Re: Gluten Free Sprouted

[Guest guest]

On Tue, 15 Jun 2004 19:33:43 -0000, givemeamomenttothink wrote:

> Do any of you do sprouted, gluten free, or sourdough for your

> grains/flour?  That can alleviate some of your problems with carb

> addictions.  As mentioned Heidi (aka the glutenator) has spoken

> extensively on gluten.  Just type in gluten to search the archives

> and tons of stuff will come up.  Dangerous Grains is one book that

> has been recommended over and over.  You might want to check that

> out of the library as a starting point.

>

> Robin

I'm probably showing my ignorance here, but this reminds me of something I've

been wondering about.

For about 7 years now I've been gluten-free - I went off gluten to clear up a

chronic skin condition that had bothered me for several years prior (possibly

DH, but I hate allopaths, so I don't have an MD's confirmation that that's what

it is - all I know is if I get gluten by mistake within an hour my skin is

itching like crazy and I can be broken out in a rash for up to 2 weeks. Since

it doesn't happen if I eat GF, I'm happy just to be GF and not worry about

whether I will ever be able to be officially diagnosed as Celiac or anything

else that the " dictocrats " will say justifies being GF.)

Anyhow, I've started to suspect that the mainstream corpus of GF baking isn't

that much more healthy than gluten baking - (the Bette Hagman type books).

Still " the whiter the bread the sooner you're dead " , isn't it? What with white

rice flour, corn starch, potato starch, xanthan gum... I'm pretty good at baking

these things, but want to move into more nutritious stuff. I haven't been

hugely successful searching the web for recipes in this kind of small niche. As

I have gotten more skilled in GF baking, I've managed to regain all the weight I

lost when I initially went GF.

* Do those who make GF breads sprout or soak the grains? And what are you

sprouting or soaking - buckwheat? quinoa? beans? Do you make sourdough

starter from rice flour? Is this necessary with GF grains (am I just being

paranoid about all the " white " ) or are they already so virtuous that I shouldn't

worry about it. I have gotten used to Hagman's four flour mix - the

garbanzo-fava bean/sorghum/tapioca/starch mix - is that good enough? If you do

have a sprouted GF bread that works for you, I'd be interested in the

recipe/procedure.

* What about corn products - corn meal and xanthan gum? How " good " are they

from a NT perspective? How do you get any kind of crumbly avoidance if you

don't do gums?

Joan in Champaign, IL

[Guest guest]

> * Do those who make GF breads sprout or soak the grains? And what

are you sprouting or soaking - buckwheat? quinoa? beans? Do you

make sourdough starter from rice flour? Is this necessary with GF

grains (am I just being paranoid about all the " white " ) or are they

already so virtuous that I shouldn't worry about it. I have gotten

used to Hagman's four flour mix - the garbanzo-fava

bean/sorghum/tapioca/starch mix - is that good enough? If you do

have a sprouted GF bread that works for you, I'd be interested in

the recipe/procedure.

Well, from what I've learned here and other places, sprouting grains

or making sourdough from flours containing gluten neutralizes the

gluten.

As far as cooking with whole grains and refined grains, I can get

away with half and half with my family. I definitely can't get away

with purely whole grain baking...I've tried.

Robin

[Guest guest]

Joan, i don't know if this will help, but as one who was addicted to

seemingly any kind of baked good, junk or not, this is what has helped

me.

i knew i had to go off all sugar, white flour and alcohol.

i knew it would not be easy.

but now, whenever i crave a sweet, i have a piece of luscious, juicy,

delicious fruit. i always have apples on hand and the best kind are

fugis, organic if you can get them. the fugis stay hard and crunchy, and

they are sweet, almost too sweet, but they keep great.

i don't know if this will help you, but if you think about it, fruit is

probably better for you (in moderation) than any baked good, with

substituted ingredients ('healthier' ingredients )or not.

in other words, once i went off all baked goods, i love my fruit now,

feel like I'm doing something healthy for me without all that food prep.

i hope this helps.

laura

Anyhow, I've started to suspect that the mainstream corpus of GF baking

isn't that much more healthy than gluten baking - (the Bette Hagman type

books). Still " the whiter the bread the sooner you're dead " , isn't it?

