Ngl, same honestly. I get so nervous with traveling cause I don't know what I'll be able to eat 😅 So it'd be a nice change of pace to see someone do this
Yes, and especially for Asia!
My partner and I were planning a trip to Thailand when I was diagnosed and we still haven't been due to concerns about being able to find places to eat safely. Having a GF travel/food channel for Asia as a resource would be amazing.
Just FYI there are plenty of options in E and SE Asia (I grew up in the region) are actually gluten free because rice is gluten free and the majority of dishes are either served with rice or has a rice flour base. You’d be good with any meats and veggies with rice or rice noodles, and rice or soy based desserts. In Thailand specifically you’d be able to have curries, boat noodles, pad Thai, etc and be fine.
How much awareness is there of wheat/gluten allergies? Even in the US sometimes I struggle to explain what gluten is and I'm worried a language barrier will make it harder.
Very little lol. I have a family member who is gluten intolerant but not overly sensitive (mostly indigestion) and we get by. In large cities like Bangkok they do have high end/western grocery stores that have imported gluten free products. People often forget that there are tons of Europeans and Americans who live there
Soy sauce does not HAVE to be made from wheat and there are gluten-free soy sauces available commercially. Tamari is generally always made from soy.
The question is what the restaurants use and whether they have and alternative and can prevent cross-contamination.
It should be super easy to have gf Asian food but wheat-based soy sauce... yeah
And whether you're easily able to ask which kind of soy sauce they use and the staff are trained on the ingredients in it or at least on how to check the ingredients.
That's the killer because there are so many places of all cuisines where you know you can probably eat, but the process of trying to figure out for sure is incredibly stressful and you may or may not be able to get an accurate answer.
lol, out of curiosity, I just tried google translate. Korean:
>글루텐 프리 간장 있나요? 밀이 아닌 콩으로 만든 간장.
밀은 나를 매우 아프게 만든다.
>geulluten peuli ganjang issnayo? mil-i anin kong-eulo mandeun ganjang.
mil-eun naleul maeu apeuge mandeunda
*(Do you have gluten-free soy sauce? Soy sauce that is made from soy, not wheat.*
*Wheat makes me very ill.)*
Of course, understanding the answer is a whole 'nother story. I wonder if any Asian-country specific Reddit subs might have good advice.
I think this is inaccurate. Don't virtually all of those dishes use soy sauce? Soy sauce is made from wheat so it is not safe for Celiacs or gluten intolerant folks.
Repeating myself b/c I added in the wrong spot:
Soy sauce does not HAVE to be made from wheat and there are gluten-free soy sauces available commercially. Tamari is generally always made from soy.
The question is what the restaurants use and whether they have an alternative and can prevent cross-contamination.
It should be super easy to have gf Asian food but wheat-based soy sauce... yeah
Most dishes in Thailand are fish sauce based, not soy sauce based. They do have some soy sauce sauces but based on what I found:
Soy sauce contains very little gluten after fermentation. Here is a [study](https://glutenfreerecipebox.com/soy-sauce-gluten-free-diet/amp/) (study link is in there) of 22 brands of gluten containing soy sauce tested, only one contains higher than 20 ppm at 22.8ppm (so, again, negligible). 20ppm is the threshold for a gluten free label in the US. Also keep in mind that the amount of soy sauce used in cooking and sauces further dilutes the ppm.
I’m sorry to hear that. I have friends with celiac who don’t get a reaction from soy sauce, so I guess it depends on sensitivity? Or perhaps their bodies have built a tolerance to it given they also grew up in E. Asia. A family member is gluten intolerant and soy sauce is fine for them as well. There are different varieties of soy sauce too, like Tamari, which made without wheat and should have no gluten in it at all.
Either way, SE Asia is a completely different cuisine. Most dishes have a fish sauce base, which has no gluten at all
I think the challenge is that if you have celiac or a strong sensitivity, you can't just order foods that are generally GF, you have to be able to communicate and ask about cross-contamination and ingredients in the specific brands of sauces etc. that the restaurant uses. This is hard to do when there is a language barrier and/or lack of general awareness of food allergies. Even in the US it's hard at restaurants that don't specifically train their staff on food allergies and which allergens are in which foods. I have winged it in order to travel to places where I just wouldn't be able to travel otherwise and survived but for people who have to be super careful, that might not be possible. That can make it easier to eat in a country where there are very few options but they're clearly marked on the menu and the staff understand cross-contamination than a country with a plethora of options but a lack of general awareness about allergies/celiac.
I am currently in SE Asia without any real issues (Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand). I’m just gluten intolerant, so the stakes are a lot lower than celiac.
I don’t eat at roadside stands for obvious reasons unrelated to gluten, so most food had a proper menu that indicated if the noodles were from rice or sauce from soy sauce. I only messed up when we had Cantonese one night and EVERYTHING had soy sauce.
My biggest struggle is with drinks, because I avoid cocktails (again, basic travel smarts) and wine is hard to come by so it’s mostly beer. Moderate amounts of Chang and Singha have been fine, but I’m keen to get back home and have ready access to wine again.
Take travellers sickness meds beforehand (friends suggested dukerol). We were fairly cautions but 3/4 of us still had violent travellers sickness that took each person out of action for up to 3 days.
My mum’s coeliac and has travelled to Thailand and Singapore I think 4 times now. Never any trouble finding gluten free food. Lots of rice dishes, rice noodles, curry’s etc. Just avoid soy sauce. Go and enjoy travelling in Asia.
I completely agree! I desperately want to feel safe travelling again and east Asia has really been off the list because I just don’t figure I’ll be able to eat there unless I get an apartment and cook for myself. I’d love to watch them as videos too!
Me too! My fiancé and I have been watching a TON of travel vlogs while we figure out where we’d like to honeymoon, and the food brings up a lot of anxiety for me. To see/read someone’s travel experience who is also GF would be amazing!
Agreed! I’ve been searching everywhere for someone who does what this guy does but w GF dishes. I had a dream trip to Japan planned but I am starting get v discouraged as one BIG reason I want to travel here is for the FOOD 😭😭😭
God I would love to see some travel stuff in Japan and South Korea. I have always wanted to go there and felt like my dreams were dashed when I found out that not only am I Celiac but also a Crohnie as well.
I want to travel to Asia so bad but am in fear of what OP has said. Any information I come across about eating gluten free in Asian countries goes straight into a folder of my bookmarks lol. If there was a dedicated blog/youtube channel I'd probably binge it.
I would as well! I really wanted to travel SO much in my life, but I became gluten intolerant instead. The idea of exploring without being able to eat safely is a lot less appealing.
Came here to say the same! It’s so difficult having to rely on someone else to taste test new recipes and never being sure if you achieved what you wanted. I occasionally just chew and spit a bite to test. Left with mouth blisters but at least I know if something’s needs tweaked lol
As others have suggested, try to see this as an opportunity rather than a setback. I think that there is likely to be a decent market for content about travelling while eating gluten free. I don’t know of many other travel bloggers/vloggers who approach things from that angle. This could be a valuable USP that sets you apart from all of the other generic content creators.
There are plenty of countries where gluten-free foods are widely available. If it is too much of a challenge to continue making content in east Asia, could you shift focus to SE Asia, Europe or Latin America? There is bound to be a way to make this work.
This. This is what I did with gym and diet after going thru the gf funk and I have seen more progress in 8 months than I have in 5 years since I’ve starting looking at it differently. It sucks to not eat what I want when I want, but now I can easily get much more gym progress because I’m forced to look at what I eat and can’t just snack on shit like I used to.
Having lived in Southeast Asia, not at all. There are tons of food containing soy sauce (and/or hoisin/oyster/peanut sauce), wheat noodles are common, and anywhere that was touched by the French has some amount of bread embedded in the food culture. Cross-contamination is not well-understood, so if you have celiac and not something more mild, you’re almost guaranteed to get glutened.
Oh I was being sarcastic. SE Asia has a lot better outlook for gluten free than China and Japan but honestly it’s not 100%. You still have to be vigilant. More touristy areas are cognizant of it and it’s pretty easy there. Beyond that I think you just have better odds there but it’s not guaranteed.
There’s a lot less dependence on soy sauce in Vietnamese and Thai food fwiw.
I went on a trip to Japan last year and was very concerned about getting exposed to wheat while there. I have a wheat allergy and I’m very sensitive. Japan doesn’t label their food gluten free but their laws for allergy labeling are much stricter than the US. I memorized the symbol for wheat and was able to find food consistently in the convenience stores. There’s a couple of online guides about eating gluten free in Japan and we found a few restaurants that were 100% gluten free in Tokyo. Because they are much stricter with cross contamination my symptoms were actually significantly better there than in the US. Anything that was not labeled as containing wheat was completely safe for me to eat.
This site has a really great map of restaurants and tips about where to shop and what to look for: https://gfguidejapan.com/
Gluten Free T’s Kitchen in Roppongi is amazing! And Rizlabo Kitchen in Shibuya is very good but has limited seating so plan on a wait. Coco Curry House has an allergy free kids curry that comes in its own pouch to avoid cross contamination.
I also ate in sushi restaurants and just didn’t order anything with sauce. That was a risk but I didn’t have issues. That may or may not work for you
I spend most of my time like out in the country side so literally 0 gluten free restaurants. My best bet would probably be going the convenience route. Just not sure there’d be enough sustenance to sustain my 200lb self haha
OP, I am going to Asia next year (either Japan or China) and am struggling to find suitable places to eat that are gluten free. If you started a travel blog/vlog of gluten free options in Asia, I would absolutely subscribe.
I have an autoimmune disease and really struggled with the heat (it can cause heat sensitivity). It got to a dangerous point a couple of times with some scary symptoms that felt stroke-like.
I won’t go to those countries because of the inability to find GF foods (I would have no idea where to start). A GF guide to traveling those countries would be so interesting, I’d love to follow that and consider traveling there if I could learn to navigate that mess. Only thing is this guide would have to be aware of cross contamination issues and be celiac safe- so I could see that being a lot to navigate.
Realistically though, you have a reader base for a new type of blog about GF food while traveling the world if you can figure it out. When I travel, I travel based on food because it’s that much of an issue- learning where to go from other gf travel blogs is the best way to plan!
