Are you currently grain free or on the full GAPS Diet to heal your allergies or another autoimmune issue?
Fear not, this can and should be only a temporary situation!
Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride MD, author of groundbreaking book Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS), writes that almost half the population reports some sort of “allergy” to a food or foods.
Despite this sobering statistic, she estimates that only 1% of people cannot recover from these food allergies (yes, this includes celiac).
This means that only 1% of people really need to be grain free forever.  Going grain free to reverse allergies should be only a 1 1/2 to 2 year process, not a lifelong sentence in the vast majority of cases!
The important thing is to know how to prepare your grains traditionally when you re-introduce them!
Plenty of Traditional Societies consumed grains, some like the Swiss obtained a large share of their calories from sourdough bread.  Hunter-gatherers from Canada, the Everglades, Australia, Africa, and the Amazon consumed a variety of grains, tubers, vegetables and fruits that were available in addition to plenty of animal foods, so don’t fall for the incorrect notion that ancestral societies didn’t eat grains and that it is unhealthy to do so.
And, if you haven’t yet learned to prepare your grains traditionally and are still consuming plenty of modern grains on a daily basis, you better learn quick as the autoimmune/allergy train is coming down the tracks at full speed and it’s headed straight for you (if it hasn’t flattened you already)!
Knowing how to prepare grains traditionally is the only way to consume them long term without autoimmune illness inevitably cropping up, unless you are part of the 1% who needs to avoid them forever.
For most of us, then, traditional preparation of grains is an essential skill in the kitchen, one that must be mastered to experience vibrant health.
Please note that freshly grinding your flour and baking your own bread with yeast is not traditional preparation of bread!
Fresh bread that is homemade does not necessarily equal healthy bread!
Bread and other grain based foods must be sprouted, soaked, or sour leavened to be digestible and healthy!
So, go with the grain, not against it. It is not necessary to be grain free to be healthy and it’s certainly not very fun – at least not long term.
Eating, after all, is meant to be a pleasant and enjoyable experience and grain based foods no doubt play a big part in that.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Sources and More Information
Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MD, 2009
Nasty, Brutish and Short? by Sally Fallon Morell
Sarah what is your take on the high carb low fat diet?
Not a good idea as NO healthy traditional culture ever ate this way!
I know this is an old blog post, but I really really hope you respond as I really need help. I have been predominately paleo since 2013, with the occasional cheat and I ate gluten free grains during my pregnancy last year because I couldn’t stomach anything else. (also gluten free since 2011ish). Anyway, in the past few months I went back to paleo, moving toward AIP as part of Dr. Isabelle Wentz’s Hashimoto’s Protocol. I didn’t make it to the gut protocol for various, but I was strict paleo for at least 8 weeks. Anyway, these past couple of weeks, in my attempt to get back on track, I cheated with gluten free grains a couple of times. I found that when I eat nothing but a plate full of veggies (usually cooked) and a side of meat I have loose stool/diarrhea. But when I eat grain, my stools are solid. I am SO confused. You said we may need to be grain free for a couple of years to heal the gut, but my gut is just not responding to this at all. Do you have any insight for me? I ate gluten free pizza and zero veggies last night and I had the best poop this morning.
I am not a fan of the paleo diet especially for women. If you are on a gut healing diet supervised by a GAPS practitioner, that is fine. But keep it as short as possible! https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/why-i-dont-eat-paleo-or-primal/
The bell curve of humanity ALL ate grains. Unless you are of Eskimo or Masai origin, I would definitely include properly prepared grains in moderation.
I am wondering if I should reintroduce grains to my family? My husband was having some health issues, (everyone else was healthy) so we as a family started the GAPS diet 1 1/2 years ago after my 3rd child. I have always been a very healthy weight without any health complications. However, after going on GAPS and really adopting a paleo lifestyle(with the addition of dairy) I never got my menstrual cycle back after pregnancy. About 6 months ago, I started gaining weight (never have had this happen before) and then my cycle did return. However, I am wondering if I have been eating too low of carb and have now slowed down my metabolism, as I have always been able to eat freely without gaining weight. I am not sure if I am still gaining, so I am a little concerned. I have never missed grains, but now I am wondering if I have messed up my body (thyroid, hormonal balance, metabolism) by not eating enough carbs. Any thoughts?
no thank you! i have been grain free for six months. my joints no longer ache, i’m no longer constipated and i’m down 22 lbs.
you can have my share of grains, and my daughter’s too!
WHEAT IS POISON.
Sooo, why did you post a week earlier in “No granola is Good Granola” that grains are not healthy and we can not digest them even if prepared properly??
Contradict yourself, much?
I never posted that! Please read the post again. No granola is good granola precisely because it isn’t prepared properly 🙂
OK, I am reintroducing grains. And I feel sick every morning when I wake up (goes away after I eat breakfast). I have tried soaking grains before, and I feel lousier eating those than I do the plain ones. Suggestions?
I almost never leave a response, however i did some searching and wound up here Why You Should Be Eating Grains | The Healthy Home Economist.
And I actually do have 2 questions for you if it’s allright.
Could it be just me or does it look like some of these
comments look like coming from brain dead people? 😛 And,
if you are posting on additional online social sites, I would like to follow anything fresh you have to post.
Would you make a list of the complete urls of your communal pages
like your twitter feed, Facebook page or linkedin profile?
There is an abundance of evidence that grains are detrimental to a normal gut. Grains are an anti nutrient due to phytic acid. Phytic acid, present in all grains, binds to the intestinal tract and prevents the absorption of nutrients. Why eat grains at all when there are an abundance of healthy alternatives making grains unnecessary? Not to mention the fact that it is nearly impossible to avoid gluten. It’s in deoderant, toothpaste, candies, and on and on. Americans are obsesse with grains. There is hardly any American meal that does not contain some form of grain. Even Soy Sauce has gluten in it. Perhaps the reason that so many people are having an allergic reaciton is because grains today contain significantly more gluten than grains in the 40’s. Grains are in fact unnecessary and if one is allergic, listen to your body and stop eating them.