Belated Update

Remember this post? I was so proud of myself for figuring out what my son is allergic to that I couldn't wait to share it with the blog world, and I put up that post the next day.

In contrast, it's taken me almost two years to get around to writing this post...yes, this one. The "I-was-only-partly-right-which-also-means-I-was-partly-wrong" post. It's been a little bit harder (for my pride, among other things) to find the time to write this one, and it would have been a lot of work to go back and edit the other. (Although if I had rewritten it, I wouldn't have to admit that I was wrong...Ah ha! That's it! I'm writing this post because I'm honest. NOT because I'm lazy. Yep. That's the motivation behind this. I'm glad we cleared that up. Now, moving on...)

Not long after posting "Grandma Was Onto Something" I discovered that there was much more to Mr. Adorable's allergy than to just the bran of the wheat tribe Triticeae. Such a painful discovery for him; such a humbling discovery for me.

My laziness played a key part in the discovery. After concluding that it was the Triticeae wheat bran that was the issue, I quit soaking the oatmeal we were eating almost daily for breakfast. Suddenly, Mr. Adorable began having allergic reactions almost daily again. I was more than a little confused. Oatmeal doesn't have the Triticeae bran in it, so by my calculations it should have been safe for him to eat.

Until I realized that they had something very basic in common. Phytic acid.

And that's a whole 'nother issue entirely...and it'll have to wait until another blog post.

Because it gets worse...

Grandma Was Onto Something

Most of the time, the word eventually does not mean the next day.  However, circumstances being what they are, an exception is warranted.  Circumstances meaning, in this particular case, that my excitement levels are so high that I want to write this post right now, and I want to begin by sharing with you that my grandma drank straight vinegar on occasion.  That's a little strange, I know, but it's important, so stay with me on this one!

In my last post, I shared that my two-year-old son has a wheat allergy.  More specifically, he is allergic to the bran of the tribe Triticeae, which includes wheat, barley, and rye.  This presented an opportunity for me to branch out and experiment with new and different grains for baking and cooking.  I wasn't looking forward to the challenge as much as I could have, so I decided to go ahead and experiment with something I was already trying to incorporate into my new cooking style.  (And no, I was not experimenting with serving my family straight vinegar...)

We really like our whole wheat bread around here.  We like whole wheat flour in our cakes, cookies, pizza dough, tortillas, and cinnamon rolls, too.  It's the only kind of flour I use, actually.  Whole wheat kernels are full of good things, like vitamin E, four different proteins (albumin, globulin, gliadin, and gluten), B vitamins in abundance, fiber, and minerals.  The problem is that within 24 hours of grinding wheat into flour, up to 40% of those nutrients have become rancid, and within 72 hours, up to 80% of them have oxidized and turned rancid.  After I learned all this, I bought a grain mill, and it is amazing to me how much fresher and better tasting whole wheat flour is when it is freshly ground!

However, whether I use freshly ground whole wheat flour or not, my son is still allergic to the bran.

Shortly after my son was born, a friend introduced me to the concept of soaking different grains and flours before using them, and after I bought my grain mill this spring, I decided it was worth a try.  We loved the results, and I began to experiment with converting our favorite recipes to use the soaking method.  I hadn't gotten very far when we discovered my son's wheat allergy.  It was an issue I hadn't seen coming, and I didn't know how to best handle it.  I want him to be able to have the best food I can offer, including whole grains, but I don't want him to suffer, either.  As I was thinking about a day a few months ago that we'd spent at my friend's house, (the same friend who introduced me to the soaking method), I realized that I had given my son some of her freshly baked bread for lunch, and I couldn't remember him having an allergic reaction after eating it!

So I experimented on the poor kid.  I took a recipe that he had reacted to only a few days before we determined what exactly he was allergic to, and I soaked (for more than 12 hours) the freshly ground wheat flour in the buttermilk it called for.

He did not have an allergic reaction!

