ancient grains – Chef V's Blog

gluten free grains

Should You Be Gluten Free?

“Hey Chef V, should I go gluten free?”

It’s a question I get asked almost every day.

So here’s my take on gluten…

I recommend people go gluten-free during the pre-cleanse phase of Chef V Cleanse (3, 5 & 7 days) and 21 Day Detox.

That’s because most people aren’t eating the 5 healthy grains I’ll introduce in just a bit. Most people eat heavily-processed wheat products. Which can ruin your health in a few ways.

Most packaged foods contain wheat or wheat flour and are not organic. The wheat flour in processed food is heavily sprayed with pesticides like glyphosate. That’s bad news because glyphosate may be linked to several health problems including poor gut health (this study shows).

So it might not be the gluten you’re having a reaction to in wheat products. It could be the chemicals!

The wheat that’s in products sold in almost every supermarket aisle contains gluten that has been dramatically altered.

ancient grains

Today’s gluten protein molecules in packaged foods are larger than the 5 healthy grains below. And that means your body might not recognize the modern wheat protein like it does ancient wheat. As a result, your body could start attacking the genetically-engineered wheat proteins. This in turn can lead to autoimmune reactions.

The good news is that you don’t have to completely give up gluten. (Unless you have Celiac Disease.) There are several healthy grains with old-school gluten that may not cause gluten sensitivity after you eat them.

(No, quinoa is not on this list because most people have heard of it by now.)

More articles about Gluten from Chef V

What do I Eat Today – A Gluten-Free Menu

Do you have the be gluten-free to be Healthy?

Your Guide to Gluten

Gluten Article Archive

All About Gluten and Gluten-Free Foods

Jobs Tears

Healthy Grain #1: Job’s Tears

I’ll explain the weird name in a bit. Job’s Tears taste like rice, corn and barley had a thrupple. The chewy grain has a texture like chickpeas and is about the same size as one.

Also called coix seed, Chinese pearl barley, and Hato Mugi in Japanese, Job’s Tears are perfect for buddha bowls (huge healthy, hearty vegetarian salad).

Ok, so now the trivia. So Job’s Tears are after the Biblical character whose faith was constantly tested by God. Personally, I’d have an anxiety attack if I went through all the stuff Job did.

Anyway, legend has it that when Job cried because of his many sorrows, the tears produced this healthy grain that looks like gray teardrops.

Fonio grain

Healthy Grain #2: Fonio

You can think of fonio as couscous’s cousin. A tiny grain originally from Africa, fonio doesn’t look all that appealing raw. In fact, it looks like grains of sand. But if you have a delicious sugar-free sauce, fonio will wonderfully absorb the flavors.

You probably won’t be able to find fonio in most supermarkets. Not even Whole Foods. But like just about anything else, you can find it online.

Super high in B-vitamins (with the exception of B12, which is only obtained from animal sources), fonio might be a grain you’ll be hearing more about in the future.

Will it be as popular as quinoa one day? Probably not. But time will only tell.

Healthy Grain #3: Einkorn

If you love the taste of commercial wheat just like it’s found in the supermarket, einkorn is for you. Only, einkorn is healthier than typical supermarket wheat-based products.

That’s because it’s nature’s original wheat and it’s never been genetically messed with in the 12,000 years it’s been cultivated.

I’ll get to the reason why it hasn’t been altered. But first, let’s review einkorn’s taste profile. Like most ancient grains, it’s got a nuttier flavor than commercial, modern wheat. People who love to bake but want to use healthier ingredients love einkorn as a substitute for commercial wheat.

Next time you try baking banana bread or making pancakes, make them with einkorn flour instead of whole wheat flour.

The superfood of the Egyptian pharaohs, einkorn was largely forgotten about for centuries. Early farmers discovered other grains that were easier to harvest. As gluten sensitivity has become more widespread, people have taken an interest in this long-forgotten unhybridized good gluten.

Healthy Grain #4: Freekeh

Get your freekeh on! Haha. What the frick is freekeh you may ask? It’s known as the King of Grains in the Middle East, the first breadbasket of civilization.

Raw freekeh wheat does look freakish. It’s green. But after it’s cooked it emerges with a light smoky profile. I’ve heard it described as having a taste similar to fire-roasted cashews.

As is the case with all 5 ancient grains, don’t eat them plain. Drizzle some olive oil or avocado oil on them. I also like Bragg’s liquid amino acids and a dash of Himalayan sea salt.

Healthy Grain #5: Teff

OK, so what the “F” is teff? It’s actually the one healthy grain on this list that doesn’t have gluten. That’s right, teff is gluten free. That means that people with Celiac Disease or gluten sensitivity can party with teff.