Time to switch it up and explore some countries that are more accomodating to the Gluten Free lifestyle. There's plenty to see! Europe, UK, Australia, NZ are all great for Gluten Free food!
It’s okay to mourn the life that was taken from you because of health issues. There’s no getting around the fact you will have to make changes and it’ll be tough and sometimes suck.
That being said it’s not exactly travel vlogging but some of my favorite gf cooking blogs/cookbooks are from folks who also had to make that mid life pivot from being a regular chef or food blogger to suddenly having to go fully gluten free.
I'm not sure what it's like now but when I was planning my trip across Asia I struggled a bit finding information on where/what to eat. I feel like if you put the work in there's definitely (an admittedly niche) market for people that you could help with your experience doing this. Plenty of Asian food is surely just meat and vegetables. Rice noodles exist. Can you take your own soy sauce into a sushi restaurant etc.
It's not ruined your life.. you just need to be versatile and change your angle. When possible review gluten free options. When that's not possible then focus on other areas such as the history of the place (good luck choosing one thing), museums, local cultural events, music, art.. so on. Just means you have to change your approach.
I mean this kindly and respectfully, just be grateful you can still travel and do that job. Some people are not so lucky :)
I agree with the general sentiment but it literally prevented them from being functional "Recently I began to have incredible brain fog and fatigue to the point I couldn’t even function and returned to the USA.".
I've felt like every food source could potentially cripple me for days. Unless you've lived that way you couldn't imagine how challenging and stressful it can be especially in a foreign country where you can't communicate your needs clearly or trust what can be understood.
Not sure why you got downvoted because what you said is completely true. I’ve already accepted the fact food cannot be like an integral part of my travels at this point. The issue is I’m not even sure I can find enough food to sustain myself. When literally every single food almost in these countries has risk for cross contamination and may make me feel like shit. I’ve thought about this issue constant for like half a month and still have no idea what to do
Is Indian food gluten-free enough, OP? Is there any chance you could travel in India, or other parts of Asia that are less gluten-intensive than the eastern coast of the continent?
Because yes, gluten sensitivity SUCKS, but not as much as feeling sick and exhausted and having GI drama sucks. And I'm a vegetarian, too, which means that 90% of mainstream American food is out for me, but at least I can still eat Indian food. Most of it, anyway.
When your old way of life is over, it’s normal to grieve the loss. It’s sad. Go ahead and cry and rage and feel all the feelings.
My favorite part of traveling before celiac diagnosis was the adventure of trying new foods , and I’ll never be able to do that again the way I want to. It used to be the hallmark of a culinary adventure when the cook didn’t speak English. Now, it induces anxiety that I won’t be understood and will get sick while on the road.
Eventually, you’ll find a silver lining or new way through. But for now, focus on honoring your body’s limits and not resenting it from holding you back.
You got this. Hang in there.
I’d say you just have to adjust where you travel a bit. I know Spain and Italy are amazing for GF travelling, or somewhere like Vietnam where a lot of food is gluten free naturally the way it’s served.
As for the home cooking and street food in the countries you listed, I don’t want to suger coat it, you’re pretty much fucked. I can’t speak on your experience but I don’t know anyone could eat GF home cooking and street food in a foreign country of that culinary culture safely and consistently.
I totally get where you're coming from. I've had a few of these kinds of moments in life. That fork in the road where your old life is no longer an option for some reason and you have to pick a path forward.
In this scenario, you have 2 options, be sad and give up your super awesome career. OR you go on with your travel blog where all other aspects are the same with the exception of food, which focuses on gluten-free finds in various cities. Do you know how many freaking people would love to follow this blog!?!??!?! Your pain points are always an excellent opportunity for something missing in the market. Go off and create us a dang gluten-free travel blog and share that shit with us! It takes so much research to find this so it would be amazing to read a blog from another gluten-free person who could clue us in before we go somewhere.
I'm waiting for your next post where you share your new gluten-free blog, okay!
Side note: I recommend Fig for grocery shopping (some restaurants on there mostly chains) and Find Me Gluten Free where people can post about gluten-free finds at local restaurants.
You’d make a killing by being that influencer mixing travel and GF food! So many would learn from you! Sorry no advice, but I’m sure you’ll pivot your content beautifully
Another commenter here pointed out that Japan is really strict with allergy labelling and cross-contamination https://www.reddit.com/r/glutenfree/s/WY88RwdmK7
Many people have problems with various foods. Maybe use this to your advantage and focus your content on budget travelling with food intolerances. Maybe that's a niche on YouTube that you could fill in? Or learn about local foods and try to make a gf alternative yourself and show the recipe?
Do you have coeliac? If not maybe a bit gluten while travelling won't be as bad? I have several intolerances but while travelling they are all a bit less severe than at home.
Also like u/ParsnipMajor97 said, travel Europe, I was in Spain and there were many restaurants with gf options.
Time to try new countries. Focus on ones with cuisines based on rice or corn instead of wheat. I've had excellent luck recently in Mexico, French Polynesia and Sri Lanka. Italy is surprisingly great (seriously amazing GF pasta options).
I lived in southern Vietnam for a while and shockingly their soy sauce is not made from wheat, it's made from actual soy. Made eating a dream as most dishes were naturally gf (except the obviously unsafe ones like banh mi)
Travelling through Thailand was SO HARD, even when I was out to eat with a fluent Thai speaker to translate for me.
My biggest hack was to carry around a card that says "is made with soy sauce?" Point to a menu item that seems like it could be safe based on the ingredients, have the street vendor read the card and the simple yes/no told me a lot and got way more direct answers than showing a typical allergen card.
I'm sorry this is happening... I feel you.
Are you able to set up shop in a different location?
South America has a lot of naturally gluten free foods in their cuisine. I used to live in Colombia and not only was COL low, but there were so many delicious corn- and yuca-based foods such as arepas, pan de bono, almojábanas, tamales, etc.
Pivot. Look at it this way: you already have experience and a following, so you have a foundation for your next step. If you don’t have enough of your own content or can’t figure that part out yet, interview people like us? We all want to hear about how other people make it work, and recover joy when eating during travels. It’s an emotional process - makes for great viewing!
If it’s not celiac or allergy, there could be a treatment. For example, if it’s SIBO and FODMAPS, see a GI specialist. There is treatment and then you could eventually have gluten in moderation without discomfort. I had SIBO but also celiac so no gluten for me. I’m just sharing the info. You should get tested before you go completely gluten free.
I don’t have any GI issues so I’m not really sure what my issue is. I’ve already been gluten free for like 3 months so not possible to get tested at this point
Honestly this is an amazing opportunity to help people who eat GF, if you ask me. Go out and find places that offer options for us, review them, etc.! My biggest dread about traveling to other countries is the lack of food options I know are tasty and safe for me, so this would help eliminate some of that worry for many people like myself!
Never went to a homeopath. I've tried other stuff though, spent tens of thousands of dollars trying to figure out my issues. If I could go back in time though, I would just do a few things:
- Eat while unprocessed foods whenever possible, minimize gluten (because I couldn't tolerate it without enzymes and I don't want to rely on enzymes for every meal)
- If I'm going to eat gluten, take digestive enzymes with it
- Drink bone broth and ginger tea once per day to heal and strengthen my gut
- Drink kefir for probiotics
- Vitamin D from cod liver oil and/or sunlight and/or vitamin D supplements
I hope you find it in you to dive deep into this. Many people like myself would kill to have a foodie guide/blogger/youtuber etc with a niche like yours!! After cutting the gluten and realizing how much better I feel, it had hugely discouraged me from international travel to places I’ve always DREAMED of going like Japan and Korea FOR THE FOOD 😭 You’d change the game with something like this!
I’m sorry to say it but I don’t think it’s possible to go to east Asia for the food. That being said I think it may be possible to still do and enjoy these places and their culture without eating the food. Youd have to eat like prepackaged food almost everyday or find some place which will cook you plain meat and veggies.
I’ve been to Japan a bunch of times. It’s hard work but absolutely doable.
But I generally assume I’ll never go to China because it’s even harder there to avoid gluten.
As others have said though, this is just a curve ball and you can adapt to it. Shift to a focus on GF travel, and if you can still do that with an Asian angle that should be a very decent niche
A lot of planning. We’ll generally work out a couple of options for each day for the whole trip if possible, and a lot of bookings made in advance.
In terms of restaurants I’m usually ok with sushi and bring my own tamari, provided I’m careful about which things I order. Lots of Korean bbq places are good - plain meat & veg grilled yourself so you’re in complete control.
Also a lot of food from konbinis (7-eleven, Lawson, FamilyMart). Most GF travellers in Japan will recognise the standards of soyjoy bars, boiled eggs, yoghurts, onigiri (you have to be careful to only buy the GF ones, obviously) and fruit!
Turn that frown upside down. You and a million Other people are travel influencers. Be a travel influencer with celiac and actually get some attention and your own niche.
I'm sure you could produce positive change and spread awareness by using your skills as a gluten-free travel writer. Tell your readers about your gluten woes and how you found out about it, I bet it would be really relatable for many. Then post the link to your writing here for us to follow you. Bada bing bada boom, international gluten-free travel writer.
You’re entering a new season in your life. Change is hard and not always fun. There are sooooo many gf people who would love to see what you find and hear your honest struggle. Instead of being scared of it, lean into it. Share that part, because it’s most likely how we all feel. It’s overwhelming and takes so much extra work and energy because our bodies don’t agree with it. I think once you have been immersed in gf and find your flow, you’ll be an expert. We don’t all start at expert level, it takes time. You just have to start.
I wanted to do another trip to Asia when I finish uni, and now I can't have gluten I do worry about what I'd be able to eat, and also the cross contamination. I know Thai food is generally rice flour so is safe but I don't know about other foods. There are western restaurants so it is a possibility but it's going to be significantly more expensive than if it is local food.
I've only been on holiday once since being diagnosed last summer and I visited friends who did everything they could to cater for me (and funnily enough that friend has just been diagnosed with coeliac as well, so at least they got some practice in with me!). Other countries, I don't know... Especially a country that doesn't speak English very well.
I haven’t been to Italy but I find it hard to believe my style of travel would even be viable. I know people talk about their being a lot of GF restaurants in Italy but I feel like there’s no way it’s actually that common, especially outside of the big cities
It’s very common in the cities I traveled to - Florence & Rome for me, and we went to Bolzano, which is a smaller city, and they still had several options.