After a little more research into the soaking method, I know exactly why:

Phosphorus in the bran of whole grains is tied up in a substance called phytic acid.  Phytic acid combines with iron, calcium, magnesium, copper and zinc in the intestinal tract, blocking their absorption.  Whole grains also contain enzyme inhibitors that can interfere with digestion.  Traditional societies usually soak or ferment their grains before eating them, processes that neutralize phytates and enzyme inhibitors and, in effect, predigest grains so that all their nutrients are more available.  (Sally Fallon, Nourishing Traditions, p. 25)

She goes on to add that soaking or fermenting grains prior to consuming them has allowed many people who are allergic to certain grains to tolerate them well.  My son can attest to that, and my grandma, (the one with the wheat allergy), was onto something after all!

My grandma would drink straight vinegar as soon as she could after accidentally or unavoidably ingesting wheat, and her allergy symptoms were either alleviated or avoided.  It worked for her, and I think it's because vinegar is one of the acid mediums that can be used in soaking different grains and legumes!  (I'm thinking that pickles might do the same thing for a two-year-old, too, should he accidentally eat something he shouldn't.)

So, while my son is still allergic to wheat bran, if I soak the whole wheat before I use it, he can eat it anyway.  He will still have to be careful what he eats away from home, but my otherwise healthy, happy boy can still have his cake... and bread... and cinnamon rolls... and pizza crust... and tortillas... because his mommy has discovered a way for him to be able to eat them, too!

Another Change

I have a lot of cookbooks. (All but the five newest ones are pictured here. Scroll to the bottom for the big picture.) See? I have a lot of cookbooks. I actually use some of them. One of the projects on my to-do list is to go through them and weed out the ones I will never use again, but that project is way down the list. I have other priorities.

I have grocery shopping to do, meals to plan, and easy, healthy snacks to stock up on. Eating real food means a lot more prep work. The vegetables arrive in my kitchen in their whole forms, the milk has separated and needs shaken, the yogurt and buttermilk need to be cultured, the eggs need to be picked up from the farm, the meat needs cooked, and the grains need to be ground (and sometimes soaked, but more on that later, in another blog post.) And that doesn't include housework, or laundry, or errands, or yard work...

It is sometimes a challenge to convert our favorite recipes to more healthy versions of their former selves, but it has been a challenge that I have welcomed. (Don't tell anyone, but it's actually kind of fun!) This past week, though, my long-time suspicions were confirmed, and I added a new kind of challenge to my adventures in cooking.

My red-headed two-year-old son has a wheat allergy. He's also allergic to barley and rye. That's the easiest way to explain it, but he's really only allergic to the bran of each grain, and only if he actually eats it. While I am relieved that it is not a gluten allergy, or even an allergy to the rest of the whole grain, I am beginning to recognize how much time and effort it's going to take to work this little "hiccup" into the way I cook. I am also grateful that I do not have to eliminate oatmeal, wheat germ, or whole wheat pasta from our pantry, and we can even still eat out if we're so inclined.

My first step this week toward making our favorite recipes still usable was to substitute ground oatmeal for whole wheat flour when a recipe called for it in a small amount, since I already have oatmeal on hand. That's worked pretty well so far. I am also beginning to experiment with soaking the whole wheat flour every time I use it, which is actually better for all of us anyway. (Read more about soaking grains in this blog post from Lindsay at Passionate Homemaking. Or just wait. I'll get around to talking about it here...eventually.) Wouldn't it be neat if what is good for all of us ends up being something Mr. Adorable can eat too? (Please notice that I didn't say easier...just neat!) If soaking the wheat flour doesn't neutralize the bran enough for Mr. Adorable's system to process it without a reaction, then I will begin to experiment with alternative flours and grains.

My red-headed Grandma had a wheat allergy, too, which I actually never comprehended as a child. When she ate piles of frosting off of family members' birthday cakes, I thought she just really, really liked frosting, and I thought it was pretty cool that she could get away with doing that. I wonder now what she would have given to be able to eat a piece of cake, too.

Mr. Adorable is going to have his cake, and eat it too. Because I have the resources and the willpower to make sure it happens, no matter what kinds of flour end up inside that cake!