Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

5

How evil are tortillas?

flag	asked Dec 22 2010 at 21:00 Scott 1,567●2●8●17

3

Flour tortillas or corn tortillas? – sherpamelissa Dec 22 2010 at 21:09

2

I have to lean to corn. – Scott Dec 22 2010 at 21:18

See King Corn, then you will realize.. – maddy Dec 22 2010 at 22:20

I've seen that. Damned if you do.... – Scott Dec 23 2010 at 0:47

Paleotron · Accepted Answer · 2010-12-22 23:24:30Z UTC

Corn tortillas aren't perfect, but passing up good tacos because of a couple of them would be the greater evil. Sure there are better options, like doing a lettuce wrap, rice torts, or turning your tacos into a salad, but that's not what you asked.

If you've had the rest of your diet locked down for a while and can handle a small cheat without spiraling into a week-long binge, I say eff the Paleonazis and enjoy your corn tort tacos with a NorCal margarita.

gone2croatan · Answer 2 · 2010-12-22 21:28:06Z UTC

A TORTILLA KILLED MY DOG WHILE WORSHIPPING SATAN. EVIL.

But seriously, flour ones are bad gluten juju and should absolutely be avoided. Corn tortillas are not good for you, but are not a horrible, horrible "cheat" (though nasty, rancid oil-fried tortilla chips are a bad idea, no matter how delicious). If you can get traditionally fermented corn tortillas (you will probably have to make these yourself unless you live in Chiapas, etc. or hang out with persons of indigenous Mesoamerican descent), those are OK by me. Some people make coconut "tortillas" which I haven't tried and which sound weird.

In summary: flour = chaotic evil; corn = neutral evil; fermented corn = chaotic good?; coconut = unknown, possible lawful good

Stancel · Answer 3 · 2010-12-23 01:07:09Z UTC

The traditional preparation of corn before cooking is soaking in an alkaline solution, this is called nixtamalization which frees up the niacin in the corn. Nixtamalized cornmeal is called masa. When Europeans began growing corn as a staple food without this, they developed the terrible deficiency disease pellagra. Of course, pellagra is only a problem if you base most of your diet off corn.

Evil? No. But I don't use such words for any food. There could be evil people involved in production of any food, but I don't think you could say corn is evil, unless it's been spliced with octopus DNA, then it is an abomination....

Deidre · Answer 4 · 2010-12-22 22:31:38Z UTC

I was in a Mexican restaurant this weekend. We consciously try to be Paleo and Gluten free, but I do allow the kids non glutinous grains. I ordered corn tortillas for their meal, as I usually do, and I told the waitress that we were avoiding Gluten. Out ran the chef and said that all tortillas, including corn, had flour in them as a binder. Wondering how many other mexican restaurants do this?

Most corn is GMO, so maybe better to avoid it all anyway.

W8liftinmom · Answer 5 · 2010-12-23 01:47:30Z UTC

2

seeing as how most corn these days is genetically modified and most likely wheat, too - both are evil in my book

answered Dec 23 2010 at 1:47

W8liftinmom
2,230●3●8

losterman · Answer 6 · 2011-02-07 15:36:30Z UTC

2

I would avoid both. These, however, taste awesome and are totally paleo: http://paleograd.blogspot.com/2011/02/paleo-corn-tortillas.html

answered Feb 7 2011 at 15:36

losterman
1,790●4●11

	I would partially agree...if the quinoa was soaked and rinsed clean of the saponin. – Jay Bell Feb 7 2011 at 23:40
	That's a good point--if you buy the pre-ground stuff it's iffy. But usually I grind my own flours (coffee grinders are magic) these days for $$ concerns, and always take the proper precautions with quinoa. – losterman Feb 8 2011 at 17:50
	So would you make these tortillas with pre-soaked quinoa, then ground like in a blender or something, with the 1/4c water the recipe calls for? – gydle May 6 2012 at 12:13
	I grind it dry, but I think that would work too. – losterman May 6 2012 at 18:51

mari · Answer 7 · 2010-12-22 21:30:34Z UTC

1

Corn is probably fine in moderation. My uncle is colombian, and makes the best arepas. Fried in lard, of course.

answered Dec 22 2010 at 21:30

mari
7,469●2●8●24

VelaCreations · Answer 8 · 2010-12-23 03:59:36Z UTC

1

real tortillas are made with lard, water, flour (corn or wheat). They are super easy to make at home, and millions of people make them daily.

