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Food

The Gluten-Free Backlash Has Begun on Social Media

In a land before time, there was Atkins. Then South Beach. Then Paleo. Now there is #hotgirlseatingpizza and @girlswithgluten.

As we recently reported, a study of thousands of products in Australia revealed that there is no damn reason you should be buying gluten-free anything, unless you are part of the tiny minority of people—we're talking one percent—who suffer from celiac disease. (Or if you happen to have a penchant for throwing your money away on Beanie Babies and other useless shit.)

And yes, we'll also include those of you—another maybe 10 percent—who happen to have measurable sensitivity to gluten. But for the other 89 percent of Americans—i.e., the rest of us—there appears to be no reason whatsoever to hit the gluten-free aisle in the supermarket. As one researcher put it, "The[se] foods can be significantly more expensive and are very trendy to eat, but we discovered a negligible difference when looking at their overall nutrition."

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Well, Instagram and Twitter have apparently has gotten the message. And who is speaking up? Leading the bandwagon? Forwarding the charge? A bunch of bikini-clad girls who go by the moniker @girlswithgluten. And others who tag themselves #hotgirlseatingpizza.

Girl is strung out on gluten @aaleencox #girlswithgluten

A photo posted by Girls with Gluten (@girlswithgluten) on Jul 28, 2015 at 1:22am PDT

You may wonder why a bunch of healthy young women would feel so strongly about this subject. Why would they feel the need to pose in elaborately staged photographs in which they indulge in overstuffed sandwiches, huge slices of pizza, and donuts galore? These lovely ladies are clearly enjoying their moments of gluten glory. They are reveling in veritable gluten-fueled orgasmic pleasure!

What gives? Well, if you think about it—and I certainly have, purely in the name of duty, examined these next-level food porn pictures at great length—you've gotta feel for the women of America. After a decade of gluten vilification, who other than the matriarchy of our fair nation—who suffer the slings and arrows of body shaming so much more than we gentlemen do—to fly the flag of gluten indulgence!

In a land before time, there was Atkins. Then South Beach. Then Paleo. Then the evils of gluten, in general, were hawked by everyone from the glamorous Gwyneth to the adorkable Zooey Deschanel. There's just something about a comically small ukulele that speaks to people; everyone seems to have followed in these celebrity footsteps and gone gluten-free!

What's a young woman who enjoys a piece of cake to do? Take to social media, of course. And these women certainly seem to be enjoying themselves. And who wouldn't?

May I suggest, perhaps, that the men of this country should get with the program? How about @badboysn'breadsticks? #fatdudeswhoeatpizza?

Anyone? Anyone?