Savvy Celiac, one of my favorite celiac friendly blogs, recently coined the term Gluten Free Entitlement, thus assigning a name to a problem that I have been experiencing since my diagnosis. I can’t shake the idea that gluten free food is good for me IN ANY QUANTITY. It is OK for me to gorge on food, as long as I am pigging out on gluten free food.

That idea is wrong for at least two different reasons: If I consume too many calories, I will gain weight. The absence of gluten is essential, of course, but I need to think about calories, vitamins and minerals, roughage, and other things. If I’m feeling bad because I attended a party where I could not eat the birthday cake, it is not OK for me to go home and consume four gluten free glazed doughnuts to make myself feel better.

The second reason to banish the idea of Gluten Free Entitlement is that all food that is not gluten free contains trace amounts of gluten. One safe cupcake is great — a dozen of them might contain enough gluten to cause a reaction.

In a way, I am being too hard myself and on at least some of you. My feelings of Gluten Free Entitlement go back ten years to those dark days following my diagnosis. My prayer was for a meal that did not make me sick, was different from the last several meals that I had eaten, and didn’t taste too much like cardboard. Those days are gone, and my point-of-view needs to change with the times. I think that giving this problem a name — gluten free entitlement — will help me.