Tonic #2: Going Gluten-Free

When I saw the date of the last post, I giggled a little. I didn't realize it had been so long. Readers, I've got no excuse. It's just that I've been doing other things.

I've been trying to get back on track.

That doesn't mean I am. See the slice of pizza above? Yeah, I ate that the other night. But I also downed three Indigestion Stop pills (Tonic #1, remember?!) And I felt fine.



It's weird to eat those crappy processed foods again. Every Christmas, I'll try to eat a cookie. And I'll have the same reaction as I had with the pizza. This stuff just doesn't taste good to me anymore. I do it when I'm hungry and I have no choice.




I gave up gluten in 2008. Since then, not-eating-gluten has been one of my favorite tonics to keep IBS at bay. Not eating gluten is hard though.



There's a history of me testing gluten on this blog. It started last winter. My favorite local bar serves only hard cider (YUCK) and Guinness. How happy was I to discover Guinness went down absolutely fine?

At said bar, I also tried soft pretzels and portabella wraps. I am one of two vegetarians who comes to this place to eat. Every time I do, the cook comes out and tells me that he considered sprinkling bacon on my sandwich. (We used to work together waaaay back in the day.) I make fun of the Yosemite Sam tattoo on his forearm that reads: BACK OFF!

The soft pretzels made me sick. The portabella wrap? NEVER. The only gluten is the wrap. I imagine it's filled with soy as well. But it does not bother me.

IBS is fuckin' weird.

Do I dare get into the complexities of giving up gluten in this post? Absolutely not. Instead, I turn to the expert on gluten free, Iris at the Daily Dietribe.



This past spring, this insanely intelligent and dedicated lady wrote SEVEN blogposts on how to go gluten free. How can I even begin to try to explain the complexity of going gluten free, when Iris has kicked its ass so well?

I will say this...

Going gluten free is complicated. Never think it's just about giving up wheat. Never think it's just about buying gluten free foods. And NE-EH-EH-EH-EVER think that it's okay to do what I do - eat gluten here and there and still feel as good. Gluten definitely slows me down. Gluten keeps me less clear-headed. Gluten gives me bloat and farts.


Nobody puts it better than Heidi in this post - Gluten is much more than a food. For me, it's the start and stop to hanging out with my friends. But because I'm a sucker for the Kutztown Fire Company and its silly inhabitants, every couple of weeks, I make some sacrifices.