A lot of reading I've done recently (and primarily accidentally) has brought up an interesting concept: the idea that gluten is addictive. On the surface, I'm not shocked. I would be the first to confess to a past "muffin problem"; and of all of the foods I have to stay away from, bread products (and cinnamon buns) are some of the hardest. But if you asked me, I would have put it down simply to carb cravings. If sugar cravings are a thing (and I can certainly testify that they are for me), I would assume that white-flour based foods are equally addictive for their carbohydrate properties. Now don't get me wrong, I like rice crackers and corn tortillas well enough, but there just isn't the same variety of carbs in my gluten-free diet to compete with my pre-allergy state. So while I fully confess I have bread compulsions (the fact that both my jobs provide a lot of free bread doesn't help), I never would have thought to blame gluten. I didn't need to get past the sugars.
But what this gluten addiction theory proposes is somewhat different. It proposes that gliadin, the protein in gluten that is also the cause of the majority of gluten allergies, activates opiod receptors in the gut. (Those would be the same receptors that recognize opium, morphine, and heroin.) In other words, it's not the sugars at all that are the problem, it's the proteins. And anyone consuming even trace amounts of these proteins are continuing their addiction.
So, being the curious scientist that I am, I decided I was going to investigate. This proposed investigation has two parts. The first (and easier, if more boring) step is to conduct a better investigation into the science behind these claims. I want to look at the research that exists, what conclusions have been drawn, and how much of this story is internet speculation. The second, and much more impacting (and harder) step is to cut out gluten, entirely, out of my diet. For at least two weeks, although I'm aiming for a month; we'll see how I do.
Anyone's who's read much of my blog is forgiven for being confused at this point, since most of the recipes I post are ostensibly "gluten-free". This is true. But gluten hides in a lot of places, and because I am sensitive but not dangerously allergic, I'm normally ok with consuming trace quantities of gluten. There's the downright flagrant cheating (along the lines of "my roommate's ginger snap cookies smell AMAZING...one bite won't kill me). There's the Sweet Chili Heat Doritos (the only vegan kind of Doritos, but unfortunately not wheat-free), my junkfood obsession. And then once I start going to restaurants, there's the breading on my yam fries; and more problematically, there's the wheat in my soy sauce. I live in Vancouver, the land of five sushi restaurants within arms reach, and in a (primarily) gluten-free pescetarian diet, fast-food sushi is a godsend. So my soy sauce intake it pretty high.
But, for the next two weeks, I resolve to eliminate every source of gluten I can find. Today I indulged in all-you-can-eat sushi, in hopes I can survive two weeks sushi-free. Tomorrow I go in search of wheat-free tamari sauce to replace the soy sauce in my cupboard. The chips get shelved. If I do eat out, I'll content myself with old-fashioned regular French fries; but I have eaten out so much these past few weeks that my wallet would be much better off if I just didn't, at all. (My no-restaurant resolution and my no-gluten resolution are highly symbiotic - the more I cook the better control of my diet I have, and the less I spend overall).
Why two weeks? Some websites I've read suggest it takes two weeks to kill gluten cravings, others suggest six months or more. Two weeks is my choice because it's realistically achievable, and I work well within the confines of a limited time frame. If I feel radically better during those two weeks, I may decide not to go back to gluten; but having a date when I will permit myself to go back, if I so chose, makes my restraint so much easier in-the-moment. Also, two weeks is about the time I've found it takes me to kick sugar cravings during the several times in my life I've cut out processed sugar, so I'm interested to see if this behaves accordingly.
One caveat I'll add right now: this will not be a perfect display of the scientific method. If I really wanted to test my gluten-vs-carbs theory, I would cut out gluten while maintaining an overall constant level of processed carbs (bring on the mochi!) However, one of my roommates is starting a food cleanse around the same time I'm starting this challenge, and because it will help both of us meet our goal, I'll probably engage in a larger overall cleanse during this period as well. But since I'm doing this out of general interest to see how my body reacts, I believe my observations will still be interesting, even if I've violated the "change one variable only" rule of science.
Wish me luck!
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