5 Very Good Reasons to Go Gluten-Free (& An Irresistible Gluten-Free Granola Recipe)
Gluten-free foods have become one of the most attention-getting food crazes in the last decade and for very good reason. Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride, Dr. Perlmutter, and Dr. William Davis have all done incredible work on nutrition as just one of the many resources now revealing the degree to which gluten has been interfering with our good health.
Whether you are gluten-sensitive or not, there are so many reasons to give up gluten. If you’ve never tried it, these five very good reasons may just convince you to give it a go. If not, our irresistible gluten-free granola will certainly win you over.
#1. Boost Your Energy & Overcome Constant Fatigue
If you are one of the approximately 40% of the U.S. population that has gluten sensitivity, consuming gluten could be seriously draining your body’s energy reserves. Fatigue is one of the top symptoms of gluten intolerance. Eating foods you are intolerant to stimulates the nervous system and adrenal glands to produce stress hormones that will eventually cause adrenal exhaustion.
Adrenal exhaustion=fatigue and mood imbalances. Even if you are eating sprouted grain bread made with sprouted wheat, it still counts as eating gluten and could be the cause of your mid-afternoon energy crashes, anxiety, and mood swings.
#2. Balance Hormones & Achieve a Healthy Body Weight
Food intolerance reactions cause inflammation and in response, the body produces cytokines, which are anti-inflammatory agents that unfortunately impair insulin function. When insulin can’t do its job, insulin resistance develops. Insulin resistance leads to weight gain, especially around the mid-section.
Insulin resistance combined with adrenal exhaustion leads to an out of control appetite, hypothyroidism, just about any type of hormonal imbalance, slowed metabolism–and of course, weight gain. Also, toxins produced from eating gluten are stored in fat that resists breakdown as a protective measure and causes water retention and false fat. When you give up gluten and eat a nutrient rich diet, it is common for hormones and weight to naturally come into balance without the use of medications, tons of supplements, or excess exercise.
#3. Stop Food Cravings & Overeating
I am not saying if you give up gluten you will never have a craving for chocolate cake again. However, gluten contains exorphins which are opiate peptides that give you an immediate sense of well-being in the short term.
In the long-term, exorphins in gluten disable the body’s ability to make natural feel-good chemicals like endorphins. Your body is literally screaming, “Give me that cupcake (or pretzels, or bread) because I am in pain and can’t produce the chemicals to make the pain stop!!!”— willpower can’t do you much good when it comes to this type of deep, cellular craving.
The good news: If you give up gluten and adopt a nutrient rich diet, your body will repair itself and start making endorphins and other feel-good chemicals. And those unbeatable cravings will become much more manageable.
#4. Prevent Cancer and Early Signs of Aging
Untreated gluten intolerance prevents cells from working properly leading to toxicity which overwhelms the liver’s capacity to detox. The liver is forced to allow toxins to enter the blood where they attack healthy cells, which eventually leads to premature aging and cancer. The “cure” for gluten intolerance is FREE: stop eating gluten-containing foods. Eliminating gluten greatly reduces the toxic load on your liver and cells and literally slows down the aging process!
# 5. Absorb More Nutrients in Your Food.
When gluten-sensitive folks eat gluten it destroys the villi in their small intestine that absorb nutrients. Think of all the problems that can occur if you can’t absorb nutrients…depression, anxiety, osteoporosis, infertility, diarrhea, anemia, and the list goes on. Scary, huh?
In order to help you avoid gluten, it would be best to stick to grains like quinoa, millet, rice and buckwheat. Here’s a favorite gluten-free granola recipe to help you along!
ENJOY!
Irresistible Gluten-Free Granola Recipe
These are GUIDELINES, not magic potions. A bit of this, a bit of that and VIOLA! you’ll have a masterpiece that everyone will be oooohing and aaaahing about!
First you’re going to need to soak the buckwheat. When I made it last time, I soaked 1Kg. It filled up a BIG pot! You don’t need to soak buckwheat very long. An hour or so is usually enough. Then after you’ve soaked it a while, empty it into a colander/strainer and rinse it, because it gets kinda slimy. 😉
In order to let it sprout a day or two, just rinse it 2-3 times a day, and in a couple days, your buckwheat will start to grow little sprouts. Sooo cute and probably better for you nutritionally.
Next you’re going to need a BUNCH of bananas. I really used about 5 or 6 of them and just stuffed my food processor. But the purpose is to make a nice gooey, sticky “dough” that will make your buckwheat sprouts stick together for an AMAZINGLY crunchy granola! When I made it last, I stuffed my food processor to the brim, and then dumped all the ingredients into a HUGE pot and mixed things with my big ol’ wooden spoon.
Here are the things I added to my blended bananas:
- few tablespoons of coconut oil.
- vanilla
- 1 T of cinnamon
- About 10-15 dates, just to make that batter a teeensy bit sweeter.
- Then, into the blended bananas, I added about 4 or 5 cups of soaked buckwheat. Probably about 1/3 or less of the soaked buckwheat that I had to work with. And blend it up, too. THAT is the glue that sticks it all together.
Once that’s blended, you just dump it into a BIG bowl with the remaining sprouted buckwheat. Now you have your granola base, into which you can add ANYTHING YOU WANT!!
In the past I have also put finely chopped apple, shredded coconut, chopped walnuts and several handfuls of organic Thompson raisins. (My favorite!) You can be creative and add dried flowers, spices…
Let your imagination guide you.
Once you’ve mixed your granola ingredients evenly into the batter, just lay it out onto the mesh sheets of a dehydrator (no need for teflex sheets, because it’s so thick and chunky) then dehydrate at 105 over night. If you don’t have a dehydrator, you could always try blowing on it, or setting up fans and a gentle heater. 😉 Some say if you leave your oven on the lowest temperature overnight with the door open, that can work, too. Either way, here’s to your gluten-free grazing and your health!
Have You Experimented With Gluten-Free Living?
Have you experimented with taking gluten out of your diet? For how long? Did you notice positive change or none at all? What’s your experience? Tell us about it!