Researched By Janet Vargas - Independent Natural Health Researcher
FRIENDS, IN OUR DAY AND AGE, MODERN WHEAT IS CAUSING SOME REAL HEALTH CONCERNS. AND WE NEED TO LOOK AT THIS IF WE ARE TO EXPERIENCE BETTER HEALTH IN OUR FAMILIES. PLEASE DON'T BE SO TRUSTING IN STORE BOUGHT LOAVES OF BREAD AND BAKERY ITEMS - OVER TIME, THE CONSTANT USE OF THEM IS GUARANTEED TO COMPROMISE YOUR HEALTH. IN THIS POST, WE SHALL CONSIDER A HEALTHY ANCIENT GRAIN WHICH HAS NOT BEEN SUBJECTED TO A NUMBER OF HYBRIDIZATIONS LIKE WHEAT HAS (making the Gluten content excessive and harmful to our health and that of our children). YES WE NEED TO SEE WHAT SPELT HAS TO OFFER: A MUCH SAFER ALTERNATIVE and NOURISHING TOO. MORE PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT SPELT THESE DAYS and IT'S BECOMING MORE READILY AVAILABLE, YET MANY PEOPLE ARE STILL UNAWARE THAT IT EXISTS. LET ME CHANGE THAT.
Health Benefits of Spelt
This grain is also more water-soluble than wheat, which makes it easier for the body to digest. Due to the many minerals and vitamins spelt contains, it can help regulate metabolism, increase circulation, improve the immune system, lower blood sugar, and reduce bad cholesterol levels.
About Spelt
Like its family members, spelt contains gluten, which is a protein that essentially acts like a glue to hold food, like bread, together. The gluten in spelt flour is a little more delicate than wheat gluten, so you want to pay special attention when using spelt in your cooking and baking. It's important to know that spelt is not a gluten-free flour, and it may cause discomfort or allergic reactions in those who have celiac disease or a gluten intolerance.
Baking With Spelt
Because spelt has different properties than other grains, it behaves a little differently in recipes. Here are a few tips and tricks to help you incorporate this flour into your everyday cooking and baking.
- To start, try using a 50:50 ratio. If your recipe calls for one cup of flour, use half a cup of all-purpose flour and half a cup of spelt flour. The more you work with spelt, the more you can play with that ratio.
- Because spelt does not soak up as much liquid as other grains, try reducing the amount of liquid to keep your dough from getting too sticky. The other option is to add in extra flour.
- Be careful not to under-mix or over-mix your dough. If your dough is under-mixed, it will be crumbly; if your dough is over-mixed, the protein strands break down. A good rule is to mix the dough for approximately four minutes.
- Uncooked spelt can keep for approximately six months when placed in a cool, dry place. In the fridge, it can last for one year.
For any recipe that uses wheat flour, you can substitute in spelt flour. Because it contains a fair amount of gluten, spelt can be used in products like bread, cake, and cookies. To inspire your next baking session, we have a few ideas to get you started.
- Looking for a snack? Try making these tasty chocolate chip cookies.
- For breakfast, substitute spelt flour in place of wheat flour in this quinoa pancakes recipe.
- You can also use spelt flour in a healthy and delicious fruit cake for dessert.
https://nuts.com/healthy-eating/why-spelt-flour
Q. Why is spelt an ‘ancient’ grain?
A. Some of the earliest recordings of spelt appear in the Bible (Exodus 9:30, Isaiah 28:25, and Ezekiel 4:9). It is widely believed that farmers grew spelt as long ago as 5000 BC in the region then known as Mesopotamia – now Iraq. As civilizations migrated westward, spelt moved along with them. It wasn’t until the early 1900’s that spelt migrated to North America – in 910 more than 600,000 acres of spelt were harvested annually in the U.S. alone.
Q. Does spelt contain gluten?
A. Yes, but . . . the gluten in spelt has a different molecular make-up than the gluten in modern wheat. It is more fragile and more water soluble, which makes it easier to digest. Spelt is also higher in fiber than wheat, and the extra fiber aids in the digestion of the gluten. Modern wheat has been bred to contain a high gluten content for the production of high-volume commercial baked goods. The content and character of the gluten in spelt has not been modified from its natural state.
https://natureslegacyforlife.com/about/what-is-spelt
Health Benefits
All in all, spelt is a nutritious whole grain. Eating spelt flour and spelt products is a simple way to get more whole grain fiber into your diet.
