Celiac Friendly Foods

Wheat just isn't what it used to be!

In the "olden days", we snapped off a stalk of wheat, crushed the heads, beat it into flour and mixed it with yeast, ground sugar cane and a pinch of salt. The wheat grain was intact, complete with endosperm and germ providing vital selenium and magnesium. It went stale and hard after 24 hours indicating a complete loss of enzyme potential and therefore unedible.

Then someone decided we prefer our bread to look whiter and feel softer. Eliminate the fibrous endosperm and you get white bread that can sit on the counter for 7 days. We sell the germ separately to health food stores for far more than a loaf of bread and are left with a stripped down wheat product which we claim to have "nutritionally enhanced" with a sprinkling of powdered vitamins. This is not bread, this is a non-food.

It's no wonder many of us have found wheat products to be the source of illness and disease.

I eat a wheat-free, gluten-free, flour-free diet 6 days a week. I feed my family the same for at least 2 meals per day.

Why? I have not been formally diagnosed celiac but when I got sick 9 years ago I experimented with wheat-free and had an immediate change in my health. Within 12 hours my congestion eased, the mucous ceased after 3 days of abstaining from all flour products. My digestive system became more regular than it had been for 40 years. I had a complete clearing of the brain fog. My joints were healed but I contribute that to a combination of meat/wheat/dairy-free eating. I feed my family a wheat-free diet because I have since studied the contents of flour products and find them to be preservative laden. Pancakes, muffins, bagels, croutons, cake, sandwich bread, tortillas, cookies, quessadillas, granola, Wheat Thins, Sun Chips, onion rings, hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, breakfast cereal, granola bars, crackers, waffles, french toast, chicken fingers......have you ever thought about how many times your children ingest white flour? And every single one of these foods have preservatives in them as well.

"By age sixty-five as much as 75% of the
American population has x-ray evidence of osteoarthritis in the hand, foot,
knee, or hip. I estimate, based on statistics for people
purchasing unrefined foods and quality animal products free of hormones or
antibiotics, that more than 75% of the American population has lived almost
exclusively, for the greater part of their lives, on poor-quality meats, eggs,
and dairy products; oxidized, refined, and/or hydrogenated oils and fats; and
completely denatured, "white" wheat-flour products. Many have eaten far
too few fruits, vegetables, and legumes. In addition to excessive calcium
in the soft tissue, other excesses relating to modern diet and lifestyle
include residues from chemicals, heavy metals, drugs, intoxicants, and
non-foods. These folks are invariably overfed on calories
but unknowingly starving for minerals (including magnesium), vitamins,
essential fatty acids, enzymes, antioxidants, and especially, real food
with true life force."
Healing With Whole Foods
Paul Pitchford

So...what to buy? where to shop? what will the kids think?

It is, as with all of life, a balancing act. We flood our daily diet with raw fruits and vegetables, potatoes, rice, fruit, eggs, yogurt. We use wheat-free substitutes for cereal, granola bars, pasta, tortillas and corn chips. Then my kids buy lunch at school on Fridays and the choice is up to them.

"Shitty simple carbohydrates include white flour, white
pasta (durum semolina), white rice, and white sugar. These are the bad
boys that give all carbs a bad reputation. For some asinine reason, food
manufacturers decided that we wouldn't buy their products unless they were
white and soft. So they took natural grains, like brown rice and whole
wheat, and stripped away all their nutrients, vitamins, and minerals to achieve
the color and texture change. This refining process totally compromises
the nutritional integrity of the food - all for appearances. So companies
then add these nutrients back into their refined, milled foods, and use terms
like 'enriched' or 'fortified.' But there's no use trying to fool with
Mother Nature. Our bodies cannot absorb these added-in minerals with the
same ease. Tragically, most cereals, pastas, rice, bagels, breads,
cookies, muffins, cakes, and pastries have been bastardized in this
manner. Pay attention to how your body feels when you eat these
foods. Chances are you'll notice moderate to severe mood swings and energy
surges and losses."
Skinny Bitch
Freedman and Barnouin

Here is a list of substitutes but one word of warning. You are not doing your health any favors if you continue to eat flour. Go 3 days without flour. Ask yourself if you feel better. Do an internal evaluation for muscle aches, constipation and congestion. Feel better? Then try to avoid all flour. Make flour products a twice-a-week routine.

DeBoles: makes fabulous rice linguini, spaghetti and fettucine
Tinkyada: makes wonderful rice lasagna noodles. Remember to rinse all rice pasta with cold water after cooking to prevent sticking.
Envirokids: look for gluten-free breakfast cereals.
Barbara's Kitchen: gluten-free breakfast cereals
Whole Foods Gluten Free Bakery: pie crust, muffins, bread, bagels.
Xochitl Tortilla chips
Glutino wheat free cookies
Ancient Harvest: quinoa veggie curl pasta, shell pasta and macaroni
Van's wheat free waffles
Blue Diamond Nut thins: almond, hazelnut and smoked almond are out of this world!