by Erin McKenna

Last week I spoke with a reporter for the Daily Beast about the growing popularity of gluten-free diets due to the number of celebrities who are booting gluten out of their lives. It seems like the whole world is now questioning whether following this diet is going to deflate their muffin tops and get their beach bodies back. Naturally, the quote that was pulled for the article had to do with me dropping 7 pounds when I gave up gluten which implied that following a gluten-free diet was a magic bullet to lose weight. But there were a few important details left out that had a lot to do with it.

When I removed gluten from my diet, I also stopped eating the common irritants: dairy, soy, eggs, caffeine, sugar, artificial sweeteners and preservatives–much like Dr. Junger’s Clean Detox Program. I ate simple and natural–the way I always imagined hippies ate. Food was now carefully chosen but abundant. Fruit, avocado, walnuts, organic greens, brown rice and flax and olive oil. I drank yerba mate instead of coffee. There was no dessert (which is why I created BabyCakes–hello!). It was a hellish transition. I missed my boca burgers and had major chemical-withdrawal headaches from not eating my daily sugar-free frozen yogurt. No one prepared me for this! Luckily the symptoms departed after a week and I began to feel better than I ever had in my life. Eating didn’t mean reserving time to curl up on the couch and recover, it actually gave me more energy. Yes, there was some weight loss but it had nothing to do with calorie counting and everything to do with feeding my body food it knew what to do with. This completely changed my attitude about eating and gave me a distinct respect for every organ in my body. I felt newly responsible for helping my body get the nourishment it needed.

Over the years, I’ll admit it has been tough to maintain this lifestyle. I’ve lazed out and caved to a preservative-packed protein bar here and something fried there when I’m too busy to care and it had taken a toll. Thankfully, I recently picked up Dr. Junger’s book, Clean which gives a fascinating insight on what goes on with your liver and gut and how important it is to care for your body. I decided to follow his Clean Detox Program to reset and start fresh and I can say I now feel back to my old self (the first week was pretty brutal though!).

So the point, right? Not sure. I was moved to write this simply because I don’t think people should go gluten-free as a tool to lose weight. The key to better weight balance is to chose your food carefully and consider the opportunity each meal presents to be good to your body. Try to tap into your inner-hippy. Eat whole foods and remove pre-packaged and processed junk out of your diet and see how you feel in a week. I swear, you’ll be testifyin’ too!

To find out more about Erin McKenna and babycakes nyc, visit her at http://www.babycakesnyc.com

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