I would go for corn ones, myself, and use home-grown corn, preferably sprouted. I can make a batch of 2 dozen in about 20 minutes.

answered Dec 23 2010 at 3:59

VelaCreations
661●2●10

how do you sprout corn? I never heard of that... – gydle May 6 2012 at 12:13

Resurgent · Answer 9 · 2010-12-23 04:04:27Z UTC

1

The only problem with anything 'corn' nowadays is one is not sure if it is Monsanto monster GMO corn. I would be specially wary of anything GMO.

answered Dec 23 2010 at 4:04

Resurgent
3,892●1●4●22

Philosopher · Answer 10 · 2010-12-22 21:38:19Z UTC

0

Wheat-Flour tortillas are awful for your health, even worse than bread because typically their oil is horrible. Corn tortilla are not good either but if they are made with a decent oil they may not be that bad, perhaps just a little worse than having white rice.

answered Dec 22 2010 at 21:38

Philosopher
4,744●2●14●31

True. Real flour tortillas are made with lard (and if I could have gluten again I would cheat like crazy on them, good thing I can't!). – Heather Dec 23 2010 at 1:16

No more. · Answer 11 · 2010-12-22 23:00:45Z UTC

0

Rice flour tortillas are okay by me. I try not to do flour or corn.

answered Dec 22 2010 at 23:00

No more.
5,564●2●11●41

VeganApostate · Answer 12 · 2010-12-23 02:54:24Z UTC

0

I occasionally will make corn tortillas, but this is getting rarer as I'm starting to lose my taste for them. I wouldn't call it "healthy," but I know what's all in it and so I'm more comfortable with it than buying corn tortillas at the store. Taste better, too.

answered Dec 23 2010 at 2:54

VeganApostate
371●2●4

	My sister makes fabulous homemade corn tortillas! They are a bit too labor intensive for me. – sherpamelissa Dec 23 2010 at 3:18
	I lost my taste for them too. I used to love corn tortillas. – Chickenosaurus Rex Feb 7 2011 at 19:48

Liz · Answer 13 · 2012-05-05 23:14:56Z UTC

0

The corn tortillas I made this evening were made with masa, water, and salt. That's it. No lard, no weird ingredients...just those three. They were fried on an ungreased skillet (which you would want in any case). I've been gluten free for a while and am just starting to research paleo - but wanted to call out that corn tortillas are not necessarily made with lard.

answered May 5 2012 at 23:14

Liz
1

	Why is lard(from a pastured pig) any worse than the corn? Neither, knowingly, pass my lips, but I place them at about an equal sub-optimal paleo level.(about a third tier level) – shah78 May 6 2012 at 0:39
	I think (???) that the point was more that tortillas don't require added fat. I've never made mine with lard or any other fat. It's just water, salt, masa. – syrahna May 6 2012 at 3:16

syrahna · Answer 14 · 2012-05-06 03:19:38Z UTC

I think tortillas are probably empty calories and GMO delivery devices. But damn, they can be good, and on the occasion when I hit my local taco truck, I really don't feel all that guilty.

The GMO thing bothers me more than the non-paleo thing. I've got to find organic masa or learn to make my own...

Logan Hunt · Answer 15 · 2012-05-21 18:00:38Z UTC

0

What about spinach tortillas?

answered May 21 2012 at 18:00

Logan Hunt
59●2

	have a recipe? – Dan Dec 31 at 0:21
	No recipe, but local places around here serve them – Logan Hunt Jan 5 at 23:20

borofergie · Answer 16 · 2012-05-21 19:07:23Z UTC

0

Depends how much refried beans you put in them. Parp.

answered May 21 2012 at 19:07

borofergie
11.5k●1●5●28

Flip · Answer 17 · 2012-05-21 19:11:51Z UTC

0

http://www.againstallgrain.com/2011/05/04/grain-free-tortillas/

i've tried myself and along with rice sheets(which are absolutely divine with some vegetables and homemade pesto) and they pretty good!! :D

answered May 21 2012 at 19:11

Flip
628●2●8

Tortillas, how evil are they?

17 Answers