Board Certified Psychiatric Pharmacist with a PharmD not an MD says gluten might make some people crazy, cites unsubstantiated leaky gut syndrome

Not enough bread can make you crazy, too.

Mobile Alabama bread riot of 1863

 

Why this scientist believes bread is making us sad: If you’re feeling depressed or run down it might be time to avoid gluten

... “I would have been sceptical if you’d told me I’d end up studying this connection,” says Kelly. “My line of thinking was therapy and medications; I didn’t know food and diet could actually be good medicine.” ...

“It’s challenging for someone to be diagnosed with non coeliac gluten sensitivity,” says Kelly.

Gluten was only introduced into our diets about 6,000 years ago. “The idea of breaking it down is really challenging for our bodies and it never breaks down completely,” says Kelly.

When a person with gluten sensitivity eats something with gluten in it – even “healthy” brown pasta or bread – their body produces antibodies to fight against the gluten.

While two types of protein join to make gluten, gliadin and glutenin, it is the former that induces an immune response. This can cause inflammation and contribute to damage in the gut, which leads to the development of “leaky gut”.

The weakened gut wall allows the antibodies to gliadin to leak from the intestine into the general bloodstream. “When it gets across the stomach lining, the body sees it as a foreign substance for some people,” says Kelly.

Consequently inflammation may occur in other parts of the body, including a person’s brain. When the antibodies’ fight gets to the brain, symptoms that develop may include not only foggy thinking, and lack of energy, but also poor emotional control, anxiety, mood changes, hallucinations and/ or seizures, that are often resistant to treatment with medications.

“There’s a specific peptide sequence called 33-mer [found in wheat] that is highly associated with an immune response,” says Deanna. “If you look at the structure of that, it’s very similar to one of the structures of the GRINA receptor, a receptor in the brain. So our bodies potentially can’t tell the difference.”

It is one of Kelly’s theories that in some people their immune system might be attacking some of the tissue in the brain because it looks like gluten.

“We have a paper showing that these antibodies to the receptors to the brain are higher in people who have the antigliadin antibodies.” ... 

Of course, not everyone with psychiatric and neurological issues is gluten sensitive. ...

Happiness is a breakfast of blueberry mascarpone toast

Blueberry Mascarpone Toast

1 slice toasted whole wheat bread

Drizzle with honey and spread to cover

Spread mascarpone cheese over the honey

Dot the toast with fresh blueberries

Happiness is Dave's Good Seed Bread

 Especially toasted with butter and cherry jam, accompanied by scrambled eggs and coffee.

What a breakfast!

 

Happiness is whole wheat toast, raw honey, Saigon cinnamon, and pecan halves: The faster, easier, cheaper, and healthier morning cinnamon roll

 Still works for me!

toast it

slather it

sprinkle it

top it

Happiness is whole kernel rye breads by Mestemacher in Germany, available in the United States

 I found these at my local health food store in Michigan, and they are delicious.

 

Happiness is foods for brain health

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Out:

added sugars such as high fructose corn syrup, baked goods, sodas; 

fried foods;

potatoes, white bread, white rice;

alcohol;

nitrates.

In:

dark chocolate 70% or higher, 45 grams a week;

strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, one half to one cup a day;

turmeric, black pepper, curry;

dark leafy greens;

fermented foods with live active cultures such as yogurt, kefir, kombucha, miso, sauerkraut, kimchi.

Happiness is really roughing it

The roots of thistles have my hunger fed,

Two roods of cultur'd barley give me bread,

A rock my pillow, and green moss for my bed. 

-- Walter Harte

Happiness is the rye, and the straw thereof

In champion countrie a pleasure they take

To mow up their haume, for to brew and to bake:

The haume is the straw of the wheat or the rie

Which once being reaped, they mow by and by. 

-- Thomas Tusser

Happiness is the big mother bag of bread flour purchased at Sam's Club to get us through the lock down

Happiness is the Lodge 12 inch, 6 quart camp oven, for when the shtf or anytime

There's your regular one, and your deep one. I bought the regular one on deep discount this summer, heh heh, for when the shtf, since I plan to shelter in place. The thing comes ready to go right out of the box, pre-seasoned in the factory. I'm breaking it in inside first, with a few recipes for breads, beans, and roasts before I use it outside on charcoal. For a hoot give a look at the Backwoods Gourmet YouTube Channel to see what using this type of equipment is all about. That Florida boy knows his stuff.

Happiness is "quick" rustic loaves in the Chicago Metallic French Bread Pan

2 t yeast

1.5 c lukewarm water

dash sugar

2 t salt, generously rounded

.25 c rye flour
.25 c white whole wheat flour

3 c unbleached all purpose flour

splash olive oil

1) whisk water yeast and sugar in mixer bowl and let stand five minutes

2) add flour a little at a time starting with the rye and whole wheat and mix, using a silicone spatula to incorporate if needed, and add the salt when you still have one cup left to go

3) when you have one half cup left to go, add a generous splash of olive oil 

4) use spatula to turn out onto a floured board and knead-in the flour (dough will be sticky to start, so flour your hands also)

5) divide into two equal parts and roll out lengths to fit your pan

6) place in pan covered loosely with a clean damp dish towel to rise in a warm spot, about one hour

7) bake at 450 degrees F for 25 minutes on the middle level
8) allow to cool thoroughly on a rack before slicing  

Happiness is a Chicago Metallic perforated French bread pan

Chicago Metallic Commercial II Non-Stick Perforated French Bread Pan, currently $14.97 at Amazon.

