#iwantbread

Original post

i just really want bread

Upon deciding that she wanted to join me in this month's diet challenge, one of my best friends said to me yesterday,

"I've already done pretty well today except the croissant this morning and iced coffee (probably)."

"Katie, there's no gluten in iced coffee."

"Caramel Macciato?"

"No."

I thought it was funny that it was one of the million times (okay, like the third) that one of my friends assumed that there was gluten in something without really knowing. At first, I thought it was crazy that none of them knew what gluten was, but then I realized they are probably assuming it's definition based off of the way it sounds. (Maybe it sounds like glucose?? And they think it's a natural sugar...?) I have no clue.

Gluten is a protein found in the grains: wheat, barley, and rye. They are essentially responsible for giving dough its texture and holding it together. Felicia likes to say that gluten is what makes the flour stick together when you make dough. But basically, when people have a gluten intolerance, the body attacks the gluten protein as if it were an invader. In turn, that damages the parts inside your small intestines that absorb nutrients from food. This is why four years ago, Felicia would have bad stomach aches and headaches when we ate pasta (which we probably did a lot) and things like pizza, cake, or cookies.

However, people like me, who are not allergic to gluten, wonder why it is beneficial to cut it out completely. Other than the fact that gluten is in some of the fattiest foods out there, I have learned that flour-based foods are not essential to our diet. Humans in the days of old, did not eat anything wheat-based. They hunted and gathered their food. It was the farmers who introduced us to something we feel like we can't live without- bread. This is a big reason that grains are cut out of the most recent diet fad- The Paleo Diet. In this diet, you only eat fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, nuts and seeds, eggs, fish and seafood, and only certain oils. If you combine my February and March diets, I'm basically doing Paleo. Who knew I had something in common with a bunch of nutrition and exercise experts?  

However, even though the Paleo diet suggests eating meat, we don't really need that either! We could survive and get all the nutrients, proteins, and vitamins we need by being vegan! SHOCKER!!! More on this controversial, yet eye-opening subject later. 

It's crazy to think that so much of the food available today isn't necessary. It's just extra stuff we've invented or have grown to rely so heavily on throughout the last few hundred years. 

But let's stick with gluten this month.