What with white rice flour, corn starch, potato starch, xanthan gum...

I'm pretty good at baking these things, but want to move into more

nutritious stuff.

[Guest guest]

>Anyhow, I've started to suspect that the mainstream corpus of GF baking isn't

that much more healthy than gluten baking - (the Bette Hagman type books).

Still " the whiter the bread the sooner you're dead " , isn't it? What with white

rice flour, corn starch, potato starch, xanthan gum... I'm pretty good at baking

these things, but want to move into more nutritious stuff. I haven't been

hugely successful searching the web for recipes in this kind of small niche. As

I have gotten more skilled in GF baking, I've managed to regain all the weight I

lost when I initially went GF.

I tend to agree ... none of the starches are terribly nutritious. But a lot

of it tends to be what you eat WITH it. The Asian diet includes a lot

of white rice ... with ultra-nutritious stuff like whole dried anchovies

and kelp. Potatoes and sweet potatoes especially though, are

full of nutrients.

I don't think

baked pastryish things really are part of an " ideal " diet in any sense ...

I also don't think they are as deadly as wheat-based stuff

is. That is, they are lacking nutrients but they aren't toxic.

They don't make my skin itch or make me feel like I got kicked

by a mule the next day! But a lot of the bad press against " white

bread " isn't the whiteness, it is the gluten, IMO. Whole grain

wheat seems to be not as damaging as white flour, maybe because

the covering counteracts the gluten somehow (whole grain flour

doesn't rise as well either, so the gluten isn't as " sticky "

somehow).

As for gaining weight ... a lot of people gain weight when they

go GF, partly because their gut heals and the absorb nutrients

better. Other people LOSE weight because the body was

overcompensating for the lack of absorption.

>* Do those who make GF breads sprout or soak the grains? And what are you

sprouting or soaking - buckwheat? quinoa? beans? Do you make sourdough

starter from rice flour? Is this necessary with GF grains (am I just being

paranoid about all the " white " ) or are they already so virtuous that I shouldn't

worry about it. I have gotten used to Hagman's four flour mix - the

garbanzo-fava bean/sorghum/tapioca/starch mix - is that good enough? If you do

have a sprouted GF bread that works for you, I'd be interested in the

recipe/procedure.

I don't like the idea of bean flours ... beans seem to be ok, and have lots of

good stuff,

but only if they are soaked and cooked right. Plus I can taste them

in the flour.

I don't bother " fixing " the grains. I use pure white starch flours. The

additional

nutrients you get using whole grain, sprouting etc. aren't nearly as

great as you can get by, say, eating some liver or some kale or a good

bowl of soup or eggs. If your diet revolves around bread (which it does for

a lot of people) then you have to be darn sure it is nutritious

bread. But to me bread is basically an " edible napkin " -- convenient

for holding toppings!

>* What about corn products - corn meal and xanthan gum? How " good " are they

from a NT perspective? How do you get any kind of crumbly avoidance if you

don't do gums?

Personally I don't mind xanthan gum ... it is a bacterial by product and my

stomach doesn't mind it (it does bother some folks though). Corn is

iffy .. they Indians seemed to have gotten arthritis about the time

they started eating more corn, and I find I get joint pain if I eat too

much of it, esp. whole grain corn that isn't made into masa (like popcorn,

which I love!). If you want to add corn meal, I'd recommend hominy grits

or masa, which are treated with lime.

You can avoid crumbly bread tho, by using more egg whites, or kefiili (thick

kefir, which has a gummish substance similar to xanthan). Or gelatin. You

can also make really decent bread and wraps using whole boiled potatoes

(mashed, add a little other flour), like lefse (look up a lefse recipe and

try it, it's pretty good and ANY flour works with the potatoes). You can

also use nut or chestnut flours, which are more nutritious.

-- Heidi Jean