When ground into flours GRAINS act like sugar in the body. This starchy powder (aka white flour) is capable of wreaking havoc on the body including weight gain, inflammation and blood-sugar imbalances. Refined carbohydrates including refined grain products are the single most harmful influence in the American diet today.
Just think, every meal in the American diet is surrounded by these problematic flours. Breakfast is full of toast, bagels, cereal. Lunch is full of sandwich bread, or wraps and dinner is full of pasta, pizza, and a bread basket.
Without even realizing it the average American now eats 10 servings of refined grains each day ,YIKES!!! Children especially fall prey to this flour as most packaged snacks processed foods and “kid” menu’s are LOADED with refined flour.
A diet high in flours made from wheat or other grains affects every system in the body including the brain, blood, pancreas, gut, colon and especially the waistline. Over weeks and months the yo-yo effect of rising and falling blood sugar and insulin levels increases the body’s fat storage around the abdomen triggering inflammation and hormonal imbalances.
So whats a person to do? It seems impossible to avoid flour.
Guess what? It’s not really hard at all!
When you replace refined grains with healthy fats or veggies you are better off and your body and mind will be thanking you in the long run!
Here are a few tips to help you along the way.
- Try switching to sprouted grains to slowly wean off of processed breads and crackers. Foods made from sprouted grains are easier to digest and tend to be higher in protein which can help regulate the rate at which the grains sugars are metabolized.
- Replace flour with nut or seed meal. Meals made from ground nuts and seeds such as almonds, cashews, coconut and flax can stand in for flour in baking recipes as well as breadings on meats or seafood. Nut and seed meals are higher in protein and lower in carbohydrates.
- Don’t fall prey to the “GLUTEN FREE” trend. Many gluten free products are made from potato flour, rice flour, and tapioca starch and digest even faster than wheat flour. Most GF goodies lack fiber and are loaded with sugar a recipe for disaster in the digestive system.
- Try going flour-free for a week and see how you feel. I personally saw results in my digestion and inflammation when I quit grains. You can read many success stories of people who have quit eating grains and regained their health. It was the missing puzzle piece they needed!
Last but not least consider quitting grains for GOOD! A great start for recipes and ideas is to look into the paleo or primal diet. No matter what you have been led to believe thus far whole grains and wheat are NOT essential in our diets. We can easily survive without them! The promotion of “healthy whole grains” by the USDA, doctors and dietitians is truly outdated information.
We would all be much better off eliminating these foods to make more room in our diets for more nutrient dense whole foods like dark leafy greens, squash, sweet potatoes, nuts, seeds, and legumes, pastured meats and wild fish.
p.s. Heres a DELICIOUS RECIPE for cauliflower “rice” !
Be Well 🙂
Susie R.