Naturally rich in calcium and vitamin C, teff are tiny grains that act like a resistant starch. Resistant starches resist digestion in the small intestine. Instead, they ferment in the large intestine (colon).

That may sound gross. But it’s actually super healthy. Your good bacteria digests these fermented teff sugars and creates short-chain fatty acids. Short chain fatty acids provide us with so many health benefits. But that’s the subject of another Chef V article.

For now, try a couple of these ancient grains and tell us what you think on Chef V Life.

sourdough bread

“Let’s talk about bread, baby, let’s talk about all the good things and the bad things that may be…”

With apologies to Salt ‘N’ Pepa (I’m starting to show my age!), bread isn’t as sexy as a topic as, well, sex. But actually in a way it is, because the conventional logic in natural health circles is that if you want to be slimmer and feel sexier, you’ve got to abstain from bread.

Personally, I don’t have bread every day or even close to every day. On the rare occasion I do eat bread, I’ll choose a gluten-free variety or organic sourdough cracked bread from Trader Joe’s.

And what about you? How often do you eat bread and other foods that contain gluten? If you’re eating gluten everyday, is this a ticking time bomb? Are you setting yourself up for an autoimmune disease or other serious health condition later on in life if you continue on your gluttonous gluten-filled path?

Here’s what I think about whether or not it’s necessary to go gluten-free…

ancient breads

Today’s Gluten: A Different Breed

When wild wheat was first collected some 20,000 years ago, it was much different than the wheat that’s harvested today. Through selective hybridization, wheat has been modified thousands of times.

Wheat, which contains gluten, the glue-like protein structures, is one of the most complicated species in terms of gene variation. You and I have about 25,000 genes that contribute to our individual traits. Wheat can contain as many as … get this … over 330,000 genes!!!

That’s right, wheat is more genetically complex than human DNA. But it wasn’t always like that. During the last 50-60 years or so, as the industrialization of food became the norm, wheat has become so bastardized that it would hardly be recognizable to the first agrarians who started cultivating it.

And as wheat has changed, so has gluten. The gluten molecules over the years have become larger. And modern wheat products contain more gluten than their ancient counterparts—gluten has become bigger and badder!

What does this mean for your health? If you’re eating lots of processed wheat and other foods that contain gluten, your blood sugar levels are going to suffer. That’s because modern wheat elevates blood sugar levels higher than ancient wheat varieties.

In fact, Dr. William Davis, author of the best-selling book from a decade ago, Wheat Belly, compared his blood sugar levels after consuming processed wheat bread compared to an ancient variety of wheat. With his baseline, fasting blood sugar at 84, Davis’ blood sugar spiked to 167 mg/dl after eating modern wheat bread. But after eating a variety of ancient wheat, his blood sugar rose to a far more moderate 110 mg/dl.

So you see, like most things in life, not everything is black and white. The devil is often in the details as they say.

The same is true with gluten. Gluten has a bad reputation, and for good reason; 99% of supermarket products contain highly-hybridized wheat gluten.

And with bigger gluten molecules and more of them, it’s no wonder that many people have bad reactions after eating gluten.

But not all gluten is bad…

Organic Sourdough Bread: Good Gluten?

Sourdough bread contains gluten. But there’s less gluten in sourdough than in wheat bread. Another benefit of sourdough is that it acts like a prebiotic fiber. Prebiotic fiber is what the good bacteria in your gut feed on in order to survive and thrive.

When I do eat sourdough bread, I always opt for organic. That’s because organic foods in general have less glyphosate. That’s the potentially-cancer causing herbicide and pesticide in Roundup weed killer that was developed by Monsanto, and the focus of over 125,000 lawsuits and counting.

Organic sourdough bread is fermented and contains more antioxidants than other varieties of bread. Plus, it’s easier on your belly to digest than wheat bread.

ancient grains

Gluten: The Older The Better

Besides sourdough bread, what other foods with gluten may actually be good for you? Try eating ancient varieties of wheat that have not been hybridized to the extent that modern wheat has, and that won’t spike your blood sugar as high.

Einkorn and emmer wheat are a couple examples. There’s also spelt, kamut, farro and teff.

Considering how used to modern wheat your taste buds are, it may take some getting used to ancient heirloom wheat varieties.

But if you don’t want to give up gluten and want to take charge of your blood sugar levels and your overall health, give ancient wheat a try. Unless you have a true allergy to gluten such as Celiac Disease, you’ll probably find ancient wheat is easy to digest and won’t cause wheat belly.

Chef V and kale

Tag: ancient grains

Not Ready To Go Gluten-Free? Eat These 5 Healthy Grains You’ve Never Heard Of…