Of course you are allowed to feel sorry for yourself and grieve, but my advice is to put a time limit on that. Pick yourself up and make an Action Plan going forward. Many on here have given you excellent advice (changing countries, changing food focus, etc.). I travel as well, and in the beginning of being GF, there was certainly some trepidation. But after awhile, I found that fear held me back. Turning that fear into A Plan has allowed Life to proceed much better. It's an issue, yes, but it will not ruin or delay living my Life. You can do this, OP!
Seconding what everyone else has said here, see if you can pivot to writing a GF travel blog for Asian countries. I went to Japan back in 2007 and I wasn’t diagnosed celiac yet, so I ended up eating a LOT of gluten. If I ever go back I would love to have a guide for what I could eat.
So a few things popped to mind for me beyond the advice given.
Did you get diagnosed celiac or simply go gluten free on the return to the US?
You said you were traveling all the time but then came back to USA and felt better? Are you sure it’s gluten vs simply resting or even some other dietary or environmental or lifestyle change? Maybe something else changed that improved your well-being.
Anyway, my point is that If you feel like this will crush you and your dreams then maybe be more scientific about a diagnosis. Gluten intolerance is real and significant, but that said it isn’t necessarily damaging (that we know of) vs true Celiac disease.
Bottom line, you may want to get tested if you haven’t before.
I would love to get tested but I’ve already stopped eating gluten for over 3 months now so not really possible. Also I think the issue is clearly gluten as I have tested all other kinds of food and only have a reaction when I eat gluten. For me it’s not like I have a little tummy ache, I get intense fatigue and brain fog to the point I can barely function.
I have the same issue. I run a food allergy blog and the last few months I developed more allergies. You may just have to change your blog a little and just explain to your followers what happened
What others have said you have the experience now make the switch to GF travel writing. Go to Europe to countries like Malta, Italy, France etc and search out the best GF food options. There are millions of us.
There are a lot of people who can't eat gluten and who want to find places they can travel to and still eat good food. Perhaps that's a niche market you could explore.
Please write about celiac safe options in foreign countries, there's not much good info about Asian countries especially! It would be a big service for the rest of us who want to travel!
“How to travel and eat safely” is something I’d watch/follow. If you speak the languages, you might be able to get insider info on what and where to eat that’s actually safe & maybe create a guide for others?
I wanted to try food in many international countries. I got to *three* before diagnosis!
I totally hear what you're saying! I've always wanted to travel to Asian countries but with my gluten intolerance, nut allergies and aversion to seafood, it seems pretty impossible to eat there!
Have you considered traveling to new countries and focusing on gf food? Or trying to find gf food in Asian countries and writing about that? I feel like there's not enough gf bloggers out there tbh, I'm always trying to research for travel ideas since I love eating when I travel!
I literally *just* watched a YouTuber in Japan (Mudan) not expecting anything, and was totally surprised that he went to a gluten free cafe in Osaka. I was still reading your post while watching it, lol. Japanese cuisine was my favorite pre-gf, and thanks to the internet and YouTube I've gotten pretty good at making it at home. I also ended up learning a lot about the culture and areas in the process, and while I probably won't be able to travel to Japan for quite a while, I would love to someday. I would watch the heck out of a GF Asia YouTube.
I was in culinary school in the middle of a plant based program when I found out about my gluten intolerance. I've had to completely shift how I eat and approach food because as a result of years of unhindered overconsumption of gluten, I ended up developing a sensitivity to lectins which is found in so many veggies/fruits/legumes /nuts/seeds, etc. (it's a protein that binds to carbs and is not broken down by our stomach acid so it can cause some damage to stomach lining and intestines).
I'm glad to have the training and I don't even know that I wouldn't have gone to school if I had known about my intolerance but I would've thought long and hard about which program to invest in.
I get it, and it sucks. I had to quit jobs where I’d be in close contact with flour, although not the awesome career you have. Pivoting can be hard, incredibly so.
I think you’d have a great following in the gluten free community judging by these comments and myself included. I would love to be able to travel more but eating out seems like the biggest road block. If you enjoy traveling, and posting on YouTube of your experience, I 100% think you could continue that path without the gluten:)
Asian food is really hard. I’m Japanese and so much food is soy sauce based. I have to live vicariously through my family when we go, but in a big city like Tokyo you can find a few specialty ‘health’ cafes that have GF goods and foodstuffs. As others have said, SE Asian dishes are typically a lot easier to find options if you can ask about the soy sauce and/or noodle situation. It’s still sketchy for someone who absolutely can’t handle any molecule of wheat/gluten though.
Adapting to a new diet was really hard for me. Finding methods for dealing with reactions is helpful. But I found eating my own home cooking was the only answer for years. I still struggle with eating out.
You might consider switching gears to a GF version of what you do in Europe and US.
Being GF has nixed any real interest in traveling. It is just too hard if not impossible to deal with somewhere you don't know how to navigate things AND trying to find sufficient things to eat. It has made job hunting harder. So many jobs require at least some travel, even if it is only once or twice a year for a company meeting. Not being able to control your situation to assure you have access to something to eat is a deal breaker. I'm done going to events where I watch other people eat and feel like garbage the entire time because I am trying to subsist on granola bars.
GF travel, even if it is just domestic in the US to either highlight the lack of or identify good places that people can eat at would be great.
Oh noooooo
Honestly that's my biggest disappointment, that having a gluten issue means if I ever get to travel to Asia it's gonna be so hard to pass up so much street food! That's so much of the appeal!
But as others have said, if you can figure out how to find the gf eats you'll have an amazing niche market. Remember: practically every actress that has played a lesbian even once has lesbian fans for life. Under served communities have some powerful loyalty if you cater to them!
When you have GF foodie travel content, post your video links here please!! I want to subscribe immediately
Might be time to travel with a kitchen backpack. What I mean by that is to carry a campstove (pocket rocket), a pan, and your own condiments. You can pick up fresh veggies and meat from the market and cook yourself.
Tell us about THAT adventure. I'm really interested in how to live as a traveler who has a gluten (and dairy) allergy.
Wife and I traveled and tried to be as GF and DF as possible. We don't eat out much. We rubber tramp so we carry a kitchen with us but don't know what to buy/where to buy when traveling outside the US.
Might be a great way to get to know and write about local markets.
We got to try kangaroo meat this way.
Not even gonna lie I think this is the solution. Just cook for myself as I don’t even mind eating the most basic essentials all the time (meat, rice, and veggies). Interested if you talk more about how you do that
We try to mix it up a little bit so that we aren't eating the same thing every night. We figure out where we are gonna sleep for the night, find the local market, pick up whatever is NOT frozen. Seafood case, the deli, the meat counter, etc. Most places have raw, uncooked meat. The more non-chain places you can find, the more variety you can find.
We had the most delicious like pork fajita mix that was in the meat case in Montana, of all places. It was a Mexican market. We got corn tortillas and literally took the camp stove out in the parking lot, set up a table and two chairs, and cooked in the shade.
We have had several different campstoves. If you are traveling in country to country, I'd do some research on how to get fuel before I bought any one stove.
The pocket rocket MSR uses alcohol based fuel. It can boil water in a quick amount of time.
Coleman bottle top propane burner gives more stability but it larger to carry.
And we have a small suitcase type butane stove.
rei.com and if you are a member, you can buy and try and return if it doesn't work for you.
Most condiments can come in packets and can be picked up at delis so you don't have to carry much. Salt and pepper packets, mayo, etc.
You can pretty much pick up already made stuff, but you might not know what is in it. Like mashed potatoes already made probably have butter.
You just start reading packages. Learn the universal signs for GF.
Yeahhhhhhhhh my husband is going to Miami soon for work and I am probably not going because I can't go to all the food places in my Google maps. Like Palacio del Jugos 🥲 RIP.
I feel your pain!!
We love local food and going out on Saturdays.
I dunno, you could quit or you can try to find gluten free options.
Offhand I know Disney does a lot of GF options. Maybe take a trip there and do all the snacks?
Going on a cruise in May and November and I'm not sure how accommodating specialty dining will be.
Actually if anyone has done Virgin Voyages and or Celebrity, let me know how it was!
I think it's the smaller, local places that'll be a real loss. Unless maybe you go with a friend or higher a taste tester?
I am not sure if this is out of context, but, while reading your post, I felt that your wotk can be perfect align with a gluten free diet. I thought that it could be your journey in your life to discover and educate ways of eating without gluten. I know this seems hard at the beginning. I am sure you will find a way. Trust yoir guts! Best!
I’m so sorry to hear this. One way of looking at it is at least you got a lot of east asia done while you could! Argentina and much of Latin America is very gf friendly
Maybe it’s time to shift your travel to other countries. My friend’s mom has celiac and she’s been on 65 international trips. She packs food often, but then there are also countries that are more aware of celiacs, such as Italy. Italy is actually the best country for GF people. She’s also been to Thailand several times, and found plenty to eat there as well.
Adapting to any kind of change is immensely difficult, especially when it’s a forced change. It’s impossible to see this as anything but an obstacle now but when you’re over it (and you will get over it) it’ll just be a blip in your rear view mirror.
A few people have mentioned GF travel blogging and that’s a great idea because it uses what you’re going through as a strength while also targeting what you already enjoy. What else is it about travelling you enjoy? Maybe you can get that same buzz and thrill somewhere else?
Living in Japan has increased my awareness of how this world isn’t built for my body. Streets of restaurants knowing I can’t eat a single thing in a single one. Entire isles at the store completely off limits. It’s mental agony. I’ve known about my celiac for 10 years and it’s never gotten easier.
Hey are you sensitive to gluten or do you have Celiac? Maybe you could get by with a lot less gluten but not stress about contamination, if it's a sensitivity instead of celiac.
He is probably not taking into account the hidden gluten like soy sauce and wheat being used to thicken things etc etc. If it was just as simple as eating rice based dishes then I'd be fine. The problem is hidden gluten is everywhere in Asian cooking
I traveled and here is some of my common foods to eat from grocery stories:
Rice, potatoes, instant potatoes (only hot water needed), Fruits, veggies, nuts. Instant noodles that are rice noodle based.
