Problems with sweet brown rice/flour?
 

About a month ago, I bought a bunch of sweet brown rice from a bulk bin at our local health food store. I ground it into flour using a VitaMix. It gave my pancakes such a nice texture when mixed with regular brown rice flour, and I really liked the taste. I've been using it pretty regularly since I bought it.

However, I'm going through a really bad spell right now with lots of fatigue, pain in my upper center to upper right side of my stomach area below my ribs, and other digestive pain and problems. I've also started to break out with some eczema patches. To me, it feels like I injested gluten because the symptoms are pretty severe.

I've eliminated this now from my diet, as well as other things that might be a problem (coconut milk, gluten free bread w/xanthan gum, etc.) to allow my system to heal. I figure that once I feel better, I'll try to add a few things back to my diet one at a time to see what the culprit was. If it seems like anyone else has had problems with this type of flour, I will probably wait to add it back after other food that might be easier to digest.

I would definitely appreciate any input you might have on this :)
Jenny

Hi Jenny,

Bulk items like that can have cross contamination issues. Many times the scoops can be used in other glutenous items - either by customers or by store employees stocking the bins. Were there any non gluten free bins near that?

If you're new to the GF lifestyle, go back over your foods, meds, supplements, etc to see if there's some hidden gluten there.

It may also be other food intols. It's not uncommon to discover more food issues once you remove one of the biggest offenders [gluten]. My mention ezcema - you might consider the dairy - which is common to have issues with.

Jenny,

I'm so glad you posted this! I buy my organic brown rice from the bulk bin at my nfs. I always wash my rice before cooking it, so I figured it was "safe". But I too have been grinding it into flour lately, and we're noticing some problems. I don't wash it before I grind it. I wonder if it is cross-contamination? Hmmmmm ... can you wash it, let it dry, then grind?

On a side note, it may be a moot point for me. I made the decision a couple of years ago to get a k-tec champ instead of a vita mix. Unfortunately, its already been in for repairs once and needs to go again.:rolleyes:

The store doesn't use a scoop for their whole grains, you just have to pull a lever and the grains come out. I stopped buying bulk brown rice flour because it used a scoop that could also be used for the semolina flour right next to it. I figured the the sweet brown rice would be safe since I didn't see obvious signs of possible cross contamination from other bins.

The only thing I did question was whether or not there could be other grain kernels mixed in with the sweet brown rice. I figured it might happen during processing. The kernels seem to look a little more like other gluten grains and less like rice to me. I thought I had read somewhere that this was possible, but am not sure. Has anyone else heard this? I also don't wash my grains before grinding them. I don't know if you could wash, then dry, and then grind them, but it would probably work. It just might be hard to dry them thoroughly enough to avoid any mold growth, but I'm not sure. Good idea :)

I've been gluten free for about a year and a half, but have been finding areas of hidden gluten the deeper I look. Some recent things were that I licked some envelopes, and wore lipstick that I haven't verified as being gluten free. I only recently found out that those are possible sources. I have checked all of my vitamins and supplements and they are supposed to be free of gluten, so that's good.

I also do have a number of other food intolerances and have been dairy free for over 3 years now. It seems lately that I'm uncovering more such as coconut and corn. It certainly could be that I'm also intolerant to sweet brown rice since it is so starchy. If nothing else, my system might be so sensitive right now that anything hard to digest might cause it problems.

My husband and I just love our VitaMix! It was pretty expensive at first, but we have had no problems at all and have been using it at least twice a day for the last 3 years. It was definitely worth it for us :)

Grains are not well tolerated by many people... whole grains in particular.

I now only eat wholegrain rice if I feel like having a headache, getting all achy and flu-like and fatigued. If I really feel like doing myself in... I mix it with potatoes in a 'suicide dish' like homemade perogies.

I bet you can figure how often I eat whole grains once I put this together. ;):D

I used to be the whole-grain queen because I had bought into the "it's better for you" message. Took me ages to figure this all out. Finally, one Ukrainian Christmas when I finally got the wherewithall to try and replace our old gluten perogy dough recipe with a gf one (and was successful) - I paid for it for the whole week after Christmas!:(

This year I used refined white rice flour and stuffed half the perogies with meat. I ate about 4 of the potato perogies, all the rest meat... and I was just fine! Hooray!! 'Cause I love perogies! :)

Groan!:eek: Now I hold the title.:o

Don't forget the possibility of changing bins for holding various items :( They don't rinse between changes. That leads to mold growth.

And, of course, there's the potential for contamination when its being loaded up. I used to feel that the upright pull tab bins were safe, but now I feel they're only safer...and still not perfect. There may also be a potential for mislabelling. (Some newbie doesn't know his rice from his barley groats...)

I think if you washed, dried, and then froze the mold issue would be mostly moot. Would kill off any little eggs waiting to hatch in there too. (Ew)

LOL!!!

