Einkorn is the only form of wheat on Earth that is completely unhybridized, containing the good gluten that even sensitive individuals can usually eat. Consuming it has four main benefits.
In my home, I’ve purchased organic white wheat and spelt in bulk for many years. Grinding it into fresh flour is the most nutritious and tastiest way to bake! I also did this to avoid the conventional toxic wheat in North America.
Farmers on this continent frequently desiccate their crops with glyphosate-containing herbicides. This practice is beneficial for ease and speed of harvest.
I credit this approach with my family avoiding any wheat allergies or problems digesting grains in general. This is true provided they are traditionally prepared. Bulgur is an example of this ancestral practice still widely used today.
For those of you who do have wheat issues, you’ll be encouraged to know that my husband used to have allergy and digestive issues with wheat years ago. He no longer does thanks to careful avoidance of wheat for several years, rebalancing the gut with traditional cooking, raw dairy, and the GAPS Diet.
Having a lot of experience dealing with wheat allergies, I can say that there certainly is a huge difference between modern processed wheat, products made with it such as seitan, and what you produce yourself at home.
I remember when I was breastfeeding my youngest child, if I ate so much as a mouthful or two of processed wheat at a restaurant in the form of a sandwich, slice of pizza, or a bread roll, she would spit up for one or sometimes even two days!
If I ate wheat that I ground myself and either sprouted, soaked, or sour leavened, however, she never had any spit up issues. To me, this was a huge testament to the radically improved digestibility of wheat that is prepared using the wise methods of ancestral cultures.
Einkorn Health Benefits over Modern Wheat
Given my success over the years with incorporating traditional methods of wheat preparation in my home, you may be surprised to learn that I’m switching the type I use.
What’s more, I’m switching 100%.
I still have about half of a large bucket of organic spelt to use up and a small amount of organic soft white wheat before the switch is complete. My goal is to have my family completely transitioned to einkorn wheat within another month or two.
Here are the 4 reasons why I am making the wholesale change to einkorn. Note that this strain is not to be confused with farro or heirloom wheat:
#1:Â Better Taste
My first experience baking with einkorn occurred after I received a thoughtful gift of, among other things, einkorn flour and wheat berries. I was delighted when I ground the einkorn into flour and saw how light and white it was.
I am not a fan of bran and am not of the food philosophy that all that fiber is actually good for you. Folks just think they need a lot of fiber as they are so constipated from all the processed foods they eat! Observing that einkorn, the most ancient and unhybridized form of wheat, has less bran compared with modern wheat was encouraging to me.
I was thrilled to see that my family thoroughly enjoyed the soaked waffles made with fresh einkorn flour. It was my first einkorn dish! Ever since they have asked me to use only that flour.
Like any Mom, I’m a sucker for kids who love my cooking and tell me so on a frequent basis. So, I made the easy decision to switch to einkorn completely for all my home baking.
#2: Â More Digestible
My husband’s stomach is my canary in the coal mine. If something is not easy to digest, he can tell and lets me know right away.  As he has fully recovered from a wheat allergy, he knows which forms of wheat and which preparation methods sit best in his stomach and which do not.
While my properly prepared grain dishes made with wheat or spelt digest fine for him, once he tried the einkorn, he could tell that his digestion was even lighter for the experience. This is possibly because einkorn contains good gluten, different on a molecular level from modern gluten. It is much better tolerated by those with gluten sensitivity.
Better digestion means better absorption of nutrients, so einkorn surpassed the competition in that category.
#3: Einkorn is Visually Different
The first thing I noticed when I ground einkorn into flour for the first time was how much smaller a grain of einkorn is compared with a grain of modern wheat. They are about half the size!
In addition, the telltale crease on one side of a grain of modern wheat is absent from a grain of einkorn. The reason for the differences is that over the centuries, the genetics of wheat gradually changed due to human cultivation practices.
Year after year, farmers selected the seeds at harvest time that suited the goal of higher yields and more gluten. This worked best for big farms and larger-scale agriculture, production, and distribution of wheat products.
#4: Only Unhybridized Wheat on Earth
Einkorn is like most plants in that it is diploid. This means that contains only 2 sets of chromosomes. About 2,000 years after einkorn wheat, nature created emmer via the hybridization of 2 wild grasses. Consequently, emmer has 4 sets of chromosomes. Kamut and durum (bulgur) wheat are both descendants of emmer.
