S/O of the grain-loving thread

[LizzyBee]

We do love grains here. There is probably no food I enjoy more than homemade white bread, and we love white-flour pasta too.  But... grains bloat me or at least wheat and popcorn do, I crave unhealthy carbs like crazy if I eat even a little (it may be debatable whether white bread is an unhealthy carb, but it definitely causes me to crave sugary carbs), and I can't lose weight while eating those types of carbs, which causes my cholesterol to be high.  I have refused meds for high cholesterol, but I know it's at a point where I really do need to get at least my trigs lower.  My total cholesterol is up to 272, trigs are highest they've ever been, but ratios are still just within the normal range (although most drs don't seem to put much stock in the ratios).

 

Also, my oldest dd has had digestive issues for years that at least partially resolve when she's GF.  She tested neg for celiac, but her GI dr said that just means there's not enough damage to make a postive diagnosis; it doesn't mean she doesn't have it. It seems that some days she can tolerate some gluten, but then other days she'll eat something with gluten and spend the entire night in the bathroom throwing up and having diarrhea.  Maybe gluten isn't her only trigger, but we haven't been able to figure it out completely.

 

So all that leads to my question.  Has anyone here switched to non-GMO Montana wheat and resolved their gluten issues that way?  I've read that very often, if a gluten intolerance isn't caused by celiac disease, it's caused by the way modern wheat is grown; therefore, switching to wheat that isn't grown using modern methods will resolve the gut issues that the modern wheat caused.  I have a Vitamix and it's a snap to grind wheat in it, so switching to Montana wheat wouldn't be a big deal for us except that we all prefer white bread and pancakes over whole wheat.  But of course we know that whole grain is better for us if we're going to eat those things, and if it makes us feel better physically, that would make the adjustment much easier.

[Dory]

Switching to Einkorn wheat resolved enough issues in this house that I have actually sold a couple animals to make room to grow it in one of the fields myself this year. My youngest Is much less cranky and much less sniffly when he is off the refined modern flour. My digestive issues got a lot better when we had the cow, but have improved even more off of the modern wheat.

 

I use Emmer for my pasta (makes great pasta). Best sifted. And I use Einkorn for our breads. It dries out fast, so I can't make the large batches that I used to make, but it does make a filling and very tasty bread.

 

We still end up having white flour pancakes as a treat every now and then and over Christmas I baked some sugar cookies and shortbread cookies with white flour. I have been paying the price, but the kids loved it so for once a year, I think we can survive it.

[LizzyBee]

Switching to Einkorn wheat resolved enough issues in this house that I have actually sold a couple animals to make room to grow it in one of the fields myself this year. My youngest Is much less cranky and much less sniffly when he is off the refined modern flour. My digestive issues got a lot better when we had the cow, but have improved even more off of the modern wheat.

 

I use Emmer for my pasta (makes great pasta). Best sifted. And I use Einkorn for our breads. It dries out fast, so I can't make the large batches that I used to make, but it does make a filling and very tasty bread.

 

We still end up having white flour pancakes as a treat every now and then and over Christmas I baked some sugar cookies and shortbread cookies with white flour. I have been paying the price, but the kids loved it so for once a year, I think we can survive it.

 

Thanks! I will check out those brands.

[Dory]

Just make sure when making bread that you use a recipe that does well with 100% whole wheat as the gluten is lower and reacts differently in the ancient grains. A lot of modern bread recipes don't do well with it. This is a pretty good bun recipe, and this is a pretty good loaf recipe. Good luck!

[LizzyBee]

Have you tried spelt?  I've read that some gluten-intolerant people can use spelt safely.  I can get it locally by the pound or in bulk, so it has a convenience factor.  For the other two, breadtopia is the cheapest source I found online. Where do you buy yours?

 

Thanks!

[Dory]

Have you tried spelt?  I've read that some gluten-intolerant people can use spelt safely.  I can get it locally by the pound or in bulk, so it has a convenience factor.  For the other two, breadtopia is the cheapest source I found online. Where do you buy yours?

 

Thanks!

 

I haven't tried spelt, mostly because it isn't as old of a wheat. Spelt is from a cross of Emmer and goat grass. Emmer is a cross of Einkorn and something else. Einkorn is the great grandaddy of them all. I wanted to go right back to the beginning with our eating. Which in this house includes a lot of cultured foods. The eating changes have made such a huge difference to a lot of members of even my extended family. And none of our eating changes included us cutting whole types of food out of our diet, just taking each food back as far to the beginning as we could.

 

My mom has used spelt a couple times. It makes a nice loaf.

[Ann.without.an.e]

We had been using the non-GMO montana wheat and grinding it ourselves for years when we decided to go GF.  50% of my family has autoimmune disorders (ds has an auto immune digestive disorder and he gets terribly sick when he has gluten).  It was the best decision for our family.

[mommymilkies]

I use Montana wheat or King Arthur.  I need to switch back over to Einkorn and sourdough/fermenting, but the cost! Oh my!

[Dory]

I use Montana wheat or King Arthur.  I need to switch back over to Einkorn and sourdough/fermenting, but the cost! Oh my!

 

Yes the cost is horrible. It's better if you can find a local grower. My Emmer came from close enough that I could drive to pick it up and it was half the price it normally would be. I picked up some Red Fife at that time too. Einkorn has been harder for me to find which is why I am trying to grow it. I want enough that I can supply a couple of friends nearby as well.

[mommymilkies]

I usually order from Tropical Traditions (?) when they have sales.  But it's still crazy expensive.  On Amazon, you can buy pre-packaged Einkorn in bulk-spaghetti, cookies, etc.