As a friend in Texas used to say -- WHOA! :-)
Yesterday I made a loaf of barley bread from the Bob's Red Mill site. Now, bearing in mind it wasn't a sourdough-based recipe, which may have made some difference in the rye and wheat loaves by converting some of the carb to acid, it REALLY did the ol' blood-sugar-spike thing! A full 20 points higher than the other gluten-grains I tried!
I didn't even like it as well, though my husband did. Even though the barley flour contained "no" fat, it had a smell that I associate with rancidity. I'm willing to eat evil things from time to time, but only if they're luscious.
All this is going to make it VERY easy to avoid barley-flour products. However, I do still like pearled barley in soup. I guess i'm going to have to run a similar test on intact-grain barley as compared with rice.
I think all whole-grain flours contain some fat which could go rancid.
ReplyDeletethat's what I though, too! the label reads 0 fat, though....
DeleteLove this quote : "I'm willing to eat evil things from time to time, but only if they're luscious" I drank some "sugar cookie" flavored tea in Dec 2012 and wanted to eat my arm off. I checked the box and that's how I knew that I needed to be barley free, too. The binge urge went away, but wow! It took all the resolve I've ever had not to eat off the rails. Will be interested to hear of your experiment results.
ReplyDelete:-) i'm like a dumb little kid who tries to push the envelope all the time.... but I have to confess it's an adventure to me -- "gee, I wonder what will happen when I taste the cake that has 'eat me' on it...."
Delete"I'm willing to eat evil things from time to time, but only if they're luscious."
ReplyDeleteNow with me .... I steer away from eating evil things but love to eat strawberries they are luscious and if you want to be a bit naughty .... why not ....they are great dipped in champagne! ( To be enjoyed as a treat - not an every day occurrence ! )
All the best Jan
Unfortunately, I have to stay away from strawberries and citrus fruits(and chocolate and some more great things like salmon and shrimps) due to allergies. There are always people who have trouble with some foods others enjoy guilt-free.
Deletestrawberries, citrus AND champagne are things I need to enjoy in very limited quantities. :-) oddly, I don't have a very strong urge for chocolate -- maybe it IS more desirable if one has mineral deficiencies!
DeleteI used to love barley soup with green beans. Barley flour seems more trouble than its worth though... Seems like some legumes are just not meant to be made into bread :(. Have you tried baking rice flour? It's also a safe grain.
ReplyDeleteI used to cook mushroom soup with barley.
Delete:-) the flour bin in my Hoosier cabinet is filled with rice flour. of course, it's still a high-carb item, so I use it in very limited quantities. the first time I experimented with rye sourdoughs, I was using rice flour as the last addition, which didn't get as much time to ferment as the first addition of flour. I've changed my technique, though -- the last addition gets to rise in the pan overnight before being baked.
DeleteI DO need to do a cooked-barley-vs-rice test....
K, thought I would test the resistant starch thing myself, have Filipina wife so rice always readily available. Refrigerated the rice two nights in a row supposingly making it resistant. 1st night, nothing, second night +2 pounds , gas and constipated. Naww
ReplyDeleteI assume freshly-cooked rice doesn't give you the same effect? i'm not sure what the virtue is of cultivating the gut-bugs that are capable of dealing with RS ... but then again, some of the people promoting RS do things that have no attraction for me, in general!
Delete:-) I suppose I run these experiments because i'm interested in finding out which kitchen-products have minimal and which have greater (and intolerable) affects, and that's going to be extremely individual. but as my wheat-rye-barley-bread trials point out, some of the results are going to be surprising!