People on ‘voluntary special diets’ such as gluten-free celebrate quinoa and zucchini, or a tofu stew, as the perfect meal. They repeat how splendid they feel, and how poisonous all those modern foods like bread are. If you are sceptical of the scientific foundation of their statements, they defend their well-being as ‘subjective’. Whatever they may say—they are lying. It’s not ‘subjective’: it’s self- induced. As I said, I was myself lured into the gluten free benefits, stubbornly annoying all my friends with my new special needs. And I thought I was feeling great!
When I returned home last Christmas and declared I was on a gluten-free regime, my mother brought home a package of rice spaghetti to honour my commitment. Yet, my commitment was short—lived: on Christmas day she served all the gluten-unfree amazing plates that are typical for Italian Christmas lunches. With the same enjoyment of a libertine pursuing the pleasures of the flesh at the cost of the salvation of his soul, I ate of it all, joyfully, and thought, ‘I may be poisoning myself, but at least I shall do it with the greatest enjoyment’.
I realized that libertines could not exist in a gluten-free society. Most important, I realized I was feeling good after the gluten-unfree meal. Therefore, I dropped the diet. Later a friend told me that she is eating only raw veggies, fruits and nuts. She explained how ‘inner energy shines clean’ thanks to the diet, and I considered trying it out—I was falling back into the tunnel. Luckily, a gluten-fix of pasta with broccoli and parmesan made me refrain from that awful temptation.
Recently, I understood that people must embrace their metabolisms. Ayurveda, yin-yang and other ancient schools of medicine already give beautiful instructions on how to listen to your metabolism. I am following the Ayurveda now, and I can’t wait to tell you how splendid I feel…