If you've ever been through the 12 week jill's Lean For Life course, you will already know that I ask you to go off of grains for 30 days when you begin the program. I really didn't come up with this idea to torture anyone (contrary to popular belief). The reason is that many people are allergic to grains and don't even realize it. One way to find out is to take them out of your diet for a time and see how you feel. Many people report having less headaches, less joint pain and an elimination of heart burn (heart burn probably being the most common symptom disappearing), as well as having more rapid weight loss. When I first mention the "30 Day No Grain Challenge" I usually get some pretty dirty looks (I have to remind them that I'm just the messenger. Don't kill the messenger!). But people try it. And guess what? I'd say at least 75% of the people don't even want to return to grains on a daily basis any more. They feel more energy without them.
There are times, however, that bread would be nice. In that instance, I recommend Ezekiel 4:9 bread. It is a sprouted grain bread that you find in the refrigerator/freezer section of your grocery store or health food store. (It has to be refrigerated because there are no preservatives in it.) I'm sure there are other sprouted grain brands out there, this just happens to be the brand that our local grocer stocks. Sprouted grain bread is lower glycemic than other breads. Up until this week, that's all I knew. But this week I stumbled upon a website that shed some light on the subject.
A question that I am often asked is, "Why are so many people allergic to grains now and they weren't hundreds of years ago?" Well, I learned that grains are different now than they were back then. We have modified them so we can have lighter and fluffier bread. But in the process of modifying, we are no longer able to digest them. Wheat used to be made up of 50% starch molecules and 50% vegetable protein. After modifying it, the make-up is now 92% starch and 8% vegetable protein!!
According to the article written by Shelley Summers (link posted below), "Sprouting radically changes grains by (1) changing the composition of starch molecules, converting them into vegetable sugars, so the body recognizes and digests sprouted grains as a vegetable; (2) enzymes are created that aid digestion, complex sugars are broken down which can eliminate painful gas, and vitamin and mineral levels increase; (3) sprouting neutralizes potent carcinogens and enzyme inhibitors, as well as an acid that inhibits absorption of calcium, magnesium, iron, copper and zinc."
Isn't that amazing?! Let me put this another way.....if you sprout your own wheat (or buy it), you'll be able to have low glycemic pizza!!! Now...isn't that amazing?!
Sprouting your own wheat berries is simple. If you've ever made sprouts in a jar (alfalfa, radish, etc.) you already know how to do it. All you do is fill up a mason jar (I use a gallon jar so I can make a big batch at a time) one third full with wheat berries (you can get wheat berries in a health food store. It's just the wheat that comes from the field and is not ground into flour yet). Place some sort of screen or netting over the top of the jar to keep the wheat berries in (I use a piece of cheese cloth and a rubber band). Fill the jar with water and then dump out the water so the berries remain damp. Do this 2-3 times a day for 2-3 days. The berries will then sprout a little tail about 1/4" to 1/2" long. Then you take them out and lay them on a cookie sheet and dry them in the oven at 150 degrees overnight. Then you can grind them in a coffee grinder or flour mill. Be sure you keep the extra flour in the fridge or freezer to preserve the freshness of the oils. It should keep in the fridge for 5 months or more and in the freezer for 7 months.
Note: I have made the sprouted grain flour, but I haven't actually made anything with it yet. I will keep you informed....we will be trying pizza on Friday!
Happy Sprouting!
To learn more about sprouted grains you can visit:
http://www.creatingheaven.net/eeproducts/eesfc/about_sprouted.html
Here is another site to check out:
http://organicfanatic.blogspot.com/2008/01/homemade-sprouted-grain-bread.html
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