7 Day Trendy Diet: Gluten Free
Exploring Trendy Diets One Week At A Time
Hello everyone, for the last quarter of the year I am trying a new diet each week for 7 days to test my emotional and psychological reaction to different dieting lifestyles. I understand the average diet does not take physical effects for 3 weeks to 90 days, but as a foodie, I want to explore how different people eat food on a day to day basis.
My second mission is to test the “wellness” placebo effect. The illusion that changing their diet made a person's emotional well-being change. Some people report that as they change their diet their focus and motivation has changed. I have yet to find that after losing weight in the past. For week one I tried the gluten-free diet.
Gluten-Free Diet: A diet that is 100% exclusive of the protein gluten. Gluten is a protein commonly found in wheat. Those who are allergic to this protein often have celiac’s disease. According to a 2015 gallup poll 1/5 people started a gluten-free diet.
Why I tried it: I have a few friends in my social circles who are gluten free. One friend of mine had not had fried chicken for 7 years because they were gluten free. So I got curious.
How much did this diet cost on my weekly grocery budget? The cost of my groceries was approximately 30 dollars less than my usual 60 to 90 bucks for two weeks. I typically go grocery shopping every two weeks, I bought gluten-free alternatives which were most cost-friendly except for bread. I bought a loaf of Schar Bread from Giant that cost a whopping $6.50 , four dollars more than what I am used to paying. The bread alone is not worth maintaining a GF diet. I wanted to get noodles too, but nope that was also too expensive. I also got a pasta dish that was gluten free and was suprisingly 7 dollars more expensive than a regular pasta dish. I also went to a place that gluten free pizza was 5 dollars more than regular pizza. So nope.
Did I experience any emotional waves or feelings? None , not a single one. Some people report going gluten-free helps them clear their mind and gluten makes their brain foggy. (seriously google it, this is just for fun so no need to link any articles). This was not the case, I felt no different. If anything I would only hypothesize this may be an effect of those with celiacs. As someone who is lactose intolerant, I tend to feel pretty out of focus when I eat lactose products.
Did I cheat? Three times, I had a donut on day one, then on day seven, I had pizza and ramen because I was at Penn State and the night prior I got a large slice of Pizza from Pizza Dads with friends. Staying true to a diet when you are out with friends is not easy.
Would I do GF again? Were there any alternatives that stood out? No I would not do gluten free unless I was at a restaurant that was traditionally gluten-free like Couch Tomato or I was with a friend who had Celiacs otherwise I would not dig this diet, besides I have to get down with the wheat proteins to maintain my gains for my next diet. the Vegan diet stay tuned for next week!
Have a happy October everyone, my birthday is in 10 days :)