Whether wheat is healthy or not seems to confusing a lot of people these days! A common question is, “What about heirloom wheat varieties consumed for thousands of years?”
As a result, interest is growing in the ancient wheat known as einkorn, the only completely nonhybridized form of wheat on Planet Earth. This is wonderful, as reviving the foods and preparation methods of our healthy ancestors is the most basic key to recovering wellness in this modern age filled with nutritional half truths.
The kitchen is where it’s at from a prevention and health maintenance perspective! Unfortunately, there seems to be quite a bit of confusion pertaining specifically to the many varieties of wheat available to home bakers and their hybridization status.
Heirloom Wheat Varieties
For example, this comment below on an article about the good gluten in einkorn pertained to the heirloom variety known as White Sonora Wheat. This variety was introduced by a Jesuit priest name Eusebio Francisco Kino in the 1700’s in the Sonoran region of Mexico and Southern Arizona. It was a staple for the western United States and particularly California for almost 200 years. It is also one of the oldest surviving heirloom wheat varieties in the world.
White Sonora Wheat
I’m curious how Einkorn compares to ancient White Sonora Wheat? Anyone able to give a technical comparison?
Another question regarding heirloom wheat was emailed to me recently. It pertained to the heirloom wheat (also referred to as heritage wheat) variety known as red fife, the oldest known form of wheat grown in Canada. This wheat is named after David Fife. The seed came from Scotland to Canada in 1842 and is believed to be a relative of the Ukranian heritage wheat known as Halychanka.
Red Fife
Einkorn is not the only non hybrid wheat on the planet. Red fife wheat is nonhybridized.
The certainty of this person’s statement was troubling as she had obviously been given wrong information possibly by a heirloom seed company.
In addition to Red Fife, Halychanka, and White Sonora Wheat, there are many other heritage or heirloom wheat varieties around the world depending on the particular geographical location.
Here’s the bottom line to remember about heirloom wheat: these varieties date back a few centuries as opposed to einkorn which dates back many millennia.
Big difference!
Heirloom Wheat: Too Many Chromosomes to Be Unhybridized
It is true that heirloom wheat varieties are potentially easier to digest than modern wheat. This is because they did not undergo the aggressive, irradiating, gene mutating technology that drove hybridization during the Green Revolution. This period took place from the 1940’s through the late 1960’s. However, they are hybridized nonetheless.
This is easily proved scientifically by examination of the sets of chromosomes each wheat variety possess.
Red Fife, for example, is a descendant of spelt, a sub-species of common wheat, Triticum aestivum. This means red fife has 6 sets of 7 chromosomes for a total of 42.
Emmer, another wheat variety sometimes called farro and incorrectly believed to be unhybridized, has 4 sets of 7 chromosomes for a total of 28.
Kamut and Durum often used to make bulgur are both descendents of emmer. Therefore, they are hybridized as they also have 4 sets of 7 chromosomes.
Truly unhybridized wheat has only 2 sets of 7 chromosomes, for a total of 14. The only wheat variety that meets this scientific definition is einkorn.
Einkorn is the only wheat variety on Earth that has 2 sets of 7 chromosomes each (male and female) which indicates a completely unhybridized state.
Now that we’ve got the hybrid versus nonhybrid wheat thing straightened out, one more thing need clarification.
No Variety of Wheat is GMO
The rumor that wheat is genetically modified needs to stop being repeated!
PLEASE!
Wheat is NOT currently genetically modified! It is true that unapproved GMO wheat was discovered growing in Eastern Oregon in 2013. However, genetically modified wheat is NOT approved for use in the food supply anywhere in the world as of this writing. Monsanto reached a $2.4 million settlement with Pacific Northwest wheat farmers over the contamination. Hopefully, this situation is no longer occurring!
Bottom line? Hybridization is NOT the same as genetic modification (1).
Heritage Wheat Probably Not OK for the Gluten Intolerant
Are you are non-genetically gluten intolerant? Are you seeking a variety of wheat to eat that is easily digested? If so, try einkorn first. Using heirloom wheats like Red Fife or White Sonora Wheat is not likely to produce any improvement.
The brief story below from Carla Bartolucci, author of the fanastic cookbook Einkorn: Recipes for Nature’s Original Wheat, hopefully describes why.
When we first moved to Italy, my neighbor was organically growing a comparable type of Italian heritage wheat [to Red Fife] at his farm and this is the type of wheat I started baking bread with, but my [gluten intolerant] daughter did terrible with it. Sensitivities aside, heritage wheats or landraces are varieties that did not undergo the aggressive breeding that occurred during the Green Revolution and thereafter. Durum wheat, which is a descendant of emmer, which only has 4 sets of chromosomes, is believed to be more digestible (according to some researchers). Before finding einkorn, I fed my daughter emmer, which is available in Italy, and still her symptoms remained severe.
The good news is that Carla’s daughter does fine with einkorn. This is true even though she cannot eat heritage wheat varieties without severe symptoms.
Please be very careful when believing stories of this or that heirloom wheat variety being unhybridized. Only einkorn is unhybridized. All other wheat varieties even those used for centuries contain a more complex gluten structure likely to trigger symptoms.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
More Information on Wheat
Can Celiacs Eat True Sourdough Bread?
No Knead Einkorn Sourdough Bread
Make Your Own Sourdough Starter
Kefir Soaked Einkorn Loaf
Einkorn: The Good Gluten You Can Probably Eat Just Fine
Einkorn Sourdough Crackers with Nut Butter
The 4 Reasons Why I Switched to Einkorn Wheat
What do you think of pasta made from durum wheat?
Can you explain why landrace grains (other than einkorn) which are hybrids breed true enough to their phenotype the following season to make it worth while saving their seed for planting next year, while seeds saved from modern hybrids (grains and also, for example, garden crops like tomatoes) are said to result in parent varieties very different from the hybrid crop the seeds were saved from.
