5 ways to reduce your wheat, gluten, and flour consumption

Nope. It really doesn't.

The science is still not complete on gluten, flour, and wheat. The gluten-free industry is huge right now, and there are always big food companies trying to make a buck on a new trend.  GF products are no exception.

What I will say is the following: the more research is done on the subject of food, the more we find that humans best digest the foods that we evolved WITH.  When we deviate far from these foods, we tend to get sick.

If you were to map out our history as a species, we really have only very recently started eating refined carbohydrates.  Incidence of digestive-based disease increased after the invention of steel-rolling mills, which greatly reduced the fiber content of the flours we were using, and also allowed us to invent white flour.

So, while I don't think that everyone should go flour, wheat, or gluten-free, I do think that most of us could stand to reduce our consumption of these things.  And if we go back to that concept of balancing your metabolism for optimal health, you'll find that refined carbohydrates cause large spikes in blood sugar, just like sugar does.

Here are some ways to reduce your consumption of refined carbohydrates.

1) Use vegetables instead of pasta
Admittedly, this takes a bit of experimentation, depending on the recipe.  My husband and I have gradually done this over time.  When we make shrimp scampi, we make it with kale instead of pasta.  We make meatballs with brussels sprouts instead of spaghetti.

2) Try sprouted bread
Sprouted grains are easier to digest and provide much more fiber than a bread made with flour.  I have friends who sprout their own grains (good for you guys), but I don't really have time for that.  I buy it instead frozen in the health food section my supermarket.  It can also be found at Trader Joe's, which is the cheapest I've found.

3)Stop buying cereal and try something new for breakfast
Cereal is made with processed wheat and corn, neither of which is particularly good for stabilizing your blood sugar.  Try some of these instead:  Yogurt and Fruit, Steel-cut oats or homemade oatmeal (buyer beware: most oatmeal bought out is full of sugar), Farm Fresh Eggs, Sprouted toast/english muffins/bagels, Sauteed Veggies, Roasted Veggies (I recommend making them in advance and keeping a pile in your fridge).  Here's a great recipe for homemade granola.

4) Experiment with more traditional flours
Again, this takes some trial and error.  I reduce refined carbs by replacing some of my regular wheat or white flour with unrefined flours, like Buckwheat, Spelt, GF flour, Coconut flour.  Because we're not gluten free in my home, I tend to mix these flours with the white or wheat flour in order to keep the original consistency of whatever I'm making. Folks who absolutely must go GF should know that spelt is not gluten-free.

5) Learn to cook with grains
If you've never tried cooking with quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, millet, barley, or wild rice, now is the time.  Barley does contain gluten, but is a good alternative to wheat and pasta for those of us who are not keeping a strict GF diet.   Here's an amazing quinoa recipe to try for dinner!