In October, I abstained from gluten.
I gave up wheat.
It was fine.
Thanks for reading.
Ok, there's a little more. Honestly, I’ve dragged in writing this article because, frankly, I don’t have much to write about. I guess that’s something to write about, though. I was surprised how little my life was affected by giving up gluten, so this will be a quick one.
This was the first abstinence where I felt like a tourist. Not in a flattering, “boost the local economy” sort of way, but in a, "ugh... tourists", sort of way.
Such a poser.
Many good friends of mine are allergic to gluten, some in very severe ways, and I felt a little insecure admitting that I was giving up gluten “for the fun of it”. Some of them would kill for a deep-dish pizza or a fat donut… how dare I play pretend?
I didn’t get any guff from them, but I wondered if I’d get any, “my intolerance is not your Halloween costume” comments. I wasn’t giving up gluten as an affectation, to be cool like my GFDF friends, though. I was genuinely curious if I would notice a difference.
And I did.
Sorta.
Going into it, I truly wanted to see how a gluten-free October would play out for me. Historically, Octobers have not been good for me, both physically and mentally. It’s usually the gateway to the ugly months in my head. The weather is typically changing, cueing my seasonal affective disorder, my fall allergies flare up, and I start spending more time indoors. Anna and I were both curious to see how these things would be different by giving up gluten.
How?
If gluten is causing inflammation in your body, it can affect you in all sorts of ways, from muscle and joint pain to sinus issues to digestion problems. By removing gluten, I was taking a step to reduce potential inflammation, and therefore, I might see a difference.
And?
This October was one of the best Octobers I’ve had in a long time.
I’m hesitant to give gluten-freedom the glory, though. It reminds me of my experience in January when I gave up meat. I had a great month; I felt good both physically and mentally. But is it actually possible that 30 days without these things could make such a difference?
I can’t say for sure.
This month, there were several other factors contributing to my well-being, including some professional growth and focus at work, a warmer, dryer month (which meant more time outside), and I’d just finished some big projects for Mordecai, so my plate wasn’t as full as usual. Also, after reintroducing gluten in November (and meat in February), I didn’t experience a significant decline in my well-being. So, it couldn’t have just been the breadlessness, but I can’t deny it was a good month for me.
How was it... the breadlessness?
Overall, I didn’t have a problem with a gluten-free diet. The GF variants of my favorite foods were generally better than I expected.
Bread
In my head, I identify as a bread guy, but now I wonder if I just want to be a bread guy.
I don’t buy fancy bread.
I don’t make my own bread.
I will swap wheat toast for white toast when I eat at a diner (raises pinky), but it's been ages since I've pulled a toast preference.
And, most condemning of all, I liked the gluten-free bread.
From what I hear, it’s come a long way and is much better now than it used to be. I think it gets a bad wrap (bread pun). I didn’t mind it. It certainly had a different texture, but it's not that bad. You get all the fun of chewing on styrofoam without the squeak and the ick. That sounds like a dig, but I love biting styrofoam.
Tortillas
I had to switch to corn tortillas from flour. I generally don’t like corn tortillas (limp chips with a general foot taste don’t sit well with me), but they weren’t that bad! They also helped with portion control… the cute little things… just kidding I just ate more tacos.
Pizza
It was fine. The one pizza I ate had a cauliflower crust. One can never have too high of expectations for anything primarily consisting of cauliflower, so I wasn’t disappointed.
Pasta
We had chickpea pasta a couple of times. The flavor was ok, but that was just because Anna made it taste good. In my limited experience, I think the key with chickpea pasta is to eat it as fast as humanly possible. Just hoover it up. It has a prime edibility window of 4-6 minutes before it starts to revert back to its garbanzo state. Too much conversation at the dinner table? You’re going to need a grinder. Leftovers? No way… it’s sand at that point.
Cereal
In lieu of my usually half-portion of grape nuts, I had to have rice chex. Life is hard, then you die.
Candy
There is no shortage of gluten-free candy. Rejoice.
Is candy corn gluten-free?
I did the research. It does not contain gluten but is not labeled as gluten-free since it is processed in the same facility as wheat products. So, for my purposes, let’s party! And by party, I mean to gorge myself on that sweet mellowcreme magic.
And that's about it for WHEATS. In summary, I gave up wheat, and it was fine.
Thank you for reading.
Postscript:
Today is the first day in 2025. I have completed the 12 Abstinences! I have two more articles in the works (TV and Obstinance). Once those are done, I will be compiling all the articles, adding an appendix or two, and building a limited edition of 50 books.
If you’re interested, you can pre-order one here.
Thank you!
Comments