Gluten-Free Bread Mommy!

Gluten-Free, or Just FREE?

A true (and slightly embarrassing) story about a loaf of bread, a distracted mama, and a seven-year-old's very honest mistake.

Last night my husband stopped by Good Earth to pick up some food. He called me on the way for the shopping list. He's a salesman, and he loves a good deal, so I teased him not to buy junk even if it was "on sale."

He got home with the groceries while I was parked at the kitchen computer, up to my ears in business emails. The kids helped him carry everything in. I was so focused on my work that I didn't hear him tell the kids to "put the bread by the door, I'll take it to work with me tomorrow." And I didn't hear him tell them he'd gotten FREE bread at the store.

He headed upstairs, and my little girl came running over to me, absolutely glowing with the good news. "Mommy!" she said. "Daddy bought YOU gluten-free bread!"

Now, I wasn't exactly thrilled. Gluten-free products (the ones that aren't naturally gluten-free) so often taste, well, terrible. But I didn't want to squash her excitement, so I told her to go grab me a slice and I'd give it a try.

My son piped up: "Dad said not to eat it, because he wants to take it to work."

"That's SILLY," I thought. "It's MY gluten-free bread." So I reassured my son that it was fine, and I graciously shared my wonderful gluten-free bread with the kids and had a couple of slices myself. And oh, it was good. It tasted just like real bread. Incredible!

Too incredible, as it turns out.

Something felt off, so I asked my daughter to bring me the package to see the brand and what it was made of. First ingredient? Enriched wheat flour. Enriched! Oh wonderful. (That's a joke, friends. "Enriched" just means some vitamins were added back. But wheat is wheat, and this was very much NOT gluten-free.)

I laughed and told the kids the truth. Then, because gluten hits my brain like a fog rolling in, I used up every last bit of energy I had making sure the kitchen was spotless, knowing I'd be running on empty the next day.

Here is the bread we buy in the middle and on the right, and the FREE bread on the left. 

The next morning

Amazingly, I woke up early and functioning fairly normally, all things considered. I didn't have it in me for my usual treadmill hike, but I WAS up and walking, and I'll count that as a win.

My husband could see I was worn out, so while I was still sleeping he'd rubbed a few of our favorite calming oils on my feet. He's been under a TON of stress lately, running his own business, so he put some on his own feet too. They're the ones we reach for when the world feels chaotic and we want to feel a little more settled and balanced.

Then we finally talked about the bread, and the whole thing came clear. He'd spent about $100 on groceries and been given a FREE loaf. When he told the kids he'd gotten "free bread," my sweet little seven-year-old heard it as "gluten-free bread." Mystery solved! We laughed and laughed.

Next time, I'm listening to the seven-year-old AND the nine-year-old.

Looking back, I should have trusted my instincts, and I definitely should have listened to my son, who tried so hard to tell me not to eat Daddy's bread. Lesson noted.

The bread we actually buy

We don't buy white bread or even regular wheat bread from the store. We love the Ezekiel-brand sprouted breads, cereals, and corn tortillas. The grains are soaked, sprouted, and cooked on low heat to keep as much of the nutrition and natural enzymes as possible. Sprouting is a wonderful old way to make grains more digestible.

One honest and important note for my celiac friends. I've learned this the hard way over the years, so let me save you the trouble: sprouting does NOT remove gluten. The Ezekiel sprouted breads and cereals are made from sprouted wheat, so they still contain gluten and are not safe for those of us with celiac disease. (Their corn tortillas are a different story, since they're made from corn, so those are naturally gluten-free and I can enjoy them happily.) If you have celiac, please don't let the word "sprouted" fool you the way I let "free" fool me!

A hope I've had to make peace with

Back when I first wrote this, I held a little hope that someday I'd be able to eat gluten grains again, as long as I soaked, sprouted, or fermented them first. I'd noticed that as I added more fermented and enzyme-rich foods to my diet, my gluten reactions didn't always feel quite as severe.

For those of us with celiac disease, soaking, sprouting, and fermenting do not make wheat safe. Even long sourdough fermentation only breaks down part of the gluten, nowhere close to a safe amount. And here is the part that matters most: even when we don't feel a strong reaction, gluten is still quietly doing damage to a celiac gut. Feeling fewer symptoms is a real gift, but it is not a green light.

So as much as I once hoped otherwise, that particular door stays closed for us. And you know what? That's okay. There is a whole beautiful world of naturally gluten-free grains to soak, sprout, and ferment to our hearts' content, and that's exactly where all that wonderful enzyme goodness is waiting for us anyway.

Lots of love!

Steffanie

Shared with love (and a good laugh at myself). This is my own experience, not medical advice, and it hasn't been evaluated by the FDA. If you have celiac disease, traditional wheat, barley, and rye are not safe in any form, sprouted or fermented or otherwise, so when in doubt, choose foods that are certified gluten-free and lean on your doctor and dietitian.