Gerwyn Price has put his resurgence in form down to him adopting a gluten-free diet.
‘The Iceman’ questioned his future in the sport after his World Championship quarter-final defeat, which came after he donned ear defenders to block out crowd abuse.
But he has turned things around in the last couple of months, winning two nights of the Premier League – including a memorable homecoming in Cardiff – and picking up his first title of 2023 at the European Open last weekend.
Price, 38, puts his return to form down to his new diet.
“I have been playing well for the last eight or nine weeks,” he told the PA news agency. “I was under a lot of pressure but that’s when I seem to do well.
“I have taken on a gluten-free diet, it has put me in a better place, I am feeling a lot better.
“I have seen a lot of specialists to try and find out what is triggering the water retention in my hand and my feet.
“Whenever the temperature rises in my body or in a room then things don’t seem to be right.
“I have seen specialists who don’t seem to know what the answer is so I read up and I have done some research and it could be down to needing a gluten-free diet.
“I have done that diet for the last six or seven weeks and things have started to get better, my mind seems to be better.”
Price, who is targeting another win in the Premier League in Berlin on Thursday night, says his new way of life has pros and cons. He finds it difficult to book a restaurant that caters for him, but at least he can still eat a cooked breakfast.
More importantly, the diet has given him mental clarity.
“Things like that put your mental state back where it should be,” he added.
I have taken on a gluten-free diet, it has put me in a better place, I am feeling a lot better.— Gerwyn Price
“Winning helps and getting results and everything seems to fall into place.
“It is a cocktail of things that is helping, the crowd has been on my side which is really nice and gives me the freedom to play, so things are looking really good.
“It is a little bit awkward sometimes when you want to go out for family meals, you are having to find somewhere that actually does gluten-free.
“But you’d be surprised by what you can eat, a full English breakfast is mostly gluten-free.
“It is quite hard but being gluten-free cleans up your diet anyway and gets rid of rubbish foods, which certainly helps. It gives me focus anyway.”
