A few years ago I read “Wheat Belly” by Dr. William B. Davis.
As a result, I tossed all the wheat flour I had in the house and cleaned out
the freezer. I had a cake made with wheat flour in the freezer, which I took to
a potluck several days later.
When I went to the potluck, I’d been gluten free for a week
or so. I decided to have two tiny pieces of cake. One piece from the cake I’d
taken out of my freezer, and one piece from a cake a young woman had brought. I’d
put a different frosting on the one I’d brought than I usually did and wanted
to try it. The other one was a homemade Tiramisu cake. Within minutes I felt
like I was being sand papered internally. That’s when I knew that taking gluten
out of my diet was a good decision for me.
Over time, I noticed other changes as well. Starting with
the loss of eight (8) pounds. While I did gain it back, the fact that I lost it
without doing anything else, told me even more that gluten was bad for me.
I think the biggest and most surprising change for me was my
desire for sugar. It has become less. I still enjoy certain sugary treats, but
I don’t crave sugar as much as I used to. Not only that, but some things I used
to enjoy are now too sweet for me.
For instance, “Kind” bars which are a nut or fruit and nut bar, sometimes with
dark chocolate are something I really enjoy. My two favorites used to be, Dark
Chocolate Cherry Cashew or Apricot Almond. Now, if I eat either of those
flavors, all I can taste is sugar! Bleah! Thankfully they make other flavors I
really like. My two current favorites are Dark Chocolate Chili Almond and Sea
Salt Maple Pecan.
Last, but not least, I find that I’m more sensitive to
artificial flavors. I used to absolutely love “Buttered Popcorn” flavored Jelly
Belly candy. The last time I bought a small bag, all I could taste was the
artificial flavor. I ate the whole bag thinking that at some point
they’d taste as I remembered, but they didn’t.
I did try an organic spelt bread, thinking that maybe it was
just the chemicals used to process standard wheat. It didn’t matter. I still
felt sand papered internally, even though it wasn’t as strong.
Overall, I’m glad I chose to go gluten free. Despite gaining
back the weight, my tolerance for sugar has gone down and real food tastes
better than it did before. I also find that my hunger is more easily satisfied
and I don’t get hungry as easily as I did when I ate products containing
gluten.
I’m not saying this is for everyone, but it helped me.
