A Letter to my Doctor...

A patient of mine asked me to write a letter in response to an article that her doctor wrote on questioning gluten, after this patient had successfully lost weight and maintained a healthier diet when introducing sourdough and

whole grain bread back into her diet... The names have been fictionalized, but the content feels so necessary to get down on the page. Thanks for inspiring me, Julie.

10/30/18

Dear Dr. Harper,

I write to you today after reading your wonderful and informative magazine_______. Julie Lapis is a patient of mine and she brought me a few copies. I gladly keep them in the waiting room at my South Pasadena Acupuncture practice.

I felt the need to write, however, because although your article on gluten was very insightful and I agree with several of your opinions, I wanted to share my findings with you, after over five years of research on the subject of whole grains and fermentation.

Let me tell you briefly about why I’m obsessed with fermented, sourdough, organic, whole grain bread. I have come to the conclusion after years of study and experimental baking that the fermentation process not only amplifies the bioavailability of the minerals and vitamins in whole grains, but also makes bread more easily digestible, converting the naturally occurring phytic acid to lactic acid with the help of wild yeast strains in the sourdough starter. The live sourdough starter itself is the key to unlocking the vital nutrition that so many of us are lacking.

My history with bread began when I was in grad school and began experiencing more and more digestive issues. It started with bloating, then bouts of diarrhea, painful stomach pain, the lot. I saw a GI and they tested me for everything under the sun. All of my auto-immune markers were clear, the CT scan was clear, my blood work looked great. Beyond the generic IBS diagnosis, I did not know where to turn. One of my friends who is an MD suggested I go gluten-free for awhile to see if that might help.

I hesitated at first, especially growing up with an Italian Grandmother and loving bread and pasta. Sure, I already ate well and did not eat any sugar nor processed food, so perhaps in some people’s minds this seemed like the next natural step. So I went for it. Nutrition has always interested me, as has cooking with whole foods, so both my husband and I took on the task with gusto. I was gluten-free for 3 months when I started noticing that my hair was beginning to fall out, and I was exhausted all the time. I checked my thyroid, and I checked my vitamin/mineral levels, and the rest of my blood. All were in the normal functional range. 

I was getting married soon and I knew we would be going to France for our honeymoon. One of my friends said “hey Mary, why not try just a little piece of baguette or croissant? I bet you won’t react the same way you do in the states!” I heard her words, but I didn’t really believe it. I had been gluten-free for almost a year at that point, and any time I did have “gluten,” I would feel terrible. 

But when in France, you know?! I could not resist just a little bite of some delicious glutenous treat in front of me every two minutes. So I tried a tiny bite of a baguette at a cafe in Paris. I will never forget that moment. I was sitting on a bench outside the cafe, waiting for my husband to come outside and I just ripped off a little piece and quickly shoved it in my mouth, like I was committing a crime! And I figured I would get sick immediately, but guess what…I felt amazing afterwards. So amazing that for two weeks, I ate as many croissants and baguettes as I could and did not have one ounce of digestive upset. It was pretty miraculous if you ask me. 

I decided about a week in that I must return home and figure out why so many Americans react poorly to “gluten.” I put the word “gluten” in quotes here because at the end of the day, throughout all of my research during the last five years, throughout more than 30 classes I have taught on baking sourdough bread, and over 350 people that have mixed sourdough at my workshops, I can honestly say that I don’t think the gluten is the problem at all. I came home from France with a 10 pound bag of french flour determined to figure out why people were getting sick. I did not know anything about baking bread, but I was destined to learn how and to ultimately teach others. 

I think bread in our country does not get the proper fermentation that it needs to be healthy for us. I believe that the enriching of our bread with vitamin and mineral isolates during the industrial revolution is one of the culprits. I understand why it was done initially, but ultimately we did not know the consequences of fortifying our food. People are very sick. Is it the fortification? Is it the phytic acid present in the grains that are not properly soaked or given the time to convert their energy into lactic acid with the help of wild yeast, thus leeching minerals from our grains and therefore, us? Is it the glyphosate and other bromides present in the Roundup or other herbicides that are sprayed onto our wheat and other grains and then ingested by so many of us, compromising our endocrine and immune systems? 

There are many questions and hypothetical causes. I wrote this today because people’s health is at stake. I want to educate you and other wonderful physicians, to help them understand that while gluten gets a bad rap, it is is a protein that has been around for thousands of years, and when given the chance to break down during the fermentation process, whole grains and gluten are incredibly good for us and sustainable for the larger population. They are incredibly rich in vitamins, minerals, and protein.

In Chinese Medicine we talk about the “Jing” or the “essence” of food. Wonder Bread and other commercial breads that we find in plastic bags on our grocery shelves have lost their “Jing,” so to speak, because most of them are not whole grain, nor have they been made with wild yeast (or leaven/starter), they have not been given the proper time to ferment and break down the acids and proteins that our bodies see as harmful (such as phytic acid, gliadin and glutenin).

Gluten-free foods are also missing “Jing.” Commercial GF products are often made with rice flour, tapioca flour, potato flour, stabilizers and gums. These do not make them healthier. With some GF foods often there is no nutrition whatsoever. They seem like a great alternative to glutenous products, but in reality (and from personal experience) they are severely lacking in nourishment. 

Soaking and sprouting organic grains during the fermentation process brings out the omnipresent nutrients in the grains, including iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, manganese, and an array of B vitamins. Spelt and Teff flour in particular are all-stars. Teff flour happens to be gluten free naturally and you can sow an entire field with it with one palmful of the seeds. The soaking and fermentation process also allows the phytic acid already occurring in these grains to co-mingle with the wild yeasts from the starter and convert to lactic acid, which our digestive tracts are lined with naturally. There is a cyclical process that occurs both from seed to loaf, and from dough to digestion.

I believe that there are healthy ways to eat bread. Our culture deserves a way to break bread with each other again.

I would appreciate hearing your thoughts. Thank you so much for your time.

Warmly,

Mary Parr, L.Ac

www.maryparracupuncture.com

IG: @bread_culture