Since I’ve been able to use our Nima prototype over the past few months to test food for gluten, I’ve been able to save myself from about two weeks of feeling sick. In other words, Nima has saved me a collective 15 days* from the health repercussions from unintentionally eating gluten. Every time I accidentally eat gluten, it takes me about five days to recover, which means missed days of work, pain and discomfort. If you can’t relate to the stress of living with a sensitivity to food (from the perspective of someone with celiac disease and the pains of avoiding gluten), you should read this.
In the last few months, here’s where Nima has come to the rescue for me, letting me know when there was gluten in my meal, when I otherwise would have eaten it. Note: everything I tested was labeled gluten-free on the menu or by the chef.
"Gluten-free" cupcakes
Cupcake at a catered event: I was going to eat a gluten-free labeled cupcake at our office when my team reminded me to test it with Nima! We took a sample and tested it, and it came back positive for gluten. We sent the sample to the lab to validate the results, and sure enough it came back as 80ppm of gluten - well over the recommended 20 ppm.
Saved = 5 days
Egg rolls at a catered event: We catered an event in NY and tested all the food before to find that the “gluten-free” egg rolls showed positive for gluten (after three tests on three different samples of the plate).
Saved = 5 days
Pancake at a restaurant: I was out at a restaurant about to dish into a gluten-free labeled pancake and the sample of food came back positive for gluten.
Saved = 5 days
Total = 15 days
Here are a few highlights of what I’ve also been able to test and enjoy!
Arepa at a restaurant: Eating out at Pica Pica I tested and enjoyed both the arepas and empanadas. They were deliciously gluten-free
Vegetarian quiche at a conference: I ate at an event and tested the corn-based quiche, and I loved seeing the smiley face because I was famished.
Rice pancake at a restaurant: I tested the rice pancake at a restaurant, which was gluten-free!
Curry soup at a wedding: Nima made a formal debut at my good friends’ wedding. There was another gluten-sensitive wedding goer, and we were able to test the curry soup, and it was all gluten-free!
Nima processing gluten-free curry soup
I love having my Nima in my back pocket as an extra safety measure when out and about!
*Of course, these are just fun estimations, but aligned with my experience with being glutened in the past, but everyone reacts to different levels of gluten.