Gluten Free Holiday Baking

The holidays are always...well...interesting for people who must eat gluten free. On the one hand, I'm always thankful to be healthy and feeling good so I can enjoy the festivities. On the other hand, it is so easy to feel left out as everyone else snacks on buffets and delicious desserts. And storebought baked goods just don't measure up, or they're very expensive!

Gluten free baking can be overwhelming at first. There are so many different types of flour, and what in the world is xanthan gum? It's a science experiment to begin with, then add in the high altitude, and your chances of success seem slim.

But at our Gluten Free Holiday Baking Class, you can watch Sarah from Savor Events and Sweets, and feel confident that you understand the process. You will also receive pre-tested recipes that we know you will love!

GF Holiday Baking Class
Saturday, December 4th
2pm

Cost for the class is just $25. A $10 deposit will hold your spot in the class, which we expect to fill up. The remaining $15 is due on the day of the class. Contact glutenfreebaking [at] gmail.com for more info and to sign up!

Beyond Gluten Free

Another aspect that may be contributing to the high incidence of gluten intolerance, is modern food preparation methods. Even 100 years ago, bread was still made with a sourdough starter that helped to break down the gluten strands - kind of a "pre-digestion" that happened along with the wild yeast in the starter helping to rise the bread. These starters also helped dissolve phytic acid on the outside of the grain, which can inhibit mineral absorption. Some people think that eating whole grain bread from grain that has not been soaked first can cause tooth decay because of lack of minerals from too much phytic acid. That's why some people who eat healthy have terrible teeth, while others who eat all white flour have perfect teeth!

Eating gluten free allows the digestive tract to heal and close again, resulting in much better health for those who are sensitive. Gluten free sourdough adds another dynamic - neutralizing the phytic acid (of which brown rice has lots!) so that you get the best nutrition possible from the grain. It also helps to grind your flour fresh using a grain grinder, so that the oils (which contain many vitamins) are fresh. For these reasons, storebought GF baked products, though definitely better than eating gluten, are not very high in nutrition.

This is why I'm excited about offering a GF sourdough class in the future!

What does gluten do in the body?

See the post What Is Gluten?

Since some people's bodies see gluten as a foreign substance, the result of gluten intolerance is often called "leaky gut." The intestinal lining gets destroyed by the attack the body mounts on the "invader." The lining of the small intestine becomes destroyed to the point that nutrients are no longer absorbed properly (classic Celiac), resulting in problems like osteoporosis and digestion/maldigestion issues like IBS. In addition, gluten seems to trigger the body to produce excess zonulin, which is the substance that regulates what passes through the digestive tract into the blood stream. Zonulin, in my understanding, also helps open the blood-brain barrier, meaning that undigested gluten can actually get to and affect the brain itself. The result of this is that gluten can also cause psychological symptoms as well, much like a drug.

What is gluten?

The simple answer is that gluten is a protein contained in wheat, rye and barley. With the continued hybridization of grain, this protein strand has become something many people's bodies no longer recognize. So, it gets attacked by the body as a foreign substance. There is some evidence that ancient strains of wheat, called Einkorn wheat, that are still cultivated high in the mountains in some third world countries (so not subject to cross-pollination with the high-yield, disease and pest resistant wheat crops grown in many countries, including the U.S.) are tolerated by people with Celiac just fine!

Classes start soon!

Going gluten free...it's dismissed by some as the next big diet fad, a silly craze that will go by the wayside soon. But for many people, this diet change radically effects their health.

Gluten sensitivity comes in varying degrees and can cause dramatically different symptoms in different people, which makes it difficult to diagnose. Rather than go through the discomfort of testing, simply eliminating gluten is a relatively inexpensive way to see if this change can help your health. For people who have recently been diagnosed with Celiac or something similar, the mountain of information can be overwhelming, and keep them from getting well as quickly as they could.

I have been doing a gluten free diet for my 5 year old daughter since she was 15 months, and I have also been gluten free since March of 2007. In spite of the difficulties associated with a restricted diet, I happily choose this lifestyle over the symptoms I experience when I eat gluten. My hope is that this class will give you the confidence to try a gluten free diet if you're curious about it, or to approach a new Celiac diagnosis with a positive attitude and enough information to shorten your learning curve.

Initially, classes are just $25 and will include 1-2 hours of class time in my house east of Colorado Springs. We will cover the basics of what gluten is, what contains it, how to avoid getting trace amounts of it (cross-contamination), a few recipe ideas, and a question and answer time. You will receive a spiral-bound booklet of resources to take with you. A $10 deposit will reserve your place in the class. For more information, please mail sarakay [at] gmail.com