KAMUT (source: The Kamut Association of North America)

The "Ancient Grain"    [Unfortunately we are no longer offering Kamut products due to supply problems with organic kamut as well as price spikes]

Kamut brand grain is an ancient relative of modern durum wheat and originated in the Fertile Crescent of the Old World thousands of years ago. After a long period of oblivion, this grain was rediscovered and has now found an important place in contemporary diets. Superior in both taste and nutrition, it can be substituted for common wheat with great success. Kamut brand wheat has a rich, buttery flavor, with normally 20-40% more protein, a higher profile of amino acids, lipids, vitamins and minerals, and is easily digestible. A hard amber spring variety with a huge humpbacked kernel, it grows best in most regions where durum is traditionally cultivated. This grain is unscathed by modern plant breeding programs which have sacrificed flavor and nutrition for higher yields dependent upon large amounts of synthetic agricultural inputs.

Kamut Brand Wheat Adds Rich, Satisfying Flavor To All Your Favorite Grain Dishes
Because of the inherent sweetness of kamut grain, (referred to by some as "the sweet wheat") no sugar is required to hide the subtle bitterness associated with most wheats and whole wheat products. Kamut has great texture and nutritional qualities as well as hypo-allergenic properties.

High Energy Grain With Great Nutrition!
The complete nutritional analysis of kamut brand grain substantiates that it is higher in energy than other wheats. Compared to common wheat, it is higher in eight of nine minerals, such as magnesium and zinc. It has been found to contain much more of the natural antioxidant selenium and is 30% higher in the similarly important vitamin E. The grain also contains up to 65% more amino acids and boasts more lipids and fatty acids. The most striking superiority of kamut brand wheat is found in its protein level, up to 40% higher than the national average for wheat. Because of its higher percentage of lipids, which produce more energy in the body than carbohydrates, kamut brand wheat can be described as a "high energy grain."

Kamut brand wheat was named one of the ten best foods by whole foods author David Goldbeck.

Physicians Recommend Kamut Brand Products To Wheat Sensitive Patients
For those suffering wheat sensitivities, kamut brand products also play a unique role. Research studies concluded "For most wheat sensitive people, kamut grain can be an excellent substitute for common wheat." Scientists and physicians tested two different wheat sensitive populations - those with delayed immune responses and those who have immediate immune responses. In the delayed immune response group, a remarkable 70% showed greater sensitivity to common wheat than kamut brand grain. In the immediate immune response group (the severely allergic)70% had no, or only minor, reaction to kamut brand wheat. However, those with allergies should always seek the advice of a physician. No research has been done with those suffering from gluten intolerance so no recommendations can be made at this time. For many wheat sensitive people, however, kamut brand grain has become "the wheat you can eat."

Only Organically Grown
Perhaps the most significant aspect of the introduction and cultivation of kamut brand wheat is that it is an important new crop for sustainable agriculture. This grain's ability to produce high quality without artificial fertilizers and pesticides makes it an excellent crop for organic farming.

"Physicians Continue to Recommend a Variety of Ancient Wheat to Wheat-Sensitive Patients"
Escondido, California---New clinical studies measuring the allergenic reactivity of Kamut have significant implications. Many people allergic to common wheat (Triticum sativum) are not allergic to an ancient relative of durum wheat (Triticum polonicum), Kamut. This data is relevant to a growing population segment with handicapped culinary choices. According to the National Institute of Health, over 35 million Americans suffer from food allergies; and allergic reactions to wheat are one of the most common.

Elleen Yoder, Ph.D., President of the International Food Allergy Association, heads a team of physicians and scientists in the Chicago area conducting the Kamut testing. After six months of study Dr. Yoder concluded "For most wheat sensitive people, Kamut can be an excellent substitute for common wheat."

