Kripalu Center For Yoga & Health

Kripalu claims to be gluten free conscious (I asked several times about it before booking my stay and I was assured Kripalu easily accommodated Gluten Free guests. But in truth, Kripalu is only GF friendly for those who don’t really need to be gluten free. They do list ingredients, but not fully. For example, they list “tamarind paste” but you don’t know if there could be wheat in the paste - the tamarind paste ingredients are not listed. They list “rice noodles” but some rice noodles are mixed with wheat, and the ingredients of the rice noodles are not listed. They offer oatmeal in the morning, but not GF oatmeal, which seems like an easy thing to make available for those of us who need GF options. There is a gluten free bread area with a toaster and sign asking people to only use for GF bread, but do people always honor that request? There is no way to know if it’s been contaminated. Same with the peanut butter and jelly spreads. Contamination is a concern. There are not many options for GF. Nothing is actually labeled “Gluten Free”, which would make it easier than reading all of the ingredients, hoping you don’t miss something! The staff don’t know the answer when you ask ingredient questions so they have to go back and ask the chef, leaving you standing there waiting and feeling like you’re in the way. I found Kripalu to be unconscious when it comes to gluten free needs. And I wasn’t the only guest who felt that way. I discovered a young woman crying one day because she felt she could not eat gluten free safely at Kripalu. Besides a lack of actual gluten free consciousness and mindful effort being made for guests who actually need to eat gluten free, I found the food that I could eat to be bland and unsatisfying. I started eating elsewhere about half way through my stay.

Celiac friendly?

No

While every part of the retreat at Kripalu is great, the food is especially wonderful. And so much of it is gluten free! Plus, all ingredients are clearly listed, so there's no need to ask questions, you can just eat! It made what is generally a stressful event (eating away from home) as relaxing as the rest of the retreat!