European Whole Wheat Loaves - Sugar Free Recipe

[Wifezilla]

re you on insulin injections or a pump? Any life left in your poor pancreas?

Nope...I caught things just in time. My bp was 149/95, I had chronic inflammation, and was well on my way to a type 2 dx.

I WISH I was an extreme case, but now days in am more the norm. WIth in 6 months, my dad and 3 of my girlfriends all got a type 2 dx. Another friend who is skinny was put on bp meds. I just KNEW I was next.

A doctor who bills his site as a 'one-stop shop for low carb living and learning' and sells product is hardly a unbiased source

The Eades are just 2 of hundreds of doctors I get my information from. I also have my own example to go by. The time I was the unhealthiest and gained the most weight was when I was a vegetarian who avoided sugar and cut fats. While I was avoiding sugar, I was still eating plenty of rice, wheat, etc... all stuff that is just sugar in disguise.

Here are some of my other sources...
http://www.dietdetective.com/content/view/2835/150/
http://www.diabetes-normalsugars.com/
http://www.drjaywortman.com/blog/wordpress/about/

Freemotion, you would love the Canadian study (click the Dr. Jay Wortman link)

As for Michael Pollan, I have read some of his work and some of his ideas are very sound. One thing he doesn't seem to realize is the amount of refining and processing involved in "whole wheat". I consider it to not be food, but just another "edible foodlike substance".

He is also tilted towards a plant based diet. "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Been there...done that. That's how I got the high blood pressure. I am now doing great on...
"Eat unprocessed foods. As much as you want without stuffing yourself. Mostly fat."

My latest article on diabetes and low carb...
http://www.examiner.com/x-798-Denver-LowCarb-Examiner~y2009m1d9-Low-carb-best-for-diabetics

 

[Zenbirder]

As for Michael Pollan, I have read some of his work and some of his ideas are very sound. One thing he doesn't seem to realize is the amount of refining and processing involved in "whole wheat". I consider it to not be food, but just another "edible foodlike substance".

I am curious about this statement, I buy wheat berries and grind for whole wheat flour, the outer inedible chaff has been removed from the berries. How is this considered nutritional processing or refining?


Food for thought about low carb (IE high dead animal diets):

My Mother's Mother's family was very large. Every person in the immediate family, parents and children, developed symptoms of prion disease when they aged to their 70's and 80's with the exception of the youngest child who was born 12 years after the other children. These were pioneer families that ate game and home grown animals. The rate of Alzheimer's (or similar diseases) is skyrocketing around the world. I am positive that in this family that they ate prion infected animals at least 40 years before deadly symptoms developed, and before the last baby of the family was born. Today's processing is "supposed to" remove nerve tissue that can promote prion disease, we don't take the chance any more. There is a real possibility that we, and my children, have already infected ourselves in our childhood and will die the nasty deaths I have seen my relatives die.

 

[Wifezilla]

Zen, your way does have very little refining. Most people buy a loaf of bread with the words whole wheat on it and think they will get healthy.

As for alzheimers, it is looking like it is yet another form of diabetes. The reason cases are skyrocketing is not because of meat, but because damage caused by elevated blood sugar and insulin levels.

"Discovery supports theory of Alzheimer's disease as form of diabetes
September 26th, 2007 in Medicine & Health / Diseases

Insulin, it turns out, may be as important for the mind as it is for the body. Research in the last few years has raised the possibility that Alzheimers memory loss could be due to a novel third form of diabetes.

Now scientists at Northwestern University have discovered why brain insulin signaling -- crucial for memory formation -- would stop working in Alzheimers disease. They have shown that a toxic protein found in the brains of individuals with Alzheimers removes insulin receptors from nerve cells, rendering those neurons insulin resistant. (The protein, known to attack memory-forming synapses, is called an ADDL for amyloid -derived diffusible ligand.)

With other research showing that levels of brain insulin and its related receptors are lower in individuals with Alzheimers disease, the Northwestern study sheds light on the emerging idea of Alzheimers being a type 3 diabetes."

http://health.dailynewscentral.com/content/view/0001969/53/

 

[freemotion]

As far as processing is concerned, anytime you do any food prep, you are processing. Grinding wheat is processing. Picking an apple and making applesauce is processing. Nutrients are lost at each step.

That being said, the processing we do in our kitchens is VERY different that the processing done in factories. LOTS of nutrients are not only lost, but stripped completely, as in white flour, white sugar, white rice. Even whole wheat flour is rancid by the time you get it, and lots of nutrient loss has takent place.

When you grind your own grains just before using them (or store in fridge or freezer for a little while) you lose far less nutrients and there is no rancidity to worry about. Same with other whole foods.

But even at home, the more processing, the longer cooking times, the more finely ground, the less nutrition. But also remember, we do chew our food, which is processing! Some processing is necessary to get the nutrients. One of the problems is the time and storage factor. If that does not exist, as in grinding grain, making bread, then eating it up, that is a great thing. There is still plenty of nutrition available to your body.

And foods are not all the same. Grains need processing for use by humans. Actually, even more processing than you might be aware of. I soak my grain products to make the nutrients more available, and to remove the anti-nutrients present in all grains. This simply means planning my grain foods a day in advance so the soaking can take place. For example, I will grind the wheat and mix the pie dough, adding some whey in place of some of the water (whey or something acidic like vinegar speeds the process). I will cover it and leave it on the counter overnight, then make the pie the next day, or refridgerate the dough for a few days....I often make enough of whatever I am making to last more than one meal, for time efficiency.

