The newest radical direction in diet and nutrition has surpassed the popular Atkins diet and South Beach Diet in its departure from accepted norms. This new direction is the budding trend towards a healthy grain free diet. The reasons for this innovation in diet are many but the most important ones manage to attack some assumptions, which have been the pillars of nutritional beliefs for many decades.
Among the top reasons for going grain free are the following:
• The sugars in grains feed yeast in the body and make it grow out of control.
• In the same way, grains cause blood sugar levels to spike and crash thereby taxing the pancreas. This also leads to mood swings, depression, weight gain and the development of a pre-diabetic condition.
• Contrary to popular belief, grains are hard to digest and their particles can slip through the walls of the intestines causing the immune system to attack them. This stresses the system unduly.
• Grains can cause inflammation and have been known to worsen symptoms in many diseases.
So you’re convinced that you should adopt a healthy grain free diet but you need some help to start. Here are a few pointers to make the switch a little easier:
• Plan a menu for at least seven days. Include snacks in your seven-day menu so that you don’t have to resort to the usual sandwich or crackers. Remember that whenever you eat grains, your blood sugar spikes, and crashes leaving you with a craving for grains. Your seven-day menu is a good opportunity to wean yourself from the grains cycle.
• Be sure to have fruits and vegetables to munch in your refrigerator. Again, instead of chips and cookies made from grain, let these be your snacks.
• Prepare a lot of soup stock. You can freeze this in separate containers for use as soup, for sauces, gravies, or even snacks.
• Expand the contents of your pantry to include fermented foods. Yogurt, sauerkraut, and pickles are great to munch on. They also kill cravings for carbohydrates and help restore the health of the digestive system.
• Stock up on vegetables. This is the time to load up on your family’s favorite veggies and to try new ones as well. Carrots and celery make good snack foods and taste good with hummus. Experiment with salads and allow your creativity full rein.
• Protein is an ally in this new diet. That craving for carbohydrate-laden food is simply your body saying you haven’t eaten enough of the proper nutrients – especially protein. Make sure you have some protein for breakfast and for each meal. This means you will need many protein foods so buy lots of eggs, meats, cheese, and nuts.
• You might want to buy meat wholesale. Because you will be shifting to a diet that requires more protein and less grain, your meat purchases will go up. In addition, you will be serving larger portions than before because you will no longer have the grains to function as filler. To lessen the impact on your budget, consider the idea of buying meat wholesale. There are places that normally cater to restaurants and you would be surprised at the savings you have by buying wholesale from these stores.
• It is time to get your non-grain flours ready so you can bake grain free goodies. This will help ensure that at no time will you and your family feel deprived. As long as you use honey instead of white sugar, you are good to go!
• Get to know others who are engaged in the same effort. It is a big help when you are touch with people who are also trying to remove grain from their daily food. You can encourage one other, swap recipes and maybe split a large order of beef to save. If switching to a healthy grain free diet is like waging a major battle then you need all the comrades you can get!