Why I Bake from Scratch and Use European Flour

Hi, I’m Ola and I’m a baker!

My baking adventure started for two reasons:

To avoid Enriched wheat flour and heavily processed baked goods, and

To reduce sugar, especially high-fructose corn syrup

The European flour difference: Harvesting wheat in the U.S. often involves the use of many harsh chemicals and pesticides that can be very harmful to humans. Although the studies are inconclusive, I can tell you personally that my body has a negative reaction whenever I eat products made out of the U.S. wheat flour.

In addition, the variety of wheat grown in North America is called ‘Red Winter’ which is different from the ‘soft wheat’ variety most commonly grown in Europe. The flours differ in protein and gluten content, and few other minerals.

Wheat flour in the U.S. is also enriched to extend its shelf life. The enrichment of flour involves stripping the flour of naturally occurring vitamins and minerals and then adding back synthetic nutrients such as niacin, folic acid, iron, or riboflavin.

By using high-quality European flour and baking from scratch, not only did I improve the taste of my breads and pastries, but I also discovered that my stomach discomfort went away.

The sugar overload: Many baked foods in the U.S. are extremely sweet, and unnecessarily so. You don’t need a lot of sugar to make something taste delicious. A few tablespoons of sugar is enough. Yet many pastries and cakes in the U.S. are over-sweetened. In order to save money, many mass-produced cakes and pastries are sweetened with cheap kinds of processed sugars such as high-fructose corn syrup.

All this sugar only adds extra unnecessary calories. When baking from scratch, I’m in control of what I add to my cakes, breads, and pastries. And, by using only a few tablespoons of organic ‘table’ sugar or coconut sugar, I reduce the amount of calories in my baked goods.

My Journey to Better Baking

Since the beginning of my life, I enjoyed great health. I rarely got sick or had to see a doctor. I also had lots of energy and enjoyed a very active lifestyle. I was born in Poland, then moved to Italy, and then to Canada. And in each country I lived, I enjoyed great health and led an active lifestyle. All that has changed shortly after I moved to the U.S.

Few years after immigrating to the U.S. I stared noticing a certain discomfort in my stomach. At first it was a nuisance that I learned to deal with. The mild pain and bloating would come and go, and it wasn’t always consistent.

Some days were worst than others. But it wasn’t to the point where it would affect my life. At least not yet.

I blamed my sensitive stomach and stress as the possible culprits for my discomfort.

The mysterious stomach discomfort

But as the years went by, my stomach pain progressively kept getting worse and worse. Initially I thought that maybe I was lactose intolerant, so I decided to cut out dairy.

Although I noticed a slight improvement, the heaviness in my stomach, bloating, and mild pain still persisted.

I proceeded to cut out more foods out of my diet. Red meat, alcohol, chocolate, and caffeine.

Unfortunately I saw very little improvement. In fact things kept getting only worse for my health. In 2012 when I went to see my doctor I was also told that my blood pressure and cholesterol were elevated and I needed to watch out, otherwise I might need to be put on medication.

I was shocked by that news because I thought I was eating healthy. And I was exercising four or more times a week.

Even worse, I noticed my skin breaking out and I started losing my hair at a greater volume than normally.

Bloated, tired, and frustrated

I felt bloated, tired, unattractive, low, and frustrated about the whole state of my health. I needed to change something, but  I ran out of ideas.

That’s when I ran into my neighbor one morning after a run, and I noticed that she has lost some weight and was looking refreshed.

It’s not the Gluten

I mentioned how great she looked and her response was gluten-free diet. What, I thought? This was the first time I heard about gluten and it’s possible harmful effects.

Her argument was very convincing, and so I decided to give it a shot. Although life without bread sounded rough.

After a week of avoiding bread, pasta, and wheat, I noticed a significant improvement. I had more energy, and my tummy was not bothering me. Things were looking up! I managed to go gluten free for three weeks.

At the same time I had a trip planned to go to Poland (Central Europe). But I knew that while in Poland there was no way I would be able to go gluten free. Those breads and pastries are impossible to resist.

So I decided to give myself a break from the gluten-free diet during my travels, and eat bread to my heart’s content, no matter how painful the consequence.

To my surprise, despite eating bread, pizza, and pasta every day, my stomach was not complaining. I felt great and I was eating some of my favorite foods.

When I returned to the U.S. I figured that I was cured and whatever was bothering me earlier, was clearly out of my system. Gluten was back in my diet.

And for a few days all was good, but after a week all of my old symptoms… returned. The stomach pain, the bloating, the tiredness.

Clearly something was still affecting me and I had no idea what it was. I went back to my doctor to do a full check. And despite thinking that I might have celiac disease, the tests came back negative.

My doctor blamed it on stress, so I signed up for Yoga.

The Polish flour success!

Coincidentally, on my trip to Poland I bought some Polish flour and brought it back with me to bake some challah the way my grandmother used to make.

I also decided to do a test. For a week. Eat bread only made by me out of the Polish flour and exclude any foods made in the U.S. that contained gluten.

Success! My experiment worked! After a week of eating baked goods out of the Polish flour, that contained gluten, while excluding U.S. foods that contained gluten, my body started to feel right again.

My energy came back, my stomach discomfort disappeared, and my skin started to improve.

It was the spring of 2014 and since then I never looked back. Today I only bake with and eat bread and pastries made out of Polish flour while avoiding foods with gluten made in the U.S.

After this change, and continuing to only eat breads and pastries made only out of Polish flour, my health has improved dramatically. I lost over 20 pounds, my blood pressure and cholesterol are back at healthy levels again. My energy has gone up, my skin improved, my hair stopped falling out, and most important, my stomach discomfort disappeared. Even how I feel hunger has changed.

The U.S. vs European
flour difference

Since my discovery, I have spent a lot of time researching the flour difference between the U.S. and the European one, and some of my discoveries have reinforced my belief that European flour is healthier and better. At least for now.

Based on my personal experience, I am a big advocate of the European flour and I am here to prove that it can change your life, just like it changed mine.

But that is just a start. You can’t live on bread alone. In fact, I try to limit how much bread or pastries I eat per day. Although, with a flour that does not affect my stomach, I still get to enjoy good and simple bread, crepes, challah, or apple crisp.

If you have been dealing with mysterious stomach discomfort and your doctor’s diagnosis has been inconclusive, I encourage you to try baking and eating wheat-based products made out of Polish flour to compliment your diet.

Eliminating bread can be difficult. But your home-baked bread that’s made out of Polish flour in small quantities can be just the perfect way to balance a healthy diet.

There are many important nutrients in natural wheat flour, such as protein, vitamin B and D, fibre, iron, and folic acid, plus few others.

I Hope that my journey and discovery can help you too. By improving the quality of your life, how you feel, and still help you enjoy some of the delicious foods made out of flour.

Join me, as I share with you my simple bread recipes, flour, and education to help you choose healthier foods for a better quality of life.

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