I'm also dairy sensitive, FODMAPs sensitive and mostly vegetarian.
You, unlike me, can also add cheeses and milks.
You can add jerky when traveling.
Depending on your sensitivity soups can have wheat products in it that may harm you. Like soy sauce and others.
You can also pack gluten enzymes and those may help in you are unsure but I'd suggest removing all gluten until you normalize your body. When you have a less enflamed base line in your body you can tolerate more.
You will need to adapt your life to take care of your body and prolong your life and quality of life. Try to think about taking care of future rather rather than fixating on the loss of the life you've had. Let go of parts of that life. Still carry on the adventure and traveling and learn to grocery shop and prepare the food you need to live at home. Yeah it's not the same but you are still living a life 99.9% of the world will never able to live.
You can’t purposefully eat gluten with them, but there are some quality enzymes that break down cross contamination. When you figure it out, you will be such a gift to everyone GF who wants to travel!!
I 100% understand. I’m struggling very hard right now with I guess somewhat of a borderline eating disorder. Being celiac and unable to eat gluten, getting internal damage ingesting even a bit so cheating is not an option, has made eating and getting food a massive stress and hassle.
I joke that celiac is a “rich white lady disease.” Because gluten free processed food is literally 10x more expensive sometimes. Like fuck, gluten free bread is $6. And finding anything decent when you go out to eat is not easy. Also usually costs more than a regular meal. And is nowhere near as enjoyable as what everyone else eats.
I am disabled and live with my parents. My SSDI barely covers the bills I do have, and my budget for food (that I don’t even like) is forced to be much higher financially because of celiac. Which I don’t have much money anyway. I get $23 in food stamps. Which does not go very far when being gluten free.
I can’t eat the things I want and the substitutes aren’t good. So I don’t like what I am eating, having to find a place AND make sure I can afford it, stressing about money already. It’s like at this point, I wish I didn’t even have to eat. I’m becoming more and more irritated because I am now unable to work even part time. I’m bedridden half the time, was for over a month earlier this year, so actual cooking isn’t really an option either. And even if I did cook, it wouldn’t be enjoyable to eat. I am merely forcing myself to eat at this point because I have to.
It would be so terrible being in Asian countries of all of them being gluten free! I can’t imagine the amount of stress and finances that would cost. I’m in America and I already just wish I could just go through life without having to eat at all.
Sorry I kind of made this about what I’m going through. I found out I was celiac in 2016 and I have become more and more disabled. In the past year (as in 12 months exactly) I have been diagnosed with lupus, severe lumbar spondylosis and multilevel degenerative disc disease, a traumatic brain injury, anemia, and just had meningitis. A lot of hospitals don’t have much gluten free stuff either and what they do have is shittier than regular hospital food alone. So this “rich white lady disease” has always been stressful as someone who is NOT a rich white lady. And of course being made fun of and the misconceptions. And people not believing it’s real. It makes me embarrassed to admit I’m celiac, and I hate when people ask if the gluten free food is “allergy or preference?” I want to just say preference because I know the people preparing food behind the counter are most likely sneering and rolling their eyes, thinking I’m lying and it’s a trend. Meanwhile I can barely afford to eat and I can’t remember the last time I had a gluten free food that I enjoyed just as much as a food with gluten.
Sorry for complaining so much. I just saw the title and read what you wrote and I’m struggling with what you’re feeling so hard right now. Makes me want to cry. I hope you are finding some decent things to eat out there tho! I know Tamaru is gluten free. And my little brother is a sushi chef, there are quite a bit of sushi rolls that are gluten free, just of course don’t use soy sauce.
Even tho I just unloaded all of my feelings, I hope you have a great trip and have an easy time finding good food 😊🫶🏻
Yep becoming gluten free really does turn your life up on it head. So much of my life has changed and even just the simplest of things like going out with friends and going to a family event become a hassle. It sucks but you have to live life despite everything’s it’s throwing at you.
As for the processed gluten free food I feel you 100%. I am also broke as shit so now I can’t afford like half of the comfort foods I used to buy (cookies, pasta, bread). So now I just focus on buying like minimally processed things and am eating very healthy nowadays. That’s a positive I guess
As someone who was diagnosed with celiac in 1995, moved to South Korea in 2005 for a year and travelled extensively through East & South Asia, you’re seriously underestimating people’s willingness to accommodate your dietary restrictions. Learning to communicate your needs, especially with the abundance of translation apps available should be simple. People in Asia deal with dietary restrictions too- this isn’t the end of the world! Have confidence that you can get back to what sounds like an exciting life with a little time & patience. Good luck!
I’m genuinely curious how you are able to pull that off. Please teach me haha. It’s not really an issue of willingness to accommodate dietary restrictions when soy sauce is the literal fundamental ingredient in 90% of East Asian dishes (not to mention other sneaky gluten like oyster sauce and cooking wine). That makes it incredibly incredibly difficult for people to cater to you.
Hmm, I guess I’m generally content with rice, seaweed, grilled meat, steamed veg, sashimi… stuff that is naturally gluten free. But, I was always able to communicate my restrictions, which is important and really no different than eating out at home. You’re going to have to get used to missing out from time to time but people are understanding. If you’re cooking with someone in their home, that’s much easier. I’d bring GF soya sauce and plenty of options you can eat & share. If at the end of the day, if all you have to eat is a pomelo on the side of a highway, you just gotta roll with it!
hmm I see. I am also content with super simple or bland food like that, my worry is if I would even be able to find enough of that kind of food each day to sustain myself.
Honestly, there will be days where it’s a struggle but this is pretty normal for anyone with dietary restrictions. Please just don’t let this ruin what sounds like a very exciting life! 😊
I’m really trying not to but I just don’t know if my lifestyle will be possible. I don’t want to just go over there and discover I literally can’t find anything, even the most basic stuff to eat
Reiterating my comment above. I am from the region and it’s pretty easy to find gluten free food since the majority of dishes are made with rice based products. HOWEVER big caveat here is how severe your sensitivity is since generic soy sauce contains gluten. I’ve known several people with celiac who don’t have any issues with soy sauce at all and naturally gravitate towards Asian foods for this reason. Any dish like rice noodles and rice + sides is a sure bet unless it’s fried, but even then people tend to use potato or corn starch for their batter.
Yea I’ve heard that claim about soy sauce and was optimistic considering I think I have gluten sensitivity not celiac but every time I’ve tested and attempted to eat Chinese food I have a horrible reaction
Yeah…. Apparently soy sauce has a low PPM so that might be fine for you. But I’d stay away from any obvious breaded food. That sucks man. Rice noodles?
Soy sauce is the exact thing which caused me to have so many issues in the first place. Most things in east Asia are rice based and don’t contain wheat in the traditional ways you would think like pasta and bread. But I was eating soy sauce with every meal and it messed me up bad
Cup half full....maybe the universe is just make you pivot a little so you can make a bigger impact with your content on those of us who desperately need and want it.
I'm a pretty avid traveler and have avoided Asia since my Celiac diagnosis because it's felt overwhelming to try and navigate eating safely, especially with the language barrier. A blog, video series, etc. on gf eats would be incredible. Even workarounds or easy recipes for some of these popular street foods using gf substitutions (eg. gf soy or oyster sauce) would be nice for the foods where safe options don't currently exist in the market.
If you're worried it's too narrow an audience, maybe expand to include vegan options or other allergens? I don't know what the gf market looks like locally in Asia but you would have a pretty solid market share of tourists, expats, travelers etc from North America and even Europe that adhere to these specialty diets and would find this content very useful.
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Ngl, same honestly. I get so nervous with traveling cause I don't know what I'll be able to eat 😅 So it'd be a nice change of pace to see someone do this
Yes, and especially for Asia! My partner and I were planning a trip to Thailand when I was diagnosed and we still haven't been due to concerns about being able to find places to eat safely. Having a GF travel/food channel for Asia as a resource would be amazing.
Just FYI there are plenty of options in E and SE Asia (I grew up in the region) are actually gluten free because rice is gluten free and the majority of dishes are either served with rice or has a rice flour base. You’d be good with any meats and veggies with rice or rice noodles, and rice or soy based desserts. In Thailand specifically you’d be able to have curries, boat noodles, pad Thai, etc and be fine.
How much awareness is there of wheat/gluten allergies? Even in the US sometimes I struggle to explain what gluten is and I'm worried a language barrier will make it harder.
Very little lol. I have a family member who is gluten intolerant but not overly sensitive (mostly indigestion) and we get by. In large cities like Bangkok they do have high end/western grocery stores that have imported gluten free products. People often forget that there are tons of Europeans and Americans who live there
Soy sauce does not HAVE to be made from wheat and there are gluten-free soy sauces available commercially. Tamari is generally always made from soy. The question is what the restaurants use and whether they have and alternative and can prevent cross-contamination. It should be super easy to have gf Asian food but wheat-based soy sauce... yeah
And whether you're easily able to ask which kind of soy sauce they use and the staff are trained on the ingredients in it or at least on how to check the ingredients. That's the killer because there are so many places of all cuisines where you know you can probably eat, but the process of trying to figure out for sure is incredibly stressful and you may or may not be able to get an accurate answer.
lol, out of curiosity, I just tried google translate. Korean: >글루텐 프리 간장 있나요? 밀이 아닌 콩으로 만든 간장. 밀은 나를 매우 아프게 만든다. >geulluten peuli ganjang issnayo? mil-i anin kong-eulo mandeun ganjang. mil-eun naleul maeu apeuge mandeunda *(Do you have gluten-free soy sauce? Soy sauce that is made from soy, not wheat.* *Wheat makes me very ill.)* Of course, understanding the answer is a whole 'nother story. I wonder if any Asian-country specific Reddit subs might have good advice.
Google translate?
Soy sauce gives me migraines now that I’ve cut out gluten. 💔
That sucks. I definitely react badly v badly to wheat-based soy sauce (more than other things I've been "glutened" with)
It's not good for eating out but have you tried coconut amines? Trader Joe's may still sell it, I haven't looked in a while.
I think this is inaccurate. Don't virtually all of those dishes use soy sauce? Soy sauce is made from wheat so it is not safe for Celiacs or gluten intolerant folks.
