How are you digesting?

On our no-grains diet, we’ve definitely noticed some changes at the Kimball house, all for the positive.

Remember that the Test Your Grains Challenge is not to meant to cut all grains out of your diet. It’s simply asking you to eat all your grains the same way for 7-10 days. If you already eat largely 100% whole wheat products, just commit to eating only 100% whole wheat products for a bit more than a week. Pretty simple. If you want, it would be neat to run a comparison and then eat only soaked grain recipes (you just say “no thanks” when you’re at someone else’s house). You could even compare whole grains with all white flour for 10 days. That’s it. The before-and-after surveys are not very long and should teach you as much about your own digestion of grains as they teach anyone else.

You can enter your name here, and if you do, you’ll receive a weekly email with encouragement and tips for your endeavor.

The before-and-after surveys are now available. Feel free to take either or both (if you’ve already determined your family’s grain needs) right away, or sign up and wait for reminders.

*Your identity can be totally anonymous with a pen name, if you like.

You can take both as many times as you wish, either for multiple family members or if you test out two different grains preparation. I’m hoping, personally, to test “soaked only” or “sourdough only” after this no-grains thing at our house.

You can always ask questions in the comments here or in future posts, and the KS Facebook page often has a good conversation going. If you’re on Twitter, let’s tweet about our food using the hashtag #testgrains. If you’re not on Twitter or Facebook, you can still see and read both conversations: See what I say on Twitter here, check out the Facebook page here, and follow the hashtag #testgrains at this page.

This is what the survey looks like:

Unlinited responses

Want to Actually Test Your Minerals?

I should know that when I say thing on the Internet like, “I wish we could all actually test our mineral absorption as well, before and after using only soaked grains vs. only whole grains,” that someone will figure out how.

Carrie Thienes of NW Holistic Nutrition can test your hair for minerals, which is apparently an even better indicator of long-term mineral status than a blood test (and a lot more doable via the US Mail, yah?).

Through her practice as a nutritional therapist, she offers a whole Nutritional Balancing package of hair analysis, interpretation, personalized food & supplement protocols, a customized meal plan to fit into your lifestyle, as well as ongoing coaching for anyone (no matter where they live) for $180.  If a KS reader simply wants a before-and-after hair test without any of the other extras, hair analysis only could be $75.  (A KS reader special; be sure to mention that you started here!)

So. That’s kind of a neat resource. I think it would be most telling to have someone who eats largely whole, unsoaked grains to have their hair tested, then switch to a solely soaked grains diet and be tested again. I don’t know that 10 days would be enough to impact overall mineral status, but if someone could be a guinea pig for a month… 

Besides the grain thing, if you’re looking for nutritional support for things like allergies, mood disorders, fertility, food sensitivities, weight loss, or fatigue, you may want to visit Carrie, who is a fellow Nourishing Traditions blogger.

Resources for your Grains Journey

If you’re going 100% whole wheat or white flour, you can find everything you need at your local grocery store.

Sprouted grains:

• How to Sprout
• How to Make Sprouted Flour
• I noticed Health Food Lover has a number of sprouted grain recipes

Soaked Grains:

• How to Soak Oatmeal
• How to Soak Flour in Whole Grain Recipes
• All the soaking posts here at KS, including recipes

Sourdough:

• How to Make a Sourdough Starter
• My favorite: Sourdough Honey Whole Wheat Bread
• Sourdough eCourse for 20 recipes and forum support (I’m teaching the honey whole wheat bread in 2 weeks) – this eCourse would be great for those of you who are visual and like to see what you’re supposed to do

No Grains:

• My ideas for grain-free dinners
• Follow Donielle as she talks grain-free at least once a week
• Mark’s Daily Apple for Primal Living
• Primal Toad, who just went primal 6 months ago – great for beginners. He introduced himself at KS here: What is the Primal Lifestyle?

You can do this, good kitchen stewards! I can’t wait to see what we come up with!

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Don’t miss help along the journey and the results of the challenge!  Sign up for a free email subscription or grab my reader feed. You can also follow me on Twitter, get KS for Kindle, or see my Facebook Fan Page.

If you missed the last Monday Mission, click here.

Kitchen Stewardship is dedicated to balancing God’s gifts of time, health, earth and money.  If you feel called to such a mission, read more at Mission, Method, and Mary and Martha Moments.

I am affiliated with Carrie and GNOWFGLINS, but also their friend, and someone who believes that they offer very helpful services…so that doesn’t really impact this post. See my full disclosure statement here.