Spelt, an heirloom wheat, is the result of hybridization between cultivated emmer and another wild grass. Thus, it contains six sets of chromosomes. Modern wheat is a descendant of spelt.
Note that while humans extensively hybridized wheat over the millennia, there is currently no genetically modified wheat on the market. In the Western United States, however, test plots of GMO wheat have caused some contamination issues.
As you can see, einkorn is the purest and most ancient form of wheat available. It has only 2 sets of chromosomes with a very different composition of gluten. This form is easier to digest for many with non-genetic gluten intolerance.
Where to Source the Best Quality Einkorn
The only downside of einkorn is that it is not widely available and tends to be more expensive than other types of wheat. It is still quite new to the North American market.
My healthy shopping guide lists sources that I’ve vetted that are fast and affordable to ship to your door. I use these reliable companies myself and have for many years.
The organic einkorn wheat berries from these sources are grown and packaged on one secluded and pristine farm in Tuscany. It is very important to rotate crops on this farm. This is due to the hilly terrain, where yields are low and the land must stay fertile.
What this means is that this particular source of organic einkorn comes from fully pastured fields for five years prior. In addition, soil nutrition is enhanced using one year of crop rotation with the cultivation of chickpeas, lentils or fava beans. This ensures that there is no risk of cross-contamination with other types of grains. Each year’s crop of einkorn comes from truly fertile earth!
Have you tried einkorn wheat yet? Â If so, what observations have you made about this ancient, unhybridized wheat?
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Excellent points Becky. It pays to buy the best for the foundational foods, and I believe wheat is one of these. Wheat in its natural state like what einkorn is a beautiful thing.
I have been using Jovial einkorn flour for about 6 months. I bought one bag after doing quite a bit of research, to test it out. My son & I aren’t celiac, but we do have a gluten intolerance with some pretty bad effects (gastro-intestinal, migraines, sinus issues). We were able to digest the einkorn wheat with no side-effects. I use it for bread, muffins, pizza dough, pancakes – it has worked beautifully! There is a terrific recipe/tutorial for sourdough on the Jovial website.
For our family, I put einkorn in the same category as raw dairy. We can’t tolerate conventional dairy any better than we can conventional wheat, but the real stuff we don’t have any problems eating. So, Yesterday I loved being able to watch my son eat a big stack of blueberry pancakes, washed down with a large glass of milk.
This has been our family’s experience with the Jovial einkorn flour – Your mileage may vary. 🙂
I would skip it for our family. Gluten is not at all good for us.
Sarah,
Can you go into more detail about your husband’s wheat allergy and why he only had to be on GAPS for 6 months? How did he know that is all he needed to heal? I have a gluten intolerance and other food allergies I am trying to heal through GAPS. I have been on the diet since April, the full diet since the end of May. If everything goes according to plan, I could transition off at the end of November. How can I know for sure? Maybe you can write another GAPS post about this, detailing your husband’s digestion and how he is doing after? Also, the best way to transition off the diet. I know it’s a lot, but I know a lot more people are trying this or the SCD to heal their guts.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge with so many people!
~Sarah
It only took my husband a few months on GAPS, but it is very important to note that he had been eating traditionally prepared, nutrient dense fare for 8 years prior. He just needed a brief stint on GAPS to complete the healing that had already occurred so to speak.
YOu know it’s time to transition off of GAPS and begin reintroducing grains when you have no symptoms for many many weeks. My husband’s symptoms stopped within 3 days on GAPS so he in effect had no symptoms for months. Since 6 months was the minimum time recommended, that is when he went off it.
Thanks Sarah! I don’t know how much hope that gives me though. I was following a paleo/somewhat Weston Price diet including raw goat milk a year prior to starting GAPS. I was still eating starchy things like potatoes and rice occasionally when I would eat sushi. I am doing very well on GAPS but I do miss having grains and just being able to drink raw milk straight without fermenting it! I hope I don’t have to be on the full diet much longer than 6 months. I guess I just have to be patient 🙂
Could I soak the berries for a day, drain, air dry on my dehydrator sheets (not run the machine) and then run through my Vita Mix instead of buying a mill?
