is spelt flour healthier than wheat normal flour?

[berta_the_aspie]

so i am quitting sugar and "normal" flour (Hvetemel in norwegian)
i am wondering, whats the point of using spelt flour when i bake the bread? i can handle the casein and gluten or whatever, it doesnt make my hyper. i am just trying to quit that white normal flour, coz i wanna use only whole grains.

so is there any point at all to use spelt flour? just to get the same texture or whatever?
to make cookies and brownies and such!

and should i quit sugar? is that vegan dememrera sugar healhyier than white sugar?

thanx guys:)

[speedylemons]

well i dont know about any of that, but if you are vegan you probably want to stay away from casein, since it is a milk protein. ew.

[DianeVegan]

My understanding is that spelt is just another type of wheat. I have found it in refined and whole flours, so it can be just as bad as refined wheat flour. All simple sugars are equally bad for you (sharp rise in blood sugar and minimal nutritional value other than calories).

We have been moving away from all refined foods in my household for some time. I have found that the best way to avoid them is to not buy anything that contains them - in other words, I cook a lot. There is really no other way around it. Whole foods cookbooks can help, especially if you have a sweet tooth and need dessert foods. Sprouted breads and whole grain breads are also good choices. Just be careful because many "whole grain" breads list wheat flour (ie, refined) as the first ingredient and then throw in a couple of grams of whole grains.

For cookies and brownies, you could try using half whole wheat pastry flour and eventually switch to all whole wheat pastry flour in your desserts. (Regular whole grain flours will not all give you a tender cookie - it's all trial and error. Whole wheat pastry flour has less gluten than whole wheat flour so it makes a more tender crumb).

Hope that helps.

[Artichoke47]

I don't understand the question.

[harpy]

Spelt is meant to be lower in gluten than ordinary wheat so if someone is trying to reduce their intake of gluten then spelt might be preferable. Otherwise I think it's comparable; both spelt and ordinary wheat flours come in wholegrain and refined versions.

Casein is a "red herring" here I think as it's found in dairy products, not wheat :D