Let’s Talk About Substitutes! 219Wheat-free breads
Those intolerant to wheat in all degrees will have to try wheat-free bread.
Unfortunately, even most rye loaves also contain wheat. Rye on its own is
very leaden and unappealing, but the exception is German moist black rye
bread or “pumpernickel,” which is usually wheat-free. In any case, I’m told
you cannot crop rye without getting at least some wheat seeds included and
the resulting stems and ears will “contaminate” the rye.
Years ago there was little else to offer but nowadays it is possible,
with a little sleuthing, to track down breads made from sago flour, tapioca,
rice and other flours. Always remember the texture is not so good because
of the lack of gluten, the magic cooking ingredient!
Some of these loaves, it must also be said, are exceedingly expensive
for what they are. Usually I try to encourage patients to just do without
bread, rather than maintain a longing at great expense.
Don’t forget simple rice cakes will stand as a good pinch hit for
bread. These are rather boring (like polystyrene ceiling tiles is the usual
joke) but will take butter and jam, or cheese or a slice of ham as well as a
slice of dear old bread.
You can always try rye crackers (Swedish crispbread).
Yeast and mold allergy
A common incompatible food is yeast. This is often accompanied by mold
sensitivity and there may also be a Candida albicans infection, which is a
whole issue in itself.
Yeast-sensitive patients need to avoid yeast and mold contacts. A
complete list is given in appendix B.
We consume a lot of molds inadvertently – not just in cheese and
mushrooms – unwanted molds. Bread is a shocking and surprising avenue
of exposure. In 1980 the following fungi were found in flour milled in
the UK: Penicillium, Cladosporium, Aspergillus candidus, Aspergillus flavus, Mucor,
Aspergillus terreus, Alternaria, Aspergillus versicolor Absida, Aspergillus fumigatus,
Verticullium and Paecilomyces (Food Surveillance Paper, HMSO, no 4, 1980).
Mold contamination of animal feeds can lead to further exposure.
Both molds and toxins (along with antibiotics, hormones and sedatives)
pass into dairy produce, meat, eggs, bacon and poultry.
As the molds’ main port of entry is the mouth, the digestive tract
tends to be the most affected. Darkness and moisture within the gut suit
these organisms very well. Add to that the fact that our immune systems