My Two-Week Gluten-Free Challenge

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.