Sandra, Do you have a Vita Mix dry container? The blades are slightly different than the wet container and you can use this to mill grain without needing to dehydrate anything.
@Sandra no, I tried making waffles with the fresh flour I ground myself versus the einkorn flour that was already milled in a bag and there was no comparison with the fresh milled. Once you mill flour, the nutrition is basically gone in 3 days. It is worth the time effort to mill fresh.
You mention berries, but will I get the same benefit (for my family, not me) if I buy the flour already milled and then ferment the dough properly?
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-Wheat – use sparingly!
It’s far too expensive. Otherwise, an interesting product.
Depends on what is important to you. Our family of six grossed $26,000 last year. I buy $5.00/dozen pastured eggs, grass-fed beef, $9.30/pound raw milk cheddar, and occasional $10/gallon raw milk. It’s all relative. I buy einkorn 10- 20 pounds at a time and pay $3.00 per pound with free shipping. It being a nutritional powerhouse, the cost is reasonable. I can’t tell you how much we love it and how wonderful it is to not have a reaction. I call it Jesus wheat, because He likely ate it! :)!
Oh, I do like that … “Jesus wheat”. Very effective terminology.
I agree. The French spend so much more on their food than we Americans do. Americans are used to cheap, high calorie, low nutrient foods and that’s why most are fat as you tend to constantly overeat when the food is not nutrient dense.
I buy the best and always have bought the best even when $$ were tight. The best isn’t always the most expensive but sometimes it is. In the case of einkorn, yes it is twice the price of organic spelt but if you don’t eat an excessive amount of grains in the first place, it is very doable for a modest budget. You can always find other things to cut that are much less important than the nutrition for your body.
Denise, please tell us where you get it in bulk, and is it organic? Thanks!
That’s source is my sponsor 🙂 The best price for organic einkorn on the internet that I can find. Click Resources link in comment above 🙂
I just bought 30 lbs myself. They are all in 1 lb bags (see picture in post), but that is the way it is for now. I’m sure organic einkorn in bulk will become available in the future. It is just way too new to the American market right now.
Don’t you just love being the leading edge of the healthy food movement!!!! 🙂
What Sarah said – that’s where I get it. 🙂
Denise that is amazing! It is wonderful you are taking such great care of your family. Would you mind sharing your secret because I don’t understand how that is possible with such a large family? You probably had little to no medical bills with such a nutrient dense diet!
Oh, Sarah! Where to begin? First, we just dedicated money to the things that have a good return. We rarely go out to eat, have only one magazine subscription, do not have cable, no cell phone contracts – landline through magicjack @ 19.99 /YEAR, and we use tracfones with double minutes ( jobs require it ). Rarely buy clothing retail anymore – we are die-hard secondhanders. I find a good product and I hunt it down at the best price – online or in the store. We have a garden – in very little space. When you commit to not buying junk food, there is more money for good food. And you need less of it because it nourishes so well. It has become second nature.
None of what we have chosen to exclude really benefits a good life and good health, nor do we need it.. Clean healthy food is so important to everyone – particularly to me. I am battling lupus, R.A., fibromyalgia, vitiligo, chronic fatigue, Epstein Barr, hypothyroid, Hashimoto’s, and a coagulation disorder. I am functioning because I have done nothing the “specialists” have recommended.
I presented at our local WAPF chapter meeting on Saturday, giving a little of my background, the importance of healthy foods, and the beginnings of a battle here in MT to get raw milk sales legalized. Raw milk is medicine for me. I have gone four months on just raw Jersey milk, my homemade Kombucha, and water. The milk cure. My pain goes away and I feel great. Now that we live here, I cannot access it except for $10/gallon. And the lion is beginning to roar! We have a rep who will draft a bill – we’ll see what happens. Lots of work ahead, but I want my milk!
I function well because I have good food for medicine. That is worth more to me than any cable show or latte. Priorities. Choices have consequences. I try to make good ones.
Denise, that totally makes sense. I would do the same if I had kids. Health is a bigger priority than having a cell phone plan or cable.
I am sorry you are suffering so much. I will pray for you to continue on your healing journey. Have you considered the GAPS diet? It helps with a lot of those autoimmune conditions. I am sure you have already healed a lot just from following WAPF principles.
Good luck with the raw milk battle in MT!
Is there any place to order this wheat in bulk?