For the past couple of days, I have been on an experimental diet change. It's not one of those diets to lose weight, but instead to actually help me physically feel better. It's a gluten free diet.
It all started because one night at dinner with my friend Adam, we were talking about his diet. He has Celiac Disease (among a plethora of other health issues, like food allergies), so he has to eat a gluten free diet. He began to list the sort of clues that might mean that one could have a gluten intolerance. He asked me a few questions about how I feel after eating and throughout the day, and pretty much it ended up with him recommending that I try a gluten free diet for a week or so. Just to see if it makes any difference.
I was definitely very timid about it. It would mean a lot of changes in my life and make eating both at home and at restaurants a lot harder. But I thought to myself: I was a vegetarian for a year...I could easily be gluten free for a week!
As I'm writing this, it's only been four days since I started this diet, and it's already much harder than being a vegetarian for an entire year. On a gluten free diet, I have to watch out for wheat on all of the ingredient lists. Do you realize how hard that is? For the first few days, I couldn't eat or drink anything in my kitchen besides yogurt and coffee. I can't snack on chips and salsa with my roommates or have the ice cream in my freezer that, ironically enough, Adam convinced me to buy the same night that he told me I should try this gluten free diet.
Now, I know that Adam is not a doctor (yet), but I believe that it's worth a try for a week or two. What's the harm? It's not like there's a test for gluten intolerance at the doctor's office. They'll tell me the same thing, to go without it for a certain amount of time; if I feel better without the gluten, then there's my answer.
I really hope that this doesn't end up being a thing. Having a gluten free diet is insanely hard, especially on a college campus. I have to eat the same few things at the dining hall, including no deserts, fries, or wraps. Dub's Cafe, which supposedly has more gluten free items, actually doesn't. I chose one of the items with the gluten free emblem on it and also wrote "gluten free" where it asked if I had any dietary constrictions, and an employee called me up and said that what I ordered really wasn't gluten free because of something it's cooked with. I can't have any of the breakfast sandwiches at Einstein's, or any of the coffee cakes at Dunkin Donuts. And I don't even want to think about buying gluten free food. Gluten free pasta is at least twice as expensive as regular, if not more! Also, gluten free bread sucks.
Like I said, today is day four. I feel as though I really do have more energy, and I'm not getting sick after eating like I normally do. I'm going to give it more time, probably another week, just to test it out. If it really does make me feel better, not having gluten in my diet, then I guess I have my answer. While I don't want to have to deal with how annoying it would be to forever be on a gluten free diet, I suppose it's better in the end if it means being healthier. Right?
