- [Voiceover] Gluten-free diets that cut out all food
with wheat, barley, and rye have become
extremely popular in the last couple years,
so we challenged four people to change their diet
for a month to see what happens
when you go gluten-free.
- I've heard that going gluten-free
helps you get more energetic
which is definitely something I'm interested in
because I'm always tired.
- I wanna kinda get back onto
a healthy eating schedule
and really pay more attention
to what I'm putting in my body.
- I'm excited to just find good gluten-free cake.
- The reason I wanna go gluten-free
is because my girlfriend was diagnosed
with celiac disease
and I'm hoping that by myself
going gluten-free, I can make it
a little bit easier for her.
- What are some changes that I should expect
when going gluten-free?
- It depends on how sensitive your body
is to gluten, but some of the great benefits
of being gluten-free are increased energy.
A lot of people who go on a gluten-free diet
end up having more energy just because
the energy in their body isn't being used for digestion.
- I'm nervous that I'm not gonna have a lot to eat.
- Think about it this way:
our favorite foods become our favorite foods
because we eat them often.
The good news for you is you're not
giving up your five favorite.
You're just setting it aside and saying,
"Oh, do I have 20 other favorites
"that I didn't even know about?"
- That's exciting (laughs). - So you come out of the diet
and you've got 25 favorites.
- I was just looking at my favorite fake bacon
that I eat all the time.
Modern corn starch, wheat, gluten!
I had no idea there was gluten in this.
I might've eaten some since I started the diet.
I definitely have.
- At work, we had free cupcake day,
so I after I pouted about that quietly to myself,
I suddenly found out there was a gluten-free option.
There's gluten-free options of a lot of stuff,
but there's just one gluten-free option.
- I've found it's made my life
about 60% more annoying.
It's Friday at BuzzFeed.
A ton of free doughnuts right here,
and I can't eat them because I'm gluten-free this month.
Basically, I feel exactly the same.
- I do not feel more energetic.
- I wouldn't say I feel like I have more energy.
- I actually get up feeling energized
and ready to get my day going.
In one week, I've lost about six and a half pounds already.
- I'm here to turn things around
and gonna try some gluten-free pizza tonight.
(gasps)
It's like pizza made on a too-thick tortilla,
and they're sweet for some reason.
It's not a substitute for normal pizza.
- Better than I thought.
- I have a feeling that is going to be
the standard review for gluten-free food.
- It kinda tastes like pizza minus bread.
I can't taste the crust at all.
So, I can tell that my body's no longer
used to eating gluten, but I don't know
if I'm losing a lot of weight
or feeling amazingly better.
- I haven't seen my energy level change.
I've seen my anger and frustration level change.
- Wow!
What an amazing snack.
- It's been pretty fantastic.
I've just found myself walking a lot more,
not feeling like I need to take a nap
in the middle of the day.
So, I'm at my friend's engagement,
still doing gluten-free, so you can see
my entire plate is pretty much empty
besides lentils and rice.
It's one of those things that I feel like
I could continue doing even after this is over.
- My goal was to just help my girlfriend
get used to celiac disease,
and she hasn't had gluten in maybe three or four months,
which is huge for her, so that worked out really well.
- Nutritionists are really good
at making gluten-free diets sound fun
when they're actually awful.
It was too big of an inconvenience.
- I don't think I really feel any different at all.
There's gluten in weird things
that you wouldn't expect.
I realized sort of halfway through
that my face lotion had gluten in it.
- Now I've found that I don't really feel bogged down
by the stuff I've eaten from the previous day.
Even just the breakfast I'm having,
it's a lot lighter.
I just feel like I've actually got
energy to get through the day.
- [Voiceover] You lost five pounds.
- I lost five pounds, all right.
- I lost five pounds?
I don't have a lot of body fat.
I'm not sure if I can afford to lose five pounds.
- [Voiceover] Three pounds of body fat.
- Three pounds of body fat?
Oh (bleeped).
That's cool.
- I cannot wait to eat gluten again.
Internet, do you know this?
Do you know how good pizza is?
It's so good.
It is so good.
- It was worth it just for this plate
of a cupcake and a pizza.
This is everything I could've asked for,
and it just made it that much better
after not having it for a month.