By the time Caitlyn McMahan finally sat down to eat lunch at Bryant Dining Hall, her friends were already finishing up their plates of food. Her delayed arrival was not because she was late or because the dining hall was especially busy, but because she requested a gluten-free plate.

McMahan, a sophomore majoring in Spanish and religious studies, said while it benefits her to eat a gluten-free diet, there are many challenges that go along with it, especially while on campus.

“The biggest thing is that I have to control myself a little bit more,” McMahan said. “I just have to be more thoughtful about what I chose to get. A lot of time it requires patience, because like here where I got the meal, I had to wait like 10 minutes for them to fix it.”

McMahan said she began eating a gluten-free diet nearly two years ago as part of a personal investigation project she conducted during her senior year of high school. She wanted to find out a way to help her younger sister who has a sensory disorder.

After doing research online, McMahan found that eating gluten was a common problem for those with sensory disorders. She said she decided to gradually cut gluten out of her diet in support of her sister, and it caused her own stomach problems to disappear.

Gluten is a protein composite found in foods processed from wheat, barley and rye products. Amy Ellis, an assistant professor in the department of human nutrition and a registered dietitian, said while a gluten-free diet is essential for those who have celiac disease, it is becoming more common for people to try gluten-free diets as a solution to chronic indigestion, fatigue and migraines.

“[Being gluten-free] probably means different things to different people,” Ellis said. “There are different degrees of gluten intolerance or gluten sensitivity. It’s much more difficult to diagnose, and those are fuzzy terms.”

Ellis said gluten-free products were extremely prevalent at the annual Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics conference, where food companies often introduce new and popular food items. She said this popularity could partially be attributed to celebrities who openly advocate eating gluten-free.

“It’s a fad right now. It’s popular because I guess all the cool kids are doing it,” Ellis said. “Gwyneth Paltrow is gluten-free; Miley Cyrus has said she is gluten-free.”

As with most fads, the public’s growing interest in eating gluten-free has brought both pros and cons. As more people become aware of gluten-free diets, there come multiple misconceptions, Ellis said. Among these misconceptions is the idea that gluten is inherently unhealthy, as well as the idea that it can be a healthy way to lose weight.

Sheena Gregg, assistant director of health education and prevention at the Student Health Center, said many view eating gluten-free as a way to reduce their intake of refined carbohydrates and subsequently lose weight. However, they do not realize many gluten-free products are actually higher in calories, fat and sugar.

“My hope is that people will become more educated in the appropriate balance of their diet when they eliminate naturally gluten-containing foods from their diet,” Gregg said.

On the other hand, the trend in eating gluten-free has caused restaurants to cater more to those with gluten intolerances. McMahan said even in the few years since she began eating gluten-free, her options for gluten-free foods have significantly increased.

McMahan said she did not purchase a meal plan her freshman year or this year because she knew there were not very many options, and she didn’t want to eat the same things every day. She said while Bama Dining staff are always willing to increase her options by doing things like getting gluten-free bread, it’s often so much trouble that she doesn’t bother. She said the biggest issue for students with gluten intolerances is that many do not know their options.

“Once I figured out that if you ask for it, they’ll figure it out for you, I jumped on it,” McMahan said.

Gregg said the dining halls have increased their gluten-free options in the past few years.

In addition to restaurants, food manufacturers are increasingly targeting the gluten-free demographic. Many companies have started advertising “gluten-free” prominently on their product labeling. In order to guarantee the reliability of these labels, the Food and Drug Administration has recently passed a new clause effective August 2014 that will require all food manufacturers who print “gluten-free” on their labels to ensure that the products have less than the lowest detectable amount of gluten in them.

Ellis said although it is hard to predict what food trends will last, she thinks with diagnoses of celiac disease coupled with the growing awareness of gluten intolerance, eating gluten-free is likely to stick around.