Imagine a life without your favorite foods. No pizza, sandwiches, pasta, or other foods that contain gluten. Some are surprised to hear how much gluten they eat in a day, and some don’t  even know what it is.

Junior Brooke Vogel is one of the many people who has to live her life without some of her favorite foods. She has lived the gluten-free life for 8 years, after being diagnosed gluten- sensitive in fourth grade. After always hearing ringing in her ears and being on 3 different medications, she went to Dr. Price at Healthy Options. While Brooke is gluten free because of sinus reasons, her brother, freshman Jared Vogel, is gluten free, mainly because of stomach pains.

According to celiac.org, gluten is “a general name for the proteins found in wheat…rye, barley and triticale. [It] helps foods maintain their shape, acting as a glue that holds food together.”

“Gluten-free is so much better for your immune system. I haven’t been sick for three years now. Also, the amount of gluten in food in unnatural,” Vogel said.

Vogel admitted that it was hard at first to change her lifestyle. “It’s sometimes hard to define gluten, and it doesn’t plain out say it on nutrition labels.”

Junior Lilly Stannard, a friend of Vogel’s, had much to say on Vogel before going gluten free.

“One time as kids we were digging holes on the beach. Brooke was singing to herself, like always. This time it was different. I couldn’t get her attention at all. I was hitting her and screaming in her ear but she was so far in her ‘gluten world’—the way she gets when she eats gluten—she couldn’t even hear or feel me.”

Vogel expressed positive feelings about her diet. She has learned that being gluten free has allowed her to feel more in control over the food she eats and her life in general. “It is inconvenient—sometimes—but being gluten free has helped me to not feel pressured into feeling like I have to make choices other people make.”

In the morning, Vogel usually eats eggs or fresh fruits, though she misses doughnuts and cookies. However, when she does bake, her favorite gluten free recipe is ‘Pamela’s gluten free sour cream coffee cake.’ She also loves the gluten free pizza from Pat’s Pizza or Seasons Pizza.

Junior Hailey Schilling, another friend of Vogel, admits there is an extreme difference between “gluten free Brooke”and “gluten Brooke.”

“Gluten Brooke acts out of control, kind of like a sugar rush. She thinks everything is funnier, bounces off the walls, and basically acts delusional,” Schilling said.

Vogel admitted that every once in a while she cheats on her diet. “Yes, I do occasionally cheat, but not usually because if I do I feel really sleepy or foggy-minded and can’t concentrate well.”

Vogel loves being gluten free and has learned so much from it. She enjoys her sharper hearing, and she is more clear-headed with so much more positive energy.

Eleanor Werneke is a Lifestyles Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.