Gluten-Free and Wheat?

Gluten-free, processed foods and wheat share a comfortable place in today's diet. All have entrenched themselves into our lives, for better or for worse. I grew up in a non gluten-free environment, with minimally processed foods and salads galore. Rye bread was my #1 go-to food for all things yummy. We ate home made foods and never ate out - ever. Oh my. How times have changed.

In the latter part of 2015, I wrote about fermentation and the dietary harm of some 'white' breads whose gluten 'strands' were not being given sufficient time to 'evolve' to become a healthy baked product in our diet. In the 50's, bread took two shifts to make. Nowadays, it is less than two hours, I have since learned. Then I learned of the benefits of sourdough bread whose gestational period, taking up to 3 or more days to make, made the bread a supreme healthy alternative for all. Keeping our gut healthy is the name of the 'maybe we can eat wheat, again' game. We can do it. (Pizza could be at stake).

Several books, authored by respected doctors in their field of expertise, attest to the fact that we are harming ourselves by eating wheat. I believe we are also harming our thyroid gland that master manipulator of our metabolism, the ruler of our health. We must pay attention and choose minimally processed foods, (organic or NON-GMO), 'suitable' raw choices with pro and pre-biotic foods, yummy things we can all enjoy. Who has the time, energy or ability to obtain a food chemistry degree for grocery shopping? The 'brain' doctor alerted us to the effect grains were having on command central, our brain. Then another illustrious man of medicine cautioned us against eating wheat, period! We were becoming fatter and sicker because of it. Oh, My! We were then reassured that eating good fat would help us to become thin and healthy according to doctor #3, the functional medicine man. Then doctor #4 came along to tell us, in his newest book, that it was possible to eat wheat again - (organic, of course) - after healing our digestive tract. It all made sense. Each doctor was saying virtually the same thing. Organic basics, NON-GMO were here to stay; the 'other stuff', questionable.

Are we being lead to dietary slaughter because of whole scale changes to farming, agriculture and commercial baking? Are we being 'fed' a bill of goods while being advised to eat clean to bring us back to restorative health. (We are continually being distracted). Not all foods are created equal. That we know. I was a hospital food service supervisor once upon a time, then a high school foods teacher and finally mom of three and pet owner to many over 4 decades. There was no web back in 'my' day. The information age was found in a book or at the library. It now seems we've returned to the beginning, being told it is possible to eat wheat, safely and scientifically, in this cautionary tale of hope. Is optimism here to stay? Since I use organic wheat flour, along side gluten-free grains and flours, my baked products are healthier. (I hope). I experiment often, hoping to find perfection in all the things I make, cook or bake.

Food comes in so many guises that it seems like a bizarre puzzle to solve, each time we go shopping. It shouldn't be. Sugar was never meant to be our constant dietary source of calories. When we are not craving foods, not overeating, profits are being impacted. Companies have found numerous way to tinker with the chemicals out there in order to tinker with our bodies in here. Their mission: eat more food. Are some food conglomerates lessening the time between creating their product line and getting it to market? It is all about their bottom line, sadly, not necessarily ours!

Eating seasonally, involving all our taste centers: bitter, salty, sweet and sour, endeavours to bring a level of satisfaction to our daily eating routine that does not easily allow sugar and its 'sweet' taste to enter our bodies as it seems to do now. 'It' must compete with its 'cousins'. The elimination of sugar seems impossible when it exists, at the 'front' of the line, in all its guises, 'hidden', in the 'processed' foods we buy. It is placed there, deliberately, fooling us into thinking it is not there. Ha. Ha. But it is. Sugar is found naturally in the foods grown by mother nature, encapsulated within the fiber in which it was born, while tasting awfully yummy, too. Returning to eating wheat (organic) once our gut has healed, can be done. In the summer, eating locally grown fruits, vegetables and salads, whenever possible, is step #1.  It is officially the growing season, a time when fresh is king and hunger can be shut down, easily. 'Processed' (junk food?), however, requires more of its calorie laden excesses to satisfy our hunger and only temporarily. (Freezing summer's bounty makes health and economic sense). When Canada's winter season arrives, foods that are slow cooked: legumes, beans, lentils, should take priority.When the seasons change the diet should follow.

We're not food chemists, just plain ordinary folk, looking to buy healthy food with our after-tax dollars. (Then we get taxed - again - on those food items considered take-out.) It never ends. We should be eating more frozen foods as fresh can appear tired, old and wilted during the non-growing seasons. The fresh being sold probably came a long distance, maybe strewn with pesticides and with its accompanying loss of valuable nutrients. More 'greenhouse' produce is now beginning to appear, on store shelves, making it easier to eat fresh, all year long. A new phenomenon called Non-GMO is also appearing on packaging, in the produce aisle, our destination for health and longevity. I am so happy! I am so pleased!

When our digestive tract - our gut - speaks to us, we must listen. With the elimination of processed carbs, junk food, a more wholesome body is achieved through this primary delivery system, our digestive tract, I learned. Our dietary 'reactions' to certain foods are a response to an unhealthy digestive tract, its inability to function, a failure of duty. Ha. Ha. I get it. Let's get healthy. Gluten-free and wheat can now coexist in our kitchen pantry. Thank you, Dr #4. ...

In the final analysis, it is the duty of all food companies to provide the marketplace with healthy foods, every step of the way and our job to make sure they do it. There should be no hidden agenda, here. Consumer backlash is a most powerful tool that can alter the dining/retail landscape. Enough of food intolerance. When I was little girl 'it' simply wasn't a problem. Now it is. What has changed? I think we know.

Next: Momsey's symbiotic wheat/gluten-free world. (After the 5th 'anniversary' blog)