Spelt grains and flour contain a little more protein than regular wheat, but there's a little difference in the amounts of some of the minerals. They also have about the same amount of fiber. Here are some of the potential health benefits of spelt flour.
Provides Valuable Fiber
Fiber is essential for a healthy digestive system, and eating fiber-rich foods can slow down the absorption of sugars. Fiber also can help you feel full longer, so it may be helpful when consumed as part of a weight-management plan.
One study of thousands of American kids and adults found that those who consumed more whole grains also consumed more nutrients overall and had a healthier body weight.2
Improves Gut Microbiome
The fiber and other compounds in whole grains can contribute to the health of the bacteria in the digestive system. This, in turn, can help reduce inflammation in the body and contribute to digestive health as well as aid with weight management.3
Helps Regulate Blood Sugar
Research has shown that people who eat whole grains (vs. refined grains) have a lower risk of diabetes.4 One 2017 study of spelt, in particular, suggested that both the fiber and antioxidants in spelt contribute to this effect.5
Decreases Risk of Heart Attack
A diet rich in whole grains has been linked to better cardiovascular health. A Danish study published in 2016 found that people who ate more whole grains had a lower risk of heart attacks.6
The study encompassed more than 50,000 adults ages 50 to 64. Another earlier meta-analysis also showed that higher whole grain consumption was associated with a lower risk of heart disease.7
Allergies
It is possible to have an allergy to spelt and spelt flour. Some people who are allergic to wheat may also react to spelt, while some may not. If you are sensitive to wheat, speak with a healthcare provider before eating spelt.8
Adverse Effects
Spelt flour should not be consumed by people who can't have gluten. Even though the gluten in spelt isn't precisely the same as wheat gluten, it's still not suitable for a gluten-free diet. People with celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity must avoid spelt.
Some Extra Info
Gluten is the protein that gives bread and other baked goods their texture. Because it has gluten, spelt flour can replace whole wheat or whole grain flour in most bread recipes. But, it's not identical.
The gluten in spelt isn't as strong as wheat gluten, and some bakers find that when making bread with spelt flour, the dough doesn't rise as high.
For other types of baking, spelt flour works just fine as it is. You can use spelt flour for baking cookies and quick breads, like banana bread, or as a thickener for sauces and gravy.
Whole spelt grains can be cooked and eaten as a side dish or as a cereal. Combine 3 cups of water with 1 cup of spelt grains plus a bit of salt and pepper and simmer until the grains are soft. It's also delicious when topped with berries and a bit of honey for breakfast.
https://www.verywellfit.com/what-is-spelt-flour-2506884
IN CONTRAST TO THE BENEFITS OF SPELT, LET'S LOOK AT MODERN WHEAT WHICH HAS BECOME AN UNHEALTHY FOOD STAPLE FOR MOST PEOPLE IN WESTERN COUNTRIES AND SOME OTHERS AS WELL.
WAYS WHEAT and WHEAT GLUTEN
CAN DAMAGE YOUR HEALTH
PaleoLeap.Com
The above title has been modified because Paleo Advocates avoid Grains altogether due to common Agriculture Practices with excessive use of Chemicals, however much of the SPELT Grain is grown without the use of Chemicals - being an Ancient Grain used by many Natural Health Advocates and Health Conscious people who have heard how good Spelt is. In recent months, Organic Spelt Flour has become available in various Supermarkets in Australia at last because it is becoming more recognized and sought after. And these Supermarkets are offering "more health orientated products" now for the growing demand. Let's read the article by PaleoLeap shall we? Because they are quite knowledgeable about things!
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“Gluten” is basically a buzzword at this point, but even if you’re avoiding it, do you really know what it is? And did you know that there’s other stuff in wheat that’s also worth avoiding: wheat is bad news for reasons that have nothing to do with gluten. Here’s a look at 11 reasons why.
The Basics
First of all, a refresher: wheat is a grain. The calories in wheat come mostly from carbohydrates, but wheat also contains a few problem proteins.
Gluten
Wheat Germ Agglutinin
Amylase Trypsin Inhibitors
Problems caused by these proteins are not the same thing as blood sugar problems caused by the carbohydrates in wheat. It’s true that getting a majority of calories from wheat (especially refined wheat) can cause metabolic problems like blood sugar swings. But these problems would be caused by any high-carb diet, and they’re only relevant for people eating a large amount of wheat: something like a spoonful of soy sauce wouldn’t be a problem.
