A Roundup of New Developments in Gluten-free Baking
One loaf of bread, two people. One reaches for the spongy, soft crumb, while the other pushes it away, because as little as one bite could bring on discomfort, even pain. To him, bread -- and any other food that uses wheat gluten -- is unfortunately the enemy.
Experts say as many as one in 250 to 300 Canadians have celiac disease1, or gluten intolerance. Also known as gluten-sensitive enteropathy, or nontropical sprue, or celiac sprue, celiac disease is a chronic (lifelong) condition, in which foods that contain gluten damage the small intestine.
Gluten is a form of protein found in some grains, notably wheat, barley, and rye. Symptoms of celiac disease include weight loss, weakness, even dermatologic problems, but many people who have the condition may not have any signs or symptoms. The damage to the intestine makes it hard for the body to absorb nutrients, especially fat, calcium, iron, and folate, from food.2
NEW, EMERGING DIAGNOSIS
Celiac disease can be difficult to diagnose because the symptoms are similar to other conditions. Celiac disease is a relatively modern diagnosis. In the past, it was less understood and less accepted by the traditional medical establishment.
Celiac disease may be inherited. It occurs in about 10 percent of first-degree relatives (mother, father, brother, sister, son, or daughter) of people who have the disease. Immune system problems and bacteria in the environment are also suspected causes.
Many celiac sufferers are also lactose intolerant. For many celiacs, the onset of lactose intolerance is often concurrent with the onset of celiac disease.3
The first step in diagnosing celiac disease is a blood test to detect antibodies. Antibodies are proteins made by the body’s immune system to attack and destroy a foreign substance, or antigen. There are three lab tests in use today to indicate celiac disease, but the one most in use is called the antiendomysial (EMA) antibody test. A positive result to this test is typically followed-up by a biopsy of the small intestine.2
If testing is not available, or as a pre-step to formal testing to confirm suspicion that one suffers from celiac disease, best-selling author Dr. Andrew Weil suggests a simple test: "...eliminate all wheat for a month or two, then add it back to see if you can make any correlation with symptoms."4
UBIQUITOUS GLUTEN
From Shirley Corriher's CookWise:
"When you add water to wheat flour and stir, two proteins in the flour,
glutenin and gliadin, grab each other and the water. As you continue
to stir, more and more of these proteins connect and cross-connect
to form sheets of gluten. These remarkable elastic sheets trap and
hold air and the gases made by yeast and enable yeast bread to rise."5
Gluten is responsible for the spongy nature of bread. But gluten is also used to facilitate the texture, binding or shaping of many products bearing no resemblance to bread.
Once a person is diagnosed with celiac disease, the healing can begin, but only in direct proportion to the degree to which that person can be vigilant in avoiding the wide range of foods with gluten that are prevalent in the American diet. How much gluten should a celiac sufferer avoid? All of it, advises the Celiac Sprue Association: "One molecule of a toxic gliadin may be as damaging as 10,000."
Gluten is contained in the following grains: wheat (durum and semolina), rye, barley, spelt, triticale, kamut and farina. And foods using these grains are seemingly everywhere. They are in the obvious flour recipes like pizza crust, pretzels, cookies, cakes and pie crust, pasta, gravy, meatloaf, breading and batters for deep-fried chicken and seafood, and breakfast cereals. But gluten can be found in a dizzying list of less obvious foods, such as chili, soy sauce, licorice, candy bars, condiments, bouillon cubes, dry rubs for barbecue, flavoured yogurts, cheese spreads, commercial pudding, beer, whiskey and more. Some chefs use flour in omelets. Some fast food chains dust their pre-cooked French fries with flour.
Diagnosed celiac sufferers are avid label readers. They typically put dieters' label-reading skills to shame, because one mistake can result in discomfort or pain that can last hours or even days. At a restaurant, the wheat-intolerant patron quizzes the server, who often has no awareness of which menu items do and do not contain gluten. So the kitchen staff is often sent to the pantry to read labels. A few sympathetic cooks have been known to phone toll-free numbers of suppliers while the server and patron wait patiently for a green light.
The Celiac Sprue Association offers a "Restaurant Card" which lists the foods a celiac sufferer ought to avoid. This card can be shown to the server, who can help the patron choose safe foods from the menu.
