Gluten Day

Tomorrow is my favorite holiday of the year, Gluten Day. Gluten Day commemorates the first day, six years ago now, that I started my gluten-free diet. I celebrate February first, the day that robbed me of a life of cinnamon pop-tarts, beer, and my Mom's birthday cakes by eating as much gluten as possible. Yes, it makes me sick, but for one day a year it's worth it. Who hasn't stuffed themselves with sweets, like a kid on Halloween, knowing perfectly well it will come back to haunt them? Plus, for the most part, it helps me stick to my diet the rest of the year. I'm not tempted to try glutenous things, I save them for gluten day.

I am in Rome for Gluten Day this year, and extra-special treat. I was sitting a cafe down the street form my apartment this afternoon reading an article by Burkhard Bilger called "Nature's Spoils", eyeing with jealousy and anticipation the counter of freshly baked Italian pastries in front of me when gluten popped up in the article. "Nature's Spoils" is a report on 'Opportunivores' - people who rely on methods such as dumpster diving as their main source of food - and our coexistence with bacteria. Did you know about 90% of the cells in your body are, in fact, bacteria? Only about 10% of 'us' is really 'us'. While I can't say I'm about to swan-dive into the nearest dumpster to embrace my other 90%, the article had a point about bacteria that throughly startled me. We (Americans, namely) have an obsession with sterilization. Think about how many times a day you encounter Purell - in wall dispensers, next to sinks, hanging from student's backpacks. In kindergarten we learn the alphabet, not to hit, and to sneeze into the crook of our elbow. Share everything, except your germs. We like bacteria about as much as we like TSA. So what does bacteria have to do with Gluten Day? According to Bilger, everything. He states;

"The bacteria in the gut can take up to four years to recover from a round of antibiotics, recent studies have found, and the steady assault of detergents, preservatives, chlorine, and other chemicals also takes its toll. The immune system builds up fewer antibiotics in a sterile environment; the deadliest pathogens can grow more resistant to antibiotics; and innocent bystanders such as peanuts or gluten are more likely to provoke allergic reactions."

I was dumbfounded when I read that. Was growing up in a sterile environment the reason that the fresh chocolate croissant I'm staring down will stay behind it's glass case today? Did I kill off the bacteria that allowed my body to digest gluten with purell? I don't know. Maybe tomorrow with my first bowl of real Italian pasta I'll have to have a side of bacteria. Either way, something to think about, and something I will definitely be reading up on.