Wheat is NOT a true hybrid, but is done by cross pollination or open pollination. This does not produce a F1 seed which will not reproduce the characteristics. Wheat seed continue to grow year to year producing the same plant. So do not be afraid of wheat, it is not “Modern hybridized wheat has undergone aggressive genetic manipulation and mutation”. Thanks
Modern wheat was hybridized using radiation to induce unnatural mutations. Read up on the Green Revolution following WWII. This is historical fact.
Einkhorn is certainly the least reactive wheat, but Einkhorn was always a minor cereal right from the beginning of the Neolithic. Most early cultures that relied heavily on wheat always preferred the more reactive wheats. Part of this was because they couldn’t make a decent bread from Einkhorn—it was only really ideal for gruel and porridge.
books.google.com/books?id=HEQ9AAAAIAAJ&lpg=PA11&pg=PA5#v=onepage&q&f=false
Despite the fact that Einkhorn wasn’t very popular, its low reactivity is often used to convince people that all ancient wheat had low reactivity. However, seeds of certain ancient types of tetraploid wheat (e.g.; Graziella Ra, Khorasan wheat/Kamut) have been shown in studies to have even greater amounts of total gliadin than modern accessions.
pmid.us/22629212
Historically, gluten was once considered to be the most nutritious part of the wheat. The more the better. It’s only been in the past few decades that people have become sensitive to gluten. It’s recently been hypothesized that iron fortification has increased non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Countries that fortify with iron are significantly more likely to be obese (possibly due to mineral imbalances), have non-celiac gluten sensitivity and have tendencies towards experimenting with fad diets that attempt to avoid fortification.
bit.ly/1JlaJZT
I am a bit confused by a couple of points you make in your article- I am hoping you can clarify 🙂 You say that there is no genetically modified wheat- that it isn’t legal. Got it. But earlier you said that “While heirloom wheat varieties are potentially easier to digest than modern wheat because they did not undergo the aggressive, gene mutating technology that drove hybridization during the Green Revolution…” I think I’m missing something. What is the difference between a food being genetically modified versus subjected to gene mutating technology? Thank you for your help here.
Modern hybridized wheat has undergone aggressive genetic manipulation and mutation … but NOT genetic modification which is totally different. Hybridization involves manipulation of the genes within a species while genetic modification involves manipulation of genes of a plant or animal using genes from ANOTHER unrelated species. For example, inserting human genes into GMO rice (yes, it’s been done … not on the market yet thankfully).
I have a sourdough starter which I purchased. I started it with rye flour and I have been using rye flour to keep it going. I have been using it to make Einkorn bread. I am wondering if I have to keep the starter going with rye flour or can I just switch to Einkorn flour to keep the starter going.
Thanks, Ann
I am wondering if you still need to soak, sprout or sour freshly ground einkorn flour like regular wheat flour?
Yes, ideally it really should be traditionally prepared.
I just tried making bread with einkorn for the first time and we did not like it. It was blaah and very crumbly. I used my tried and true recipe* that I make using hard white wheat. Does anyone have a recipe using einkorn that is not crumbly? I read (after the fact) that einkorn dough should be sticky and only kneaded by hand for a short time, and not raised too long. Maybe this will help with the crumbly part but it also did not have much taste.
*2 C flour
2 scant T yeast
1/3 C olive oil
1/3 C honey from our bees
2 1/2 C warm water
let sponge for 15 min. then add:
4 1/2 C flour – or till it does not stick to the sides of the kitchenaid
2 t salt
Baking with einkorn is tricky due to different type of gluten present (the dough is sticker and not as stretchy). I highly recommend the cookbook mentioned in the article above as it will save you a lot of headaches transitioning to einkorn. Here’s a recipe for einkorn sourdough (do not use other types of wheat flour for this recipe): https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/no-knead-einkorn-sourdough-bread/
I read the Book called This Famishing World from 1918 which speaks of the European Food System being brought to the United States under the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906; The author speaks a lot about Wheat along with other food processed by Industry and Refinement. It is a very educational and informative read. The author has a second book listed on the link I am posting, I have not yet read the book The Science of Eating… but intend to do so! Anyone who wants a real eye opener should read one or both of these books! archive.org/search.php?query=This%20famishing%20world
I’ve had major digestive problems for many years, and have been working hard on these issues for many years, using GAPS, Weston A Price and even a modified Paleo diet along with care by a Functional Medicine, DOM Clinical Nutritionist doc. Made great progress until I encountered a parasite, Blastocystis, that devastated all my progress in healing my gut. Prior to the parasite issue, I had been eating with great success my own home made sourdough, long rise Einkorn bread along with a WAP diet. That was the only gluten I was consuming and I did just fine with it. My doc took me off that, as well and has urged me to eat no gluten ever again, but she had never heard of Einkorn, she just wants all her patients off all gluten all the time. But because I was doing just fine with it before this current issue, (I am not a true celiac case, just unable to eat most wheat), I am hoping to go back to it once the parasite-caused leaky gut problem is solved. Almost there! Eating the cleanest diet ever, no processed foods at all, home-grown organic veggies and fruits, our own eggs, grass-fed meat, only soaked steel cut oats, quinoa and some white rice, all good fats, rarely ever eating out and certainly no “fast food” or processed junk food. The true never-hybridized nature of Einkorn convinces me that it is safe to eat, and I will again make the sourdough version for me and my family. I first learned of Einkorn on Sarah’s blog and am most grateful for her candid and accurate information.
It’s true that GMO wheat is not approved for our food system. That seems to be irrelevant since they spray roundup / glyphosate on the wheat crops right before harvest.
Good point!