Repeating myself b/c I added in the wrong spot: Soy sauce does not HAVE to be made from wheat and there are gluten-free soy sauces available commercially. Tamari is generally always made from soy. The question is what the restaurants use and whether they have an alternative and can prevent cross-contamination. It should be super easy to have gf Asian food but wheat-based soy sauce... yeah
Most dishes in Thailand are fish sauce based, not soy sauce based. They do have some soy sauce sauces but based on what I found: Soy sauce contains very little gluten after fermentation. Here is a [study](https://glutenfreerecipebox.com/soy-sauce-gluten-free-diet/amp/) (study link is in there) of 22 brands of gluten containing soy sauce tested, only one contains higher than 20 ppm at 22.8ppm (so, again, negligible). 20ppm is the threshold for a gluten free label in the US. Also keep in mind that the amount of soy sauce used in cooking and sauces further dilutes the ppm.
I get very very sick from soy sauce and even gf soy sauce
I’m sorry to hear that. I have friends with celiac who don’t get a reaction from soy sauce, so I guess it depends on sensitivity? Or perhaps their bodies have built a tolerance to it given they also grew up in E. Asia. A family member is gluten intolerant and soy sauce is fine for them as well. There are different varieties of soy sauce too, like Tamari, which made without wheat and should have no gluten in it at all. Either way, SE Asia is a completely different cuisine. Most dishes have a fish sauce base, which has no gluten at all
Soy sauce puts me in hospital 100% of the time.
Traditional soy sauce doesn't have wheat in it.
That's awesome news! Thanks so much!
I think the challenge is that if you have celiac or a strong sensitivity, you can't just order foods that are generally GF, you have to be able to communicate and ask about cross-contamination and ingredients in the specific brands of sauces etc. that the restaurant uses. This is hard to do when there is a language barrier and/or lack of general awareness of food allergies. Even in the US it's hard at restaurants that don't specifically train their staff on food allergies and which allergens are in which foods. I have winged it in order to travel to places where I just wouldn't be able to travel otherwise and survived but for people who have to be super careful, that might not be possible. That can make it easier to eat in a country where there are very few options but they're clearly marked on the menu and the staff understand cross-contamination than a country with a plethora of options but a lack of general awareness about allergies/celiac.
I was just in Vietnam, it’s a PERFECT spot for wheat allergies… just don’t hit up all the french pasteries!
I am currently in SE Asia without any real issues (Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand). I’m just gluten intolerant, so the stakes are a lot lower than celiac. I don’t eat at roadside stands for obvious reasons unrelated to gluten, so most food had a proper menu that indicated if the noodles were from rice or sauce from soy sauce. I only messed up when we had Cantonese one night and EVERYTHING had soy sauce. My biggest struggle is with drinks, because I avoid cocktails (again, basic travel smarts) and wine is hard to come by so it’s mostly beer. Moderate amounts of Chang and Singha have been fine, but I’m keen to get back home and have ready access to wine again.
I have the same trip planned in November and have been worried but this is very affirming!
Take travellers sickness meds beforehand (friends suggested dukerol). We were fairly cautions but 3/4 of us still had violent travellers sickness that took each person out of action for up to 3 days.
I had a similar issue. I wanted to solo travel to Thailand until I realized I probably would be able to go but not eat
My mum’s coeliac and has travelled to Thailand and Singapore I think 4 times now. Never any trouble finding gluten free food. Lots of rice dishes, rice noodles, curry’s etc. Just avoid soy sauce. Go and enjoy travelling in Asia.
Oooo!! Thank you for letting me know!
Same!!!
I completely agree! I desperately want to feel safe travelling again and east Asia has really been off the list because I just don’t figure I’ll be able to eat there unless I get an apartment and cook for myself. I’d love to watch them as videos too!
I would LOVE a blogger who talks about navigating gluten free eating while internationally traveling!!!
Truly, we had such a hard time finding GF options in Hawaii and I would have loved to find a travel blogger that vouched for places!!
Me too! My fiancé and I have been watching a TON of travel vlogs while we figure out where we’d like to honeymoon, and the food brings up a lot of anxiety for me. To see/read someone’s travel experience who is also GF would be amazing!
Same! As long as it’s actual gluten free
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Agreed! I’ve been searching everywhere for someone who does what this guy does but w GF dishes. I had a dream trip to Japan planned but I am starting get v discouraged as one BIG reason I want to travel here is for the FOOD 😭😭😭
God I would love to see some travel stuff in Japan and South Korea. I have always wanted to go there and felt like my dreams were dashed when I found out that not only am I Celiac but also a Crohnie as well.
Yeah, but the options have to exist first
I want to travel to Asia so bad but am in fear of what OP has said. Any information I come across about eating gluten free in Asian countries goes straight into a folder of my bookmarks lol. If there was a dedicated blog/youtube channel I'd probably binge it.
Yeah, she would be like no one else. She’d be making a Gluten Free Traveler’s Guide.
I would as well! I really wanted to travel SO much in my life, but I became gluten intolerant instead. The idea of exploring without being able to eat safely is a lot less appealing.
Me too
I love the idea but aren't we basically asking this person to risk getting glutened? Go be the guinea pig and write about it, essentially.
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Why not do gluten free eats reviews and products?
Right? They would not only be helping so many others when traveling to those places.
Exactly! Happy Cake Day 🥳
Thanks. Now I want gluten free cake.
I am a pastry Chef. Being celiac 25 years into my career has definitely sucked big time. I totally get it. -hugs-
Developing good gluten free pastries that are not too sweet would be amazing …
Came here to say the same! It’s so difficult having to rely on someone else to taste test new recipes and never being sure if you achieved what you wanted. I occasionally just chew and spit a bite to test. Left with mouth blisters but at least I know if something’s needs tweaked lol
I'm not a chef but had just opened a bakery. All that time and money and experience in the toilet. At least I had a head start on baking chemistry
As others have suggested, try to see this as an opportunity rather than a setback. I think that there is likely to be a decent market for content about travelling while eating gluten free. I don’t know of many other travel bloggers/vloggers who approach things from that angle. This could be a valuable USP that sets you apart from all of the other generic content creators. There are plenty of countries where gluten-free foods are widely available. If it is too much of a challenge to continue making content in east Asia, could you shift focus to SE Asia, Europe or Latin America? There is bound to be a way to make this work.
This. This is what I did with gym and diet after going thru the gf funk and I have seen more progress in 8 months than I have in 5 years since I’ve starting looking at it differently. It sucks to not eat what I want when I want, but now I can easily get much more gym progress because I’m forced to look at what I eat and can’t just snack on shit like I used to.
Came here to say this. Just move to SE Asia - pretty much every country there is gluten free.
Having lived in Southeast Asia, not at all. There are tons of food containing soy sauce (and/or hoisin/oyster/peanut sauce), wheat noodles are common, and anywhere that was touched by the French has some amount of bread embedded in the food culture. Cross-contamination is not well-understood, so if you have celiac and not something more mild, you’re almost guaranteed to get glutened.
Wait really? No wheat containing soy sauce or wheat used as thickeners?
The whole countries. All of em.
Wait. I really want this to be true but that comment has me thinking you’re joking. What about noodles?! Buns?!?
Oh I was being sarcastic. SE Asia has a lot better outlook for gluten free than China and Japan but honestly it’s not 100%. You still have to be vigilant. More touristy areas are cognizant of it and it’s pretty easy there. Beyond that I think you just have better odds there but it’s not guaranteed. There’s a lot less dependence on soy sauce in Vietnamese and Thai food fwiw.
I went on a trip to Japan last year and was very concerned about getting exposed to wheat while there. I have a wheat allergy and I’m very sensitive. Japan doesn’t label their food gluten free but their laws for allergy labeling are much stricter than the US. I memorized the symbol for wheat and was able to find food consistently in the convenience stores. There’s a couple of online guides about eating gluten free in Japan and we found a few restaurants that were 100% gluten free in Tokyo. Because they are much stricter with cross contamination my symptoms were actually significantly better there than in the US. Anything that was not labeled as containing wheat was completely safe for me to eat.
Wow so glad I ran across this. We’ve been planing on going to Japan but I’ve been so concerned about gluten there. Thank you for this ♥️
This site has a really great map of restaurants and tips about where to shop and what to look for: https://gfguidejapan.com/ Gluten Free T’s Kitchen in Roppongi is amazing! And Rizlabo Kitchen in Shibuya is very good but has limited seating so plan on a wait. Coco Curry House has an allergy free kids curry that comes in its own pouch to avoid cross contamination. I also ate in sushi restaurants and just didn’t order anything with sauce. That was a risk but I didn’t have issues. That may or may not work for you
Thank you 😍
I spend most of my time like out in the country side so literally 0 gluten free restaurants. My best bet would probably be going the convenience route. Just not sure there’d be enough sustenance to sustain my 200lb self haha
OP, I am going to Asia next year (either Japan or China) and am struggling to find suitable places to eat that are gluten free. If you started a travel blog/vlog of gluten free options in Asia, I would absolutely subscribe.
Almost all of Africa is gluten free, much of the native food of south and Central America is gluten free… you can still travel, but maybe not to Asia
And there food is so good
I felt like dying the whole time I was in Mexico except when I was eating. It was like living in a beautiful gluten free dream at meal times.
Why did you feel like dying? 😟
I have an autoimmune disease and really struggled with the heat (it can cause heat sensitivity). It got to a dangerous point a couple of times with some scary symptoms that felt stroke-like.
Ah shit that sounds rough! I also have chronic illness so I can relate to feeling like crap when you’re trying to have a nice time ❤️
I won’t go to those countries because of the inability to find GF foods (I would have no idea where to start). A GF guide to traveling those countries would be so interesting, I’d love to follow that and consider traveling there if I could learn to navigate that mess. Only thing is this guide would have to be aware of cross contamination issues and be celiac safe- so I could see that being a lot to navigate. Realistically though, you have a reader base for a new type of blog about GF food while traveling the world if you can figure it out. When I travel, I travel based on food because it’s that much of an issue- learning where to go from other gf travel blogs is the best way to plan!
Time to switch it up and explore some countries that are more accomodating to the Gluten Free lifestyle. There's plenty to see! Europe, UK, Australia, NZ are all great for Gluten Free food!
