Time to dye my hair (and give up wheat?)

Last week I drove Cassie to give some little cherub a bassoon lesson. I sat in the car reading on the street outside of the cherub's house. When the cherub's mother got home, she asked Cassie, "Is that your grandma out in the car?" Cassie said, "No, that's my Dad." The cherub's mother said, "Oh, I'm so sorry, I couldn't see that well," to which Cassie responded, "That's okay, they both have gray hair."

I may have a lot of gray hair, but I'm not senile (yet), so you may be wondering what's with banana bread #3 in just a year and a half of blogdom? Well, this one's a little different in that you make it in just one bowl, though you do have to break out a mixer rather than your whisk. But the big change is that I swapped out the white whole wheat flour in the original recipe for 100% spelt flour and it worked great. I like the taste of spelt flour, and it's also easier to digest. And it may be the solution to perceived gluten sensitivity, according to this article in U.S. News & World Report. The article says that the problem may not be gluten, which is a protein, but a specific type of carbohydrate in wheat from the fructans family. Because spelt contains gluten but is low in the fructan carbohydrates, you can test yourself for gluten intolerance by eating a food heavy on spelt but light on other ingredients. If you don't react to the spelt, then the problem is probably fructans, not gluten.

One statement that really caught my eye in the article is that it's especially worth testing yourself if

the adverse reaction to a wheat-containing food is digestive in nature – gas, bloating, stomachaches, constipation or diarrhea – since other foods containing high amounts of fructans are known to provoke these symptoms as well. Anyone who’s ever suffered after eating too many sunchokes, onions, garlic, asparagus spears or energy bars containing inulin/chicory root fiber, can probably attest to that.

Oh, no! The most GI distress I've ever suffered was from eating Kashi® GOLEAN Crunch Cereal, which is loaded with chicory root fiber (aka chicory root extract or inulin) and better known on the internet as "GOFART Crunch." (If you want to be entertained sometime, read this post ("Ounce for ounce, there is no other substance on the face of the Earth that will more consistently produce as many hours of unabated flatulence [as] Kashi GoLEAN Crunch.") and scroll through the 455 comments.) Does this mean that I've got a problem digesting fructans and shouldn't be eating wheat?! Perish the thought. There's some spelt testing to be done.

UPDATE (11/28/17): Cassie alerted me to this article on Vox, which is the best I've seen yet addressing why "a carb called fructan may be the real culprit behind gluten sensitivity." The article discusses the evidence, including a recent study published in the medical journal Gastroenterology, which is titled "Fructan, Rather Than Gluten, Induces Symptoms in Patients With Self-reported Non-celiac Gluten Sensitivity." The Vox article also includes a chart showing high-fructan foods and their low-fructan alternatives.

One-Bowl Spelt Banana Bread

Adapted from King Arthur Flour (recipe)

Time: 1:25 (only 13 minutes active)

85 grams (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces and softened
100 grams (½ cup) brown sugar, light or dark, firmly packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
3 medium to large ripe bananas (~1 pound before peeling; 340 grams/12 ounces after peeling), cut or broken into 1-inch chunks
2 large eggs
60 grams (¼ cup) plain yogurt, preferably whole-milk
1 tablespoon (21 grams) honey
227 grams (~1⅞ cups) spelt flour or white whole wheat flour
57 grams (½ cup) pecan or walnut pieces

    1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 350°F. Spray an 8½-by-4½-inch loaf pan (or a 9-by-5-inch pan for a shorter and flatter loaf) with nonstick baking spray.
    2. In a large bowl, or the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until smooth and fluffy. Scrape the bowl down with a silicone spatula.
    3. Add the vanilla, baking soda, salt, and bananas. Beat on medium speed until well combined. The mixture will be fairly smooth, with some scattered small chunks of banana. Scrape the bowl down.
    4. Add the eggs, yogurt, and honey, and beat until combined. The mixture may look pretty messy at this point, but it will come together when you mix in the flour. Scrape the bowl down.
    5. Add the flour and the nuts. Stir until just combined.
    6. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Tap the pan gently on the counter to even the batter out. Let the batter sit at room temperature for 10 minutes.
    7. Bake for 50 minutes, then gently lay a piece of foil over the top to prevent over-browning. Bake until a skewer or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 10–15 more minutes (check sooner if you’re using the larger pan). An instant-read thermometer will register around 190°F when the bread is baked all the way through.
    8. Let the bread cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Store at room temperature, well wrapped in plastic, for several days; the bread can be frozen for longer storage.