re: If You Have Osteoporosis, Wheat May be Responsible

caine obrien — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:18:17 GMT

I avoided grains for many years, and my wife had serious digestive issues (IBD) which we ultimately decided were probably caused by somthing like celiac disease. When she went off wheat and other gluten-containing grains, her digestive problems disappeared, and she had pretty serious IBD. Probiotics were another key in overcoming this.

But here's what we subsequently learned through the Weston A. Price organization- many grains including whole wheat contain ANTI-nutrients which prevent the absorbtion of the beneficial nutrients in the grain! However, what we also learned is the technique of soaking grains overnight or longer before using them in cooking. They recommend using whey (the runny liquid on top of your yogurt, not the powdered stuff) mixed with water to soak the grains.

We have pretty much perfected accomplishing the same thing by opening probiotic capsules and mixing the powder inside with water, and then soaking our fresh-ground flour overnight before making soda bread. The various bacteria essentially pre-digest the grain, transforming it. Guess what- it raises the bioavailability of nutrients a great deal, and the "pre-digested" grain causes no celiac symptoms for my wife. So while I agree that commerically prepared wheat products should be avoided like the plague, we are of the opinion that the traditional preparation of pre-soaking the grains in a bio-active solution turns grains into wholesome food.

One footnote: Until the 1880's or so, all bread in the US was true sourdough bread, leavened with air-borne bacteria for days, effectively predigesting the grain. This is not the case today with essentially all commercially produced bread.