Been struggling with my health amid a busy season lately, but I finally found the reason: I have a gluten intolerance.

Basically, I can’t eat grain products anymore. It’s a genetic condition called (among other things) celiac disease. My sister was diagnosed with this a few years ago, so I’ve been on a semi-cautious lookout since then. Gluten is a protein found in grains that has basically gotten way out of hand since farmers invented cross-breeding to increase harvest yields. Over the past couple hundred years the gluten content of grains has gone nuts. We’re talking multipliers in the hundreds. The human digestive system isn’t designed to handle that much gluten, so an autoimmune disorder has arisen that basically destroys your small intestine – making you unable to absorb nutrients and and generally turning you into a sickly person.

A few days ago I was attempting to go to sleep after a rough day when the thought occurred to me that I was exhibiting a lot of the symptoms for celiac. In the morning I cut the grain products out of my diet and almost immediately noticed a difference.

I hadn’t realized how bad I had been feeling until today. When I woke up, feeling great, I thought to myself “Gee, I like feeling this good. Sure beats being sickly.” Then I ate a protein bar I thought was gluten-free. I was incorrect. Within a few minutes I started feeling the ‘sickly’ symptoms coming back and double-checked the label. Yup, trace amounts of wheat involved in the manufacturing process.

So now I’m embarking on the new diet. It’s a big lifestyle change, especially for a bachelor “starving” artist. The hope is that by switching over, I’ll regain a lot of the energy that I haven’t had for a few months now. Even in the few days I’ve been testing the gluten-free diet I’ve felt more alert and energetic. The improved mental state is awesome. We’ll just have to wait and see what sort of long-term effects the change has in store as well.

In conclusion: Big life change, but don’t bake me a cake to celebrate