I learned SO MUCH earlier this year while working through the Truth About Fat series and I’ve been sitting on pins and needles, anxiously waiting with excitement for the next series – AND IT’S FINALLY HERE! I’m excited to officially kick off the next series – Candid Carbs – a series through carbohydrates in Nourishing Traditions.
Does your body ever crave a big bowl of pasta, or feel the need for a piece of bread (with butter!) even though you’ve eaten a plate full of meat and veggies?
Or what about that hanckerin’ for “something sweet” that comes around 4pm… and then again just when dinner clean-up is complete?
Carbohydrates cover a large spectrum of our daily diet – oatmeal or biscuits for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, a variety of rice, pasta and other grains for dinner… and this doesn’t even touch the myriad of sweets going on in our house at any given time (another chocolate cake is calling my name!).
Processed carbohydrates are in expensive and many families (unknowingly) rely on carbohydrates to make ends meet. 64¢ for a pound of white rice coupled with 78¢ spent on a pound of pinto beans and you’ve got some frugal meals with a fair bit of nutrition (thanks to the beans).
At the other end of the spectrum you have families who avoid carbohydrates because of serious illness, or even suffer from unpleasant side effects.
Sally Fallon address carbohydrates next in Nourishing Traditions, but she also offers additional insight later on the book. There are a hidden gem pages tucked away among her recipes that were just as interesting as the front section! And I almost overlooked them!
When you add it all up, the topic of carbohydrates is huge. I’ve been jotting down ideas and notes for a couple months now and there’s easily 30 bullet points that I want to discuss.
I’ve broken this very big topic down into two smaller chunks so we can go through each thoroughly, educate ourselves and begin to integrate small changes into our routines so that we’re not biting off more than we can chew. By the time the series is over, we’ll be improving not just what we eat, but how we eat it.
We’ll discuss the sweet side of carbohydrates later, but first up is the starchy side, covering everything from flour to rice to pasta to grains. Here are some of the questions we’ll definitely address (because I want answers!):
- What is a carbohydrate?
- How does the body process carbs?
- What’s the difference between refined (white) and unrefined (whole) grains?
- Is there a relationship between carbs (either starches and/or sweets) and tooth decay?
- What is “fortification?” What is “bromated?”
- Does bleached flour really contain bleach?
- Is there a right or wrong way to eat grains?
- What’s the deal with soaking and sprouting? Is it really necessary?
- If so, how do we allow time for soaking when life is busy enough as it is?
That is just a rough outline of course, and there will be MUCH more information included within each of those questions – 30 bullet points, remember? I’m also curious about white vs. brown rice, whether using honey instead of sugar is really that much better for you, and most importantly – how am I supposed to make cookies when all those “natural” sugars are so darn expensive?!
I’m sure you guys have questions about carbs too. My mom asked on Facebook why wheat is making her feel bloated and icky after meals, even though she doesn’t have any allergies and isn’t celiac. I’ve noticed myself that eating a few chocolate chip oatmeal cookies (with the coconut oil and wheat flour substitution I mentioned on Facebook) makes my tummy a bit upset later. Is it the wheat? The sugar? Both? Neither?
Nourishing Traditions has some recipes that will fall under the carbohydrate series too, so we’ll start seeing more of those on a regular basis. Some of the recipes look a bit “iffy”… as in I’m not sure my family will eat them. I have no doubt buttermilk pancakes will be a winner, but yogurt pizza dough? Do you think my East Coast pizza-loving husband will notice? I’ll share which recipes we’re incorporating into our regular meal plans, as well as the recipes we aren’t, and how we’re doing it all within our meager $330 monthly grocery budget. Come join me!
I’m so excited for this series! My biggest problem is how convenient carbs are for feeding the kids. My son takes his lunch to school and it’s so easy to pack a sandwich. And of course, kiddos love any kind of noodle. 🙂 I hope to get motivated to find alternatives to bread and crackers.
Oh my Valerie, isn’t is TOO easy to give them carbs? Haven’t met a noodle they didn’t like yet! I’ve made myself a note to come up with some great alternatives for you 🙂 ~Tiffany
Thanks Tiffany – I’m looking forward to this series. Yesterday for lunch, I thought of making myself a BBQ Pork sandwich, pulled out the white buns I had in the fridge, read the ingredients, and it said “Wheat flour”. I opted for a flour tortilla instead “white flour” and this did not go well with me either. I hope to learn what may be the item that is so upsetting my tummy and making me bloat and uncomfortable. Hugs.
