Seems Like Everyone's Allergic to Gluten All of a Sudden...What Gives?

 It seems as if just as the clock tolled midnight on January  1st, the health/fitness world as we know it decided it and  everyone would magically become allergic to the wheat,  barley and rye, those grains making up the Gluten family. People  toy around with the definition of this term, not really knowing what it means, what it might do for you and what you should do if you want to be on the latest trend  bandwagon. I thought I'd clarify, in laymen's terms.

You're told growing up (or at least I was) that whole  grains and fiber are good for you. Yes, white bread is  surely more appealing to most kids but the bottom line  is that white flour has basically zero nutrients. Zero. Think  about eating a piece of cardboard. Yea. Same thing. That  being said, you're encouraged to eat complex carbs,  brown grains, fiber, seeds etc. Great. Awesome. NOW though, they're saying that some bodies are not programmed or built to properly digest gluten. What has gluten you ask? Well, in short, ANYTHING with rye, wheat or barley including most bread, pasta and beer. That, mind you is the VERY SHORT definition and to be honest, I haven't extensively researched it yet. But I will. 

What I am doing though, is an experiment. I'm going to tell you my thoughts on the subject and then I'm going to give up gluten for an undetermined amount of time (the goal is 30 days). I think that some bodies do not react well to gluten. Much like those who are lactose-intolerant, some people just do not react well. I tend to believe in the 'everything in moderation' approach but they do say that an allergy to gluten is indeed rather common. That being said, I love sandwiches and pizza. I'm a fairly healthy eater and would rather control what goes into my food myself than order out - but that being said, I'm really going to miss these two items the most. Other than that, I'm not a big beer drinker (mostly because I just don't feel great afterward) and I could really take or leave pasta. I eat rice (brown) regularly and am curious as to how this will make me feel.

One of my good friends is gluten-free and does not claim an allergy so much as she says she just feels better when she avoids it. She says her digestive track functions better, she has more energy and she isn't even bothered by having to avoid gluten anymore. They offer gluten free bread and pizza dough these days at tons of restaurants so what's there lose?

Some people say giving up gluten leads to weight loss but I can't help but think that's probably because you're just more conscious of what you're eating. You can't have a piece of bread.. or two...at the dinner table, you can't order breakfast burritos, pasta, normal sandwiches or anything fried (I just assume there's gluten in fried foods unless otherwise noted) and you can't down 10 beers (by the way- there is gluten free beer that is actually really good). And...that pretty much names most of the unhealthy things out there.

In sum, here begins my experiment in the gluten free world. I'll give updates and recipes through the month as I notice/or don't notice changes. Goodbye beer, good night pizza, farewell bagels and arevoir beer. Wish me luck.