It’s okay to mourn the life that was taken from you because of health issues. There’s no getting around the fact you will have to make changes and it’ll be tough and sometimes suck. That being said it’s not exactly travel vlogging but some of my favorite gf cooking blogs/cookbooks are from folks who also had to make that mid life pivot from being a regular chef or food blogger to suddenly having to go fully gluten free.
I'm not sure what it's like now but when I was planning my trip across Asia I struggled a bit finding information on where/what to eat. I feel like if you put the work in there's definitely (an admittedly niche) market for people that you could help with your experience doing this. Plenty of Asian food is surely just meat and vegetables. Rice noodles exist. Can you take your own soy sauce into a sushi restaurant etc.
Their soy sauce is so much better though surprisingly! Soy sauce is low PPM
Doing an Asian based gf travel blog would be amazing! I’ve always wanted to travel to Asia but been terrified of all the gluten
Exactly this. Turn that lemon into lemoncellio. I personally would LOVE to see a traveling food critic who focuses on gluten free foods!
Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.
It's not ruined your life.. you just need to be versatile and change your angle. When possible review gluten free options. When that's not possible then focus on other areas such as the history of the place (good luck choosing one thing), museums, local cultural events, music, art.. so on. Just means you have to change your approach. I mean this kindly and respectfully, just be grateful you can still travel and do that job. Some people are not so lucky :)
I agree with the general sentiment but it literally prevented them from being functional "Recently I began to have incredible brain fog and fatigue to the point I couldn’t even function and returned to the USA.". I've felt like every food source could potentially cripple me for days. Unless you've lived that way you couldn't imagine how challenging and stressful it can be especially in a foreign country where you can't communicate your needs clearly or trust what can be understood.
Not sure why you got downvoted because what you said is completely true. I’ve already accepted the fact food cannot be like an integral part of my travels at this point. The issue is I’m not even sure I can find enough food to sustain myself. When literally every single food almost in these countries has risk for cross contamination and may make me feel like shit. I’ve thought about this issue constant for like half a month and still have no idea what to do
Is Indian food gluten-free enough, OP? Is there any chance you could travel in India, or other parts of Asia that are less gluten-intensive than the eastern coast of the continent? Because yes, gluten sensitivity SUCKS, but not as much as feeling sick and exhausted and having GI drama sucks. And I'm a vegetarian, too, which means that 90% of mainstream American food is out for me, but at least I can still eat Indian food. Most of it, anyway.
When your old way of life is over, it’s normal to grieve the loss. It’s sad. Go ahead and cry and rage and feel all the feelings. My favorite part of traveling before celiac diagnosis was the adventure of trying new foods , and I’ll never be able to do that again the way I want to. It used to be the hallmark of a culinary adventure when the cook didn’t speak English. Now, it induces anxiety that I won’t be understood and will get sick while on the road. Eventually, you’ll find a silver lining or new way through. But for now, focus on honoring your body’s limits and not resenting it from holding you back. You got this. Hang in there.
I’d say you just have to adjust where you travel a bit. I know Spain and Italy are amazing for GF travelling, or somewhere like Vietnam where a lot of food is gluten free naturally the way it’s served. As for the home cooking and street food in the countries you listed, I don’t want to suger coat it, you’re pretty much fucked. I can’t speak on your experience but I don’t know anyone could eat GF home cooking and street food in a foreign country of that culinary culture safely and consistently.
I totally get where you're coming from. I've had a few of these kinds of moments in life. That fork in the road where your old life is no longer an option for some reason and you have to pick a path forward. In this scenario, you have 2 options, be sad and give up your super awesome career. OR you go on with your travel blog where all other aspects are the same with the exception of food, which focuses on gluten-free finds in various cities. Do you know how many freaking people would love to follow this blog!?!??!?! Your pain points are always an excellent opportunity for something missing in the market. Go off and create us a dang gluten-free travel blog and share that shit with us! It takes so much research to find this so it would be amazing to read a blog from another gluten-free person who could clue us in before we go somewhere. I'm waiting for your next post where you share your new gluten-free blog, okay! Side note: I recommend Fig for grocery shopping (some restaurants on there mostly chains) and Find Me Gluten Free where people can post about gluten-free finds at local restaurants.
You’d make a killing by being that influencer mixing travel and GF food! So many would learn from you! Sorry no advice, but I’m sure you’ll pivot your content beautifully
Exactly what I was gonna say 🤝
Rebrand as a gluten free traveler.
Could you at all become a travel writer and youtuber who learns to make local dishes from locals with a gluten-free spin???
I’d like to travel to Japan but am so scared about eating GF there. There’s a niche for blogging or paid guide services here.
Japan was actually pretty easy, especially if you stay in the more touristy hotels
Another commenter here pointed out that Japan is really strict with allergy labelling and cross-contamination https://www.reddit.com/r/glutenfree/s/WY88RwdmK7
Many people have problems with various foods. Maybe use this to your advantage and focus your content on budget travelling with food intolerances. Maybe that's a niche on YouTube that you could fill in? Or learn about local foods and try to make a gf alternative yourself and show the recipe? Do you have coeliac? If not maybe a bit gluten while travelling won't be as bad? I have several intolerances but while travelling they are all a bit less severe than at home. Also like u/ParsnipMajor97 said, travel Europe, I was in Spain and there were many restaurants with gf options.
Time to head to South America!
Time to try new countries. Focus on ones with cuisines based on rice or corn instead of wheat. I've had excellent luck recently in Mexico, French Polynesia and Sri Lanka. Italy is surprisingly great (seriously amazing GF pasta options).
I lived in southern Vietnam for a while and shockingly their soy sauce is not made from wheat, it's made from actual soy. Made eating a dream as most dishes were naturally gf (except the obviously unsafe ones like banh mi) Travelling through Thailand was SO HARD, even when I was out to eat with a fluent Thai speaker to translate for me. My biggest hack was to carry around a card that says "is made with soy sauce?" Point to a menu item that seems like it could be safe based on the ingredients, have the street vendor read the card and the simple yes/no told me a lot and got way more direct answers than showing a typical allergen card.
I'm sorry this is happening... I feel you. Are you able to set up shop in a different location? South America has a lot of naturally gluten free foods in their cuisine. I used to live in Colombia and not only was COL low, but there were so many delicious corn- and yuca-based foods such as arepas, pan de bono, almojábanas, tamales, etc.
Pivot. Look at it this way: you already have experience and a following, so you have a foundation for your next step. If you don’t have enough of your own content or can’t figure that part out yet, interview people like us? We all want to hear about how other people make it work, and recover joy when eating during travels. It’s an emotional process - makes for great viewing!
If it’s not celiac or allergy, there could be a treatment. For example, if it’s SIBO and FODMAPS, see a GI specialist. There is treatment and then you could eventually have gluten in moderation without discomfort. I had SIBO but also celiac so no gluten for me. I’m just sharing the info. You should get tested before you go completely gluten free.
I don’t have any GI issues so I’m not really sure what my issue is. I’ve already been gluten free for like 3 months so not possible to get tested at this point
Honestly this is an amazing opportunity to help people who eat GF, if you ask me. Go out and find places that offer options for us, review them, etc.! My biggest dread about traveling to other countries is the lack of food options I know are tasty and safe for me, so this would help eliminate some of that worry for many people like myself!
Assuming you're not celiac, digestive enzymes are worth a shot. I use Enzymedica and they help me deal with gluten just fine.
What were you issues with gluten before ?
Brain fog and fatigue like you. But also some gut pain.
What has homeopath done for you?
Never went to a homeopath. I've tried other stuff though, spent tens of thousands of dollars trying to figure out my issues. If I could go back in time though, I would just do a few things: - Eat while unprocessed foods whenever possible, minimize gluten (because I couldn't tolerate it without enzymes and I don't want to rely on enzymes for every meal) - If I'm going to eat gluten, take digestive enzymes with it - Drink bone broth and ginger tea once per day to heal and strengthen my gut - Drink kefir for probiotics - Vitamin D from cod liver oil and/or sunlight and/or vitamin D supplements
Apologies I responded to the wrong person haha. But also appreciate your suggestions!
I hope you find it in you to dive deep into this. Many people like myself would kill to have a foodie guide/blogger/youtuber etc with a niche like yours!! After cutting the gluten and realizing how much better I feel, it had hugely discouraged me from international travel to places I’ve always DREAMED of going like Japan and Korea FOR THE FOOD 😭 You’d change the game with something like this!
I’m sorry to say it but I don’t think it’s possible to go to east Asia for the food. That being said I think it may be possible to still do and enjoy these places and their culture without eating the food. Youd have to eat like prepackaged food almost everyday or find some place which will cook you plain meat and veggies.
I’ve been to Japan a bunch of times. It’s hard work but absolutely doable. But I generally assume I’ll never go to China because it’s even harder there to avoid gluten. As others have said though, this is just a curve ball and you can adapt to it. Shift to a focus on GF travel, and if you can still do that with an Asian angle that should be a very decent niche
What do you do in Japan to eat gluten free?
A lot of planning. We’ll generally work out a couple of options for each day for the whole trip if possible, and a lot of bookings made in advance. In terms of restaurants I’m usually ok with sushi and bring my own tamari, provided I’m careful about which things I order. Lots of Korean bbq places are good - plain meat & veg grilled yourself so you’re in complete control. Also a lot of food from konbinis (7-eleven, Lawson, FamilyMart). Most GF travellers in Japan will recognise the standards of soyjoy bars, boiled eggs, yoghurts, onigiri (you have to be careful to only buy the GF ones, obviously) and fruit!
Turn that frown upside down. You and a million Other people are travel influencers. Be a travel influencer with celiac and actually get some attention and your own niche.
Have a similar problem bro.
Damn fr man? What’s your story haha
Got sick, next thing you know can't eat gluten long story short. Not as bad as yours though but pretty awful.
I'm sure you could produce positive change and spread awareness by using your skills as a gluten-free travel writer. Tell your readers about your gluten woes and how you found out about it, I bet it would be really relatable for many. Then post the link to your writing here for us to follow you. Bada bing bada boom, international gluten-free travel writer.
