Sourdough and Whole Grains: Gut Healing Tools in Your Kitchen and Your Everyday Meals
My journey with sourdough and whole grains began, when I was personally going through some gut issues. As a Pediatrician, it was definitely not a nice feeling, working through the challenges of trying to figure out a solution to one's ailments, and coming up short in solutions.
However, I was determined to restructure my diet, as I had come to find out that "food is medicine", and that the gut is the seat of many of our ills.
The gut in fact, houses over 70% of our immune system, and it is one of the first interfaces between our environment, and our internal systems. With that knowledge, I turned my diet, and in fact, the eating patterns of my family totally around, to a mainly whole food plant-based diet, and within months we were all feeling great, off medications, if we were on any, and having noticeable results in energy, skin issues, and more.
However, I still needed to find that extra key to unlock my own gut healing, and so I was determined to learn how to make gut healing ferments. It started out with a successful delicious homemade oat milk yogurt, that we now make weekly, and my skills, grew from there, to now making our own sourdough starter, and eventually I hope delicious baked goods.
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Whole grains, and sourdough are not new concepts, as they have been around for thousands of years. Early civilizations cooked with grains and leavened their bread. Leavening, allowed for their bread to have time to ferment, before baking. In fact, yeast was found in Egypt, that is thought to have been thousands of years old, revived, and used to make bread, and it actually worked! The organisms that make up a sourdough product, can be considered "living", and if allowed to thrive, will live on for years to come, and even generationally. That is exciting!
Within a sourdough starter, you have colonies of yeast, and bacteria, that when cared for, will produce that flavorful, and "sour" taste that you may be familiar with, if you have had a piece of authentic sourdough bread. All you need besides your starter, for a simple loaf, is some more flour, water, and salt if you prefer. That's it. Simple, ingredients, with high impact, and delicious flavor. No additives, like what we see on our store shelves.
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Whole grains are packed with nutrition, and we should all make it a part of our weekly diet. It helps control glucose levels, cholesterol, gut health and bowel regularity, as well as multiple other health benefits including, brain health, and even prevention of cancers. Once fermented into sourdough the nutritional profile is heightened even further.
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In order to use my whole grains, to gain access to this extra nutrition, I really enjoy and find value in using my NutriMill Grain Mill. It is a long lasting invaluable long-term investment, in transforming my wheatberries, into the flour that I need to make all of my delicious baked goods. You can view the NutriMill Grain Mill offerings, using my link below.
(This is an Affiliate Link, and my family, and I thank you so much, if you use it, as I will gain a small commission if you choose to purchase from my link).
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For those that have Celiac disease, that cannot have standard wheat, gluten free sourdough can be a helpful choice, if they want to enjoy a delicious baked good, without the potential risk of harm to their gut. As these people are extremely reactive to the gluten found in modern baked goods and are advised to avoid them all together.
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For those with Gluten intolerance or sensitivity, however, they may be able to enjoy a Gluten containing sourdough baked good, with much better tolerance, due to the fact that, the fermentation process makes the gluten more tolerable, and easier to digest, by breaking it down through the process.
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If not sure, these decisions, of whether one should eat Gluten containing products, whether fermented or not, should be discussed with a qualified health care provider, to make the best choice for one's own personal health.
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I will be continuing to add to this page, as I learn new skills in sourdough making, and the delicious baked goods, and meals my family, and I are trying with whole grains.
I hope you will be blessed by what I have learned, and just how much sourdough can be a healing tool in your kitchen.
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Check out my channel "Sustainable Sourdough + Grains" to follow me, and learn all about using grains, and sourdough.
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My Blog Post, is also available, where I talk about our very first Sourdough Starter.
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Dr. Monique Adu
("Lifetime Whole Grain and Sourdough Enthusiast")
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Contact me if you have any questions about Whole Grains and Sourdough, as I would love to help you too.
Get in touch so we can start working together.