I have spent the latest 20 years of my life avoiding wheat as much as I can. It was quite an obsession at first. Now a days I don’t freak out quite so much though it is still constantly on my mind. I don’t like how I feel after eating wheat. Most every time I do, it is diarrhea and stomach pain the next day. Going out to eat was always a tremendous challenge because no one could understand why I was so adamant about knowing the ingredients that was used in their food preparation. It is a bit easier now because of the prevalence of gluten free products. But even these have to be watched. I do have to say that when I eat a food that uses the whole wheat berry I don’t seem to have the same gastro distress. Also, if I eat sprouted wheat I am fine.
I have always felt that a fractionated food is inferior to a whole food. A fractionated food is one which has had certain components of it removed, such as the bran and germ from wheat. This leaves a less nutritious food. Most of the time this extracted food is compromised in other ways due to the processing techniques used. The latest research all points to the fact that refined grains are linked not only to weight gain but to increased risk of insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome (a precursor to diabetes).
It is estimated that 1 out of every 100 Americans has celiac disease today. Australia’s rate is 1 in 250 at last count but many experts feel that it is actually higher due to the difficulty of diagnosing and the fact that many people suffer for years without knowing what it is.
My theory is that we have created another man made epidemic with the use of overly processed foods and that we are now paying the price. Not so long ago it was rare to come across children with type 2 diabetes (and adults too!), now it is common and the same thing is happening with celiac disease.
There are currently twelve plant species that make up 80% of the world’s crops by weight. These are wheat, corn, rice, barley, sorghum, soybeans, potato, manioc, sweet potato, sugarcane, sugar beet and banana. Wheat, corn, rice and soy are the dominant of the twelve. In America, corn is the heavy favourite with it being found in nearly every processed food in one form or another. Most of the corn and soy grown in North America is genetically modified.
Xanthan gum is a fermented corn sugar product and is used as a substitute for wheat gluten in gluten free baking as well as a natural thickener added to drilling fluid or drilling mud in the oil industry. Versatile stuff. It was created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to act as a thickening agent similar to corn starch or guar gum and is used in dairy products and salad dressings as a thickening agent and stabilizer. I would not use xanthan gum personally not just because it is man made goo that sticks to my intestines but because of the uncertainty of the cleanliness of it. Genetically Modified food scares me and I haven’t seen much availability for organic xanthan gum. I am aware that a product can be labeled Organic as long as there is 95% of the ingredients that are. The other 5% have to be selected from a special list of ingredients and xanthan gum is on that list.
Guar gum comes from the guar bean which is mostly grown in India and Pakistan though the U.S., Australia, China and a few other countries are growing it as well. Guar bean is a soil-improving crop that is also used to feed cattle. A multipurpose bean it is used for everything from cosmetics, to salad dressings and oil and gas drilling (just like xanthan). I don’t know, if we over use something it seems to me we may develop first a sensitivity to it and then stronger reactions will follow, which is what I feel happened with wheat. I don’t believe eating the guar bean (or whatever food) in its whole state with a large array of other foods would have that same effect. Eric and I knew a guy years ago that bought 50 lb. bags of oats because he heard it was healthy. Weird, the guy ate it 3 times a day...never got healthier. Last I heard I think he switched to bananas.
Also, if you check out this site http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/guar.html you’ll see that it is susceptible to weed and pest problems which starts the cycle of unnatural additives to our food. Not that this is unusual, pretty much any non-organic crop will have more than just that crop in it.
Wheat is the cereal with the greatest production in terms of area and value to the Australian economy. Australians love their wheat cereal! Wheat health benefits will depend on the form you eat. They won’t be much if you select wheat that has been processed into 60% extraction, which is the standard for most wheat products. There was a law put in place back in 1941 in the United States that required processed wheat flour to be “enriched” with vitamins B1, B2, B3 and iron because of the issues created by 60% extraction( this means 40% is tossed out, the most nutritious part). The problem with that is nature made a perfect food, man messed with it and then tries to put back the nutrients because our health was compromised. There is something missing in the translation though and reintroducing certain vitamins back into the food will not have the same nutrient value nor work in the way it was originally intended.
