How Non-Celiacs Changed Gluten Free: Reshaping Contested Illness Experience in the Gluten-Free Diet Boom

Abstract

"Gluten free" exploded onto the American foodscape in recent years, with 30 percent of U.S. adults reducing or eliminating gluten in their diets as of January 2013. In this thesis, I use data from 37 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with gluten-free and -restricted persons to provide a three-part model for the spread of gluten free. Non-celiac dieters popularize gluten free by broadening the lay understanding of the disease, undermining biomedical authority, and diagnosing others. I show how dieters are reshaping the doctor-patient relationship and increasing social contestability for everyone on the diet. My findings challenge previous models of contested illnesses and show how food intolerances may require a reconceptualization of contested illness experience. Finally, I suggest the phenomenon of gluten free helps us understand rising rates of food intolerance in the United States.