It’s a No Grainer, right? Not Always!

Do you know what grains are healthy? Why has gluten gotten such a bad rap?! Click on the video above to hear me review many of the flour products that are available today or simply continue reading…..it’s a long one, but it’s worth it and at the end, you’ll know which one to choose for yourself 🙂

Before I teach you which grains are healthy, I need to give you a little background. I know that you know people who eat gluten-free and it is saving their lives right?

However, let’s think about that. Think about the philosophy, food by God for your body by God. Well God made gluten right? What God did not do is, in the 50s he didn’t hybridize those grains which changed the gluten. It changed the protein it put many more glutens and many different strains of gluten IN the grains and that’s where the problem is!

Many people who are gluten sensitive can eat ancient grains. But also we need to consider the inflammation in the gut…that is the problem. If I’m a waitress and I’m carrying a tray or plates and I’ve got more and more and more and more plates at some point I have to do what? I have to put the tray down right? That’s because I can’t carry it anymore.

And that’s what’s happening in our bodies. We are so overwhelmed with toxins that cause Cellular Inflammation every time in the body. It causes dysfunction in the body every time. And that’s where the grains and the carbs and the gluten make a difference.

So if someone asked me, ‘can I eat grains?’ I’d say, ‘well it depends. That’s really my favorite answer because everybody is different. When your body has a lot of inflammation you need to eat a low-carb, high-fat diet. And we’ve done so many posts about fat and the cell membrane and inflammation.

There are times when you should not eat any grains because of the carbs. However, you also need to incorporate feasting and fasting into your diet, into your lifestyle, because there is a way for grains to be part of a healthy diet.

Not the stinking food pyramid, where there are 12 stinking servings of grains at the bottom that is horrible do not do that! Let me switch from my camera here and I’ll show you which ones are OK I’m going to give you the good bad and the ugly. 

I’m just conveniently using this post from Thrive because I shop on Thrive Market and it’s giving us a lot of information in a small space. So Quinoa flour, I would use that. I would definitely use this Oat flour because it’s organic. I would use Sorghum flour because it’s organic and it is an ancient grain. Grains are sprayed with glyphosate many times unless they are organic.

One of the times that they spray it is right before harvest so that it makes it easier for them to harvest and to get more production, more grain out of their harvest. So even with oats, oats are healthy if they’ve never been hybridized and they’re not genetically modified, but I still insist on organic oats.

Amaranth is a great one. Amaranth is good ancient grain. Hazelnut meal that’s not even a grain it’s a substitute which is fabulous because you’re getting some healthy proteins. Cassava flour, that one is iffy because it’s very high carb. It is real food. So go back to the philosophy of food by God for your body by God. Cassava is real food; however, it’s very high in carbs.

So yes it can be part of a healthy diet but very rarely. Don’t eat too much of it. Almond flour is an excellent choice. All-purpose flour. I don’t like to say never. A couple of times a year I do cheat and I eat something made with white flour. If I go to the coffee shop and buy an almond croissant. So that’s my number one confession of the year, but in my kitchen, never.

No all-purpose flour. Tapioca flour is a little bit worse than our Cassava flour, higher in carbs, and it’s starchy. The body turns that into sugar. That’s going to spike your insulin. Insulin is the hormone that will age you faster than any other hormone. So I do eat tapioca flour sometimes I don’t have it in my kitchen but I will eat it sometimes in a food product.

Paleo flour might be good; we’ll have to come back to that and look at the ingredients. Almond flour, is a great option. Arrowroot flour same as tapioca, very high in starch affects your insulin. Sprouted Spelt. This is the one I use in my kitchen most. I do use Coconut flour but my daughter doesn’t enjoy it and she can tell almost every time that I use it.

Sprouted white wheat flour? NEVER. I would not eat that one although sprouted is good, that’s a trick. You don’t want to eat wheat flour. It’s hybridized, it’s horrible. Your body does not recognize it as food. 

Sprouted Garbanzo is good. Sprouted Brown Rice flour can be OK. When you sprout your grains or your nuts, the sprouting process makes those nutrients more available to your body. Soaking or sprouting grains and nuts is always a great idea. 

I’m going to give you my recipe for oatmeal which I do have on a high-carb day. I love oatmeal. I buy it in the bulk bin so that I only buy a little bit at a time; so it’s always fresh. I buy organic. The steel cut oats and I soak them overnight with water and I put a little bit of yogurt in it so that that really helps to open it up and allow more of the nutrients to come out.

So I use about half a cup of oats and one cup of water, about…I don’t know a tablespoon or two of yogurt, and maybe a little bit of salt. I let that soak overnight. The next morning I add half a cup of milk or cream. So you see I’ve got a 3 to 1 ratio of liquid to oats. Oh, it’s so yummy. It cooks really fast. I’m on day three of a water fast so you can tell I would love to have food right now. I put crushed walnuts in it and raisins and butter, cinnamon. You don’t have to put all that sugar in it. Put a lot of cinnamon in it. Cinnamon is surprisingly sweet so that’s my number one favorite recipe for the day. 

Now I told you we would come up here and look because I always want to teach you. I’m not going to tell you what to do I’m going to teach you what to do. So let’s look at this Paleo flour. And see what the ingredients are. Almond flour. I would not eat this one. You don’t need that potato starch and the tapioca starch. It’s going to be really high in carbs.

And there are other options available. Now if you think about good, better, best. We’re not going to accomplish perfection. So that Paleo flour is better than a lot of options it’s definitely better than any kind of wheat flour unless you got ancient grains. Ancient wheat would be some Spelt, Einkorn, or Emmer. 

Those are ancient wheat grains that are not hybridized. So it’s a good better best thing it’s a substitute. Can I do better than this Paleo flour? I can just use my own almond flour and coconut flour so that then I’ve made a better choice. 

But this is better than wheat flour. So hopefully that’s been some really good information. You’ve learned some things today that help you make good choices in your diet. Remember the word diet simply means eating plan. We’re all on a diet. We all eat…except I’m not eating this week.

And why would you invest your effort in changing your diet? Because you are worth it! Your health is your greatest asset. It affects everything in your life and everyone in your life. Invest in yourself today.