This morning I'm enjoying a bowl of protein-packed popped amaranth for breakfast. Maybe you've never heard of amaranth...well now you have, and you should definitely try it! Along with quinoa (which is slowly gaining a reputation beyond being a hippie-dippie substitute for rice), millet, teff, sorghum, buckwheat (which has nothing to do with wheat), and over 30 other "alternative" seeds, grains and flours.

What do they all have in common? They don't contain wheat or, more importantly for me, gluten. Gluten intolerance and gluten allergy (celiac disease) are becoming more and more common around the world. Some people estimate that 10% of North Americans might have celiac; most just aren't diagnosed.

I've been eating a strict gluten-free diet for almost a year, and I feel great. No more getting sick after having a sandwich or a piece of pizza. Cutting out all of the coffee shop scones and muffins also helped me lose almost 20 pounds! Plus, I've learned about grains from around the world. Did you know that Ethiopian teff, the smallest grain in the world, is now grown in Idaho, or that Aztec amaranth almost went extinct when it was forbidden by the Spanish?

I think the switch has been relatively easy on me, since I enjoy cooking and prefer to cook from scratch anyway. That way, I control the ingredients that go into my food, and I'm not afraid to experiment. For someone who relies heavily on convenience and processed foods, it would be a much harder change due to all of the hidden gluten in packaged products.

Anyone else out there in the community living with celiac? Maybe you know someone who is? I'd love to hear your experiences or recipes!

Or do you have questions for me about gluten-free ingredients or recipes? I've learned a lot and I'm happy to share what I know! Ask away!

Hi Beth. I don't have celiac and I'm not gluten sensitive but I do have a niece who is autistic and I know that they would do better with gluten- and casein-free diet. I am also a few months or just a few weeks away on becoming a registered holistic nutritionist so I'm glad to hear that you are eating well and you even lost 20 lbs. Congratulations. There's not much grain growing in the Philippines. Most of them are imports from the States such as millet, quinoa, buckwheat, spelt. It would be great to see the different varieties of it. I've heard of those grains that you've mentioned but don't know what it taste like. Maybe you can also share some of your recipes in the test kitchen.

I've heard about the connection between gluten and autism, too, but don't know much about it. At the very least, I think it speaks to the importance and impact of what we put in our bodies!

Unfortunately, I can't get many of my grains locally, either, but I guess they're more local than a transpacific voyage! One quick clarification: millet, quinoa, and buckwheat are all GF, but spelt is not. It is an ancient form of wheat (as I understand it) and definitely does contain gluten. So do kamut, triticale, and mass-market oats. Oats are an interesting one... they don't contain gluten naturally, but because they are grown adjacent to wheat crops and processed on the same machinery, they end up with high levels of gluten just from cross-contamination. You can now get wheat/gluten-free oats, but they're still a specialty item.

For a great look at what gluten is and does, check out the Wheat and Gluten lesson in the new Rouxbe Cooking School: http://download.rouxbe.com/school/sections/81 . I love the little gluten drum! :)

I'm moving this month, but after I'm settled into my new place, I'd love to share some simple, delicious GF recipes!

I forgot the pseudograin part... another interesting thing about the gluten-free grains is that many of them aren't grains at all, they're seeds masquerading as grains! Amaranth, quinoa and buckwheat fit in this category. Did you know that buckwheat is related to rhubarb, but not wheat? Maybe I should develop a buckwheat-rhubarb pie...mmmm!

Thanks for all of the great info Beth. Very interesting. Can't wait for some of those recipes...good luck with your move :-)

I always actually referring to grain in general. I'm aware that spelt contains gluten. Great info, though. We'll be looking forward to some of your gluten-free recipes. I am sure that those people who are suffering from Celiac disease and even for some who are gluten-sensitive will have a much easier time with their lives. Thanks and hope to be hearing from you soon.

Depending on what source you believe, the milling of grains has only been done for six to eight thousand years. And, also depending, we've been around as a species for around fifty-thousand years.

In any event, before milling was invented, the only way we could derive nutrition from most grains was by waiting for the ruminants to eat them, and then eating the ruminants.

MOST of the time we've been around as a species, we were hunter-gatherers, and didn't eat much in the way of grains, and fruits and vegetables only in season.

Now, suddenly, at least on a scale of fifty millenia, and according to "them," it's apparently healthiest for us to eat mostly grains. If this were actually the case, we are the only animals on Earth whose natural diet is not good for them.

It doesn't surprise me at all that people are developing allergies to various grains and components thereof. We're not designed to eat huge quantities of grains, no matter what the granola commercials tell us. I don't eat a lot of grains, as you may have surmised, and if I do, my nose itches horribly. I count myself fortunate that this is my only symptom, or at least the only obvious one.

I think it is interesting, though, that we are so programmed at this point to think that grains are good for us, that once we discover (and finally admit) the ones we've been eating are NOT good for us, we immediately go looking for replacements.

I know what I am saying here is dietary sacrilege, but, please apply a little thought, and perhaps a little logic, before deciding I am a nut, and dismissing it out of hand.

Also, I would ask you to think: how many overweight dieticians have you seen?