A CURE?
One of the mottos of the Celiac Sprue Association is "Once a celiac, always a celiac."6
But investigators with the Celiac Sprue Research Foundation in Palo Alto, Ca. are committed to inventing a pill for celiacs. Currently, they are conducting a "Gluten Detoxification Trial," in which they hope to prove that an enzyme (PEP) can "detoxify" gluten for celiacs. If the PEP is successful in detoxifying the gluten, then the stage will be set for development of a PEP therapeutic drug, or pill, that may allow celiac patients to consume a regular gluten containing diet.7
UNTIL A PILL....SATISFYING THE CRAVING FOR BREAD
Despite the causal link of bread to digestive discomfort, celiac sufferers nevertheless crave sliced bread for an occasional sandwich, a piece of buttery toast, a slice of pizza or a brownie. So bakers and food scientists have been working hard to create tasty baked goods using wheat flour substitutes.
Yeast is safe. Corn meal is safe, too. But the pivotal substitute ingredient in most gluten-free baked goods is rice flour, from brown or white rice. Other finely-milled flours are used, too, such as buckwheat, tapioca, soy, fava bean, garbanzo bean, sorghum, arrowroot, amaranth, quinoa, millet, flaxseed, tef, nut flours and potato starch. Rice flour is sweeter than wheat flour, and the aroma of rice flour bread is right. But, since none of these flours contain gluten, the compromise, always, is the texture.
The glutenin and gliadin proteins in wheat flour are unmatched in producing "bubble gum-like sheets" of gluten. Ultimately, the soft, spongy, springy texture of wheat bread is the legacy effect of oxygen and carbon dioxide -- air and gases -- trapped inside stretchy gluten film. Soft starch granules trapped in the film bend and curve themselves around and between the gas bubbles. The dough becomes hotter; the protein gluten film cooks and becomes firm. In the end, a loaf of wheat bread contains millions of air cells with delicate thin linings. This is the unique and incredible texture of wheat bread.5
Lacking the trademark elasticity of wheat gluten, gluten-free doughs rise only modestly. To mimic the elasticity of gluten, many gluten-free recipes call for guar gum or xanthan gum, and that helps considerably. Gluten-free bread baking is always a balancing act. Too much guar or xanthan gum, and the bread is gummy, even slick. Too little, and the dough is tough and brick-like.
And yet, success is possible. Some gluten-free breads are tasty with acceptable textures, and for the celiac sufferer who hasn't eaten a sandwich or slice of pizza in months or years, the gluten-free sandwich bread or pizza is a slice of heaven. Facing the choice of this bread or no bread -- the gluten-intolerant diner mobilizes the Power of Positive Thinking and says "This is my bread. I can have bread, too."
Michael Jones, 33, feels he suffered from celiac disease since age 10, but was diagnosed by a physician and began to avoid gluten only two years ago. He reports the quality of his life has "skyrocketed." Jones says enjoying gluten-free home baking is all about attitude. "It's easy to get caught-up in trying to perfectly mirror wheat bread. That quest can block us from realizing that the substitute -- while different -- is also quite good. When I eat a pizza using a gluten-free crust, I treat it like I'm trying a completely new Italian entrée that merely resembles pizza. And this lets me totally enjoy the gluten-free version."
INCREASED MARKET VIABILITY FOR GLUTEN-FREE PRODUCTS
In recent years, increased news media coverage has reached more and more of the 100,000 Canadians who have celiac disease. As celiacs come to grips with the implications of their new diets, businesses are responding.
Bakeries are adding gluten-free offerings. And demand for gluten free products is being propelled by consumers who do not even have celiac disease. Some very health-conscious consumers simply prefer gluten-free and casein-free (milk protein) products for their purity.