The MEN recipe/method mentioned earlier lends itself quite well to this method, and I have switched to that recipe for some things. I have two batches in my fridge right now, made a pizza last night from a hunk of dough....YUMMMMM! The longer the dough sits, the more digestible it becomes. And since I grind my own grains, I use the "white" version of the recipe with great results, no sugar added, rather than the whole wheat version that the article recommends. They have to add lots of sweetener to offset the rancid taste of commercial ww flour!

I wish I'd learned about grinding my own flour years ago. Actually, I did....I wish I'd actually followed through years ago. It is SOOOO wonderful, it is unbelievable.....must be experienced.

 

[Wifezilla]

I soak my grain products to make the nutrients more available, and to remove the anti-nutrients present in all grains.

\" Grains require careful preparation because they contain a number of antinutrients that can cause serious health problems. Phytic acid, for example, is an organic acid in which phosphorus is bound. It is mostly found in the bran or outer hull of seeds. Untreated phytic acid can combine with calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and especially zinc in the intestinal tract and block their absorption. This is why a diet high in improperly prepared whole grains may lead to serious mineral deficiencies and bone loss. The modern misguided practice of consuming large amounts of unprocessed bran often improves colon transit time at first but may lead to irritable bowel syndrome and, in the long term, many other adverse effects.

Other antinutrients in whole grains include enzyme inhibitors which can inhibit digestion and put stress on the pancreas; irritating tannins; complex sugars which the body cannot break down; and gluten and related hard-to-digest proteins which may cause allergies, digestive disorders and even mental illness.

Most of these antinutrients are part of the seed's system of preservationthey prevent sprouting until the conditions are right. Plants need moisture, warmth, time and slight acidity in order to sprout. Proper preparation of grains is a kind and gentle process that imitates the process that occurs in nature. It involves soaking for a period in warm, acidulated water in the preparation of porridge, or long, slow sour dough fermentation in the making of bread. Such processes neutralize phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors. Vitamin content increases, particularly B vitamins. Tannins, complex sugars, gluten and other difficult-to-digest substances are partially broken down into simpler components that are more readily available for absorption.

Animals that nourish themselves on primarily on grain and other plant matter have as many as four stomachs. Their intestines are longer, as is the entire digestion transit time. Man, on the other hand, has but one stomach and a much shorter intestine compared to herbivorous animals. These features of his anatomy allow him to pass animal products before they putrefy in the gut but make him less well adapted to a diet high in grainsunless, of course, he prepares them properly. When grains are properly prepared through soaking, sprouting or sour leavening, the friendly bacteria of the microscopic world do some of our digesting for us in a container, just as these same lactobacilli do their work in the first and second stomachs of the herbivores. "
http://www.westonaprice.org/foodfeatures/be_kind.html

 

[freemotion]

See what I mean, when we get together, WZ? Yikes...

Duck! Science lecture coming!!!

Let me add to my previous post, even properly prepared grains should be a VERY small part of the diet. We can go many days without eating any grains. But when we do, we still eat them in moderation and properly prepared.

It now amazes both dh and I how tasteless processed foods are, if we find ourselves faced with being lunch or dinner guests and politely eat some processed foods . When possible, I eat some veggies before we go, since I know the meal will be devoid of nutrition, and I feel it with even one meal......you get used to feeling better pretty quickly!

 

[Zenbirder]

I will collect my thoughts for a question post in the AM, i am pooped right now, but I just wanted to say that this is a really good thought provoking discussion. I admit I have a lot to learn and a lot to contribute. I am open to new ideas and I hope you all are also.

Keljonma,
I hope you don't mind us taking over one of your wonderful recipe threads!

 

[keljonma]

Backwoods Home is a fantastic mag, I'm going to stick with that one and drop Countryside.

I agree, Ann, I really like BWH better. I don't have a subscription, but my local library does....

 

[keljonma]

As for alzheimers, it is looking like it is yet another form of diabetes. The reason cases are skyrocketing is not because of meat, but because damage caused by elevated blood sugar and insulin levels.

Wifezilla as someone who has had a family member diagnosed with Alzheimers, I disagree with this statement. There are many causes for this disease, and not all of them are related to "elevated blood sugar and insulin levels."

I posted this recipe because it is a good bread that does not require the addition of sugar. Some people look for those kinds of recipes.

Personally, while I enjoy a good discussion, I wish you would have posted it separately from the recipe and into another section of the forum.

I would also remind you that anyone can post anything on the internet and come up with "psycho babble proof" that what they are saying is true.

As Ann mentioned,

A doctor who bills his site as a 'one-stop shop for low carb living and learning' and sells product is hardly a unbiased source.

And as far as I am concerned, once someone says "and for JUST $149.99 I can send you...." I consider them snake oil salesmen.

 

[Wifezilla]

I was just pointing out that not adding sugar doesn't mean something is "sugar-free". Starches and grains break down in to glucose in the blood stream. That is just a fact. The discussion grew from there.

As for the Protein Power site, Mike and Mary Eades are cardiologists. The fact that they sell vitamins isn't really a big deal to me. They are optional...not required. Their books are cheap, their website requires no sign-up fees and they give FREE information on their blogs every day. Their are many many more doctors that also share their ideals. Their site is just one example.

As for Alzheimer's, that is how my grandfather died. He also had heart attacks, strokes and type 2 diabetes. My other grandfather also had type 2 diabetes, heart disease and died after his 3rd or 4th stroke. My dad was dx'ed with type 2 diabetes. I have spent the last 2 years researching all of those diseases due to my own health issues. Whether or not alzheimers is type 3 diabetes or not will be proven over time. I believe it is based on my research and knowing how my grandfather died.

If the mods want to spin off the sugar discussion in to a new thread, I think that would work.