Alternative Grain Easiest On Digestion?

[sreese68]

I have this growing suspicion that I'm now starting to be intolerant of white rice. Sigh

[mushroom]

I handle teff and buckwheat just fine, but not amaranth or quinoa. But of course we are all different. I don't do corn either (except for cornstarch).

[ravenwoodglass]

Buckwheat is my go to especially if I have been glutened. I like that it has a decent amount of protein and for me is easy to digest. Don't know if that will be the case for you.

[cahill]

I do not tolerate amaranth or quinoa.I get chest pain/presser in the center of my chest when I consume amaranth. Quinoa upsets my system no matter how well I rinse it first.

I have not tried buckwheat but it sounds like something I may consider trying

[Skylark]

I find teff pretty mild and easy to digest.

[mushroom]

Another grain you might consider is sorghum - it seems fairly widely accepted.

[Takala]

You can make nut meals in the blender, and use that for a grain substitute for part of the mixture. I get quizzical looks sometimes from store cashiers when I buy several multiple pound bags of almonds at once, until I say it's for replacing wheat when I bake, then they go "oh, cool !"

There is also coconut flour.

Buckwheat has surprised me. I grind the toasted kasha kernels in a coffee grinder, tastes better to me that way.

I mix amaranth and sorghum together and put it in a big ziplock bag as a sort of "basic mix." It's not that I'm thrilled with how amaranth tastes, as much as it is high protein and gluten free baked goods tend to last longer without spoiling when there is some in it.

There is millet flour.

Teff is good.

I'm not sure of my quinoa status.

I'm not good with there being more than very little flaxmeal in anything, and I really do not like it, either.

I put garbanzo flour in some things. I also put cider vinegar, cumin, molasses, agave, cinnamon, etc in it. Garbanzo bean with acidic vinegar, cumin, sweet and salt is more palatable than just bean flour. (playing with it in the kitchen, adding water and flavors to it) Garbanzo flour and potato starch and buckwheat make great pancakes. You can add a forth type of flour mixture to this and make a bread type mixture close to whole wheat.

I can do cornstarch if I want to. I continue to be frustrated that I've reacted to supposedly gluten free cornmeal mixes, as I can eat actual corn, cornstarch, tortillas, and polenta. Freaking production processes somewhere, everywhere, are really screwed up with cc.

Don't forget, there are such things mail order available such as pea flour, navy bean flour, sweet potato flour.

[sreese68]

Thanks for everyone's replies! I think I'll try buckwheat first since I have some buckwheat cereal at home. I tried it once, but I had reacted to another food so close to it, I wasn't sure if the buckwheat worked for me or not. This was before I knew to try one food for a few days and wait a week before trying another. I think Teff will be my second new grain to try.

Unfortunately, I have to wait before trying anything. I have just started a new multivitamin a couple of days ago, and I'm not sure if I'm feeling off due to it or due to an impending stomach bug! Two of my kids came down with it yesterday. The other two are awfully tired and not hungry today, so we'll see...

[T.H.]

Couple quick questions:

1. Do you react to oats or legumes, do you know?

2. What brand of rice did you use? If you were using Lundberg, they have oats and vetch (a legume) as a cover crop, and so if you are an oat sensitive celiac or have problems with legumes, that could have been an issue.

3. Do you know if you have any problems with the grass family specifically? If you do, the buckwheat, quinoa, or amaranth might be a good choice, as they are not related to the grass family and so are not officially grains. Quinoa and amaranth are full proteins, high in iron.

I had an easier time digesting amaranth - it makes a porridge, basically. I really, really disliked the texture, but it went down easy, anyway, when I could still eat it.

4. Do you know if you are very sensitive to gluten, by any chance? I am super sensitive and had a big problem finding any grains that weren't contaminated enough to make me ill. If you think it could be an issue, teff from teff co. and bulk quinoa from Ancient Harvest were pretty clean, gluten-wise (had to order these on-line). The smaller boxes of quinoa from Ancient Harvest are packaged in a different facility and had more of a cc risk than the bulk, which was packaged in Bolivia.

So sorry it's been hard to introduce food! Much sympathy - went that route, still going through it, and oh yeah, it's a pain!

Oh, one last thought - have you tried corn masa? It's processed corn ground up into meal, essentially, but it's processed so that it is more easily digestible than corn meal, so that might be better to try than straight cornmeal. Maseca brand is supposed to be pretty clean, last I heard, but that might be worth checking. And if you're going overseas, I wonder if corn would be more readily available as a grain?

[sreese68]

  On 8/7/2011 at 3:19 AM, T.H. said:

Couple quick questions:

1. Do you react to oats or legumes, do you know?

2. What brand of rice did you use? If you were using Lundberg, they have oats and vetch (a legume) as a cover crop, and so if you are an oat sensitive celiac or have problems with legumes, that could have been an issue.

3. Do you know if you have any problems with the grass family specifically? If you do, the buckwheat, quinoa, or amaranth might be a good choice, as they are not related to the grass family and so are not officially grains. Quinoa and amaranth are full proteins, high in iron.

I had an easier time digesting amaranth - it makes a porridge, basically. I really, really disliked the texture, but it went down easy, anyway, when I could still eat it.

4. Do you know if you are very sensitive to gluten, by any chance? I am super sensitive and had a big problem finding any grains that weren't contaminated enough to make me ill. If you think it could be an issue, teff from teff co. and bulk quinoa from Ancient Harvest were pretty clean, gluten-wise (had to order these on-line). The smaller boxes of quinoa from Ancient Harvest are packaged in a different facility and had more of a cc risk than the bulk, which was packaged in Bolivia.

So sorry it's been hard to introduce food! Much sympathy - went that route, still going through it, and oh yeah, it's a pain!

Oh, one last thought - have you tried corn masa? It's processed corn ground up into meal, essentially, but it's processed so that it is more easily digestible than corn meal, so that might be better to try than straight cornmeal. Maseca brand is supposed to be pretty clean, last I heard, but that might be worth checking. And if you're going overseas, I wonder if corn would be more readily available as a grain?

1. I don't know if I react to oats or legumes. OK, I can eat peanuts, but I don't know about beans. I haven't tried oats or beans yet.

2. I was eating Riceland rice. My non-gluten intolerances give me different reactions than my gluten reaction. My gluten reactions are neurological in nature. The non-gluten foods that bother me give me intestinal/abdominal pain and constipation. I don't think my reaction to rice is from cc since I didn't have any neuro issues with it.

3. I don't know if I react to the grass family since I'm not 100% sure what all falls in that category. I believe sugar does? I know I do fine with white sugar and evaporated cane juice.

4. Thanks for the advice on where to buy Teff and Quinoa! I had purchased Teff from Bobs Red Mill awhile ago, but I haven't used it since I don't know if I react to oats, and I've read their gluten-free products get cc from oats.

About sensitivity: I got glutened once from my daughter touching the top of my drink after touching animal feed. And I suspect I've gotten very mildly glutened walking by the wheat flours at the grocery store a couple of times - the second time I could smell it in the air. I held my breath, but it was too late. I seem to do fine with corn tortillas that are made in a plant that also makes flour tortillas. The corn tortillas are on dedicated lines. So I think this makes me quite sensitive, but not very sensitive???

I should try corn masa. I live in Texas, so it's easy to find here.

We're going to London, and we're renting a flat. I plan on packing non-perishables that I don't know if I can easily find there and buying perishables there.