I have a diabetic friend that eats lots of cake, cookies, and candy. It’s all low-sugar and low-glycemic index, but it’s still carbs. I can kind of understand his point of view; reality has told him that he’s not allowed to eat all the tasty things that he remembers from his youth, and he is (in a way) rebelling against that and eating it anyway — just in a more diabetic-friendly manner.

But I think the notion is dangerous. I don’t want to eat cake, or pasta, or bread. I tried gluten-free pizza, and it’s just not the same. I’m not going to eat buckwheat pasta just so I can have pasta. Eating those foods is a way of refusing to acknowledge reality. Wheat is evil. Don’t eat wheat. Everyone else eats wheat, but so what? I don’t want to return to the “good old days” of my ignorance.

Besides, the fake stuff tends to taste like ass.

A friend of mine advises to go zero carb cuz that way you don’t have to count; eating is very simple: if it’s a carb, don’t eat it. I appreciate his point of view but that’s not for me. That sort of strict rule doesn’t tend to work with me for some reason; I can’t keep to a rule if I know it’s arbitrary.

To me, eating fake food is breaking a more important rule: don’t eat poison (like gluten, lectin, etc). I can stick to that rule, and eating fake food means that sometimes I can eat “bad” food. I’m much happier treating all breads, even if they’re gluten-free, as bad.

By not choosing fake foods, I also get to eat other stuff, which tends to taste better, too. Beef & butter for dinner!