No wheat - whole grain bread

I'm discovering a whole new way of approaching food. Rather than thinking of it as just sustenance for my body, I'm looking at food as medicine. In an effort to reduce inflammation, I'm trying the elimination diet which was suggested by my doctor.  This diet is where certain foods aren't eaten for a period of time.  Then the eliminated foods are added back into the diet one at a time. Adding foods back into your diet this way allows you to see specifically which food triggers any allergy symptoms. Then you can better pinpoint the food most likely causing problems.

Experts have found that increasing numbers of people have a sensitivity to the gluten that is found in wheat. Interestingly, this may be ocurring as a result of the farming techniques used to produce wheat in our country. Pesticides, fungicides, and chemical plant growth regulators are being used to grow wheat. Then the wheat is altered further when it is processed into white flour. Many prepackaged foods, and of course, white bread, are all made with this refined, nutrient stripped white flour. The Weston A. Price Foundation has a fascinating article that discusses what happens to wheat from seed to storage here. The article was an eye opener for me.

One of the symptoms of gluten sensitivity is that it causes the immune system to respond with intestinal inflammation. So for now, I'm temporarily eliminating wheat products. It's just that... I really enjoy eating whole wheat bread.  I wondered how I was going to get my bread fix? Well, I found the most amazing honey, whole grain bread recipe in the Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook by Alissa Segersten and Tom Malterre, MS,CN, and it contains no wheat!

Bob's Red Mill Whole Grains

Although the recipe doesn't suggest it, I made a loaf in the bread machine on the whole wheat cycle. After I proofed the yeast mixture, I put it into the bread machine first, then added the dry mixture and let the machine do the work. Even though the bread machine's whole wheat bread cycle goes through several series of rising and punching down, it still came out deliciously. I did take the pan out of the bread machine after about 35-40 minutes.

Don't let the dough put you off. It's not the usual wheat or white bread dough consistency. I found it to be rather slick, shiny and a bit runny by traditional dough standards.  However, it baked up into a wonderfully moist, dense, crusty and very tasty loaf of bread.

 Some, if not all, of the grains required in the recipe you can get from Bob's Red Mill online, or at Whole Foods or Central Market (in the Dallas area).  The recipe suggests for a slightly sweeter tasting bread, you can replace the amaranth and buckwheat flours for equal amounts of sorghum flour if desired. I thought the bread was sweet enough without substituting, but more sweetness might be a nice change for a breakfast bread. If you can't find some of the flours, I used whole grains and ground them into a flour in my Vita-Mix.  I'm sure a food processor would work just as well too. Here's the recipe:

Honey Whole Grain Bread

• 1 1/2 cups warm water (100 to 110 degrees F)
• 1 tsp whole can sugar
• 1 package active dry yeast (2 1/2 tsp)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbs apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup arrowroot powder
• 1/2 cup tapioca flour
• 1/2 cup brown rice flour
• 1/2 cup sorghum flour
• 1/2 cup teff flour
• 1/4 cup buckwheat flour 
• 1/4 cup amaranth flour
• 1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F and oil a 9x5 inch loaf pan.  Place the warm water and tsp of sugar into a small bowl.  Make sure the water is the right temperature.  If the water is too cold the yeast will not become active and if the water is too hot it will kill the yeast.  Add the yeast and stir.  Proof the yeast by allowing it to stand for 5 to 10 minutes. It should become bubbly, if not start over with fresh yeast and water. Then add the honey, oil, and apple cider vinegar. Stir well with a fork or wire whisk. 
2. In a large bow, add the arrowroot powder, tapioca flour, brown rice flour, sorghum flour, teff flour, buckwheat flour, amaranth flour, xanthan gum, sea salt and baking soda.  Combine the flours with a wire whisk.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk them together as you are pouring to avoid lumps.  Continue to whisk for another 30 to 60 seconds or so, or until the batter thickens and becomes smooth.
3. Transfer batter to the oiled loaf pan and gently spread out with the back of a spoon.  Place pan, uncovered, into the 200 degree oven.  Let rise for 30 to 35 minutes with the oven door cracked open.  After it has risen, close the oven door and turn the oven temperature up to 375 degrees F.  Bake for 30 minutes. Loosen sides with a knife and place onto a wire rack to cool. 

Enjoy with some almond butter. I'd post a photo, but it's already gone! Yum.  Feel free to share any gluten free bread recipes that you've savored.
  
Sources
Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook, 2nd edition, Alissa Segersten, Tom Malterre, MS,CN

Mind, spirit dis-ease and cancer connection?

It was a total shock to me when I was told I had breast cancer. I'm sure I'm not unique, but I think my total shock resulted from the concrete and absolute belief that I was doing everything humanly possible to prevent cancer. So, my brain went into NOT ME mode. This is a mistake. Shock and denial...just beginning to process my grief.

In retrospect, I think the "not me" mode I reverted to stemmed from my firm belief that if I practice all the healthy lifestyle habits the medical community stresses for cancer prevention, I won't get it. Period. End of story. I rationalized like this: I don't even have any genetic predisposition to this cancer. I don't smoke, I rarely drink, I filter my water, I eat flax, I blah, blah, blah. Perhaps you've had this same painful conversation with yourself. I hope not. Well, I now realize that my discussion with myself didn't include two very important components of my health: my mind and spirit.

I think I've always been vaguely aware that if the mind and spirit are in a state of dis-ease, the body is affected. I just didn't appreciate the degree of this mind/body effect. I’m a science geek so I love this photo from The Franklin Institute. It shows neurons in the brain. These neurons connect with muscles in the body at places called neuromuscular junctions. The brain speaks to the muscles via chemical neurotransmitters. Anytime we experience an emotion a flood of chemical reactions occurs, which may cause our heart to beat faster, our muscles to become tenser and a host of other responses. These reactions underscore the intimate relationship between the body and the mind. Interestingly, according to The Franklin Institute, massage therapists have reported finding "that deep massage can trigger the release and awareness of powerful, long-held emotional memories." This is called somatic recall, an example of the mind/body connection.

When we experience, for example, mental pain, anger, bitterness, sadness, or any host of emotions, the body is affected. The situation becomes toxic when the mental pain is internalized, repressed and ignored or never addressed. Some interesting research on personality and cancer conducted by Dr. Lydia Temoshok at the University of California San Francisco theorized that, "people with repressive personalities, who look calm but hold in a cauldron of painful emotions, are more prone to develop cancer."

The fact remains that most of the medical community believes there is insufficient scientific evidence to make the claim that there is a mind-body-cancer connection. It's also a slippery slope to walk if the quest for understanding and awareness of how one might have come to have a disease leads them to self blame. The journey to dis-ease is long, complex and consists of many variables. I now recognize the importance of looking at my health from a holistic perspective. On the path to healing, the mind and spirit are just as important as the body. Because "the part can't be well unless the whole is well," and we're so much more than a part!

Sources:
http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/exercise.html
http://oralcancerfoundation.org/emotional/mind-body.htm