Why Should you add teff to your list of gluten-free flours?

Teff Versus Popular Gluten-Free Flours

In the United States and Canada alone, a growing percentage of the population is switching over to a gluten-free diet, and it is estimated that “less than 10 % of people with celiac disease have been diagnosed”[1]. A lot more people are intolerant or sensitive to various levels of gluten, but the vast majority of people follow a gluten-free diet for other health reasons.

If you’ve lowered your gluten intake or have cut it out completely, you’ll find that the long-term consumption of commonly used gluten-free flours such as tapioca and rice flour are “seriously lacking in critical nutrients such as fiber, iron, zinc, folate, niacin, thiamine, riboflavin, calcium, vitamin B12 and phosphorus"[2].  

Fortunately, teff is a gluten-free grain that contains significant amounts of almost all of the nutrients that the most commonly used gluten-free flours can’t provide.

Teff is an ancient gluten-free grain that has been cultivated in the Horn of Africa for around the last eight thousand years and can provide the nutritional boost to help you live a more active and healthy life-style on a gluten-free diet!

Teff flour can be used to substitute the nutrients that other gluten-free flours are not supplying.

Not convinced yet?

Check these graphs out. By seeing the way that teff can work, with and add key nutrients, vitamins, and minerals, it’s easy to see the benefits of adding this ancient-grain to your diet!

Teff may be the world’s smallest grain, but it is high in protein, fiber, potassium and a wide range of other vitamins and minerals.

Teff also contains the highest calcium content of any grain by far, gluten-free or not. Teff flour is a great source of iron, containing 50 % of your recommended daily intake per serving.

 

For a lot of you that follow a gluten-free diet or make an effort to add more gluten-free alternatives to your meals, teff flour is a great addition to almost any baking recipe! Teff is versatile and can be used to substitute anywhere from one-fourth to half of your gluten-free flours in most baking recipes like breads and cookies and can even be used on its own to make delicious pancakes, crepes, waffles, and other flatbreads like Injera.

Now let’s be clear. We don’t want you to cut other gluten-free flours out of your diet! Teff is a solution to this problem because it is loaded with nutrients, vitamins, and minerals! By incorporating teff with other flours in your pantry, you can add a nutritious, gluten-free, whole-grain boost to your diet!

So, try using teff flour in your recipes! It brings a delicious, fine texture along with heaps of health benefits! While teff works great as a substitute for  ¼ to 1/3 of any flour called for in baking recipes, we can help you get started with recipes and give you some general guidelines on baking with teff.

Now that you know, come and re-discover the lost grain with us!

Sources:

[1] Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; Government of. ‘Gluten Free’ Claims in the Marketplace. 1 May 2014, http://www.agr.gc.ca/eng/industry-markets-and-trade/canadian-agri-food-sector-intelligence/processed-food-and-beverages/trends-and-market-opportunities-for-the-food-processing-sector/gluten-free-claims-in-the-marketplace/?id=1397673574797.

[2] Tallmadge, Katherine. The Dangers of Going Gluten-Free. 12 Aug. 2015, https://www.livescience.com/51826-gluten-free-diets-can-be-unhealthy.html.

Nutrition:

SELF Nutrition Data | Food Facts, Information & Calorie Calculator. https://nutritiondata.self.com/.

USDA Food Composition Databases. Apr. 2018, https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/.

Nutritional Values For Common Foods And Products. https://www.nutritionvalue.org/.