7 Ridiculous Things People Say To You When You're Gluten-Free

To some people, the discovery that you're gluten-free might as well be a challenge to come up with the most annoying, invasive comments of all time.

Or at least that's how it sometimes feels for the approximately 2 million Americans with celiac disease, not to mention the 18 million who have a non-celiac gluten sensitivity. In an effort to commiserate, we've rounded up the seven most ridiculous comments people make when you're gluten-free:

"So you're trying to lose weight, right?"

This reduces your intolerance or autoimmune disorder to a vanity project. If you're gluten-free for health reasons, it's probably not because you're hopping on some fad diet bandwagon. Plus, it's generally not a good idea to insinuate someone has weight to lose in the first place.

"You're SO lucky!"

This goes back to the whole "you're trying to lose weight" philosophy and suggests that the person who said this to you would love if they couldn't eat most readily available foods, too. Naturally, it's alarming to hear.

"You're such a picky eater."

Sure, some folks are just being a pain when they rule out foods, but the large majority of gluten-free people are doing it for their health. Most of them would down a bagel in a heartbeat if they didn't suffer the consequences.

"Wait -- why are you gluten-free?"

This presupposes that not only one's eating habits, but also one's personal philosophies, are any of your business... which they're not.

"But all of the BEST foods have gluten in them."

This is just not productive for anyone involved.

"Can't you just have a little gluten?"

When someone says "No, thank you" to a gluten-containing food you're offering, you should never pressure them to just have a little. Chances are, they said "no" for a reason -- and again, the reason they said "no" is none of your business.

"What CAN you eat?"

This not only reveals the speaker's ignorance of the plethora of foods available to mankind (fruits, vegetables, beans and rice, to name a few), but it also puts the gluten-free person on the spot. We give you permission to choose whether or not you'd like to dignify this question with a response at all.

Got any more? Write them in the comments -- trust us, it will feel great to vent.