Grain Based Vinegar

How my tangent into grain based vinegars began today was when I woke up and was craving a glass of vegetable juice.  I love fruits but my body just does better when I mix some veggies in there with it!!! Like a Sushi Banana Honey Roll…ummm Yummy.  I re-read my list of ingredients on the vegetable juice bottle.  Grain Base Vinegar, really!? and what the heck does that mean?  It put me into a tizzy while having a craving for something that was sitting right in front of me.  Talk about torture.  I researched it and here is what I came up with.  I tried it, and one hour later I still feel fine.  As for everyone out there I would say if vinegar doesn’t bother you (with the exception of malt or barley based) then stick with it, if it bother’s you don’t consume it.  Last but not least always contact the manufacturer to get complete consolation on a product.

I’ve heard disputes about vinegar in the past people saying oh, “that’s why ketchup isn’t gluten free”, which in fact is false it has to do with the binders listed and that our FDA only requires Wheat to be labeled in the allergy’s on food packaging but not rye, barley or malt.  I’ve heard other people say “I thought all vinegar has gluten in it”.  What we are really talking about here is Grain Based Vinegars.  Some vinegars use corn, malt, barley or even buckwheat in their vinegars.  It’s been a constant controversy on the matter of vinegar and alcohol.

An example from About.com is in Sushi rice, and how some chef’s use a vinegar that has a barley base for their sushi rice (typically called a Malt Vinegar).  Now talk about hidden gluten, sometimes I wonder where does it end?  Gluten affects everyone differently, some scientists and research are linking it to over 200 diseases and medical reactions.  Something I found interesting in my own personal research is that barley affects me particularly different then other gluten based grains.  Barley causes a rash to break out around my mouth within hours of consuming it, with very little GI distress or bloating.  Whereas wheat, rye and malt all give me extreme GI distress.  As a child barley was used a lot in our diets, beef and barley soup was eaten regularly at our house.  When I was about 4 or 5 I started having extreme rashes around my mouth.  Doctor’s said I was allergic to soap and toothpaste…the whole time it was Barley.  I didn’t discover this until I was 27…wow!!!  I ate barley on accident one night in a soup on a farm, after being Gluten Free for almost 8 months.  Within hour a rash began around my mouth, itchy and scabby, it was just like the one I had as a child.

Let’s get back to vinegar some experts say its safe, some don’t and for every 5 people that say it’s OK there will b 2 who says its not.  I agree with Gluten Free Living Magazine in that its important for Celiac or Gluten Intolerant for new patients to not get tangled up in nittty gritty details or over look the basics.  It’s important to weeds out gluten from your diet and worry about the nitty gritty once you have a handle on the basics.  After all you probably have to learn about how many planets there are in the solar system before you can learn to terraform Mars.  From my personal experience enjoy RW Knudsens very veggie Juice!

For further reading please see links bellow:

Gluten Free Living Magazine

Gluten Hiding in Rice Vinegar:  About.com

Difference Between White and Malt Vinegars

The morning ended up great despite the initial alarm, no reaction to the veggie juice and enjoyed a great bowl of fruit and seeds along side.





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