And the Best Gluten-Free Bread Recipe Is…
The quest for the best gluten-free bread recipe that both tastes delicious and makes you feel great is like trying to find a needle in a haystack…until you try this best gluten-free bread!
Unfortunately, a vast majority of gluten-free breads out there may claim they are “gluten-free”, but little do consumers realize, these are chock-full with ingredients that are cross-contaminated with gluten and cause similar reactions (like tapioca, casein, rice, soy, corn, cassava).
Gluten-free breads and products that contain cross-contaminating ingredients is a big reason why a significant percentage of people continue to have gluten-like complaints even after being on a gluten-free diet for months!
If this is you, check out the top 4 reasons why gluten-free breads can still make you feel poorly (even when you think you’re making the “right choice”). Then make this best gluten-free recipe ASAP!
P.S. As a bonus, I’ve included instructions for 4 total variations of this gluten-free bread, including:
- Classic Coconut Flour Gluten-Free Bread
- Zucchini Gluten-Free Bread
- Pumpkin Gluten-Free Bread
- Banana Gluten-Free Bread
The Top 4 Reasons Why Gluten-Free Breads Still Make You Feel Bad
#1. You’re actually intolerant to another type of gluten
Most countries define “gluten-free” products based on the recommendation of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations and World Health Organization, which actually allows the inclusion of up to 0.3% protein from gluten containing grains in foods labeled “gluten-free.” Hence, the sensitive body is exposed to 0.3% protein, the immune system will recognize and react to the protein.
Additionally, did you know that there are 20 shades of gluten, and most food intolerance tests and food companies only test for or exclude one type of gluten from products—known as alpha-gliadin 33 MER?
Today, the wheat we consume in America is hybridized “modern wheat” —meaning it’s a completely new engineered form of wheat (entirely different from the gluten and wheat many of our parents or grandparents ate back in the day), and sometimes these gluten-like proteins can sneak into our restaurant takeout, gluten free bread or beer.
#2. You’re eating lots of cross-contaminated or cross-reactive foods
Gluten cross-contamination basically means a certain gluten-free food has been exposed or processed in a factory with gluten. Gluten cross-reactivity means a certain food you eat causes the same immune response in your body as gluten may.
Studies (1-6) have identified food antigen cross-reactivity such as milk and dairy, rye, barley, oats, spelt, rice, millet, corn, soy, oats, nuts, instant coffee, quinoa, buckwheat, chocolate and even egg whites.
The response to some of these food allergens parallels the response to gliadin and might be relevant to the up regulation of Gluten-Reactivity and celiac disease along with by increased leaky gut.
The best (anti-inflammatory) choices for gluten-free breads and products are coconut flour, arrowroot starch, and tigernut flour.
#3. You’re eating lots processed foods
1 in 10 Americans eat the recommended number of vegetables daily (a total of 3)—including people who follow gluten free or plant-based diets (7). Moreover, 60 to 70% of most Americans’ diets come from processed and ultra-processed foods (8)—even “health” foods like keto bars, paleo protein powder and gluten-free tortillas. Low fiber, low varied, low color diets are the anecdote to ideal gut health.
#4. You have an underlying gut condition
Simply put, poor digestive function can equal poor food tolerance—even to many gluten-free foods. During digestion, all food proteins are enzymatically broken down in the digestive tract. However, if your gut is “weak” (leaky gut, SIBO, dysbiosis, etc.) the degradation of certain foods may not be efficient and relatively large gluten-like peptides can still persist.
The Best Gluten Free Bread Recipe: 4 Ways
If you are looking for the best gluten free bread, look no further than this guy.
Ingredients
- 6 pasture raised eggs
- 2 tbsp raw honey or pure maple syrup
- 1/2 cup grass-fed ghee, grass-fed butter or coconut oil
- 1/2 tsp Himalayan sea salt
- 3/4 cup coconut flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium-sized bowl mix eggs, ghee or oil, honey/maple and sea salt until well-blended. Combine coconut flour and baking powder, and whisk slowly into the batter until no lumps remain. Spoon the batter into a small greased loaf pan. Bake for about 40 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on rack.
Optional Variations
Add the following ingredients to your baseline recipe and cook as directed.
Zucchini Bread
- 1 medium zucchini, shredded
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
Pumpkin Bread
- 1/2 cup organic pumpkin puree
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tbsp cacao nibs (optional)
Banana Bread
- 3 ripe bananas, mashed
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/3 cup sprouted pecans or walnuts (optional)
Resources
- Ciclitiera PJ and Ellis HJ. Relation of antigenic structure of cereal proteins to their toxicity in Coeliac patients. Brit J Nutr, 1985; 53:39-45.
- Weber D, Cléroux C, Benrejeb Godefroy S. Emerging analytical methods to determine gluten markers in processed foods – method development in support of standard setting. Anal Bioanal Chem, 2009; 395:111-117.
- Kasarda DD. Grains in relation to Celiac disease. Cereal Foods World, 2001; 46:209-210.
- Simonato B, Pasini G, Giannattasio M, Curioni A. Allergenic potential of Kamut® wheat. Allergy, 2002; 57:653-654.
- 10 Grela ER. Nutrient composition and content of antinutritional factors in spelt (Triticumspelta ) cultivars. J Sci Food Agric, 1996; 71(3):399-404.
- Arentz-Hansen H, Fleckenstein B, Molberg Ø, et al. The molecular basis for oat intolerance in patients with Celiac disease. PLoS Med, 2004; 1(1):84-92.
- 2017. Only 1 in 10 Adults Get Enough Fruits & Vegetables. https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2017/p1116-fruit-vegetable-consumption.html
- Hall, Kevin & Ayuketah, Alexis & Brychta, Robert & Cai, Hongyi & Cassimatis, Thomas & Chen, Kong & Chung, Stephanie & Costa, Elise & Courville, Amber & Darcey, Valerie & Fletcher, Laura & Forde, Ciaran & Gharib, Ahmed & Guo, Juen & Howard, Rebecca & Joseph, Paule & McGehee, Suzanne & Ouwerkerk, Robert & Raisinger, Klaudia & Zhou, Megan. (2019). Ultra-Processed Diets Cause Excess Calorie Intake and Weight Gain: An Inpatient Randomized Controlled Trial of Ad Libitum Food Intake. Cell Metabolism. 30. 10.1016/j.cmet.2019.05.008. https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(19)30248-7