Several years ago, I went to England to study making bread. Making bread is not difficult as a process, just being patient is, for me, unfortunately.
The interesting that I learnt was the commercially made bread, things like calcium propionate, that is widely used as a preservative. Some "bread factories" distribute partially baked products to be "flash bake" inhouse to be sold as "fresh". Mr Andrew Whitley (my instructor) wrote in his book, that it may be one of the cause of cancer. And the other thing I vaguely remembered was soda bread, widely eaten by Irish, and they have the highest population with celiac disease.
The other unhealthy thing about commercially produced breads is the lack of long proofing. The long fermentation is important. I forget the technical terms, have to dig out my thick book and quote from there next time.
Faye

Hi Beth,

I was glad to read your post, as I'm currently living in Ireland, and my roommate is a celiac. I'm running into a big need for creativity in my cooking as I want to be able to cook great meals for both of us, and adapt my current recipes to suit her diet. Have you posted your recipes anywhere yet, or do you have any favorite resources online? I'd love to hear from you, or anyone else, who might have any recommendations for cooking for celiacs, as I am quite new to it! She's also on a no-dairy diet to make things even more interesting!
Thanks,
Keely

Hi Keely,

I understand your need for creativity in the kitchen. There are few recipes here you can try for a gluten-free diet. I think there's more to come from other members who might be gluten sensitive themselves. As of now, the recipe are not categorized as gluten-free or dairy-free. I believe your friend might have a complete list of foods to avoid, foods to question (some foods contain gluten that we may not be aware of), food to substitute.

You may want to look at the following recipes which uses quinoa.
http://download.rouxbe.com/recipes/1053-scented-quinoa-pilaf-with-pine-nuts-and-raisins/text
http://download.rouxbe.com/recipes/2158-orange-quinoa-with-sweet-potato/text

If you can find some gluten-free pasta which are made with 100% brown rice or buckwheat flour, then you can use that to follow some pasta recipes here as well as rice recipes.

In the meantime, if you find it hard where to start, I suggest starting with whole ingredients. apples instead of apple sauce, ingredients. so instead of cereal boxes, you substitute with quinoa, millet or amaranth porridge. Try to use whole foods/ingredients as much as possible. That's a good place to start.

Any gluten-free breads in your area? Any whole foods that supply gluten-free flours and other whole food ingredients?

Here's a following links that would help you ASAP.

http://glutenfreediet.ca/blog/
http://glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com/ (also has a long list of other gluten-free blog sites)

I hope this helps.

Divina

Thanks Divina, that will really help me get cooking! It'll be fascinating to get a different perspective on food - and hopefully delicious!
Keely

You're welcome Keely. Just write if you have any more questions. I'm willing to help.

Divina

Have we become a species incapable of feeding itself with the food growing in our environment?
If you cannot digest gluten just do not have it and that's all, it means that you have to feed yourself with what is growing in your environment. How about the beans and peas and vegetable. You do not have to have grain. You do not have to have the same food as the commercial TV wants you to have.
What's wrong with us anyway?

Hey guys,

I used to miss bread a ton! I am a celiac but did not know until after it took my sight. My problem with gluten-free cooking was not having the information I needed. I found an ebook that actually explained why gluten-less food didn't work and explained each flour that is gluten-free. After making my own flour mixes and learning some tricks to the trade from this book I have not found a recipe yet that I have not been able to adapt.

The book is from GlutenFreeLifestyle ( found here:
http://www.glutenfreelifestyle.com.au/
the baking one explains a lot and they obviously have tons of other cook books that are cheap and allow you to open up avenues without having to get a specificly "gluten-free" recipe!

Happy Cooking!

Michelle

Michelle, thanks for sharing these. The cookbooks look awesome.

My husband was recently diagnosed with Celiac, however, in addition to the grains, he has to stop the beer, malt or anything with the yeast/malt. Mayonaise is fine, salad dressing, No. Rice, Corn, Tapioca and soy bases are basically what he needs as far as cereals, and dairy product. This was such a godshot that I opened this page today, I will look at the links as I was only looking for grocery stores that carried gluten free product. Recipes already out there? - EXCELLENT!

Hi, http://www.elanaspantry.com/ Pantry is a wonderful-looking website full of tried-and-true recipes, techniques and tips by Elana Amsterdam, a woman in Colarado, USA who is gluten intolerant (GI). She uses a special kind of almond flour for all her baking. She has had such success that she teaches classes and wrote a few books. I imagine you would find tips and tricks for baking, flour substitution in recipes (she gives descriptions of how each kind performs in the kitchen) for sauces and things like that. Although I have wanted to try her recipes, my boyfriend has an allergy to nuts therefore we can't use this almond flour. I have tried making my own GI bread with 5 different kinds of flour. It was really difficult to do and I got sick for 3 days after eating it. Elana's recipes are much simpler-looking.

Elana's Pantry: http://www.elanaspantry.com/

Fortunately Bread is not what I miss however I am trying to figure out what is the best thing to substitute for Flour when dusting meats for browning or doing something like a Beurre Blanc sauce?

Beurre Blanc is not made using any sort of flour, it is the butter that thickens it. As for other substitutions for flour (at least for making a roux) here is a link to another post that you might find helpful.

You might also want to try some using arrowroot. It is has good thickening power yet does not break down with any sort of prolonged cooking. Cheers!

I was catching up on Michael Ruhlman's blog, saw he interviewed someone with Celiac, and remembered this recent post.

Here's the link: http://ruhlman.com/2010/10/carol-blymire-has-some-words-on-celiacplus-glutenfreegirls-pizza-dough-recipe.html

I'm looking for gluten and grain free bread recipe without a sweet taste !

If someone has a idea!