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Gluten Free Living

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In the early 2000s, it wasn’t trendy or cute to eat gluten free. Now, it’s like wearing a pink Sox hat to Fenway or postgame interview shaving cream pies in the face for the cats on the field. There is gluten free pasta, bread, frozen meals…getting the picture? The latest “healthy” marketing craze seems to be taking crap and making it gluten free. Yippee.

Kevin Burkhardt is allergic to gluten. For those of you unfamiliar with Kevin’s work, he’s one of the brightest stars in broadcasting. He’s also an exceptional teammate of mine at Fox Sports 1. I’ve witnessed his challenges first hand. I’d love to see his nutritional existence get easier.

Gluten is a substance present in cereal grains, especially wheat, which is responsible for the elastic texture of dough. A mixture of two proteins, it causes illness in people with celiac disease. It may negatively impact many more. From celiacdisease.about.com:

Dr. Fasano, director of the University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research, published the first study looking at the molecular basis for gluten sensitivity and how it differs from celiac disease. He also participated in the research concluding that celiac disease incidence is one in every 133 people.

According to Dr. Fasano, gluten sensitivity potentially affects far more people than celiac disease. He estimates about 6% to 7% of the U.S. population may be gluten-sensitive, meaning some 20 million people in the United States alone could have the condition.

Now, back to my world.

The first time I worked with Kevin, we were on a pregame show together. During our morning meetings, food for the whole crew was ordered. I overheard a conversation in which Kevin very carefully articulated that he was going to need a different meal than the ones that were to be provided.

I asked him what happens when he ingests gluten.

“I can’t take a chance,” he said. “I’ll be done the whole day. Cramps, throwing up, and more.”

Kevin remembers eating during childhood being simpler, but he consistently encountered issues with his stomach.

“They called it irritable bowel syndrome, which is what they say when the doctor doesn’t know what’s going on. My stomach is so much better since my diagnosis.”

That diagnosis came in 2001. Since then, labeling has improved, and there is much greater awareness about the disease. These changes are rendering restaurants less intimidating spaces.

“Any chef worth his salt knows how to cook without gluten.”

The increased awareness of celiac and gluten allergies is a mixed bag. While eating out is easier, Kevin’s biggest hurdle is dealing with the challenges of processed foods.

“Whenever I see stuff like modified food starch or natural flavors, I have to be careful. Those foods can contain gluten. French fries are a risk too. If they were cooked in the same place as say, chicken tenders, I’m not safe because their breading may have gluten.”

Doesn’t sound like fun, does it?

However, after hashing it out in a quality conversation, the truth became abundantly clear. Just about everything I eat daily, Kevin can eat safely. Eggs, animal flesh, yams, coffee, fruit, veggies, almonds, avocados are all on his safe list. His is a diet of whole foods, essentially.

“I love sushi,” Kevin shared with a big smile.

I asked him if he meant just the fish.

“No, I eat the rice. And sushi rolls. Corn, potatoes, they’re all okay.”

Dude has plenty of freedom.

All this time, I’ve worn the pink hat. I’m embarrassed to say, I’m pretty much gluten free. Skip the processed foods, gluten free or not, and your body will display its gratitude.

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  • http://gravatar.com/mb01915 Mike

    “Real food does not have ingredients. Real food is ingredients.” Jamie Oliver

    • Gabe Kapler

      That’s it, Mike. Tweeting now.

  • Ed H

    It’s amazing how celiacs is viewed a this big curse. Oh no, you can’t eat sandwiches or brownies! It seems to me that celiacs is more a blessing pointing the diet into the right direction. I know it’s a little more complicated than that… but not much.

    • Gabe Kapler

      I think of this in exactly the same way, Ed. Thanks.

  • Blake

    Hey Kap,

    I’m looking to increase my vertical leap. I’m planning to stick with the regular 5×5 lifting schedule. Would you make any tweaks to that? Also, what kind of jumping (I’m thinking box jumps?) exercises would you recommend instead of a sprint workout? Thanks, and keep up the great work!

    Blake

    • Hefty Lefty

      Doing deadlifts and cleans, hanging or full, is pretty awesome for vertical explosiveness. Just make sure you nail the form down.

    • Gabe Kapler

      Nice, Blake. Focus on your squats. That made the biggest difference for me. Love box jumps, too.

  • Inna G Habelski

    Hi Gabe: I caught part of your interview this morning on the Gary and Larry Show on KNBR 680 (I’m a huge sports fan, especially baseball - Go Giants - and basketball - Go Warriors). I’m disturbed by what you said on the radio about gluten and by what you imply in this post. On the radio you said that the biggest source of gluten is processed/prepared foods, and that basically cutting out those foods makes one’s diet gluten-free. This simply is not true. While processed and prepared foods very often contain gluten in some form, and while I agree that minimizing those foods in one’s diet is a huge health benefit, that’s not the whole story on gluten. The most organic whole-grain wheat bread contains gluten. Any wheat, rye, barley - and the list of grains goes on and on - product, no matter how many health benefits it has, contains gluten. I think what you said on the radio and what you imply in this post are misleading people into thinking that eating gluten-free is just a matter of eliminating processed foods. It would be good for you to clarify and expand on the list of what contains gluten, so that your readers and listeners get all the facts. That said, I applaud you for promoting healthy eating as part of a healthy lifestyle.

    • Ed H

      ….bread is a processed food. Eliminating bread, breading and bread like foods (including baked goodies) removes a large amount of gluten hurdles. Eating whole foods like most fruits and vegetable, meats, fish, cheeses, eggs, etc is path to avoid gluten. We live in a very processed word which reaaally complicates things, but being gluten free is not the biggest curse life can throw at you.

      • Gabe Kapler

        Hi Inna,

        Thanks for your feedback. Americans don’t pick wheat and eat it. Like Ed says, they process it into other foods. While it’s not the whole story, it certainly is part of the story and I stand firmly behind the nexus of both the interview and this post; that by eliminating processed foods like bread, you eliminate a huge gluten source.

        Best to you and yours,
        Kap

  • Mike

    Going “Gluten-free” to lose weight or just for kicks can be risky. Those gluten-free cupcakes still have all the sugar, and that hard cider has more sugar than your beer. That being said, no one should assume gluten is safe. Eat foods that wouldn’t normally contain gluten anyway.

    • Ed H

      My opinion: choosing a diet that mimics another is risky. Fake foods that resemble real ones will keep you dreaming of the real ones. Soy hot dogs will keep you craving regular ones, gluten free cup cakes… you get it… Paraphrasing a Breaking Bad theme…. half measures don’t work when a full measure is required.

      • Gabe Kapler

        Good stuff, Mike and Ed. Thanks for chiming in.