My Gluten-Free Experiment

This weekend I ended what I consider to be a 10-week experiment in living gluten-free, and I thought I would write about it here. I decided to try out a gluten-free diet in early December, for a number of reasons. The idea was spurred after I read an interview with Carol Alt (the supermodel, who is almost 50 and recently posed for Playboy) in which she raved about how a raw diet changed her life and gave her an amazing body and lots of energy. I didn't know much about what a raw diet was, but was intrigued by the amazing benefits she described. After doing some internet research on the raw diet I realized it would never work for me (it is what it sounds like... eating food that hasn't been cooked), but in the process of googling about it I came across another diet that people raved about the benefits of: gluten-free.

Gluten is a protein found in grains like wheat, rye, and barley. Foods that contain gluten include anything made from flour, such as bread, pastries, and pasta. Beer has gluten too! Many people who start a gluten-free diet do so out of necessity, either because of a gluten allergy or celiac disease, which is an autoimmune condition in which the presence of gluten causes an unpleasant reaction in the intestine.

As I was reading about celiac diesease and gluten-free diets the wheels in my brain started turning. I read that folks with one autoimmune condition often tend to have multiple autoimmune conditions. (My thyroid disease, Hashimoto's, is an autoimmune condition.) I read the symptoms of celiac disease and could relate to some of them. I didn't believe I had celiac disease, but I read that some people just felt better after adopting a gluten-free lifestyle, just as some people might thrive on vegetarianism. I hadn't been feeling my best lately, so I figured I would give it a shot and that it couldn't hurt to at least try.

It was actually very easy to go gluten-free. Yes, it required breaking some habits, like no more beer. I didn't miss the gluten-laden foods as much as I thought I would. In fact I found myself craving some foods that I rarely ate, like donuts and pretzels, rather than staples like pizza and pasta. What I missed more than the foods themselves was the convenience of them. It was always so easy to order a pizza or throw together a pasta dish when time was short. Meals now required a lot more planning. But I loved what I was eating: grilled meats, lots of veggies on the side. Potatoes. Rice. Rice krispies treats! Another benefit was that I could eat more of the good stuff, since I wasn't filling up on bread.

It was strange to find out what foods had gluten in them that you would least expect, such as soy sauce or chicken broth. Fortunately I could find gluten-free versions of each. There were also gluten-free versions of flours that could be used to bake brownies, cakes, etc., and gluten-free pastas made from rice flour. I gave these a try (using a gluten-free brownie mix and gluten-free macaroni and cheese, both from Trader Joe's) but wasn't happy with the results, so I just stuck to foods that were naturally gluten-free.

In the first few weeks I loved this diet. I did feel healthier and think I went through sort of a detox phase. Over time I relaxed somewhat and stopped caring about tiny sources of gluten in my food, like if a chicken tender had breading on it, so I was getting some gluten here or there. (Since I don't actually have an allergy I am fortunate to not have to worry about that.) I still avoided the obvious gluten sources, like bread and beer.

I don't think I would have necessarily chosen to end my gluten-free diet, if it weren't for a few factors. First, it wasn't the miracle cure I had hoped it would be. (I have suffered from sinus problems since I was a kid and I secretly hoped that maybe an undiscovered gluten sensitivity was the cause... it wasn't.) I didn't notice any major health benefits beyond the immediate detox, except for a slight weight loss. Second, I had been sick much more than I can remember in recent years. I had a major cold for a few weeks, got a few weeks reprieve, and then my cold came back with a vengeance and brought a fever with it. After spending both three day weekends in January and February (MLK JR. weekend and Presidents Day weekend) sick the whole time, I started to consider why this was happening, and I started to wonder if my body was asking for gluten.

So, on Saturday night I ate a slice of pizza. And honestly, I thought it was kind of gross. But it didn't make me sick and I didn't have any noticeable reaction to it. And then tonight I ate some pasta. I'm going to try to ease back into this, because I don't want my body to go haywire and gain back the weight I lost. I think this diet was a great experiment for me. I recognized that I don't like pizza and sandwiches as much as I thought I did, and I'll try to limit those in my diet from now on. But I definitely foresee gluten in my future. Plus I missed baking too much.