Looking for a change from wheat? Try spelt

I only found out about spelt a couple of years ago when I became concerned about how heavily my diet relied on wheat - even though at the time I’d been firmly converted to eating only the organic wholewheat variety, and wondered if giving my body a rest from eating so much of it might give me a health boost.

What is spelt?

Spelt is a grain. It’s actually distant relative of modern wheat, it’s origins tracing back beyond the Bronze Age (4,000 to 1,000 BC). It looks and tastes very similar to modern wheat but keeps it’s sturdy outer husk with the kernal during threshing - modern wheat is bred to lose this when harvested. Because the hull is left on the grain it’s nutrients are preserved better during shipping and storage. The husk is removed just before milling.

As well as the nutrients being better preserved in spelt, its higher in protein than modern wheat and is loaded with minerals. It’s also the only grain that contains mucopolysaccharides which stimulate the immume system.

In taste it is very similar to wheat, the wholegrain versions are slightly darker and heavier but up can use it for anything  you use wholewheat flour for - pastry, Yorkshire puddings, cakes, crumbles and bread -  just substitute the wholewheat flour for spelt flour in your recipe. You can also mix it with your usual flour.

The benefits of eating spelt

It’s very easily digested and its nutrients are therefore easily absorbed and used by the body. If you’re sensitive or allergic to wheat you may be able to eat spelt instead although it does contain gluten.  It can also help with digestive complaints such as constipation, colitis and poor digestion generally as well as being a good source of energy.

Availability of spelt

It will probably depend on where you live, but I’ve found that organic spelt flour is available in good wholefood shops and in some supermarkets.   As well as flour,  you can buy other foods made with spelt such as pasta, spelt bread, sprouted spelt bread,  breakfast cereals and various types of spelt pasta. White spelt  products pasta are available if you find the wholewheat versions too hardcore but as with all foods I’d recommend developing a taste for the unrefined, versions; the nutritional benefits are invariably worth it.  Goodness Direct are a good online source of a variery of spelt based foods.

Another big final plus for me is that my teenage kids will eat it - I have to take every opportunity I can to sneak nutritionally sound food into their diets - and they can’t tell the difference from normal wholewheat. As my kids were bought up on a wholefood diet, brown pasta is the norm for them anyway.

• Pages

• • About me

• Categories

• • acid/alkaline balance
  • Allergies
  • Aloe Vera
  • Amalgam
  • beans and pulses
  • beetroot
  • berries
  • celebrations
  • diets
  • fats
  • Food Combining
  • fruit
  • genetic engineering
  • grains
  • protein
  • recipes
  • seaweed
  • selenium
  • sprouting
  • stimulants
  • superfoods
  • supplements
  • toxins
  • Uncategorized
  • vaccinations
  • vegetables

• Archives

• • December 2008 (1)
  • November 2008 (6)
  • October 2008 (10)
  • September 2008 (12)
  • August 2008 (12)

• subscribe here

• Subscribe in a reader