Last week I talked about how not all carbohydrates are created equally and how crbohydrates are an essential part of what we eat. Whilst wheat is primarily a source of carbohydrate the terms are not actually interchangable. Not eating carbs doesn't mean just cutting out wheat, rice and potatoes.
With a really conscious effort to eat primarly fresh and whole foods, over the last 12 months, it was natural that my intake of wheat was reduced. Because I was generally looking for carbohydrate sources that were higher in protein I began choosing beans over grains and rice too.
What eventuated was that wheat flour became a little bit intolerable. It's not something I analysed a whole bunch because my reaction was inconsistent, I didn't start wondering if I had developed coeliac disease I just ate other things in preference to wheat.
During this time I also embarked on a (failed) mission to make my own sourdough. I bought organic bakers flour from my bulk wholefoods store which I combined with rye for my starter, it ended up neglected and died a very smelly death. I also happened to make pizza dough with that flour.
Pizza made with organic flour, not a problem.
I made banana bread with wholemeal, non organic flour, and not much flour either.
Intolerable, hard knot in stomach and bloated belly, hmmm.
Good, artisan bread, made high quality flour be it white sourdough or rye.
Kickass bread, not a problem.
Lightbulb moment.
I started to make a connection, the problem didn't seem to be the wheat or flour itself but its quality. Lets face it, the run of the mill stuff we buy on the supermarket shelves has had chemicals put in it to extend its shelf life, if its white its had chemicals put in it or over it to make it look like freshly fallen snow and if its non organic then the wheat that the flour was made with would have been sprayed with chemicals too.
No wonder my stomach was turning itself in knots.
Last Friday I had a happy find, nutrition blogger Katie 180 posted about gluten and whether it really is a problem for average Joe on the street, as opposed to coeliacs for whom it really is a big problem. Her post described exactly how I had slowly eliminated wheat and the subsequent reactions of my intestines to not having to deal with it. Go and read the post (and her blog), it's a winner.
Sunday morning was time to test this new found theory of mine, pancakes. I hadn't eaten them for months because just the thought of them was enough to send my stomach into a spin.
Blueberry pancakes made with organic flour, not a problem.
Where wheat and gluten are concerned I have learnt a lot in the last year. Not about science or specifics but about how they make my body feel. These are the things I know:
- Wheat is not an everyday food.
- I will only ever buy organic flour from here on in.
- I know appropriate portion sizes for wheat products, I stick to them, it is not a fat making devil when treated with respect.
- I will continue to choose alternatives to wheat with higher nutritional value, I will talk about those alternatives in the near future.
- Pancakes and pizza dough, cupcakes with fluffy buttercream and freshly made pasta just work better when they are made with wheat and that is okay.
- The quality rule holds true for other grains too. Organic unstabilised or steel cut oats are the only things I buy now, but that is a subject for a whole other day.
You can find the recipe for those blueberry pancakes here and the pizza base here.
Will you be splashing out and having pancakes this weekend? Are you rethinking your approach to wheat and carbohydrates in general?
Tatum xx
