Gluten Free Dating Site Launches in Hopes of Breaking Record for World's Most Diarrhea in One Date

A new website has launched that aims to bring singles together who have eliminated gluten from their diet or are attempting to live a gluten free lifestyle. According to their website, "GlutenfreeSingles is a dating, networking, and informative website where you never have to feel alone, awkward, or a burden because you are gluten-free."

If you've ever dated anyone who's gluten-free (I have), or have suffered from the effects of authentic Italian, you know that trying to eat a gluten-free diet definitely comes with its annoyances, and it's never fun to be the guy who says you can't eat this, or hold on while I do this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwcVJMvVWDA

But  despite the logistical issues that come with any couple with differing dietary constraints, using a dating website to pair together two people who live the GF lifestyle has almost no practicality.

Only about 1 in 133 Americans actually develop an immune reaction to gluten, or Celiac's disease. Saturation is precisely what makes any online dating network thrive, and it seems unlikely that GlutenfreeSingles, even if it registered every single GF person in the U.S. would be serving a tenable dating community. Approximately 235,559 people in the U.S. have Celiac's. Compare that to the U.S. popluation of >314 Million. If we are to assume that GlutenfreeSingles would capture the same % of the gluten-free population as say, OKCupid has the straight/gay/bi population (3.5 Million users, or 1.1% of U.S. pop.), that would mean at its peak GlutenfreeSingles would have 2,500 users nationwide.

I signed up for GlutenfreeSingles and not only were there only 9 women aged 18-30 within 50 miles of San Francisco, but goddammit the interface is awful.

That said, based on how much IHATEGLUTEN69 hates birds and other things we share in common, there may yet be hope for love.

I've launched online companies (and sunk them) before, and it's no easy feat, so I'd hate to shit on a company just because it's new or they're still finding their way. But there're companies that have bad execution, companies that have bad ideas, and companies that have both.

Dating based on diet and lifestyle may be important to some, but in no way is that a realistic prerequisite for an entire dating network. That's why my dating websites for smokers 3packsaday and LetsPhlegmTogether never took off. Users would try to make meaningful conversation but they just kept running out of breath.

And I think having some differences with your partner - discovering their quirks - is actually one of the fun parts of dating.

"Hey, what were you doing the last 15 minutes?" "Oh, you know."