For a very long time I wondered why dd and dh loved polenta so much when it made me feel so rotten. My dr explained that it was just taking my body time to adjust to my new, healthier way of eating.

Then I discovered I was allergic to corn. Hmmm. You don't think *that* had anything to do with IBS, do you? *batting eyes innocently*. No one is allergic to corn. (Really, the FDA says so...according to the FAAN)

I think all grains have lectins in them, so perhaps you're very sensitive to them?

I have actually wondered if I'm sensitive to all grains. Right now the only grain I'm eating is brown rice flour. I'm still having pain, but to a lesser extent than the past few weeks. Sometimes its hard to tell if I just need to wait for healing in my digestive system to take place, or if I have another sensitivity. I'll definitely keep the whole lectin thing in mind.

Thanks for everyone's input :)
Jenny

Jenny, have you tried soaking your brown rice for 24 -48 hrs before cooking? It cooks up a lot faster, and some people find that soaked rice agrees with them better. Not sure what all happens, but stuff does come out of the rice as it soaks.

But don't let the rice sit too long at room temp. I once let a batch sit for a week on top of the fridge (warm spot)> It got semi-fermented, and when I started to cook it, what a STINK! Worse than sauerkraut! We had to open all the windows & turn on 3 fans in January. I was in the doghouse with the rest of the family. That rice got tossed.

Best wishes.

I have read that sprouting uses up the lectins in a seed.

Dosas (Indian flatbread) uses fermented rice. I made some once and though it was good, it stank too... though it was only fermented for two days. The flatbread didn't smell bad though.

My dogs and chickens seems to prefer fermented grain over just plain cooked. :confused: It just 'stinks' to me.

I've not tried soaking rice. I have read that soaking it makes it easier to digest. I've decided I'm going to avoid the bulk bins for the rice though. I need to find a good brand of sweet brown rice that is as gluten free as possible. Any suggestions on what brand has worked for you?

gluten..
 

how do you all do with beans? I have a gluten intolerance. well i assume it is a gluten intolerance. (i get lightheaded, dizzy, and generally spaced out and headache when i have wheat and other flour products.) I ate sweet brown rice and black beans today and feel pretty aweful. I have heard that some rices have gluten as well. any suggestions or advice?

You may have an issue with complex sugars. We seem to as well.

The Specific Carbohydrate Diet reduces complex sugars almost completely and we find we do better when we stick closer to it... though most of the time we do not follow it on a strict basis.

However, the minute someone is not doing as well as they should, we get very strict about it.

See pecanbread.com for more info.
The book "Breaking the Vicious Cycle" by Elaine Gottschall is the book that the site is based on. It has helped people around the world to find health where they previously did not seem to be able to.

I'm not really sure about beans. I don't have the intense symptoms with beans that I do with gluten. However, I have multiple sclerosis, and the protein in beans (as well as in gluten & dairy) may leak through a person with MS's "leaky gut" and may cause the body to attack the myelin in the nervous system.

The last few months I had been incorporating beans that were soaked overnight and rinsed off prior to cooking to aid in their digestion. I've recently been having more problems with my MS. I don't know if it is because of the beans, or because I had been using a lot of coconut oil in my cooking. The saturated fat in coconut oil is supposed to also be really bad for MS patients. I've decided to give both legumes and coconut oil up for now.

I have definitely found out that I have a hard time digesting anything with a lot of starch. I have tried everything from short grain rice, to corn products, to gluten free starches such as tapioca and potato starch. I've had problems with them all. So while there may be problems with cross contamination, etc. in bulk bins, I have found that starches themselves are a problem for me. I may consider trying the Specific Carbohydrate Diet.

SOAK rinse SOAK ...

Are you Celiac>??? or just intolerant??

Sharky, if that was directed to me, I have no idea. I have been in and out of digestive comfort since i was a child. I had both loose stools and constipation but overall general health. later i went through a few years with anorexia (15-18yrs old) and 11 years of vegetarianism, starting in sixth grade. and i have osteopeonia (early osteoperosis) and i am only 24. so i have no idea. i know i feel aweful and spacey when i eat wheat and related food. i recently heard of the relationship between celiac and malabsorption/osteoperosis. i am getting curious...I am back to eating meat and stick to meat, quinoa, veggies and fruit. and vitamins and minerals. its all a mystery and i just stumbled upon the forum hoping for any insight.

YUP I meant that for you...

I am intolerent and sprouted grain breads ONES WITHOUT flour work for me

Hi, yes you can wash and soak your rice for a few hours before grinding them... You have to let it dry a bit (should be damp not wet) when you grind it otherwise it will just turn to mush. Then you can quick dry it in a skillet or in a low oven... I have done it a lot with great success... I only use my blender to grind it... They turn out really fine too.
We eat a lot of rice around here... we use up around 20lbs a month. I have tried sprouting brown rice too with great success. They taste sweeter and more nutty.