I also noticed that white rice is immensely popular here in Australia. I can rarely find brown rice in a restaurant. In fact, quite a few ‘health conscious’ people say they can’t seem to develop a taste for it. That is a shame, I find brown rice more flavourful and satisfying than its processed counterpart. Of course I’m not crazy about sprayed brown rice so I try to provide organic as much as possible to my family. I guess this is where my biggest argument for a whole food diet comes in. If we could just go back to eating food which hasn’t been created in labs or fed from things created in labs or sprayed with things that come from labs, we may just slow down this crazy downward health spiral we seem to have got stuck in.
Some of the other “flours” used in gluten free cooking leave a lot to be desired too. Most of the time people purchase ready mixed flours for convenience sake. But for a few extra minutes you can have fresh flavourful flours that taste far superior to any of the questionably aged ones you purchase from the market. Not to mention higher nutritional values.
Potato flour, corn starch, tapioca starch...all of these are gummy gooey messes that leave your intestines all clogged up. We naturally need fiber to get in and scrub ourselves clean.
Food needs to enter the system and leave the system efficiently for good health. Those of us who have compromised gut health will definitely have to go a bit slower in introducing proper foods, but it can be done. We also need to be aware of how we got ourselves into trouble in the first place and make sure our children don’t make the same mistakes! My kids know my story very well (the teenagers will roll their eyes in agreement) and they all have a pretty good understanding as to why we live and eat the way we do. Through fermented foods, green smoothies, probiotic therapy and lots of fiber I am now at a much better place than I was when I first started this healing journey.
Teff flour, amaranth, quinoa and almond flours, chickpea and soy flour are all good alternatives, when done fresh. Nature kept the seeds, nuts and beans contained in perfect little packages to protect them until it was time to either germinate or feed another creature. We on the other hand think it is o.k. to grind them up in mass production, package them and send them off half way across the world and sell them as healthy alternatives. Chickpea (Besan flour) is a good flour to compare store bought to freshly ground. It smells and tastes so different that once you do compare there is no going back to packaged.
Buying a machine that grinds your flours for you may seem price prohibitive to some but if you think of the long term financial and time saving benefits you will see it makes sense. Not to mention the environmental impact.
Excerpted from Paul Pitchford’s book “Healing with Whole Foods”
“A small serving of pickles after meals aids in digestion. All pickles can be made from carrots, daikon radish, broccoli, cucumbers, cabbage, cauliflower, greens, turnips, ect.
Pickles can be beneficial for restoring the intestinal flora by promoting the growth of healthful Lactobacillus acidophilus. For those with candida overgrowth, cancer, and other degenerative conditions of impaired immunity, salt is restricted, and so the raw saltless sauerkraut is recommended in these cases, In addition, cabbage itself has important immune-enhancing properties. Raw saltless sauerkraut is also recommended in the treatment of ulcers.”
For a pickled salad or sauerkraut chop up a variety of cruciferous vegies like cabbage, beet, carrot, broccoli along with a good quality salt and fresh peppers if desired. There should be some juice happening from the chopping and salt to pull the liquid out. Pack in either sterilized jars or one large bowl or jar and cover with a layer of cabbage leaves. I usually weigh it all down with a plate and some cheesecloth. I know that some people will actually stir in a spoonful of probiotic to quicken the fermentation time prior to the top cabbage layer.
Let the vegetables sit in a well-ventilated room at room temperature (between 6-7 days at 16 degrees C and 5-6 days at 21 degrees C), throw away the old cabbage leaves and the mouldy and discoloured vegetables on the top.
Put the remaining sauerkraut in glass jars and refrigerate. Will keep for 4 to 8 months or longer if using salt
I personally lived on sauerkraut and baked corn chips for several years while combatting severe candida. It is a tangy addition to your meal and in a short period of time you will begin to crave it! 1-2 heaping Tbs per meal is all that is needed.
