A fascinating, physician-led exploration of the quest for the “healthiest” bread.

When did bread become a part of human diet? Are we adapted to eat gluten? What is sourdough, and how does it affect our health? What is “Einkorn”, the most ancient wheat?

In this class, Dr. Zain Hakeem, from RiverRock Medical Clinic, a premier concierge health clinic in Austin, Texas, will guide you through the history of wheat and breadmaking, and its interaction with our health. Diving deeply into the considered topics, we progress from high-level overviews of the science into evolution, genetics and biology, and then to the implications for diet and cooking implied by the science. We will consider the following topics:

• Metabolism, Prebiotics and Probiotics -

  • including the effects of insulin

• Wheat and Einkorn Genetics and Evolution -

  • more than you ever wanted to know about the biological history of wheat, and human co-evolution with grains.

• Gluten and Health

  • Including non-celiac gluten sensitivities.

• Antifragility and the Paleo Diet -

  • using Naseem Taleb's concepts to expand and rethink the logic of the Paleo diet

• Monoculture Farming -

  • The lesson taught by the demise of the Gros Michel banana

Dr. Hakeem will teach how sprouting, einkorn, and sourdough can help us reconsider the nature of healthy diets, and the outsize impact of the small details of our food.

Dr. Hakeem is Board Certified in both Internal Medicine as well as Pediatrics, and has had an abiding interest in diet, exercise, wellness and health. As he went through his osteopathic training, he was intrigued by the philosophy of wellness, and went on to found RiverRock Medical Clinic in Austin, TX, where he has continued to explore the limits of what health really means, and how it can be maximized. He has followed a paleo diet for several years, and had avoided all grains, but was intrigued by an article showing that ancient man had in fact consumed an ancient form of wheat. This led him down a path of exploring the history of bread, and arriving at a unique (and uniquely healthy) form of bread, derived from ancient methods, using modern tools.