I get why it's hard to believe something you can't understand, but I don't get why people refuse to understand what they perceive as unbelievable. If the information is there or I'm telling you the summation of that information - facts, details, documented events - why is it still easier to shake your head and say, no, that's not real?
Novak Djokovic is in the process of conquering the tennis world. Always a good player, now he has suddenly become one of the best, beating the best. He attributes this achievement to a gluten free diet. He found out he was allergic to gluten last year. In every article and every blog about the tennis star there is a general tone of disbelief. In fact they all seem to be quoting the same Cornell professor - if you believe it is the cause of your disorder, then it becomes the cause of your disorder. In those few words they dismiss the effects that gluten had on Djokovic as something inconsequential and instead smirk with their words by writing about the power of the mind. It's as if they believe a gluten free diet for someone with an intolerance is merely a good luck charm.
I realize that in this case there could just be a general ignorance, lack of research and, dare I say, lazy journalism? But this approach to the gluten free diet isn't just in the media, it's throughout the population. Chefs post anti-gluten-free rants on facebook - calling it yuppy was one of the nicer words - while others look on it as a weird diet craze which will fade as soon as the pounds are packed back on. Worst though, are when friends, who saw you suffer for years, dismiss your diagnosis as unbelieveable and flippantly say you should go see a new doctor - as if you hadn't gone through 50 or so in the eight years leading up to your diagnosis.
What is so hard to understand? The research is there. The facts are there. Pictures of damaged intestines are all over the internet. Is it because the damage is not on the surface or not seen right away, the way a peanut allergy would be? Is it because celebrities, while bringing needed attention to Celiac Disease, also create a fad-like aura around its treatment? Or is it simply a desire to ignore the effects that food can have on your body? It's easier to tell your friend to find another doctor than it is to acknowledge that what you eat greatly influences your health. That greasy breakfast burrito, the sweet drink with more chemical ingredients than real fruit, and the four pints of beer last night might not sit so easily once you do. To accept that food not only keeps you alive but also influences the quality of that life would mean a major overhaul of most people's diets and, as someone who had to overhaul her own diet, it's not only scary but life changing.
So in my search to understand why there is such a lack of understanding, I've come to realize that the resistance towards a gluten free lifestyle has more to do with one's own diet than someone else's.
