Is Wheat Really To Blame? - Life & Thyme

“The wheat seed does not want to be made into a baguette. It doesn’t want to be milled. It wants to become a plant,” he continues. “Glutenin and gliadin (the components of gluten) are storing amino acids. Starch is storing energy. Phytate in the bran and germ is an antioxidant that grabs iron and zinc and stores them.” Seed germination, fermentation and digestion all achieve something similar: the breaking down of these plant components to make nutrients available. 

When asked about the supposed link between wheat and gluten intolerance, Jones, like Ross says, “a lot of this gluten intolerance is lack of fermentation as well as lack of fiber. If you want to eat bread and you’re not celiac, eat whole grain, eat organic, and eat a long fermentation.” 

Fermentation time seems especially important, giving space to yeast and bacteria to do their work. Researchers David Suter and Ferenc Békés in their recent article in Cereal Research Communications, “Who is to blame for the increasing prevalence of dietary sensitivity to wheat,” call out the reduction in fermentation time in typical commercial bread-making operations as a possible instigator of inflammatory problems. Since wheat flour naturally contains high levels of gliadins and other gluten components, commercial breads made with a very short proofing time maintain those same high levels. Comparing these breads to long-fermented doughs, more common among artisanal bakers, shows as much as a 90% reduction in gluten content in both yeast doughs and sourdoughs. 

Sourdoughs are especially notable; sourdough starter is essentially a community of bacteria like those in our gut that start breaking down or pre-digesting the flour before we even eat it. Jones highlights the benefits of sourdough over yeasted bread, saying “a yeasted bread is a big bang. Commercial yeasts are supercharged and go to work quickly. Bacteria is important, they lower the pH, and phytases (which make phosphorus bioavailable) work better at low pH.” By lowering the pH, or making the dough more acidic, a true sourdough flavor develops. Jones concludes, “any way you can add time to our foods, it’s an advantage.

Roxana Jullapat, renowned baker, founder of Friends & Family in Los Angeles, and author of Mother Grains: Recipes for the Grain Revolution, wrote her book as a kind of journal, documenting the process of converting recipes she had made for years into whole grain versions of themselves. As artisanal whole grains gained momentum and local mills started to spring up, she had what she calls an awakening, finding that these highly nutritious, comparatively climate-friendly flours were suddenly accessible to chefs like her as well as home cooks and bakers. 

For Jullapat, ancient grains have a cultural, genetic and historical richness, which is at risk of being forgotten in a world of modern, hybridized wheat. As she explains, “grains are an ecosystem.” By which she means not just a biological system, but an interdependence among the farmers who grow grains sustainably, the careful process of drying and cleaning them, the artisanal miller who takes care not to overheat the flour as it goes through a stone or hammer mill, the great cooks and bakers who handle the final product, and the consumers who devour them.

Jullapat’s book features eight “mother grains,” and each section of the book features a short description of the grain’s history, nutritional profile, and use as whole berries, flour or other forms such as groats, followed by enticing recipes for both sweet and savory preparations. For example, einkorn is high not only in protein and fiber, but also in iron, thiamine, B vitamins, and the antioxidant lutein. Jullapat offers a recipe for einkorn shortbreads inspired by her grandmother Yenita’s butter cookies. Spelt, high in iron and manganese, is Jullapat’s “gateway” grain since it behaves similarly to other wheat flours and is her go-to for all-purpose flour. Jullapat’s recipe for classic blueberry muffins with streusel introduces that grain’s sweet and nutty tones to a beloved favorite. 

For bakers new to working with whole, artisanal, ancient grains, Jullapat suggests approaching them with a beginner’s mind. “Be curious about what they bring to a recipe,” she says. “They are tactile—how do they feel on the tongue? What texture do they have, what flavor, aroma?” Among her learnings in adapting recipes typically made with conventional industrial flour, Jullapat suggests being generous with hydration and perhaps using slightly less flour than called for in the original recipe. “These flours are robust and fresh. They are thirsty. Be generous with fats—butter, egg yolks, even coconut oil. That way the bran gets lubricated.” 

Because these grains are assertive in flavor, Jullapat thinks carefully about pairings. She finds that some artisanal wheats taste almost cheesy when combined with butter; whereas others, such as sorghum, are mild in flavor, so she suggests using herbs and spices with abandon. In their nuance and variability, Jullapat sees these crops as produce. “These grains have a very seasonal voice,” she explains.

Someone who understands seasonality deeply is Bob Quinn, who began growing Kamut on the windy, hail-prone plains of Montana 30 years ago. Quinn is an organic pioneer in the state, the founder of a successful heirloom-grain company, Kamut International, and the author with food scholar Liz Carlisle of the recent book, Grain by Grain: A Quest To Revive Ancient Wheat, Rural Jobs, and Healthy Food, which tells the story of his journey from conventional farmer to sustainability entrepreneur, by way of a Ph.D. in plant biochemistry. Kamut is the name Quinn trademarked to market and protect this ancient variety of Khorasan wheat, a close relative of durum. Quinn explains that the trademark is not meant to restrict ownership of the crop, but rather to guarantee quality and farming practice—it is always grown organically.

Farm practices matter to Quinn, whose farm has been regenerative organic from the start, mediating climate change and reducing soil and air pollutants. He uses green manure grown on-farm, rotates in legumes, and uses no pesticides or herbicides, all in an effort to nourish the soil and the microbes within it who feed and take care of the crops he grows. Quinn sees this symbiosis as essential to the quality of the crop he produces, and attributes to these practices the nutrient richness of his Kamut, such as higher levels of selenium and polyphenols (micronutrients that act as antioxidants). In Quinn’s view, good seed plus good soil plus good people equals good food. And soil microbes are just as important in this equation as our gut microbes. 

When asked about the growth of interest in ancient grains like his, Quinn points first to the wariness people increasingly feel about industrialized food. But then he highlights the delight eaters experience when they encounter the flavors and aromas of grains like his, people who “didn’t know food could taste like that.” Quinn’s favorite ways to eat Kamut include a corn nut-like roasted wheat snack, as a porridge-like hot cereal together with barley, in sourdough pancakes, and as pasta (in the U.S., Kamut pasta is made by Eden Foods). In her book, Jullapat offers a savory Turkish-inspired recipe featuring Kamut with cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and fresh herbs. 

With such delicious and culinarily interesting alternatives to refined white flour abounding on supermarket shelves, sourced from local small-scale farmers and millers, or bought from artisanal bakeries, it is now possible to enjoy whole-grain nutrition and fiber in everything from pasta to pancakes without having to resort to scientifically dubious arguments about gluten and inflammation to justify these delights.