I've had this one for four years. I seem to use it whenever the weather turns cold for the first time in the fall, and then over the winter get out of the habit again. The bread it makes goes wonderfully with soup for lunch, or with some EVOO all by itself at breakfast. I often make a heartier version of French bread with a half a cup of rye flour added in to the bread flour.

Happiness is Indian restaurant humor

Happiness is how far one can go on nothing more than lubricated imagination

Should but his muse descending drop

A slice of bread and mutton chop,

Or kindly, when his credit's out,

Surprise him with a pint of stout;

Exalted in his mighty mind,

He flies and leaves the stars behind.

-- Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

Some of the top food sources for vitamin B9 (daily need is 400 micrograms)

Some of the top food sources for vitamin B9, also known as folate (daily need is 400 micrograms):

lentils (1 cup cooked): 358 micrograms

pinto beans (1 cup cooked): 296 micrograms

asparagus (1 cup cooked): 268 micrograms

spinach (1 cup cooked): 263 micrograms

broccoli (1 cup cooked): 168 micrograms

avocado (whole, 201 grams): 163 micrograms

mango (whole, 336 grams): 145 micrograms

romaine lettuce (3 ounces): 116 micrograms

orange (whole, 121 grams): 47 micrograms

wheat bread (slice, 29 grams): 25 micrograms

More here. 

Happiness is a low-sodium cinnamon roll at coffee break, without the roll

1/ toast one slice of Koepplinger's 100% whole wheat bread
2/ slather with Really Raw Honey from Baltimore, Maryland
3/ on a large plate sprinkle the toast liberally with ground cinnamon
4/ chop one ounce of pecan halves fine and top the toast

120 mg sodium, 2 g saturated fat, 7 g protein

When a superfoods breakfast is hard to arrange because you're in a hurry, try simple toast

Whole grain toast, slathered in raw honey, topped with ground cinnamon.

Three superfoods just like that.

The toast is loaded with fiber, the honey with antioxidants, and the cinnamon lowers glucose, triglyceride and cholesterol levels.

Double Corn Bread in a cast iron skillet

Same as Betty Crocker, just use corn flour instead of the all-purpose flour, and double the milk to two cups.

DOUBLE CORN BREAD

1 c yellow cornmeal

1 c corn flour

2 T sugar

4 t baking powder

.5 t salt

2 c milk

.25 c vegetable shortening

1 egg

Grease the skillet.

Combine all ingredients in a blender bowl and blend until thoroughly mixed.

Pour and scrape into the skillet.

Bake at 425 degrees F about 20 to 25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Serve with breakfast sausage and maple syrup, or with lots of butter and honey on top.

Scrambled eggs pesto

When I maka da pesto in the blender, I end up with a bunch of pesto stuck to the sides and blade of the blender which won't come off easily but would be a sin to waste.

What to do?

Take a couple of slices of white bread, tear 'em up into a few pieces and give them a whirl in the blender for 20 seconds or so. The bread will soak up everything real nice.

Dump the pulverized bread out onto a clean plate in a nice heap.

Then top the heap with a hot scrambled egg, or a fried sunny side up one if you prefer.

It's FABULOUS! 

Eat Lentils Today To Bring Good Luck For The New Year

So say the Italians, according to this story:

We all get another chance in the new year — clean slate, new resolutions. For a little extra push of luck there are culinary superstitions from cultures all over the world. ... Legumes of any kind bring good luck because they resemble coins and, therefore, wealth. ... Italians eat lentils and sausage to bring in the new year. The lentils play the same role as black-eyed peas and the sausages, sliced crosswise, resemble coins. The pork — specifically the fat — signifies abundance.

I was making Lentil Soup from The Silver Palate Cookbook, somewhat modified, when I learned of the superstition (great minds think alike):

8 cups homemade chicken stock

1.5 cups organic green lentils, washed

2 small bay leaves and 2 matching-sized pieces of Parmesan rind (I save these in the freezer)

6 oz. uncured bacon, diced

1 medium organic onion, diced

3 organic carrots, peeled and diced

3 large cloves homegrown garlic, diced

1 tsp. dried thyme leaves

1/4 tsp. celery seed

1/4 tsp. Folgate lavender buds

1. Wash the lentils, drain, and boil gently for 45 minutes in the chicken stock in a covered large soup pot along with the bay leaves and Parmesan rinds, which add a unique creaminess.

2. Meanwhile prepare the bacon and saute in a dutch oven, stirring frequently until crisp over less than medium heat. Reserve for serving.

3. Dice the vegetables as the bacon finishes and sweat them for 20 minutes covered in the bacon fat of the dutch oven over less than medium heat. I add the carrots first, then the onions carefully on top and sweat together for 10 minutes, then I stir and sweat five minutes more, and then I add the garlic on top without stirring for the last five minutes.

4. Add the vegetables to the stock and lentils, which by now should be done. Also add the seasonings, which I grind ahead of time in my coffee grinder very briefly. Simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and the Parmesan rinds, if you can find them.

5. Serve with reserved bacon dice, and season with salt and pepper to taste with some buttered, toasted bread or an English Muffin.

Good luck!

h/t Monica