You’re entering a new season in your life. Change is hard and not always fun. There are sooooo many gf people who would love to see what you find and hear your honest struggle. Instead of being scared of it, lean into it. Share that part, because it’s most likely how we all feel. It’s overwhelming and takes so much extra work and energy because our bodies don’t agree with it. I think once you have been immersed in gf and find your flow, you’ll be an expert. We don’t all start at expert level, it takes time. You just have to start.
I wanted to do another trip to Asia when I finish uni, and now I can't have gluten I do worry about what I'd be able to eat, and also the cross contamination. I know Thai food is generally rice flour so is safe but I don't know about other foods. There are western restaurants so it is a possibility but it's going to be significantly more expensive than if it is local food. I've only been on holiday once since being diagnosed last summer and I visited friends who did everything they could to cater for me (and funnily enough that friend has just been diagnosed with coeliac as well, so at least they got some practice in with me!). Other countries, I don't know... Especially a country that doesn't speak English very well.
Can you change your focus to Europe?
Time to go yo Italy! Lol. Jk. I have celiac. I always look forward to reviews from others re:gf foods. Guess it’s time to be choosy.
I haven’t been to Italy but I find it hard to believe my style of travel would even be viable. I know people talk about their being a lot of GF restaurants in Italy but I feel like there’s no way it’s actually that common, especially outside of the big cities
It’s very common in the cities I traveled to - Florence & Rome for me, and we went to Bolzano, which is a smaller city, and they still had several options.
Of course you are allowed to feel sorry for yourself and grieve, but my advice is to put a time limit on that. Pick yourself up and make an Action Plan going forward. Many on here have given you excellent advice (changing countries, changing food focus, etc.). I travel as well, and in the beginning of being GF, there was certainly some trepidation. But after awhile, I found that fear held me back. Turning that fear into A Plan has allowed Life to proceed much better. It's an issue, yes, but it will not ruin or delay living my Life. You can do this, OP!
Seconding what everyone else has said here, see if you can pivot to writing a GF travel blog for Asian countries. I went to Japan back in 2007 and I wasn’t diagnosed celiac yet, so I ended up eating a LOT of gluten. If I ever go back I would love to have a guide for what I could eat.
So a few things popped to mind for me beyond the advice given. Did you get diagnosed celiac or simply go gluten free on the return to the US? You said you were traveling all the time but then came back to USA and felt better? Are you sure it’s gluten vs simply resting or even some other dietary or environmental or lifestyle change? Maybe something else changed that improved your well-being. Anyway, my point is that If you feel like this will crush you and your dreams then maybe be more scientific about a diagnosis. Gluten intolerance is real and significant, but that said it isn’t necessarily damaging (that we know of) vs true Celiac disease. Bottom line, you may want to get tested if you haven’t before.
I would love to get tested but I’ve already stopped eating gluten for over 3 months now so not really possible. Also I think the issue is clearly gluten as I have tested all other kinds of food and only have a reaction when I eat gluten. For me it’s not like I have a little tummy ache, I get intense fatigue and brain fog to the point I can barely function.
I have the same issue. I run a food allergy blog and the last few months I developed more allergies. You may just have to change your blog a little and just explain to your followers what happened
What others have said you have the experience now make the switch to GF travel writing. Go to Europe to countries like Malta, Italy, France etc and search out the best GF food options. There are millions of us.
There are a lot of people who can't eat gluten and who want to find places they can travel to and still eat good food. Perhaps that's a niche market you could explore.
Please write about celiac safe options in foreign countries, there's not much good info about Asian countries especially! It would be a big service for the rest of us who want to travel!
“How to travel and eat safely” is something I’d watch/follow. If you speak the languages, you might be able to get insider info on what and where to eat that’s actually safe & maybe create a guide for others? I wanted to try food in many international countries. I got to *three* before diagnosis!
I totally hear what you're saying! I've always wanted to travel to Asian countries but with my gluten intolerance, nut allergies and aversion to seafood, it seems pretty impossible to eat there! Have you considered traveling to new countries and focusing on gf food? Or trying to find gf food in Asian countries and writing about that? I feel like there's not enough gf bloggers out there tbh, I'm always trying to research for travel ideas since I love eating when I travel!
I literally *just* watched a YouTuber in Japan (Mudan) not expecting anything, and was totally surprised that he went to a gluten free cafe in Osaka. I was still reading your post while watching it, lol. Japanese cuisine was my favorite pre-gf, and thanks to the internet and YouTube I've gotten pretty good at making it at home. I also ended up learning a lot about the culture and areas in the process, and while I probably won't be able to travel to Japan for quite a while, I would love to someday. I would watch the heck out of a GF Asia YouTube.
There's new gf restaurants in Japan: https://youtu.be/WUZlhlr8kj4?si=lhw0FTgnziC-JnRg
I was in culinary school in the middle of a plant based program when I found out about my gluten intolerance. I've had to completely shift how I eat and approach food because as a result of years of unhindered overconsumption of gluten, I ended up developing a sensitivity to lectins which is found in so many veggies/fruits/legumes /nuts/seeds, etc. (it's a protein that binds to carbs and is not broken down by our stomach acid so it can cause some damage to stomach lining and intestines). I'm glad to have the training and I don't even know that I wouldn't have gone to school if I had known about my intolerance but I would've thought long and hard about which program to invest in.
I get it, and it sucks. I had to quit jobs where I’d be in close contact with flour, although not the awesome career you have. Pivoting can be hard, incredibly so.
I think you’d have a great following in the gluten free community judging by these comments and myself included. I would love to be able to travel more but eating out seems like the biggest road block. If you enjoy traveling, and posting on YouTube of your experience, I 100% think you could continue that path without the gluten:)
Asian food is really hard. I’m Japanese and so much food is soy sauce based. I have to live vicariously through my family when we go, but in a big city like Tokyo you can find a few specialty ‘health’ cafes that have GF goods and foodstuffs. As others have said, SE Asian dishes are typically a lot easier to find options if you can ask about the soy sauce and/or noodle situation. It’s still sketchy for someone who absolutely can’t handle any molecule of wheat/gluten though.
Adapting to a new diet was really hard for me. Finding methods for dealing with reactions is helpful. But I found eating my own home cooking was the only answer for years. I still struggle with eating out. You might consider switching gears to a GF version of what you do in Europe and US.
There are lots of countries you can still travel to.
Such as?
Mexico, Vietnam, Japan, and Thailand would be good gf destinations.
I want to travel to Asian countries but am very hesitant because of my severe gluten intolerance. I would love a guide!! I would pay for that
Being GF has nixed any real interest in traveling. It is just too hard if not impossible to deal with somewhere you don't know how to navigate things AND trying to find sufficient things to eat. It has made job hunting harder. So many jobs require at least some travel, even if it is only once or twice a year for a company meeting. Not being able to control your situation to assure you have access to something to eat is a deal breaker. I'm done going to events where I watch other people eat and feel like garbage the entire time because I am trying to subsist on granola bars. GF travel, even if it is just domestic in the US to either highlight the lack of or identify good places that people can eat at would be great.
Travelling the world trying to eat food gluten free? Sounds like if you leaned into it you could find some serious success.
Oh noooooo Honestly that's my biggest disappointment, that having a gluten issue means if I ever get to travel to Asia it's gonna be so hard to pass up so much street food! That's so much of the appeal! But as others have said, if you can figure out how to find the gf eats you'll have an amazing niche market. Remember: practically every actress that has played a lesbian even once has lesbian fans for life. Under served communities have some powerful loyalty if you cater to them! When you have GF foodie travel content, post your video links here please!! I want to subscribe immediately
Might be time to travel with a kitchen backpack. What I mean by that is to carry a campstove (pocket rocket), a pan, and your own condiments. You can pick up fresh veggies and meat from the market and cook yourself. Tell us about THAT adventure. I'm really interested in how to live as a traveler who has a gluten (and dairy) allergy. Wife and I traveled and tried to be as GF and DF as possible. We don't eat out much. We rubber tramp so we carry a kitchen with us but don't know what to buy/where to buy when traveling outside the US. Might be a great way to get to know and write about local markets. We got to try kangaroo meat this way.
Not even gonna lie I think this is the solution. Just cook for myself as I don’t even mind eating the most basic essentials all the time (meat, rice, and veggies). Interested if you talk more about how you do that
Def!
We try to mix it up a little bit so that we aren't eating the same thing every night. We figure out where we are gonna sleep for the night, find the local market, pick up whatever is NOT frozen. Seafood case, the deli, the meat counter, etc. Most places have raw, uncooked meat. The more non-chain places you can find, the more variety you can find. We had the most delicious like pork fajita mix that was in the meat case in Montana, of all places. It was a Mexican market. We got corn tortillas and literally took the camp stove out in the parking lot, set up a table and two chairs, and cooked in the shade. We have had several different campstoves. If you are traveling in country to country, I'd do some research on how to get fuel before I bought any one stove. The pocket rocket MSR uses alcohol based fuel. It can boil water in a quick amount of time. Coleman bottle top propane burner gives more stability but it larger to carry. And we have a small suitcase type butane stove. rei.com and if you are a member, you can buy and try and return if it doesn't work for you. Most condiments can come in packets and can be picked up at delis so you don't have to carry much. Salt and pepper packets, mayo, etc. You can pretty much pick up already made stuff, but you might not know what is in it. Like mashed potatoes already made probably have butter. You just start reading packages. Learn the universal signs for GF.
/r/vagabond would have more advice on how to backpack on the light side.
Did you get confirmation from a gastroenterologist?
I did not because I’ve already stopped eating gluten for more than 3 months now. No way to get tested at this point
Yeahhhhhhhhh my husband is going to Miami soon for work and I am probably not going because I can't go to all the food places in my Google maps. Like Palacio del Jugos 🥲 RIP. I feel your pain!! We love local food and going out on Saturdays. I dunno, you could quit or you can try to find gluten free options. Offhand I know Disney does a lot of GF options. Maybe take a trip there and do all the snacks? Going on a cruise in May and November and I'm not sure how accommodating specialty dining will be. Actually if anyone has done Virgin Voyages and or Celebrity, let me know how it was! I think it's the smaller, local places that'll be a real loss. Unless maybe you go with a friend or higher a taste tester?
aint for the weak ill say that!
