Not dead yet!
Well-Known Member
Now that I have some more energy, I'm thinking of baking bread. But of course without gluten or as low gluten as I can. I am also sensitive to many gums, including xhanthan, so there's no help there. I try to stick to cooking activities that require constant tending because it "pulls me along in its wake." It helps me try to stay awake during the day and be properly tired out (but not too tired) at night.
I am still trying to pin down exactly whether barley flour just has cross reactions, or if it contains bonafide glutenin/gliadin. I suspect it is a cross reaction only, because what I'm reading is it contains "hordein" but what that is and why it would make GF people suffer is not clear anywhere. So it's still on my "perhaps usable" list, especially since I react to wheat, but it is not as destructive as it would be for a Celiac patient. I visited my family recently and they were ordering unbleached flour from Canada to bake their bread. I don't think I was reacting to it, but it's hard to tell when I'm traveling. Anyway it reminded me of how bread should taste and since I only eat tiny amounts of anything starchy, it's important that that amount should be high quality and safe.
OK so that was the background.
I discovered that barley flour has something called beta-glucans and when I looked it up, I found that it's sometimes used for CFS to help the immune system work better:
https://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supp...ientid=1041&activeingredientname=beta-glucans
I figure if WebMD has something about it, it must be mainstream. But I hadn't heard of it. Has anyone tried this supplement? Does it help you?
I don't know if I'll decide to use barley flour or not, but the supplement might be worth a try. It doesn't seem expensive. In case you're interested in where I got the idea: https://www.omicsonline.org/open-ac...butes-of-leavened-bread-2157-7110-1000611.php This resource is wheat-focused, but I found it helpful if you like to bake bread: https://www.nyx.net/~dgreenw/whatistheproteinorglutenco.html It explains thing like what the various dough conditioners do (ie. Vitamin C).
I am still trying to pin down exactly whether barley flour just has cross reactions, or if it contains bonafide glutenin/gliadin. I suspect it is a cross reaction only, because what I'm reading is it contains "hordein" but what that is and why it would make GF people suffer is not clear anywhere. So it's still on my "perhaps usable" list, especially since I react to wheat, but it is not as destructive as it would be for a Celiac patient. I visited my family recently and they were ordering unbleached flour from Canada to bake their bread. I don't think I was reacting to it, but it's hard to tell when I'm traveling. Anyway it reminded me of how bread should taste and since I only eat tiny amounts of anything starchy, it's important that that amount should be high quality and safe.
OK so that was the background.
I discovered that barley flour has something called beta-glucans and when I looked it up, I found that it's sometimes used for CFS to help the immune system work better:
https://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supp...ientid=1041&activeingredientname=beta-glucans
I figure if WebMD has something about it, it must be mainstream. But I hadn't heard of it. Has anyone tried this supplement? Does it help you?
I don't know if I'll decide to use barley flour or not, but the supplement might be worth a try. It doesn't seem expensive. In case you're interested in where I got the idea: https://www.omicsonline.org/open-ac...butes-of-leavened-bread-2157-7110-1000611.php This resource is wheat-focused, but I found it helpful if you like to bake bread: https://www.nyx.net/~dgreenw/whatistheproteinorglutenco.html It explains thing like what the various dough conditioners do (ie. Vitamin C).
I have this theory that all supplements are at 1/2 the effective dose.
