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Be Kind to Your Grains
...And Your Grains Will Be Kind To You
The science of nutrition seems to take a step backwards for every two
steps it takes forward. When the study of vitamins was in its infancy,
researchers realized that white flour lacked the nutrients that nature
put into whole grains. One of these researchers was Dr. Weston Price
who noted in his studies of isolated, so-called "primitive" peoples
that when white flour and other devitalized foods were introduced into
these communities, rampant tooth decay and disease of every sort soon
followed. But defenders of the new refining process argued that phosphorus
in whole grains was "too acid" and was the true cause of bone loss and
tooth decay. Warnings against the use of white flour went largely ignored.
Only in recent decades has Dr. Price been vindicated. Even orthodox
nutritionists now recognize that white flour is an empty food, supplying
calories for energy but none of the bodybuilding materials that abound
in the germ and the bran of whole grains. We've take two important steps
forward—but unfortunately another step backward in that now whole grain
and bran products are being promoted as health foods without adequate
appreciation of their dangers. These show up not only as digestive
problems, Crohn's disease and colitis, but also as the mental disorders
associated with celiac disease. One school of thought claims that both
refined and whole grains should be avoided, arguing that they
were absent from the Paleolithic diet and citing the obvious association
of grains with celiac disease and studies linking grain consumption
with heart disease.
But many healthy societies consume products made from grains. In fact,
it can be argued that the cultivation of grains made civilization possible
and opened the door for mankind to live long and comfortable lives.
Problems occur when we are cruel to our grains—when we fractionate them
into bran, germ and naked starch; when we mill them at high temperatures;
when we extrude them to make crunchy breakfast cereals; and when we
consume them without careful preparation.
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 preservation—they
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 grains—unless, 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.
So the well-meaning advice of many nutritionists, to consume whole
grains as our ancestors did and not refined flours and polished rice,
can be misleading and harmful in its consequences; for while our ancestors
ate whole grains, they did not consume them as presented in our modern
cookbooks in the form of quick-rise breads, granolas, bran preparations
and other hastily prepared casseroles and concoctions. Our ancestors,
and virtually all pre-industrialized peoples, soaked or fermented their
grains before making them into porridge, breads, cakes and casseroles.
A quick review of grain recipes from around the world will prove our
point: In India, rice and lentils are fermented for at least two days
before they are prepared as idli and dosas; in Africa
the natives soak coarsely ground corn overnight before adding it to
soups and stews and they ferment corn or millet for several days to
produce a sour porridge called ogi; a similar dish made from
oats was traditional among the Welsh; in some Oriental and Latin American
countries rice receives a long fermentation before it is prepared; Ethiopians
make their distinctive injera bread by fermenting a grain called
teff for several days; Mexican corn cakes, called pozol, are
fermented for several days and for as long as two weeks in banana leaves;
before the introduction of commercial brewers yeast, Europeans made
slow-rise breads from fermented starters; in America the pioneers were
famous for their sourdough breads, pancakes and biscuits; and throughout
Europe grains were soaked overnight, and for as long as several days,
in water or soured milk before they were cooked and served as porridge
or gruel. (Many of our senior citizens may remember that in earlier
times the instructions on the oatmeal box called for an overnight soaking.)
Bread can be the staff of life, but modern technology has turned our
bread—even our whole grain bread—into a poison. Grains are laced with
pesticides during the growing season and in storage; they are milled
at high temperatures so that their fatty acids turn rancid. Rancidity
increases when milled flours are stored for long periods of time, particularly
in open bins. The bran and germ are often removed and sold separately,
when Mother Nature intended that they be eaten together with the carbohydrate
portion; they're baked as quick rise breads so that antinutrients remain;
synthetic vitamins and an unabsorbable form of iron added to white flour
can cause numerous imbalances; dough conditioners, stabilizers, preservatives
and other additives add insult to injury.
Cruelty to grains in the making of breakfast cereals is intense. Slurries
of grain are forced through tiny holes at high temperatures and pressures
in giant extruders, a process that destroys nutrients and turns the
proteins in grains into veritable poisons. Westerners pay a lot for
expensive breakfast cereals that snap, crackle and pop, including the
rising toll of poor health.
The final indignity to grains is that we treat them as loners, largely
ignorant of other dietary factors needed for the nutrients they provide.
Fat-soluble vitamins A and D found in animal fats like butter, lard
and cream help us absorb calcium, phosphorus, iron, B vitamins and the
many other vitamins that grains provide. Porridge eaten with cream will
do us a thousand times more good than cold breakfast cereal consumed
with skim milk; sourdough whole grain bread with butter or whole cheese
is a combination that contributes to optimal health.
Be kind to your grains. . . and your grains will deliver their promise
as the staff of life. Buy only organic whole grains and soak them overnight
to make porridge or casseroles; or grind them into flour with a home
grinder and make your own sour dough bread and baked goods. For those
who lack the time for breadmaking, kindly-made whole grain breads are
now available. Look for organic, stone ground, sprouted or sour dough
whole grain breads and enjoy them with butter or cheese.
From: Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges
Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats by Sally Fallon
with Mary G. Enig, PhD.
© 1999. All Rights Reserved.
To order Nourishing Traditions, go
to www.newtrendspublishing.com.
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