To reach this conclusion, Dr. Yoder and team worked with two different wheat-sensitive populations-those who have immediate immune responses and those with delayed immune responses. People with immediate reactions-which may be as life-threatening as anaphalatic shock - fortunately are a small percentile (10 percent) of the wheat sensitive population. People with less severe delayed allergic reactions comprise about 90 percent of the food allergy population.

For the delayed allergic reactions population, the Radioallergosorbent Test (IgE RAST), an invitro assay, was employed to determine immunological reactions to Kamut. IgE skin testing was also administered. One hundred randomly selected food allergy patients were tested by these methods. It was concluded that a remarkably high percentage, 70 percent, showed greater sensitivity to common wheat than Kamut.

To test the severely allergic, clinically confirmed wheat sensitive population—those with immediate immune responses—the Double Blind Placebo Controlled Food Challenge (DBPCFC) was used. Small amounts of Kamut or a placebo were administered. Seventy percent of these patients had no, or minor enough, reaction to Kamut that they continue to eat it on a rotation diet. Because thirty percent reacted to Kamut, the International Food Allergy Association admonishes everyone with a serious wheat allergy to confer with his or her physician.

These clinical studies support the voluminous anecdotal accounts of Kamut's effectiveness for many food sensitive individuals. For all those wheat-sensitive people who therefore could not eat their daily bread (and pasta, crackers, cake, cookies, pie crusts, cereals, etc) the availability of this old durum wheat relative is indeed a godsend. Food represents much more than mere calorie consumption, now - thanks to kamut - wheat sensitive people are free from social limitation and may once again enjoy the breaking, and sharing, of bread with rest of humanity.

In a telephone interview, Dr. Yoder observed, "It's exciting that now many people with wheat allergies can again eat "normal" foods - foods which are not only satisfying, tasty and filling, but also foods that familiar."

Thanks to its rich - almost buttery - flavor, people without food allergies also enjoy this ancient wheat. Many pasta connoisseurs favor Kamut pasta over all other pastas (which are made from hybrid durum). And the nutritionally oriented value its superior nutritional profile. Kamut is about 30 percent higher in protein and higher in eight out of nine minerals than is common wheat.

One wonders how a wheat can have such remarkable medicinal, culinary and nutritional properties. Its fascinating story gives some clues. In 1949 while stationed in Portugal, a U.S. Airman from Montana was given thirty-six kernels of a giant Egyptian grain. These seeds, were supposedly "gathered from some sort of stone box in an excavated tomb from the Egyptian pyramid Saqqar, which is near Dashar." The airman mailed them to his wheat farming father who promptly planted them. Thirty two kernels germinated and grew and within six years 1,500 bushels of Egyptian wheat filled a Montana granary. At the country fair, it garnered some local attention as "King Tut's Wheat". The novelty diminished. The large wheat went for cattle feed and the grain was all but forgotten.

Forgotten, that is, until 1977 when a Montana agricultural scientist and wheat farmer, Bob Quinn, Ph.D., remembered seeing King Tut's Wheat at the fair in his youth. Quinn, a visionary, recognized the value of ancient seed. Farmer turned detective, Quinn scoured the barns and cellars in the Montana wheatbelt. With the help of his wheat-farming father, Mack, they ferreted out one pint jar of this ancient wheat. Over the next decade spring, summer and fall the Quinns carefully propagated and increased the grain.

During the winter months, Dr. Quinn returned to his research. The pyramid story was discounted - mummified wheat does not germinate. Wheat taxonomists determined that his durum relative originated in the Near East and is possibly a biological ancestor of modern wheat. Quinn named the grain "Kamut" which is an Egyptian word for wheat.

In a curious twist of fate the onslaught of modern hybrid wheat has apparently eliminated this ancient durum variety from its Near Eastern homeland. But up in Montana, Kamut - a remnant from our agricultural past - survives unscathed by modern plant breeding techniques and continues to succor humanity.
 

Grindstone Bakery
707.284.2016 - info@grindstonebakery.com
PO Box 1391. Santa Rosa CA 95402

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