This site generally features recipes that are gluten free and use highly nutritious, less starchy flours (therefore, no rice flour, potato starch, or the like).  I also universally stay away from that ubiquitous gluten free baking ingredient: xantham gum.  I’m not a nutritionist or an expert in any way, but xantham gum creeps me out and I’ve read too many personal accounts referring to allergies and stomach cramps and other not so fun stuff.  Research it and decide for yourself.  But I’ve found ways around it for most recipes and prefer binding agents that are made from things that actually grow in nature and have a little more nutritional quality on their resumes.

I primarily use flours that are made from the grains/seeds that are Body Ecology approved: quinoa, millet, buckwheat & amaranth.  (Click here for more on why these are better options for health.)  The exception is teff, which I love and rely on in most of my baked goods.  I haven’t yet seen a “yay” or “nay” from the Body Ecology/candida diet camps on teff, but because of its nutritional similarities with quinoa (high protein, amino acids & minerals), I’ve made the executive decision that it should be fine—again, you decide for yourself.  Plus, for where we live, there are local, organic, small-scale sources for both teff and amaranth.  Pretty great.

There’s some debate about the health value of any grain/seed-based flour (the Paleo diet, for example).  If you can live with no grain, kudos to you!  I’m still convinced that the B-vitamins and other goodies in the few grains/seeds mentioned above are pretty good for you, in moderation (the Body Ecology recommendation that vegetables always represent 80% of your plate and meats and the few approved grains make up the other 20% seems a good–though challenging–rule of thumb).  Plus, as a vegetarian, using no grains is a bit more limited than I can deal with.  So, if you must eat foods made with flour (and I must), these are great ones to work with.  To increase the nutritional qualities of flour, consider soaking it overnight prior to use in a recipe.  (Click here for more on why soaking grains & flours improves their nutritional quality.)

I’ve been told the Paleo diet does let you eat coconut flour and almond flour, but I am totally NOT a Paleo expert, so if you’re going that route, evaluate the recipes on this site for yourself… there are bits of overlap, so you may be able to find some good stuff.  But then the almond conflicts with Body Ecology recommendations.  Bottom line, there’s a lot of info out there and not all of it plays nice together.  Research and decide what makes sense for you, and see what your body tells you.  Some experts recommend doing a strict elimination diet for several months before you can really trust what your body’s telling you.  However, almost everyone agrees that modern wheat is bad bad bad.  (Click here for an interesting article on why wheat today is different than historical wheat.)  While we will probably continue to use other grains or flours once in a while in our home, modern wheat will no longer have a presence.  No way, no how.