This post is not about metabolic issues like blood sugar and carbohydrates. It’s about a totally different list of problems caused specifically by wheat and the proteins it contains. These problems are relevant even for people eating a small amount of wheat, and even for people who do fine eating carbs.
So what’s so bad about wheat?
1. Wheat Problems Aren’t Restricted to People with Celiac Disease
The most famous problem with wheat is celiac disease, an autoimmune reaction provoked by gluten and treatable with a gluten-free diet. 30-40% of people have the genetic background to potentially develop celiac disease, but only about 1-3% of people actually do – it’s not clear why but it may have something to do with the gut microbiome.
Most people know that celiac disease requires absolutely strict avoidance of all gluten. But a lot of people also think that if you don’t have celiac disease, you’re completely in the clear.
That’s not true. Recently there’s been an increased amount of interest in non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS). Plenty of people have documented sensitivities to gluten that aren’t actually celiac disease (as you’ll read below, there’s a different immune reaction involved). There’s also the overlapping problem of other proteins in wheat – wheat germ agglutinin and amylase trypsin inhibitors are not the same thing as gluten and you can be sensitive to them regardless of how your body handles gluten.
Wheat isn’t just a problem for people with celiac disease, and there’s more to wheat than gluten.
2. Gut Inflammation
Inflammation is the natural response of your immune system to injury. You can see it in action whenever you get a cut or splinter and the surrounding area gets all red and tender. The proteins in wheat are gut irritants: they’re like that paper cut or splinter digging into the lining of your gut, causing an inflammatory response.
The most famous case is the inflammation caused by gluten in people with celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity. But inflammation from wheat is also a problem even for people who aren’t sensitive to gluten specifically. Amylase trypsin inhibitors (ATIs for short) that can provoke an inflammatory immune response in the GI tract by stimulating immune cells. This occurs in people regardless of whether they have celiac disease or not – it’s a completely different problem from gluten and it can cause trouble for you regardless of whether or not you’re sensitive to gluten in particular.
That inflammation is dangerous because…
3. Increased Intestinal Permeability
Inflammation in the gut contributes to a problem called intestinal permeability. The gut has a very complex system of “border control” that lets digested food into your bloodstream (this is how you get nutrients from it) while keeping everything else out. Every day, you swallow millions of random viruses, bacteria, indigestible molecules like dust, and other stuff that needs to go out the other end, not into your bloodstream.
Inflammation in the gut messes up that system of border control. It loosens the junctions between cells in the gut wall so too much stuff can pass through. This is often described as making the gut “leaky” (hence the popular name of “leaky gut”).
On top of inflammation leading to increased permeability, gluten accelerates this process by stimulating the release of a protein called zonulin. Zonulin independently contributes to loosening the junctions between cells in the gut. Add together the inflammation and the zonulin, and wheat has a powerful effect on gut permeability, which is really a problem.
Intestinal permeability is a big problem – most notably because it’s an essential factor in the development of autoimmune diseases.
4. Double Trouble: Wheat Germ Agglutinin
Another one for the non-Celiac crowd: wheat germ agglutinin is an inflammatory, immune-disrupting protein found in wheat and despite the similar name it isn’t the same thing as gluten. Wheat germ agglutinin can provoke an inflammatory response in gut cells and disturb the natural immune barrier in the gut, making the gut more permeable to things that don’t belong in your blood.
Again, this is totally separate from the problem of gluten. Obviously, gluten and WGA usually come as a package deal, because they’re both found in wheat, but you can have trouble with WGA even if you had no reaction to a gluten elimination challenge.
5. Increased Vulnerability to Gut Autoimmunity
Items #1-4 on this list discussed how wheat makes the gut more permeable, so all kinds of stuff can get into the bloodstream even though it shouldn’t be there. Included in that stuff is…gluten! Specifically, gliadin, which is a component of gluten. Once it’s inside your bloodstream, gliadin runs into your immune system, and that’s where the problems really start, in the form of molecular mimicry.
Molecular mimicry works like this: some foreign thing gets into the bloodstream. The immune system forms antibodies against it. So far, so good: that’s how the immune system is supposed to work. But if that foreign thing looks enough like your own body’s tissue, then the antibodies formed to fight it might start attacking your own body as well.