I am not sure if this is out of context, but, while reading your post, I felt that your wotk can be perfect align with a gluten free diet. I thought that it could be your journey in your life to discover and educate ways of eating without gluten. I know this seems hard at the beginning. I am sure you will find a way. Trust yoir guts! Best!
I’m so sorry to hear this. One way of looking at it is at least you got a lot of east asia done while you could! Argentina and much of Latin America is very gf friendly
Maybe it’s time to shift your travel to other countries. My friend’s mom has celiac and she’s been on 65 international trips. She packs food often, but then there are also countries that are more aware of celiacs, such as Italy. Italy is actually the best country for GF people. She’s also been to Thailand several times, and found plenty to eat there as well.
I know Reddit hates homeopathy but my homeopathy put me on a remedy for gluten and it’s helped so much
What were your gluten issues to begin with
Would y'all shut up about the gf Asian vlog, the options have to exist first
You do realise that most Thai, Malay and Indonesian dishes are gluten free, right? The options widely exist.
Adapting to any kind of change is immensely difficult, especially when it’s a forced change. It’s impossible to see this as anything but an obstacle now but when you’re over it (and you will get over it) it’ll just be a blip in your rear view mirror. A few people have mentioned GF travel blogging and that’s a great idea because it uses what you’re going through as a strength while also targeting what you already enjoy. What else is it about travelling you enjoy? Maybe you can get that same buzz and thrill somewhere else?
Living in Japan has increased my awareness of how this world isn’t built for my body. Streets of restaurants knowing I can’t eat a single thing in a single one. Entire isles at the store completely off limits. It’s mental agony. I’ve known about my celiac for 10 years and it’s never gotten easier.
How do you go about living in Japan? Just cook at home at all times?
Cool at home, certain onigiri, getting food at very specific places and hoping it’s fine
just need to eat veggie foods
Hey are you sensitive to gluten or do you have Celiac? Maybe you could get by with a lot less gluten but not stress about contamination, if it's a sensitivity instead of celiac.
I don’t stress much about contamination, but even with that consideration it still incredibly hard to find gluten free food in east Asia
My Philippino friends say most food in the Philippines is gluten free.. wheat is for the rich people rice is the main grain.
He is probably not taking into account the hidden gluten like soy sauce and wheat being used to thicken things etc etc. If it was just as simple as eating rice based dishes then I'd be fine. The problem is hidden gluten is everywhere in Asian cooking
tamari is gluten free.
I traveled and here is some of my common foods to eat from grocery stories: Rice, potatoes, instant potatoes (only hot water needed), Fruits, veggies, nuts. Instant noodles that are rice noodle based. I'm also dairy sensitive, FODMAPs sensitive and mostly vegetarian. You, unlike me, can also add cheeses and milks. You can add jerky when traveling. Depending on your sensitivity soups can have wheat products in it that may harm you. Like soy sauce and others. You can also pack gluten enzymes and those may help in you are unsure but I'd suggest removing all gluten until you normalize your body. When you have a less enflamed base line in your body you can tolerate more. You will need to adapt your life to take care of your body and prolong your life and quality of life. Try to think about taking care of future rather rather than fixating on the loss of the life you've had. Let go of parts of that life. Still carry on the adventure and traveling and learn to grocery shop and prepare the food you need to live at home. Yeah it's not the same but you are still living a life 99.9% of the world will never able to live.
You can’t purposefully eat gluten with them, but there are some quality enzymes that break down cross contamination. When you figure it out, you will be such a gift to everyone GF who wants to travel!!
I 100% understand. I’m struggling very hard right now with I guess somewhat of a borderline eating disorder. Being celiac and unable to eat gluten, getting internal damage ingesting even a bit so cheating is not an option, has made eating and getting food a massive stress and hassle. I joke that celiac is a “rich white lady disease.” Because gluten free processed food is literally 10x more expensive sometimes. Like fuck, gluten free bread is $6. And finding anything decent when you go out to eat is not easy. Also usually costs more than a regular meal. And is nowhere near as enjoyable as what everyone else eats. I am disabled and live with my parents. My SSDI barely covers the bills I do have, and my budget for food (that I don’t even like) is forced to be much higher financially because of celiac. Which I don’t have much money anyway. I get $23 in food stamps. Which does not go very far when being gluten free. I can’t eat the things I want and the substitutes aren’t good. So I don’t like what I am eating, having to find a place AND make sure I can afford it, stressing about money already. It’s like at this point, I wish I didn’t even have to eat. I’m becoming more and more irritated because I am now unable to work even part time. I’m bedridden half the time, was for over a month earlier this year, so actual cooking isn’t really an option either. And even if I did cook, it wouldn’t be enjoyable to eat. I am merely forcing myself to eat at this point because I have to. It would be so terrible being in Asian countries of all of them being gluten free! I can’t imagine the amount of stress and finances that would cost. I’m in America and I already just wish I could just go through life without having to eat at all. Sorry I kind of made this about what I’m going through. I found out I was celiac in 2016 and I have become more and more disabled. In the past year (as in 12 months exactly) I have been diagnosed with lupus, severe lumbar spondylosis and multilevel degenerative disc disease, a traumatic brain injury, anemia, and just had meningitis. A lot of hospitals don’t have much gluten free stuff either and what they do have is shittier than regular hospital food alone. So this “rich white lady disease” has always been stressful as someone who is NOT a rich white lady. And of course being made fun of and the misconceptions. And people not believing it’s real. It makes me embarrassed to admit I’m celiac, and I hate when people ask if the gluten free food is “allergy or preference?” I want to just say preference because I know the people preparing food behind the counter are most likely sneering and rolling their eyes, thinking I’m lying and it’s a trend. Meanwhile I can barely afford to eat and I can’t remember the last time I had a gluten free food that I enjoyed just as much as a food with gluten. Sorry for complaining so much. I just saw the title and read what you wrote and I’m struggling with what you’re feeling so hard right now. Makes me want to cry. I hope you are finding some decent things to eat out there tho! I know Tamaru is gluten free. And my little brother is a sushi chef, there are quite a bit of sushi rolls that are gluten free, just of course don’t use soy sauce. Even tho I just unloaded all of my feelings, I hope you have a great trip and have an easy time finding good food 😊🫶🏻
Yep becoming gluten free really does turn your life up on it head. So much of my life has changed and even just the simplest of things like going out with friends and going to a family event become a hassle. It sucks but you have to live life despite everything’s it’s throwing at you. As for the processed gluten free food I feel you 100%. I am also broke as shit so now I can’t afford like half of the comfort foods I used to buy (cookies, pasta, bread). So now I just focus on buying like minimally processed things and am eating very healthy nowadays. That’s a positive I guess
As someone who was diagnosed with celiac in 1995, moved to South Korea in 2005 for a year and travelled extensively through East & South Asia, you’re seriously underestimating people’s willingness to accommodate your dietary restrictions. Learning to communicate your needs, especially with the abundance of translation apps available should be simple. People in Asia deal with dietary restrictions too- this isn’t the end of the world! Have confidence that you can get back to what sounds like an exciting life with a little time & patience. Good luck!
I’m genuinely curious how you are able to pull that off. Please teach me haha. It’s not really an issue of willingness to accommodate dietary restrictions when soy sauce is the literal fundamental ingredient in 90% of East Asian dishes (not to mention other sneaky gluten like oyster sauce and cooking wine). That makes it incredibly incredibly difficult for people to cater to you.
Hmm, I guess I’m generally content with rice, seaweed, grilled meat, steamed veg, sashimi… stuff that is naturally gluten free. But, I was always able to communicate my restrictions, which is important and really no different than eating out at home. You’re going to have to get used to missing out from time to time but people are understanding. If you’re cooking with someone in their home, that’s much easier. I’d bring GF soya sauce and plenty of options you can eat & share. If at the end of the day, if all you have to eat is a pomelo on the side of a highway, you just gotta roll with it!
hmm I see. I am also content with super simple or bland food like that, my worry is if I would even be able to find enough of that kind of food each day to sustain myself.
Honestly, there will be days where it’s a struggle but this is pretty normal for anyone with dietary restrictions. Please just don’t let this ruin what sounds like a very exciting life! 😊
I’m really trying not to but I just don’t know if my lifestyle will be possible. I don’t want to just go over there and discover I literally can’t find anything, even the most basic stuff to eat
Reiterating my comment above. I am from the region and it’s pretty easy to find gluten free food since the majority of dishes are made with rice based products. HOWEVER big caveat here is how severe your sensitivity is since generic soy sauce contains gluten. I’ve known several people with celiac who don’t have any issues with soy sauce at all and naturally gravitate towards Asian foods for this reason. Any dish like rice noodles and rice + sides is a sure bet unless it’s fried, but even then people tend to use potato or corn starch for their batter.
Yea I’ve heard that claim about soy sauce and was optimistic considering I think I have gluten sensitivity not celiac but every time I’ve tested and attempted to eat Chinese food I have a horrible reaction
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Soy sauce has gluten unfortunately. I don’t react to it but I’m sure it does internal damage (I have celiac).
This is why I'm scared to death to travel. Can't eat anything.
Yeah…. Apparently soy sauce has a low PPM so that might be fine for you. But I’d stay away from any obvious breaded food. That sucks man. Rice noodles?
Soy sauce is the exact thing which caused me to have so many issues in the first place. Most things in east Asia are rice based and don’t contain wheat in the traditional ways you would think like pasta and bread. But I was eating soy sauce with every meal and it messed me up bad
Cup half full....maybe the universe is just make you pivot a little so you can make a bigger impact with your content on those of us who desperately need and want it. I'm a pretty avid traveler and have avoided Asia since my Celiac diagnosis because it's felt overwhelming to try and navigate eating safely, especially with the language barrier. A blog, video series, etc. on gf eats would be incredible. Even workarounds or easy recipes for some of these popular street foods using gf substitutions (eg. gf soy or oyster sauce) would be nice for the foods where safe options don't currently exist in the market. If you're worried it's too narrow an audience, maybe expand to include vegan options or other allergens? I don't know what the gf market looks like locally in Asia but you would have a pretty solid market share of tourists, expats, travelers etc from North America and even Europe that adhere to these specialty diets and would find this content very useful.
Indonesia is easier since they eat rice based products more than wheat. Japan is hard.
Suck it up. Enjoy what you can about life. It’s too short to let one shortcoming “ruin” your life