I wonder what else is listed in the ingredients? If white flour causes upset tummy too, then I’d try a different type of grain (white flour stems from wheat grain too). Try a brown or white rice noodle instead of spaghetti – find it in the Asian section of the market. Looks like fettucine, only less color (more clear). Let me know how it goes!
Awesome! Carbs seem to be the hot topic of the day. I’ve been cutting them a bit, but definitely don’t think I could eliminate completely.Very interested in this series.
Oh man, there’s no way I could eliminate completely Leah. We’ve cut back too, but I think I would go through withdrawals, lol! ~Tiffany
Yeah! So glad you are tackling this. One of the things I like best about your blog is how you dive deeply into each subject and look at it objectively to see what’s what. I bought the sucanat,but wondering if it’s really giving me much bang for my buck especially when I don’t have a lot of bucks to go around ;). Oh and you’d be proud of me because I was just sitting here eating some strawberries that I soaked in vineagar and water(never thought to do that before). Also found they have Kerrygold butter at Trader Joes-yay! I don’t go there too often as it’s 45 minutes from us so didn’t realize it before and their organic butter price is a little better as well. So we’ve made the switch which makes me think we have to cut back elsewhere like sugar…
Hi Gina!
Thank you for your super kind words! You’re always so encouraging -HUGS!
How did the sucanat go? I haven’t bought “better” sugar… yet, partly because I’m in the same boat as you. Although with carbs on the horizon, it’s coming sooner rather than later! Way to go on the strawberries! Delicious, right?
LOL – you crack me up on the butter. I think that’s a common theme – cutting back on sugar/carbs to account for better fats, because we’ve been doing that too! We’re down to only one loaf of bread each week around here and desserts are every other week (and include less sugar overall). My oh my how these small things add up over time! You’ve come a long way – I am VERY proud! 🙂 ~Tiffany
Well I liked the type I bought which was the Rapunzel brand,but the texture was a little coarser which isn’t a problem with most things,but whipping cream with it didn’t go so well. I suffer from migraines and it seems since I have backed off from sweets quite a bit (and when I do I use the sucanat or honey) that it helps because when I ate something with regular sugar in it I got a migraine,but it also had hydrogenated stuff too I’m sure (someone else made it). So if it helps me not get migraines than it’s worth it. I’m just not sure if it’s the culprit or not?
Gina,
I see that being a problem. Have you tried putting the sugar in a blender so it was a finer texture? You can do that with regular sugar to create powdered sugar, so I don’t see why it wouldn’t work with natural sugars too.
If you’re trying to isolate white table sugar as the culprit of a migrane, an easy test (if you’re willing to experiment) is to just eat some and see what happens. Maybe a heaping tablespoon or so over some grapefruit? If you get a migraine, it’s the sugar. If there’s no migraine, then you’ve ruled it out – although if there is no migraine, I’d do a second test just to be sure since it’s more difficult to test the hydrogenated stuff.
But you’re not alone – we’ve been noticing the small differences when we eat poorly, now that we eat that much better, more often. ~Tiff
I am guest posting a similar series on grains over at Natural Family Today with new posts going up on Wednesdays. It will be interesting to read yours as I do something similar.
Jennifer
Hi Jennifer,
I’ll be following your series to gain additional insight – it should be fun to go through the same experiences together! ~Tiffany
I’m also curious about white vs. brown rice, whether using honey instead of sugar is really that much better for you, and most importantly – how am I supposed to make cookies when all those “natural” sugars are so darn expensive?!
What posts talk about these points? It’s a little hard to find thingsin the archive. Thank you!
Hi E! I haven’t gone into depth on the blog about sugar, but here are my thoughts:
Sugar, honey, maple syrup, etc. are all sweeteners and in general it’s best to use them in moderation. I believe that honey and maple syrup are the best options, since they’re closest to their natural form. There are MANY types of granulated sugars, with white sugar being the least healthiest and most processed. Other granulated sugars aren’t necessarily healthier, but they’re less processed. If you’re able to afford one step better, that’s the best option.
I use maple syrup and honey in 75% of my baking. Only in cookies and certain cakes do I use granulated, and I often reduce the amount significantly and we’ve switched to Turbinado sugar (one step less processed). Here’s a post on how we aimed to quit sugar: https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/2016/02/quitting-sugar/
I still buy white sugar, but it’s ONLY to make kombucha, where the scoby needs sugar to ferment the tea. In that case, the amount of sugar left after fermentation is so slight, that it’s not worth my pocketbook to upgrade it. 🙂