Why ancient grains like einkorn, emmer and spelt feel different.

Ancient grains have become a bit of a shorthand.

They’re often talked about as if they were a single thing, or worse, a solution. As if swapping one grain for another might magically make wheat easier, lighter, or somehow more virtuous. That’s not really what’s going on.

How ancient grains differ from modern wheat

The difference between ancient grains and modern wheat isn’t about nostalgia or purity. It’s about how much pressure they’ve been under.

Modern bread wheat has been bred, over many decades, to deliver very specific outcomes: high yields, strong gluten, uniform performance, predictability at scale. It does those things extremely well. But all that selection has consequences. The grain becomes more tightly structured, more reinforced, more resistant.

Ancient grains like einkorn, emmer and spelt come from earlier points in wheat’s long story. They haven’t been pushed in the same way. Their structures are simpler. Their outer layers are less armoured. Their fibre is still doing its job, but without quite so much reinforcement.

That difference shows up not just in flavour or baking behaviour, but in how these grains feel once eaten.

Einkorn, spelt and emmer: structural differences

Einkorn is the most delicate of the group. Its grain is small, its structure relatively simple, and its fibre less complex. Many people describe it as particularly gentle, even when it’s wholegrain, because there’s less resistance for the body to work through.

Spelt sits somewhere in the middle. It has a more elastic structure and a slightly softer relationship between fibre and protein. Its fibre hydrates smoothly and tends to ferment without too much fuss, which is why spelt often has a reputation for feeling “lighter”, even though it’s still very much a wheat.

Emmer is the most robust of the three, but not in a harsh way. Its structure is solid and grounding. The fibre offers a strong sense of satiety and releases energy slowly, which many people find deeply satisfying rather than heavy.

What matters here isn’t that ancient grains are better. It’s that they are different. Their fibre behaves differently. Their structures interact differently with water, heat and digestion. That difference is something we pay close attention to when choosing which grains belong in pasta, and which are better suited elsewhere.

Why ancient grains feel different in pasta

When these grains are made into wholegrain pasta, those differences become even clearer. The dense structure of pasta gives their fibre time and space to do its work gradually. Digestion unfolds at a calmer pace, and the grain feels less demanding as a result.

That’s why people who struggle with some modern wheat products often find ancient grain pasta easier to live with. Not because the fibre has disappeared, but because it’s working within a structure that suits it. Nothing miraculous. Nothing guaranteed.

Just grains that haven’t been over-engineered, allowed to behave in their own way, and treated with the patience they were designed for.

In the next article, we’ll look at why more fibre isn’t always the goal, and why keeping the right parts of the grain often matters more than keeping everything.

Sources

• Shewry, P.R. (2009) Wheat (Journal of Experimental Botany)
• Shewry, P.R. & Hey, S.J. (2015) The contribution of wheat to human diet and health
• Van der Kamp et al. (2014) Dietary fibre and whole grains in wheat
• Brouns et al. (2013) Einkorn wheat: A closer look at an ancient grain
• Suchowilska et al. (2012) Comparative analysis of ancient and modern wheat species
• Ziegler et al. (2016) Grain quality and processing characteristics of ancient wheats
• Fardet, A. (2010) New hypotheses for the health-protective mechanisms of whole-grain cereals
• Delcour & Hoseney (2010) Principles of Cereal Science and Technology

Notes

The information shared in this article is intended for general educational purposes and reflects current food science research on grains and pasta making. It is not medical or nutritional advice.

Individual responses to foods vary. If you have specific dietary or medical concerns, seek advice from a qualified professional.

Further reading

• Shewry, P.R. (2009) Wheat
• Shewry, P.R. & Hey, S.J. (2015) The contribution of wheat to human diet and health
• Brouns, F. et al. (2013) Einkorn wheat: A closer look at an ancient grain
• Van der Kamp, J.W. et al. (2014) Dietary fibre and whole grains in wheat
• Suchowilska, E. et al. (2012) Comparative analysis of ancient and modern wheat species

These references focus on wheat genetics, fibre structure and processing behaviour, rather than dietary trends or exclusion-based approaches.