Gluten intolerance: Fact or fad?

Chefs from top Delhi restaurants advice you to go completely gluten-free only if you are allergic to gluten, otherwise you may experience vitamin deficiencies.
Deconstructed Daal Moradabadi, one of the items on Foxtrot’s gluten-free menu.
Deconstructed Daal Moradabadi, one of the items on Foxtrot’s gluten-free menu.

What began with sporadic poppings of gluten-free dishes on menus, increasingly giving way to full-fledged gluten-free spreads at Delhi restaurants.

For example, Foxtrot’s gluten-free Ragda Aloo Chaat, Deconstructed Daal Moradabadi and Smashed Galaouti Biryani are a hit among its patrons, and so is the Baked Mushroom Caps of Café Delhi Heights.

Others in the fray with delicious gluten-free dishes are Burma Burma, Molecular Air Bar, Pra Pra Prank, Fab Café, Town Hall, Delhi Baking Company 

Chef Sagar Bajaj, Plum by Bent Chair
Chef Sagar Bajaj, Plum by Bent Chair

“We made a separate gluten-free menu as many of our guests had been asking for it,” says Corporate Chef Ansab Khan of Burma Burma.

“Also, rice and rice noodles are widely consumed in Burmese diet and our menu already had dishes which were gluten-free. Now our guests have plenty of options, without being overly bothered about gluten in their food,” he informs.

But this ‘new-found fad’ is as much due to the rising cases of gluten intolerance being reported. There’s Chef Saurabh Udinia of Farzi Café, who feels that even if there’s no dedicated gluten-free menu, restaurants should have a healthy mix of gluten-free dishes, “as the cases of gluten allergies are growing in number.”

Agreeing with Chef Udinia is Brand Chef Sudhanshu Sharma of Foxtrot, who cautions, “I feel you should go gluten-free only if you are allergic to gluten. It’s very important to have healthy balanced diet.”

Wheat, the new sugar?

Healthcare professionals echo Sharma’s advice and guard against getting carried away with this ‘trend’.

“Gluten intolerance is a serious issue. You notice a rise in the number of cases just because these are being detected now.

These tests are now available at most commercial labs unlike earlier when these were done only at AIIMS and PGIs,” says Dr Shanti Swaroop Dhar, Principal Consultant, Gastroenterology at Max Multi-speciality centre, Panchsheel Park.

Those who actually suffer from it face a lot of restriction on what they can eat. “Gluten is not just in wheat, but in masalas, soups, breads, and ice creams as well.

Even indirect contact with wheat, like using the same spoon for taking oil, can be toxic for gluten-intolerant people,” he adds.

“But there is a bit a ‘fad-ism’ also involved,” says Dr Dhar, informing that he comes across cases wherein people don’t have gluten intolerance but still go in for gluten-free diet.

Something which nutritionists warn against and suggest you seek medical attention if you arrive at the conclusion you are gluten intolerant.

“Do not reduce or replace gluten from your diet suddenly, because it could lead to vitamin deficiencies,” says Seema Singh, Chief Clinical Nutritionist, Fortis Hospital, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi.

But restaurants are just cashing on to this trend, feels Corporate Chef Sagar Bajaj of Plum by Bent Chair.

“The Indian food market is witnessing a segment of diners known as the ‘conscious gluten-free diners’. They don’t suffer from the problem but still insist on having gluten-free food. It’s also the major reason why chefs are coming up with innovative gluten-free menus.”

So pay heed if you are not gluten-intolerant, and relish that bread stick after in dipping it in your hot soup – a perfect combo to enjoy the  the rains.

Gluten facts 

  • Gluten intolerance is more prevalent in North India as people here replaced millets and sorgham and became heavily dependent on wheat unlike in the south, where people haven’t left their traditional habit of eating rice.

  • Many celebrities, from Lady Gaga and Victoria Beckham to Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma, are on a gluten-free diet by choice.

  • Only if you experience chronic diarrhoea, unexplained skin eruptions, persistent anaemia, and inability to gain weight, go for a gluten-free test.

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