As I’ve gotten older, I’ve started to experiment with different ways of eating, whether it’s following the Keto Diet or doing intermittent fasting. I’ve noticed that I feel differently, and my body reacts differently, depending on what I eat.

Because of this realization, I approached the team at LaunchLKN to organize a community event to talk about nutrition and the human gut microbiome.

In the last few decades, more and more people have started to go gluten free, despite not being formally diagnosed with celiac disease (the autoimmune disease where ingestion of gluten leads to damage in the small intestine.) So, I set out to ask, Why does gluten make so many people sick?

My co-organizers at LaunchLKN put me in touch with three great speakers:

• Bill Aimutis, a food scientist and director of the NC Food Innovation Lab
• Brooke Navarro, founder of the allergen-free food manufacturer Without A Trace
• Nicole Magryta, nutritionist and author of Nourish Your Tribe: Empowering Parents to Grow Strong, Smart, Successful Kids

After eating wheat for thousands of years, a growing number of species now find significant health benefits from going gluten free. Yet most people have no idea why.

At our event on 2/16, we answered these questions:

• Has something changed with how we grow wheat?
• Is the human gut microbiome changing?
• Is food processed differently today than in the past?
• Is it something else?

We had a great turn-out at the event, which was held onsite at the NC Food Innovation Lab in Kannapolis, NC. Attendees had the opportunity to also tour the lab following the event.

‍

As a bit of a foodie, I enjoyed organizing this event and hearing from the speakers.

Here are a few images from the event:

‍