Molecular mimicry may be the reason why people with celiac disease mount an attack on their own gut cells: to your immune system, gliadin looks a lot like the cells lining the gut. But it’s not just celiac disease! Gluten-related inflammation may also be a factor in the development of Crohn’s Disease, another autoimmune gut disease. In this study of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s Disease and ulcerative colitis), a gluten-free diet helped a majority of people who tried it.
And gut cells aren’t the only cells affected by gluten-related autoimmunity…
6. Increased Vulnerability to Non-Celiac Autoimmune Diseases
If you go digging into the research on celiac disease and gluten, you’ll find a bunch of studies linking it to all kinds of other autoimmune diseases, including autoimmune thyroid disorders, type 1 diabetes, fibromyalgia (for both celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity!), rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune liver disease, and a couple different autoimmune skin diseases.
The common factor here might be the gluten. Wheat gluten is a major potential trigger of Type 1 Diabetes (that’s the autoimmune type, not the diet-and-lifestyle type). In this study, feeding mice a gluten-free diet reduced the rate of Type 1 diabetes in their children. There’s also evidence that breastfeeding human children reduces the rate of type 1 diabetes, which would make sense if gluten is the problem because breastfeeding delays the introduction of gluten to the baby.
Hey, by the way, guess what other common health problems have an autoimmune component? Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes.
7. Autoimmune Reactions in People Without Celiac Disease.
Point #6 above gave a lot of reasons why celiac disease is associated with other autoimmune diseases, but it’s not limited to people with celiac disease. If you thought non-celiac gluten sensitivity was unrelated to autoimmune disease, you thought wrong! This study found that a lot of people with non-celiac gluten sensitivity have autoimmune markers in their blood, suggesting that the wheat exposure might be causing autoimmune issues even without celiac disease.
One interesting aspect of this is that patients with non-celiac gluten sensitivity may have a different type of autoimmune reaction, which just underlines that celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity are two different things. But the point is that both involve potentially serious autoimmune responses.
8. Damage to the Gut Biome
Not the all-important gut biome! The gut biome, aka the gut microbiome, aka the gut flora, is the collection of friendly bacteria that live in Digestion your gut. They help regulate your immune system, control intestinal permeability, digest your food, synthesize nutrients like vitamin K2, send hunger/fullness signals to your brain, and do all kinds of other stuff.
But they really don’t like gluten, and gluten really doesn’t like them. People with celiac disease often have very bad problems with the gut flora, but those problems are significantly reduced when the person eliminates gluten. Once again, it’s not limited to celiac disease: non-celiac gluten sensitivity also involves disturbances in the gut flora.
Even in people who aren’t sensitive to gluten at all, inflammation caused by other components of wheat can also rebound on the gut biome. And independently of any of that, wheat is also high in FODMAPs, which may be an issue for people with sensitivities to that.
9. Gastrointestinal Symptoms (Even for People who Don’t have Celiac Disease)
All this stuff about gut bacteria and intestinal permeability might seem totally abstract and disconnected from the real world, so let’s bring it back down to earth: this stuff has actual, noticeable consequences. Most of the direct damage involves the gut, so it makes sense to start there:
In people with celiac disease, gluten causes immediate and severe symptoms (diarrhea and/or constipation, heartburn, pain, bloating, gas, stools that smell awful, sometimes vomiting…).
In people with non-celiac gluten sensitivity, symptoms are typically similar to celiac disease.
Even in people who aren’t sensitive to gluten specifically, the inflammatory action of other components of wheat (wheat germ agglutinin and amylase trypsin inhibitors) contributes to chronic, relapsing gut problems.
Of course, there are non-wheat-related reasons why a person might have GI problems (stress is a biggie, and stress is certifiably gluten-free). But gluten can contribute to the problem, even if it’s “only” a low-level inflammatory response that you’ve gotten used to. Sure, constipation and feeling bloated after meals might be your “normal,” but what if it didn’t have to be?
10. Brain Symptoms
Think of gluten or wheat issues, and you probably think of the gut first. The typical symptoms are all gut-related. But actually, there’s another important organ at stake: your brain.
Brain fog and fatigue are symptoms of both celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity. On a more serious note, the gut inflammation and microbiome disturbances involved in the immune-inflammatory response to gluten may increase vulnerability to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Autoimmunity in general (whether it’s celiac disease or some other gluten-related autoimmunity) may be involved in depression.
