Re: sorghum and gluten

[Guest guest]

>I finally found some sorghum flour - exactly where you (especially Heidi) said

I would find it - in an Indian grocer! However, the shop assistant insisted

that celiacs and people with gluten intolerance avoid it and buy the other

flours such as potato flour. What actually is sorghum anyway? Is it a grain?

relative of what? And is it definitely not a gluten grain? Can celiacs safely

eat it?

>

>Thanks,

>

>Filippa

Sorghum is a grain. You've probably seen

it in hamster food, looks like little round

beads. It isn't related to wheat at all.

It is nutritions (generally it's whole grain)

and it cooks up closer to wheat flour than

any other flour.

It probably isn't one of the more *digestible*

grains, however. I don't use it for stuff we

eat a *lot* of because my DH finds it hard on

his stomach (I don't, amazingly enough). Those

non-nutritional flours that are just starch

really digest easily, no weird proteins or

phytates or anything else, so folks with digestive

difficulties would probably be better off with

them. So for breads I've been using Montina

or a mix of potato/rice/tapioca flours, because

they eat a lot of bread. But I use the sorghum

for treats, because I can use Joy of Cooking style

recipes and make stuff like carrot cake, brownies

etc. (which you don't want to eat in quantity anyway).

I suspect the issues with sorghum are the same

as the ones with brown rice (which no one here

can digest well either). Potentially if it was

soaked etc. brown rice (and sorghum flour) would

be a lot more digestible. The sorghum is much

better if you let it soak in kefir overnight,

but that would require more experimenting with

recipes. I can make good flatbread that way, but

haven't made a " real " sandwich loaf successfully.

Also, sorghum CAN get contaminated by wheat, it tends

to be processed in the same facilities. Mine

isn't, because the farmer does it himself and

is careful (www.twinvalleymills.com). If a person

isn't highly sensitive, I'm not sure the trace amounts

make a lot of difference. I'm not sure they *don't*

make a difference either, but the rest of my family

doesn't worry about contamination issues and they

are still doing a lot better than they were eating

" visible " wheat.

In terms of digestible grains, I think quinoa is

it! I don't know why it hasn't caught on more. I

was wondering if one can grow it ... I also bought

some buckwheat in bulk and I'm going to experiment

with sprouting and malting it. Quinoa is higher

in most nutrients than wheat, and it looks like it

will grow well here. Might be too much work to

process for me, but I'd bet it is great chicken

food. Also it isn't a grass, it is related so

some of the anti-worm greens (like lambsquarters)

so maybe it would be good for goats? See below

for the nutritional content.

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/quinoa.html

Now if this Indian store sells other flours (like potato)

also, then that's great! I have found that potato,

rice, and other flours are a lot cheaper at Asian

stores!

-- Heidi Jean

[Guest guest]

>I finally found some sorghum flour - exactly where you (especially Heidi) said

I would find it - in an Indian grocer! However, the shop assistant insisted

that celiacs and people with gluten intolerance avoid it and buy the other

flours such as potato flour. What actually is sorghum anyway? Is it a grain?

relative of what? And is it definitely not a gluten grain? Can celiacs safely

eat it?

>

>Thanks,

>

>Filippa

BTW, the site below talks a lot about the different

kinds of flour, and they make all kinds of

stuff out of them:

http://www.specialfoods.com/milo.html

(They sell flours too, but the prices are high!)

-- Heidi Jean

[Guest guest]

___________________________________________________

Now if this Indian store sells other flours (like potato)

also, then that's great! I have found that potato,

rice, and other flours are a lot cheaper at Asian

stores!

-- Heidi Jean

______________________________________________________

Thanks Heidi. I'm much clearer about it all now. Will look into the other

flours now too.

Filippa