gluten free

Gluten free. At first it just seemed like some fade in the health world...another one of those marketing tactics to get people to buy their product. I was ignorant. I didn't really know what gluten was, honestly.

gluten=a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley

Why I am tend towards a gluten free diet...especially a few days before big workouts:

1. gluten has been shown to increase the body's inflammatory response...which causes increased time for muscle and body system recovery

2. gluten has a higher glycemic load than gluten-free foods

3. gluten is found in many processed foods...we already rarely eat anything processed.

Many athletes have made the switch (and sacrifice at times) to the gluten free diet...some because they have been diagnosed with Celiac diease. Which, Celiac is one of the most undiagnosed autoimmune diseases in the US. One in every 133 American's suffer from Celiac's disease, which means they are unable to process and tolerate the protein commonly found in most breads, cereal, pizza, pastas...the list goes on.

Check out "Team Gluten Free": http://www.teamglutenfree.org/experts.html

Desiree Ficker is a professional triathlete that has gone gluten free and she has a blog that is interesting to read: http://www.desireeficker.com/

Here is our gluten free dinner we had tonight...pesto brown rice pasta with kale:

It's hard for me to think about going totally gluten-free, but maybe the benefits will outweigh the yumminess of pizza, breads, pancakes...the list goes on...:)