Still another constituency for gluten-free products is autistic children and children with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). It is believed that a peptidase deficiency in these children means that proteins associated with gluten are not broken down into individual amino acids, as they should be. Then, these compounds get into the bloodstream. Then, they get into the brain. Learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and even extremes such as schizophrenic behavior can result.9
NOT JUST A LOAF OF BREAD....A GIFT OF HEALTH
If you suspect that you, or a member of you family, might suffer from celiac disease, take a break from wheat gluten and see if health improves. Visit Web sites like those sponsored by the Celiac Sprue Association of the U.S. (
www.csaceliacs.org) and the Gluten Intolerance Group of North America (
www.gluten.net). Buy a gluten-free cookbook. Consult a physician, and -- if diagnosed -- consider joining one of the many support groups which meet regularly in cities and towns across the country. As a friend or relative, steering a person to a real diagnosis could be the gift of a life without constant discomfort or pain.
As a cook, the kindest thing you can do for a celiac sufferer is bake a gluten-free creation. Experts in the test kitchens of Fleischmann's Yeast offer two gluten-free basic recipes: a gluten-free sandwich loaf and a gluten-free pizza crust. Your baking a gluten-free creation says you understand, you accept the diagnosis, and you love him or her enough to go to the trouble to make sure he or she is included in "the breaking of bread."
Fresh Gluten-free Sandwich Loaf is a tasty, aromatic white bread totally safe for celiacs. It is tender and chewy, and great for sandwiches. Pile-on meats, regular or lactose-free cheese, lettuce and condiments, and enjoy a sandwich without fear or hesitation.
Fresh Gluten-free Pizza Crust is very good. It browns properly and has a good aftertaste. The colour is right. Best of all, it has the elusive, sought-after quality in a gluten-free crust: crunch! Pictured is a delicious, tangy hot pizza with pears, onions, walnuts, bleu cheese (optional, for those who are not lactose-intolerant) and fresh basil leaves. Or, top this crust conventionally with pizza sauce, regular or lactose-free cheese, and meats.
For convenience, both of these recipes use a bread machine. And both use highly active Fleischmann's Bread Machine Yeast.
BACKGROUNDER
* * * ABOUT BREAD, YEAST AND GRAINS * * *
The essential role of bread in life is as old as the Bible. Bread provided sustenance to Canadian settlers and a people who endured the Great Depression. It is a staple throughout the world, with many countries consuming even more bread than Canada.
Unfortunately, many Canadians have been misled by diets that wrongfully vilify carbohydrates for Canada's obesity epidemic. A
Journal of the American Medical Association (
JAMA) meta-analysis of 107 studies showed that total calories are what causes people to lose or gain weight. High saturated fat diets have been shown to exacerbate cardiovascular and kidney disease and bone loss.
Despite the books sold by high-fat, high-protein diet advocates, public policy makers -- such as the Health Canada's Office of Nutrition Policy and Promotion – stand behind dietary guidelines built-upon balance – including generous servings of grains. (See
Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating)
Bread contains niacin, thiamine, riboflavin, calcium, iron, folic acid and fiber. Enriched breads are the most available and inexpensive source of folic acid which has been proven to reduce some birth defects and perhaps heart disease, strokes, Alzheimer's and some cancers. Whole grain breads contain even more phytonutrients, which is why many consider whole grains to have a role in the reduction of heart disease and some cancers. Even sufferers of wheat allergies and gluten-intolerance can enjoy a widening array of wheat-free and gluten-free yeast-risen bread creations.
The unique flavour and aroma of bread come partially from yeast, an essential ingredient in most breads.
* * * ABOUT FLEISCHMANN'S YEAST * * *
Fleischmann’s Yeast was founded in 1868 when Charles and Maximillian Fleischmann arrived in the United States from their native Austria-Hungary. Dissatisfied by the quality of bread available, they introduced a commercial yeast product with a remarkable leavening power.
With more than 85 percent market share, Canadian consumers prefer Fleischmann's Yeast over other brands. The company has a complete line of yeast products including Traditional Active Dry Yeast, QuickRise Yeast and Bread Machine Yeast. Continuing a legacy of
Helping Bakers Bake™, Fleischmann's Yeast offers expert resources to consumers through a number of free programs. The most popular is a Web site,
www.breadworld.com (English and French language versions) that is bursting with baking tips and recipes for both the beginner and experienced baker. As well, Fleischmann's Yeast is proud to sponsor regional country fairs and many Canadian education programs. For more information visit
www.breadworldcanada.com/whatsnew/index.asp.
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