Why Gluten is my New Worst Enemy

I have become part of an age-old feud, almost like the Capulets and Montagues (except literally not at all). Thank you, Mr. Parker, for putting that in my head. Anyway, I stopped eating gluten. I have a few very good reasons, and I'm not saying you should absolutely do it or you're not healthy and you can't read this blog anymore, but I'm just going to inform you of my decision.

First, I'm going to tell you what gluten is, so you can know what you're not eating. Gluten is an agent in wheat that gives it elasticity. If you didn't understand any of that, its just something that's in wheat that makes it stretchy. Gluten is in stuff like cake and cookies and bread and doghnuts and cake and literally everything else that tastes good in the world, unless you actually like vegetables (does anybody?). So, gluten is what makes everything stick together, but it's not all perfect.

Even this beautiful thing has gluten. Courtesty of King Arthur Flour

My biggest thing about gluten is that it makes me feel bloated. It makes a lot of people feel bloated, actually. There is this thing call gluten sensitivity, or non-celiac gluten sensitivity, that is very common. You pretty much have it if you have any kind of bad reaction to eating gluten, like being bloated. There are lots of other examples of bad bodily functions that are related to gluten, but I didn't want to read them all.

I know that there are like a billion diet fads out there, and most of them are completely ridiculous (like what even is the paleo diet? It makes no sense), but cutting out gluten is really something that you should try. There's no way that it could be bad for you, so why not? And, if you cut out gluten you're also cutting out most foods that contain refined sugars, which are really bad for you. And, hopefully, you'll feel a million times better. It's a win-win-win, so why not? Whenever I decide to eat gluten free I regret ever not eating gluten free. I have so much more energy, and I feel so much less lethargic. And, even though you may think it's really hard to find gluten free foods, it's definitely not. If you walk into a grocery store and throw a rock you can hit something without gluten. Especially if you go in the produce section. So, when you come home from work or school or skydiving or whatever, instead of having some crackers or cake, have an apple. Even though I told you earlier that I wasn't saying you should absolutely cut gluten out of your diet, now I'm saying that you should absolutely cut gluten out of your diet. You're welcome.

~ Mia