Celiac Disease and Grindstone Breads

Celiac Disease (CD) is an inflammatory illness that leads to destruction of the microscopic fingerlike projections of the small intestine called villi. The disease is triggered by ingestion of the gluten proteins contained in Wheat, Spelt, Barley, and Rye, and symptoms range from minor complaints to severe nutrient malabsorption

Wheat, Spelt, Rye, and Barley are related cereals of the family Triticeae and are toxic to patients with CD. Oats can be classified as a cousin of Triticeae and thus a more distant family member. Their storage proteins are collectively called gluten proteins by celiac patients and their physicians, although, strictly speaking, gluten is derived only from the endosperm of wheat grain.

The injurious constituent of wheat for patients with celiac disease is located in a part of gluten called gliadin. As mentioned before, recent studies at Stanford University have identified a sequence of 33 amino acids in gliadin as being responsible for the exceptional toxic potency against the small intestinal mucosa that characterizes CD.

This same sequence was found in other grain proteins like hordeins (from barley), and secalins (from rye), all of which are toxic cereals in the Celiac diet.  Proteins in nontoxic food grains, such as avenins (in oats), rice, and maize, do not contain a homologous sequences to the 33 amino acids sequence found in gliadin.

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Celicac Disease and Grindstone Breads continued

Although Oat is technically a non toxic grain, it is normally not recommended to Celiac patients because of fear of a possible contamination with a toxic grain during growing or processing.

Research at European Centers has confirmed that certain species of lactobacilli, found in our cultures, have the ability to hydrolyze the 33-mer peptide extensively or almost totally during prolonged incubation (12 to 24 h).

In conclusion, based on the research mentioned above and the testimony from some of our customers, we speculate that our long natural fermentation process may substantially reduce or even eliminate the toxic amino acid sequence in the gluten grains we use.

But, of course, we DO NOT recommend to anybody suffering from Celiac disease to consume any of our breads made with gluten grains.

Our Gluten Free Loaves are free from the start of any toxic proteins. We make them in a separate Gluten Free facility using a dedicated stone mill. and following all our principles of traditional long natural fermentation.