Why Deeks

Co-founders of Deeks, Rob de Castella AO MBE, and Bill Giles have been living a gluten and grain-free lifestyle for decades. So there was a little bit of self-interest involved in setting up a bakery that meant they could enjoy the delights of freshly-baked goods while still achieving personal optimal health and performance outcomes.

This is vital for Rob, whose career as an international marathon runner has always seen him focus on fuelling his body in the best way, and also for Bill, who’s a clinical biologist with nearly 30 years of experience treating people at his clinic, Health Ecology Solutions, with chronic immune-related diseases and illnesses such as cancer and autoimmune diseases. 

The pair started small, running a tiny bakery in the Canberra suburb of Pearce. They wanted Deeks to assist people with autoimmune diseases to enjoy a diet which included bread products but which did not invoke an inflammatory response—and they quickly attracted a strong core customer base. But over the longer term, they have been keen to see the gluten and grain-free lifestyle get the wider recognition it is now receiving. Deeks is stocked in shops throughout Canberra and the region and is available online with the click of a mouse!

Within the general community there is a growing awareness that grains and grain-derived flours can trigger immune responses in people who are not diagnosed with coeliac disease and who have no underlying conditions. Inflammation, discomfort, and irritable digestive systems can all be related to consuming the starchy seeds of corn, maize, rice, oats, barley, malt, millet, rye, triticale, sorghum, and all types of wheat, including duram, common wheat, spelt, kumat, einkorn and emmer.

In a nutshell, these seeds contain types of plant proteins such as prolamins (plant storage chemicals), lectins (defence toxins) and a variety of toxic communication-chemicals. Lectins such as wheat germ agglutinin can be baked out, but prolamins such as gluten cause leaky gut in all people to varying degrees. In the long-term these chemicals damage the intestinal linings and drain immune resources accelerating immune acclimatisation as well as hastening the ageing of the immune system (immune senescence). Most people who continually eat grains will find they age quicker, suffer bloating, immune depletion, chronic aches/pains and are more prone to autoimmune diseases and cancers.

Deeks breads have been scientifically formulated to contain superfoods such as quinoa and buckwheat rather than traditional bread-making ingredients. These are nutrient-dense, high fibre, protein-rich plant compounds which have anti-inflammatory properties.

Deeks customers seek out Deeks products not only because of the way they taste, but because of  the way they make them feel—energised, invigorated, satiated.