Gluten, You Great Deceiver.

Dear Gluten.

You with your tender pastries and your soft bread.

With your warm, buttery croissants that call to me from the bakery shelf only to melt in my mouth.

With your moist and delicious cupcakes packed with creamy filling.

You have hidden behind a veil of secrecy and covered the truth with delicate pastries and desserts and warm fresh breads for far too long.


I would have never discovered your deception had I not begun looking for a cure to chronic headaches.

I never would have become wise to your ploys and your influence.

I would have continued living in my wheat-filled, headache stuper, none the wiser..

But, alas, the veil has been torn down and the truth has set me free.

Don't get me wrong, I know you aren't necessarily bad for everyone. I know that you, when eaten well, are in fact a perfectly healthy part of a diet....

But I didn't know how common it was to be gluten-sensitive.

I didn't know that-- thanks to the way you make our lives so easy-- I was funneling more processed and less real food into my family's mouths.

I didn't know that I had alternatives like almond flour and coconut flour.

I had no idea that quinoa and amaranth were sufficient replacements as whole grains.

I didn't know that Real Food was the answer.

Okay, so maybe that is my own fault, but I was deceived, I tell ya!

Really, Dearest Gluten, I should Thank You.

It's because of you that I first began researching all your lying friends, like high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners.

It's because of you, I started asking myself if there were alternatives to foods covered in toxic pesticides and injected with man-made antibiotics and horomones.

It's because of you that I committed myself to doing the very best for my family.

It's because of you that I have more energy and fewer headaches and wake up without feeling like I'm in a fog.

It's because of you that my family has traded the ultra-processed, packaged fare for the real thing.

It's all because of you.

So thank you, you lying, cheating, Siren of Baked Goods.

Thank you.

Today I am linking up over at The Open Letter Campaign!
Go check it out and join in the fun!