Gluten In Buckwheat Flour?

[SabrinaLuvsGluten]

Hey..I was at a website I go to regularly called cooksthesauras.com and I was looking up info on alternative flours. It states that there is some gluten in buckwheat flour! I thought it was supposed to be totally safe. Does anyone have an opinion about this? Thanks

Sabrina

[celiac3270]

I'm quoting from celiac.com here...from a couple articles, which I dissected for the passages on buckwheat.

Take, for example, buckwheat. Along with corn and rice, this is one of only three common grains left on the "safe" list for celiacs. However, some celiac societies have put it on the "unsafe" list and there is anecdotal evidence that some individuals react to it as they do to wheat. Yet a well-known specialist in grain research points out that buckwheat is more closely related to rhubarb than to the toxic grains, so if buckwheat is unsafe then any plant might be unsafe.

It could be that the "buckwheat flour" that a celiac reacted to was actually one of those mixes that combines buckwheat flour with wheat flour. Another possibility is that, since buckwheat and wheat are often grown in the same fields in alternating years, the "pure buckwheat flour" may have been contaminated from the start by wheat grains gathered at harvest. Yet another explanation might be that the buckwheat was milled in a run that was preceded by wheat or any of the other toxic grains, so the flour was contaminated at the mill. Finally, some individuals -- celiacs or not -- may have celiac-like reactions to buckwheat; they are allergic. Celiacs who are allergic to buckwheat may be easily fooled into believing they are having a gluten reaction. Or, it could be that some evolutionary trick has put a toxic peptide chain into buckwheat despite its distant relation to the other grains, but the odds against this happening are long.

The following is a list of ingredients which some celiacs believe are harmful, others feel are safe:

Alcohol

Grain alcohol

Grain vinegars

White vinegar

Vanilla extract and other flavorings (may contain alcohol)

Amaranth

Millet

Buckwheat

Quinoa

Teff

...for most people, buckwheat, quinoa, or amaranth eaten in moderation apparently do not cause problems. (Buckwheat is sometimes found in mixture with wheat, which of course would cause a problem for celiac patients.) It seems no more necessary for all people with celiac disease to exclude buckwheat from their diets because some celiac patients react to it than it would be for all celiac patients to exclude milk from their diets because some celiac patients have a problem with milk.

By the way, buckwheat is on the safe list here.

[ianm]

I have never had a problem with pure buckwheat and eat it nearly everyday. Buckwheat flour usually has wheat flour added because the gluten is what makes it stick together.

[celiac3270]

Yes--definitely . And I've had many foods that contain buckwheat...pancakes, etc. It's not necessarily bad, but you need to be cautious about gluten being added.

[tarnalberry]

Kasha (roasted buckwheat) make a great hot cereal, if strong tasting. ;-) It's gluten-free, but - as has been noted - can be combined with gluten-containing flour in mixes or be contaminated.

One thing I wanted to add to this thread is to be very aware of how the word gluten in being used when reading it. Technically, any grain protein is a "gluten"; that's just how it's referred to scientifically. Colloquially, we use the word gluten to refer ONLY to the proteins in four grains. This overloading of the term can lead to confusion, so you need to be aware of the context.

[turtle99]

Buckwheat seems somewhat of a debate which I've not eaten before or considered before.

Now I really question it, something more to consider before purchasing a buckwheat product.

[ianm]

Plain buckwheat is gluten free. Because buckwheat flour has no gluten it won't stick together like wheat flour. Buckwheat pancakes for instance have wheat flour added so it stays together. Anything other than plain buckwheat should be scrutinized carefully.

[tammy]

Both my husband and myself need to be gluten-free. We use the Arrowhead Mills brand of Buckwheat flour and we do not have a problem. The taste is tolerable. My husband seems to like the taste especially when he adds brown rice flour to make the flatbread less gooey.

I hope that helps you out.