Gluten, which is found in grains, particularly barley, rye, oats, and wheat, is in almost everything: from bread to pasta, from balsamic vinegar to bleu cheese, from bacon to soy burgers. Hell, it’s even in some toothpastes and ibuprofen.

 

A little over a year ago, our family doctor prescribed a gluten-free diet for my husband Dan after he suffered months of horrendous digestive and intestinal problems. Holding in our hands the doc’s ten-page document about gluten sensitivities and restricted foods, we began a food journey that neither of us had planned for or were quite excited about. (I chose to go gluten-free at home to rouse moral support and avoid cross-contamination.)

 

At first all we could see were the items on the “Don’t Eat” list: baked goods made with all-purpose flour (adieu, Zingerman’s breads, cakes, and cookies), whole-wheat pasta (farewell, “real” spaghetti), and barley (adios, beer). Worst of all, good-bye pizza delivery! For a couple who celebrate passion through food, the beginning of the gluten-free diet felt like the end of our honeymoon. Grocery shopping went from a quick stop to an hour-long tour with aisle after aisle of intensive label reading—and that’s coming from two people who already were label readers and very conscious eaters. But the worst was dining out, which became a cross-contamination nightmare. Asking servers if the kitchen could accommodate a gluten-free diet felt like asking them to articulate the step-by-step procedure of brain surgery—that is, if they knew what gluten-free meant. As cliché as it sounds, it felt like we were in hell, paying for our sins of over-indulging in microbrews and cupcakes.

 

Then came a moment of light. My mother-in-law and I were window-shopping at Anthropologie, and we found Karen Morgan’s cookbook Blackbird Bakery Gluten-Free. In that moment, I felt inspired by the challenge of a gluten-free diet. I bought Morgan’s cookbook mostly because it’s beautiful photos and hip recipe headers, but it has become my go-to gluten-free baking cookbook (from which I got the chocolate chip recipe you see in this month’s episode!)

 

Embracing the challenge, Dan and I researched gluten-free recipes online and in trustworthy cookbooks, such as Gluten-Free Girl and The Chef by Shauna James Ahern and The Gluten-Free Gourmet Cooks Comfort Foods by Bette Hagman. Once we started accepting our gluten-free diet as part of our food values (local, seasonal produce; humanely raised meats; and limited processed foods), it became much easier to live without some of the breads, sweets, and pastas that had become so central to our previous diet.

 

As I age, I’m realizing that the more we surrender our expectations to the present moment, the more clearly we can see what’s been in front of our faces for so long. In non-hippie terms, the more we adopted a gluten-free diet rather than wallowed in “what-was,” the more we started seeing how many products are labeled “gluten-free,” how many restaurants offer gluten-free menus (God bless you, Rafferty’s Restaurant and Pub in North Conway Village, New Hampshire!), and how easy it is to naturally eat gluten-free by focusing more on vegetables, fruits, nuts, and rice.

 

Unfortunately, one drawback to the gluten-free diet is its cost. Eating fresh foods, especially organic and local produce, can be expensive. Also, many of the gluten-free pastas that actually have a good texture and taste cost well above a “good penny.” But we’re not paying for weekly doctor visits or absurd amounts of Imodium, so that’s a fair trade-off for us.

 

Whether it’s for medical reasons or personal choices, a gluten-free diet doesn’t have to be a vampire ready to suck all the good food out of your diet. In fact, being gluten-free can mean being healthy, more alert, and more active. From personal experience, a gluten-free diet has immeasurably improved Dan’s health and has allowed us to enjoy food once again. Truly, it becomes less about what you can’t eat, and more about being open to the new opportunities of what you can eat. Gluten-free doesn’t have to be taste free!