Eating Gluten Wisely and My Best Cookie Recipe
Why the stamp “Gluten Free” might not hack it for your GI issues
There’s been a lot of talk about gluten lately, or rather, the lack thereof. Words like “wheat”, “gluten”, and “grain” have almost become blasphemous, their constituents banned from countless kitchens across the country. Taking their place on shelves are brown rice bread, quinoa pasta, tapioca flour based crackers… the list goes on and on.
I am all for grain variety. As someone who has struggled with digestive distress since my teenage years, changing up the grains in my diet has been a key to understanding what my triggers are, and it has been incredibly helpful to experiment with a gluten-free diet as part of my healing journey. Yet although I was substituting my pastas, breads and crackers for gluten-free versions, my belly was still feeling uneasy. I felt so confused. I knew didn’t have celiac disease, which is a true and direct immune response to gluten. So why did it seem as if the world of grain was against me? It was in speaking to a local grain farmer at a farmers market that I truly understood how to approach eating grains in a way that worked for my body.
My friendly informant told me about the rancidity of flour products we normally buy in markets. Commercial baked goods are made with flour which is often milled a few years before the product is made, leaving the oils that naturally exist within the grain to go rancid as the flour sits. Those rancid flours are typically made with genetically modified wheat, which has been linked to an array of chronic health issues. If it’s a conventionally prepared, store-bought packaged good that has an exceedingly long shelf life, you might guess that it’s prepared as described above.
Grains also contain phytic acid, an enzyme inhibitor which can make digestion difficult. A way to neutralize phytic acid is to soak grains with a liquid, such as room temp filtered water, with a little acid in it, such as apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, whey, or yogurt. This process slightly sours the grain, making it more digestible and its nutrients more bio-available.
Grains can also be sprouted to make them even more nutritious. Sprouted grains can further be dried or dehydrated and then processed into flour. You can find sprouted grain bread in the freezer section of health food stores, which ensures they are still fresh when you eat them. You can also find organic sprouted grain flour in most health food stores. Many of the recipes I work with now are made with either sprouted grain or freshly milled grain.
Variety is key in grain and flour consumption
Brown rice pasta, quinoa pasta, brown rice bread, quinoa crackers… there is a lot of brown rice and quinoa being consumed. In terms of sustainability, these grains are not locally grown, so it puts a stress on the areas of production which normally feed that local region only. And considering most packaged foods are not prepared using soaked or sprouted grain, they may contribute to gastrointestinal upset because of their means of preparation.
It’s also worth noting that any grain consumed in excess can cause gut distress, including those that are gluten-free. Too much brown rice, too much quinoa, and too much wheat is simply just too much. An example of rotating grain consumption could look like eating sprouted wheat crackers one day, quinoa pilaf another, brown rice sushi the third day, and spelt bread the fourth. As long as you maintain the variety and high quality of your grains and their preparation, your belly will thank you.
Some resources to help move away from commercial flour consumption
To make my own flour: I use a grain mill which was gifted to me when I retired from working in the kitchen at my local food co-op (shown above), but a food processor or high speed blender (such as a Vita-mix) would do just fine. Simply add your grain of choice in their most whole form (spelt berries, oat groats, wheat berries, brown rice, millet, etc) to your food processor, blender, or grain mill if you have access to one, and let it rip. The result will be fresh flour, ready to use for recipes to come. Use immediately, or store in the freezer to maintain freshness.
A few different forms of grains to know about when making your own flour products:
Groats or Berries
Groats or berries are the whole kernel of the grain, minus the indigestible hull, with bran and outer germ intact. These forms of grain can be used to prepare fresh milled flour. Examples are Rye or Spelt Berries.
Polished Grains
Polished grains are groats and berries with some of the bran layer rubbed off. These take less time to cook than groats or berries, but are also less nutritious. An example is barley.
Grits
Grits are chopped groats, which take less time to cook and yield a porridge type consistency, rather than a whole kernel form (the way rice does, for example). Examples are steel cut oats and polenta.
Bran
Bran is the layer often removed when grains are conventionally processed into flour. These can be added to cereals and baked goods to increase their fiber content, but lack the nutrients of a whole grain. Examples are oat and wheat bran.
Whole Grain Flours
Whole grain flours are milled from whole grains, usually groats or berries. Since the germ is present, the fat content of these flours is higher, which makes them prone to rancidity. These products are best stored in the refrigetator to maintain their freshness.
Refined Flour
Refined flours lack the nutritious outer bran and germ of the grain when being processed into flour, which means they contain less fiber than whole grain flours and has low nutritional value. This product is best to use very rarely or not at all.
In conclusion…
I’m so grateful that I ran into that grain farmer one day at a farmer’s market, as that conversation helped me to change the way I thought about flour and grain consumption moving forward. If you’re in this same part of your health journey, I hope these ideas are helpful as you grow your awareness of the different flour products you are consuming and ways to make them more nutrient dense. Try to sprout or pre-soak your grains and flours, make your flours from scratch, when possible. Your belly will thank you.
Now, onto a recipe you can start with using your freshly milled grains! This recipe is a very simple, forgiving and delicious recipe for those first experimenting with fresh flour baking. You definitely won’t mess this one up if you’re working with your first batch of freshly milled flour at home!
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Everyone can use a cookie now and again. These cookies have proven to be be a hit for years! When I worked at my local food co-op, I baked a batch of these for customers and they would disappear within a day. I make them now any time I want to wow someone.
Ingredients
2 cups flour of choice, preferably freshly milled or sprouted (I often use oat)
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
Directions
Preheat oven to 350F.
Mix dry ingredients, except chocolate chips, in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl mix wet ingredients.
Add wet ingredients to dry, being careful not to over mix.
Fold in chocolate chips. Drop heaping tablespoons onto 2 baking trays, lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 12 minutes, switching the trays positions in the oven after 6 minutes of baking.
Let cool several minutes before eating to set the cookie.
Yield
20 full size cookies
All photos within this post taken by Julianna Blizzard.