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ANCESTRAL GRAINS: POSSIBLE CURE TO THE GLUTEN-FREE CRAZY

Landrace, heritage and ancestral grains are best defined as those that originated in one of their native countries such as Iran, Syria, Turkey, or Russia, and have gratefully made their way through history without a complete change in their make-up. The three that are now slowly being brought back into use are einkorn, emmer, and some forms of spelt. Organic whole wheat varieties are best defined as wheat which may or may not be landrace grains, as not all grains that have had an evolution from landrace grains to our modern wheat varieties are to be avoided. What is of critical importance for those of us following an ancestral diet is that our sources of whole wheat are grown organically without the use of pesticides or chemical fertilizers.

A CLOSER LOOK AT ANCIENT GRAINS 

Now that we all “know” that even heritage grains (which include einkorn, emmer, spelt, and triticum landrace) and organic whole wheat varieties, rye, and barley (and maybe oats) contain gluten, let’s look a little closer at the actual structure of grains so we can better understand the differences that make these heritage grains so valuable to our health.

Somewhere in our own history, we discovered the value of the concentrated source of nutrients in every ancestral grain or wheat. Properly prepared (by soaking, sprouting and dehydrating, or leavening with wild yeasts), the nutrients stored within the grains were freed to be used by our own bodies, and use them we did, supplementing the other foods that had nourished us for thousands of years: animal-sourced foods and other plants.

Every kernel of grain has protein, fats, carbohydrate, and fiber, stored neatly in a package protected by a fibrous outer layer called the hull. The bran is the outer layer of the grain. Next is the endosperm. The heart of the grain is the germ. The bran (14.5 percent of the kernel’s mass) is made of protein, fiber, starch, fat, and many B vitamins (all these are lost, of course, when grain is milled, removing the bran). The relatively high fat level in bran means that the grain—once hulled—can quickly go rancid (a good reason to store whole grains in a cool place and use them quickly once ground).

The endosperm is the largest part of the kernel, with 83 percent of its total mass; in wheat, this is the part of the grain that, once the bran and germ have been removed, is milled into white flour. The endosperm nourishes the germ it wraps around until the seed has taken root and started to grow into a new plant. While it is rich in starch, it also contains about 75 percent of the protein plus iron and B complex vitamins.

Finally, the germ, the smallest part of the wheat kernel (2.5 percent of the whole), also contains numerous B complex vitamins and vitamin E. About 8 percent of the protein found in wheat is in the germ.

Minerals found in grain can include calcium, iron, phosphorus (bound up as phytic acid), magnesium, potassium, manganese, copper, iodine, chlorine, sodium, and silicon. One bonus supplied by wheat is betaine, a substance that protects our cells against stress, and stimulates the body’s production of vitamin B12.

TO BE CONTINUED 

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