The wheat we eat today isn’t like they ate thousands of years ago. In nutrition sampling tests, Einkorn has been found to be a “more nutritious” grain. Einkorn contains higher levels of protein, essential fatty acids, phosphorous, potassium, pyridoxine (B6), lutein and beta-carotene (lutein).
The Einkorn flour is characterized by high protein, high ash, a very high carotene content, and small flour particle size when compared to the modern bread wheats. There’s a reason people ate this stuff for thousands of years and called it the staff of life.
Nutrition from Einkorn Wheat
Einkorn is a healthy grain with a high content of protein, phosphorous, vitamin B6 and potassium when compared to modern forms of wheat. It also has plenty of carotenoids – the natural red, yellow or orange pigments that are found in many vegetables and fruits, and in a few grains. Carotenoids have the medical properties that help in preventing serious diseases such as cancer.
Why Switch to Einkorn Wheat?
Considering the fact that einkorn is the most genetically primitive and ancient form of cultivated wheat, its very different from the wheat we eat today. What’s more, many people say Einkorn is tastier than modern forms of wheat!
Einkorn wheat can be digested better than most foods. The low content of gluten in Einkorn makes it easier to digest than modern wheat. An improvement in digestion means that nutrients are better absorbed, ensuring that you have no tummy problems after consuming a delicious dish cooked with einkorn flour.
How It Differs from Modern Wheat
As mentioned, einkorn is not the same as modern forms of wheat. When einkorn is milled into flour, you will notice that the grains are much smaller than grains of modern forms of wheat. In fact, grains of modern wheat are larger than grains of einkorn wheat! Moreover, einkorn does not have the crease that is present on the side of modern wheat grains. The reason why they’re different is the fact that humans have slowly and steadily altered wheat genetics by choosing seeds that delivered more gluten and promised higher yields, as they were ideal for large scale production and distribution in larger farms.
As for gluten, Einkorn has a different kind of gluten compared with modern wheat because it does not contain the D Genome, only the A genome. This is significant because the most popular test for detecting the presence of gluten is based on the presence of the D genome. Although Einkorn does contain gluten, it’s a different type of gluten, and will not fail an Elisa test.
Einkorn is similar to most plants as it’s a diploid. This means that two sets of chromosomes are present in them, unlike emmer wheat which has four sets, or spelt (and modern bread wheat) which have six sets. Einkorn is clearly the most ancient and purest type of wheat as there are only two sets of chromosomes, meaning that its natural gluten content is low, making it a healthy food.
