A Gluten Free Dating Site? What?
They say opposites attract. Does that mean I, the gluten-free celiac, will fall in love with a guy who lives off of bread, pasta, and crackers and hates all of the gluten-free alternatives? According to the new gluten free only dating site, Glutenfreesingles.com, apparently not.
When I saw a news article about the site's opening earlier this week, I chuckled and shrugged it off. Anytime I need a new funny story to tell, I always describe the dating site for farmers I learned about, so you could say I'm not the target audience for dating sites. The more I thought about it, though, the more interested I became.
A couple of keyboard clicks later and my attitude started to shift. According to their front page, Glutenfreesingles is a "dating, networking, and informative website where you never have to feel alone, awkward or a burden because you are gluten free." Even better, two women, one with celiac disease and another gluten intolerance, formed the site.
Okay then. My second thought? Go them! Or, more precisely, go us! Gluten free's invasion into the public eye has been slow but steady. It began decades ago with a new understanding of the gluten that destroys the stomach lining of a certain few. Now, gluten free products like Almond Dream Ice Cream and Glutino's Pretzels fill shelves all over the world. Even some of our favorite restaurants offer delicious alternatives to our previous favorite meals. So staking a claim in the industry of computerized Cupids? Score one for us!
Not to mention that sometimes dating while gluten-free does, um, suck. I had the lucky fortune of experiencing my first date a few weeks after diagnosis and it was definitely an experience. I thought ordering popcorn to share at the movie theater would be romantic. The whole accidental-purposeful-touching-hand scenario. It was lucky I didn't see him until a week later because I doubt he'd have found my post-glutened routine of dying on the couch, reviving, and dying again very attractive. My addiction to my phone to look up the gluten-free ice creams at Basket Robins probably broke some dating rules too.
Does this mean my profile will be floating around in Cupid cyberspace? Unless it's for a dare, probably not.
When I saw a news article about the site's opening earlier this week, I chuckled and shrugged it off. Anytime I need a new funny story to tell, I always describe the dating site for farmers I learned about, so you could say I'm not the target audience for dating sites. The more I thought about it, though, the more interested I became.
A couple of keyboard clicks later and my attitude started to shift. According to their front page, Glutenfreesingles is a "dating, networking, and informative website where you never have to feel alone, awkward or a burden because you are gluten free." Even better, two women, one with celiac disease and another gluten intolerance, formed the site.
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| Love and good food? Heaven! |
Not to mention that sometimes dating while gluten-free does, um, suck. I had the lucky fortune of experiencing my first date a few weeks after diagnosis and it was definitely an experience. I thought ordering popcorn to share at the movie theater would be romantic. The whole accidental-purposeful-touching-hand scenario. It was lucky I didn't see him until a week later because I doubt he'd have found my post-glutened routine of dying on the couch, reviving, and dying again very attractive. My addiction to my phone to look up the gluten-free ice creams at Basket Robins probably broke some dating rules too.
Does this mean my profile will be floating around in Cupid cyberspace? Unless it's for a dare, probably not.
I consider celiac disease and my gluten free diet as a large part of my identity. When it controls such a large portion of my life, how can I not? I like to think of myself as a much more complex being than my food, though, and I hope whoever I fall in love with is too.
After all, what's a clearer sign of true love than choking down a slice of gluten free bread for the first time?
What do you guys think? Would you ever use a gluten free only dating site? Do you consider diet when dating? Comment below!
I was actually just writing on being gluten-free and dealing with relationships! Anyways, since I'm 16 I haven't really been into the whole dating scene yet but I think if I went through so many failed attempts of dating that I would eventually give it a shot. I personally felt like after I got diagnosed that not considering diet with dating seemed almost impossible! My girlfriend now actually has Celiac Disease and we ironically met through my blog (which I guess is online..lol) but I definitely do think diet plays a big part into it for sure! Great post btw!
ReplyDeleteI haven't been into the dating scene a lot either yet, so I'll definitely do a follow up post about celiac and the college dating scene later this year. It's kind of amazing how much diet does affect one's life, including dating. That's so funny that you and your girlfriend met through your blog! Computers make it a small world, I guess.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment and I really like your blog, btw! :)
When I was really really sick and didn't know what was causing it yet, I had been with my boyfriend for over a year. And it really put a strain on our relationship. Every time I ate something, I got sick. At first he thought I had bulimia or something and didn't really know what was going on. And since I wasn't getting enough food, I was really cranky and depressed and then I started losing a bunch of weight that I didn't need to lose. It caused him a lot of extra stress because he was worried about me and we ended up breaking up because neither one of us could handle a relationship at that point. I was diagnosed with celiac disease shortly after we broke up, right before my 21st birthday. For my birthday, my ex-boyfriend bought me a gluten free pizza and it was so delicious. Since then we've been kind of dating again, taking things really slow. He likes to take me to different gluten-free restaurants and he usually loves the food just as much as I do.
ReplyDeleteSo I haven't actually met anyone new and gone on a date with them since I've been diagnosed, but I think it would be difficult if that person didn't know what gluten was. When I was first diagnosed, and actually a little bit still, I felt like the most annoying restaurant customer ever, because I have to ask so many questions. But I feel like if someone had an open mind about it and just went to a gluten-free restaurant for a date, it wouldn't be difficult, because the food tastes just like normal food. It's not weird and flavorless or anything. But some people just hear "gluten-free" and think "high-maintenance" or "fad dieter" which is not true at all.
So to answer your question, I wouldn't use a gluten-free dating site, but I will definitely check it out for networking. Because people who have been gluten-free for awhile tend to know about lots of great restaurants and products I've never heard of, which is pretty cool.
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