This doesn’t mean that gluten is the cause of all mental health problems or that eliminating gluten will cure them. Nobody is saying that. Mental health is complicated and there are all kinds of factors to consider. The point is that in some people, gluten may be one of them.
11. Skin Symptoms
The most famous cause of gluten-related skin problems is celiac disease, which can cause a skin disease called dermatitis herpetiformis. Symptoms of dermatitis herpetiformis include an itchy, red rash with raised blisters. Symptoms typically show up in a person’s 20’s.
And once again, this isn’t limited to celiac disease. This study describes the way non-celiac gluten sensitivity can show up as skin problems: “very itchy…similar to eczema, psoriasis, or dermatitis herpetiformis.” The itchy skin showed up most often on the arms and legs.
The upshot: wheat is pretty bad news even for people who don’t have celiac disease. And the symptoms don’t necessarily show up as dramatic episodes of vomiting and diarrhea. Why not try giving it up for a few weeks just to see how your body reacts – you might be surprised!
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SO AS WE CAN SEE, MODERN WHEAT (that originally came from Spelt and was Hybridized over and over again) HAS BEEN MESSED BY MAN - A COMPLETE BREAKAWAY FROM THE GOOD HEALTHY ANCIENT GRAIN KNOWN AS SPELT. THE GLUTEN CONTENT IS UNNATURAL and HARMFUL BECAUSE THE PLANT HAS BEEN CORRUPTED. AND NOTICE, WHEAT IS BAD FOR OUR MICROBIOME (Gut Health) WHEREAS SPELT IS GOOD FOR OUR MICROBIOME? JUST ONE OF THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SPELT and MODERN WHEAT. I TRUST THIS INFO HAS MADE YOU SMARTER AND WISER IN YOUR HOME and FAMILY WHEN IT COMES TO BUYING CHOICES.
I came across a Recipe Website today where the writer said “I often substitute Oat or Spelt for wheat flour in my recipes."
Happy to let you know I run several Natural Health Websites without the likes of Pesky Google Ads or Email Campaigns. where you can search and read to your heart's content. I am passionate about Websites because I am passionate about People, bringing Help and Inspirations over the Internet since 2010. One of my Websites has a really extensive treasure store of Healthy, Interesting and Tasty Recipes Menu with hundreds of Recipes I have gleaned from lots of Recipe Websites and placed in Special Membership Collections I run on Pinterest and Yummly and Copy Me That. The last one is my absolute favorite, containing 1500+ Recipes Now. I will instruct you how to go there if you're interested. Everyone Loves Recipes, Hey?
Go to my Health and Inspirations website and look for the TASTY RECIPES menu at the top of your screen.
In that Menu, you will find two Webpages for my Copy Me That Collection. The first one will take you to my overall Collection and the second one will take you to Separate Collections within that Collection. The main menu page Tasty Recipes tells you all about those Collections and My Story about collecting Recipes. People Love this Menu including my Webhosts who "can't wait to get home to try some of the recipes!"
Remember, there are Two Different Views, according to the choice you make.
In the 1st View/Page, there is a Search Bar, and you can type in Ingredients or Types of Recipes you are looking for IE Spelt or Bread. KHORASAN is another fabulous Ancient Grain you can find in some of the Recipes in my Collection. EINKORN is another (it's rare and expensive to buy) and there are QUINOA Recipes as well.
In the 2nd View/Page, you will find lots of Collections with Helpful and Interesting Names - 40 of them!
I am currently placing More Recipes in these Collections, it's a New Feature in the Copy Me That program.
Now you can go there..........Enjoy!
In my Health and Inspirations website, you will find a different Menu called Back To Nature where you will find Webpages with lots of valuable Info on these Ancient Grains etc.
Take a look at the Kitchen Secrets menu too for good measure. There's Lots of Tips.
A Surprise Recipe In My Collection
Applesauce Honey Cake Made With Spelt
Health Promoting Recipes, Spicy and International Etc. Also I have Healthy Drinks, Bakes and Sauces etc here with Natural ingredients for Health Diets: Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten Free, Low Glycemic, Paleo Etc You'd Be Surprised What I’ve Found. ENJOY!
No Unsightly Photos - Pleasant Viewing In All My Collections - Safe For Vegans