Finnish Wheat Flour: A Solution to Wheat Intolerance?

[trinifin]

What is the difference between American flour and wheat flour from Finland? When we lived in Scandinavia my wife could eat bread with wheat flour. We moved to Texas six years ago and my wife became severely intolerant to wheat. She can't have the smallest crumb without a reaction. She gets a rash and severe abdominal pain.

Anyway, we decided to have some wheat flour shipped from Finland. My wife has baked bread and cakes with the flour from Finland now, and has not had a reaction as yet! Yes, she is still careful. She is afraid to overdo it and suffer, but so far she has been doing OK.

She has also met others that have been able to tolerate European flour, but not American. My wife has also tried other European flour, but still experienced problems, so there seems to be something different about the Finnish flour. It contains gluten, but I believe that the gluten content may be slightly lower, while the flour is top quality and makes awesome bread and cakes.

Also food grown in Finland are some of the most wholesome you can find anywhere.

I am interested in finding out if anyone else have a similar experience. My wife is continuing to bake with Finnish wheat flour and seem to be able tolerate it.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

What is the difference between American flour and wheat flour from Finland? When we lived in Scandinavia my wife could eat bread with wheat flour. We moved to Texas six years ago and my wife became severely intolerant to wheat. She can't have the smallest crumb without a reaction. She gets a rash and severe abdominal pain.

Anyway, we decided to have some wheat flour shipped from Finland. My wife has baked bread and cakes with the flour from Finland now, and has not had a reaction as yet! Yes, she is still careful. She is afraid to overdo it and suffer, but so far she has been doing OK.

She has also met others that have been able to tolerate European flour, but not American. My wife has also tried other European flour, but still experienced problems, so there seems to be something different about the Finnish flour. It contains gluten, but I believe that the gluten content may be slightly lower, while the flour is top quality and makes awesome bread and cakes.

Also food grown in Finland are some of the most wholesome you can find anywhere.

I am interested in finding out if anyone else have a similar experience. My wife is continuing to bake with Finnish wheat flour and seem to be able tolerate it.

Hello and welcome to the forum. I do no think the adverse reaction your wife has to American and other non Finnish European wheat flour is related to the gluten. Modern wheats are hybrids and genetically the same. They all contain the same gluten molecules.

The only way there will be a different structure is if its a completely different plant, like einkorn. Einkorn is a natural occurring plant and is genetically different from modern wheat. It has 14 chromosomes, where the hybrid modern wheat contains 42 or 43 chromosomes. The difference in chromosomes means it has a different gluten profile. I'm a celiac. I once unknowingly ate a bunch of einkorn crackers thinking they were gluten free. Much to my surprise, I did not get sick. Of course being celiac, I know I cannot eat gluten even if I don't experience symptoms.

Just my theory, but I think the impurities and chemicals in modern wheat cultivation may be the culprit in your wife's case.


As a Baltic Sea Country, the growing season is very short. Given the long cold winters, there are fewer crop pests. Fewer crop pests means substantially less pesticides are used on the crops.


Finland is probably the only EU wheat producing country to ban the herbicide glyphosate. Yay Finland!! The EU has been debating a ban of glyphosate for several years, but they haven’t made a decision yet. Testing confirms residue of glyphosate on wheat when its used. And it is widely used in the US and Europe.


Finland's moist cool climate means the wheat has a moisture level above 14% at harvest. Also, since wheat is mechanically harvest, a lot of impurities in up in the wheat

Since wheat cannot be milled into flour with moisture content above 14%, Finnish wheat is hot air dried as soon as it’s harvested.

The process of hot air drying ends up separating some of the impurities out of the wheat.

When the wheat is milled, you end up with a flour that has a lot less pesticide and herbicide residues, and flour with fewer impurities.

Finally, Americans tend to subject the flour to a lot of treatments. A lot of American flour is bleached, enriched, and malted. Nothing makes me sicker and faster than malted wheat or beer! I used to wonder why beer made me violently ill, I know now its the fermented barley malt.

 

[Becky]

Welcome to the forum @trinifin I'm not too knowledgeable about this stuff but just wanted to say that I'm glad to hear your wife has found some flour she can tolerate.

Great info @Norcalbaker59, I learned a lot from your post!

 

[trinifin]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. What Norcalbaker59 says sounds a lot like what we have been speculating. Thank you for the information. I learned so much from your response.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. What Norcalbaker59 says sounds a lot like what we have been speculating. Thank you for the information. I learned so much from your response.

You are welcome

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Welcome to the forum @trinifin I'm not too knowledgeable about this stuff but just wanted to say that I'm glad to hear your wife has found some flour she can tolerate.

Great info @Norcalbaker59, I learned a lot from your post!

you are welcome...glad to know my nerdy science self is helpful to others.