4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
Sweetener equivalent to 1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of sea salt
TOPPING (OPTIONAL)
½ cup natural peanut butter, room temperature
½ cup chopped unsalted dry-roasted peanuts
Coat an 8 × 8-inch pan with the melted coconut oil.
TO MAKE THE FUDGE: Place the chocolate in a small microwavable bowl and microwave for 1½ to 2 minutes in 30-second intervals until just melted. (Alternatively, melt the chocolate in a double-boiler setup.)
In a separate microwavable bowl, combine the peanut butter, cream cheese, sweetener, vanilla, and salt. Microwave about 1 minute, then stir to thoroughly blend. (Alternatively, add these ingredients to the chocolate in the double-boiler setup and heat until all ingredients are melted.) Stir the peanut butter mixture into the melted chocolate and stir well. If the mix becomes too stiff, microwave another 30 to 40 seconds.
Spread the fudge into the prepared pan and set it aside to cool. If desired, spread the fudge with a layer of peanut butter and sprinkle with the chopped peanuts.
CHOCOLATE FOR ADULTS ONLY
Here is an old Wheat Belly favorite, modified a bit from its original version.
Without sugar and various additives, the flavor of chocolate shines through. For best results, choose the finest chocolate your budget permits.
MAKES ABOUT 20 SERVINGS
2 (3.5-ounce) bars 100% cacao chocolate, broken into pieces
4 tablespoons coconut oil
Sweetener equivalent to 1 cup sugar
¼ cup cacao nibs
¼ cup walnut pieces
1 tablespoon dried instant coffee
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
In a double-boiler setup, melt the chocolate and coconut oil, stirring frequently. (Alternatively, microwave at 30-second intervals until melted.)
Add the sweetener, cacao nibs, walnuts, instant coffee, vanilla, and almond extract, and mix well.
Line a large, shallow baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper. Pour the chocolate mixture onto the parchment paper and spread to an approximately ¼-inch thickness with a spatula. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then place in the refrigerator.
After cooling for 2 or more hours, break the chocolate into pieces by hand and enjoy.
KINDER BARS
You’ve heard of Kind bars?
While commercially available, Kind bars are an otherwise fine product, but they border on being too high in carbs and sugar for those of us trying to limit our net carb exposure. So here we re-create portable bars similar to Kind bars—lower in carbs and sugar, but crunchy with nuts, cacao nibs, and coconut on top of a bed of chocolate.
I chose yacon syrup to help bind the ingredients together because it provides prebiotic fibers as fructooligosaccharides (FOS), about 1 gram per bar, while still allowing us to stay well below our 15 gram net carb limit. This recipe also includes cocoa butter because of the higher melting point, which keeps these bars solid at room temperature, unlike coconut oil or butter, which softens. You may have to venture into specialty food stores or online sources such as Nuts.com for cocoa butter.
MAKES 4 BARS
1 (3.5-ounce) bar 85% cacao chocolate
2 teaspoons cocoa butter
2 tablespoons peanut pieces
2 tablespoons almond slices
2 tablespoons cacao nibs
2 tablespoons shredded, unsweetened coconut
2 teaspoons yacon syrup
Place the chocolate and cocoa butter in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 25-second increments until melted. (Alternatively, place the items in a double-boiler setup and heat until melted.)
Transfer the melted chocolate mixture to a 6 × 6-inch or 7 × 7-inch square pan or container and spread evenly on the bottom by tilting the pan.
Meanwhile, in a medium or large plastic baggie, combine the peanuts, almonds, cacao nibs, and coconut, and coarsely fragment by rolling a rolling pin or heavy jar over the baggie. Pour the nut mixture into a small bowl and stir in the yacon syrup.
Spoon the nut mixture over the top of the chocolate, spreading it evenly, then gently compressing the topping into the chocolate with a spoon.
Refrigerate for 1 hour until solid. Store in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks. Slice and serve.
CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
Here is a dairy-free version of chocolate mousse. While most of us can consume dairy, we try to stick to fermented forms, such as yogurt and cheese, so the coconut milk is a perfect replacement for cream in this recipe. Even if you don’t like coconut, the heavy flavors of chocolate shine through and there is hardly any coconut flavor, if at all.
Because raw eggs are used, choose pasteurized eggs if you have reason to believe that salmonella exposure may be an issue in your area.
SERVES 4
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
Sweetener equivalent to 1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons canned coconut milk
4 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Whipped cream for topping (optional)
In a double-boiler setup over medium heat, combine the chocolate, sweetener, and coconut milk, and heat and stir until all the ingredients have melted and are combined. (Alternatively, microwave in 20- to 30-second increments until all the ingredients have melted, stirring between each heating.)
In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the egg whites until they are stiff, then add the yolks at low speed, followed by the vanilla. Pour in the chocolate mixture slowly, and mix, also at low speed, until thoroughly combined.
Distribute mousse into four glasses or other containers and, if desired, top with whipped cream. Refrigerate if not serving immediately. Consume within 24 hours.
SAUCES AND CONDIMENTS
Conventional sauces and condiments can be land mines of unwanted ingredients such as cornstarch, wheat flour, sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, and other unhealthy oils. Sometimes compromise is possible, especially with condiments consumed in small quantities. For instance, if you want to spread a small swath of mayonnaise on a grain-free sandwich, a modest quantity of store-bought mayonnaise made with soybean oil, while not ideal, will likely have no adverse consequences on the background of an otherwise clean diet. Ideally, however, you make your own—surprisingly easy if you’ve never done it before—and choose healthier oils such as avocado. And sauces and condiments that are homemade are invariably far tastier than store-bought versions.
MAYONNAISE
More and more people have come to me saying, “I don’t trust the store-bought mayonnaise and all its peculiar ingredients. How do I make my own using healthy ingredients?” Given that most commercial mayonnaises are made with soybean or canola, oils we minimize, they are right to be concerned.
Well, here you go: mayonnaise made with healthier oils and no nasty additives.
All ingredients should be at room temperature. If any ingredients are cool or refrigerated, soak them in hot water until warmed before processing. I’ve chosen to use the extra-light variety of olive oil to avoid the characteristic vegetal flavors of the extra-virgin. If, however, you prefer the vegetal character and don’t mind it in your mayonnaise (e.g., for sandwiches), then the extra-virgin works just fine, too. Avocado oil is another terrific oil to choose.
The key is to pour the oil in very—very—slowly. It should take 3 to 5 minutes to pour your choice of oil into the mix to get this delicious mayonnaise.
MAKES 2½ CUPS
3 egg yolks
1 whole egg
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon sea salt
2 cups extra-light o
live oil or avocado oil
¼ cup white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
½ teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried dill
In a food processor or the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the egg yolks, egg, mustard, and salt, and pulse or blend at high speed. Very slowly pour in the oil over several minutes and process/blend until the mixture thickens. Add the vinegar, paprika, and dill.
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
BARBECUE SAUCE
Store-bought barbecue sauce typically contains high-fructose corn syrup as the most plentiful ingredient, or at least a generous amount of sugar, as well as unhealthy oils like soybean. Here’s a recipe for homemade barbecue sauce that does not rely on such ingredients.
Choose yacon syrup if you’d like your sauce to yield a modest quantity of prebiotic fibers (from fructooligosaccharides, similar to inulin).
MAKES ABOUT 4 CUPS
4 tablespoons butter
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons yacon syrup or molasses
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Sweetener equivalent to ¼ cup sugar
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter, then add the onion and garlic and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the yacon syrup, mustard, chili powder, cayenne, salt, onion powder, Parmesan cheese, and sweetener.
Pour the tomatoes into a blender and blend until pureed. Pour into the skillet and cook, covered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove and cool. Stir in vinegar. Store in an airtight container for up to 4 weeks.
VINAIGRETTE DRESSING
This recipe for a basic vinaigrette is extremely versatile and can be modified in dozens of ways by adding such ingredients as Dijon mustard, chopped herbs (basil, oregano, parsley), or finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes. If you choose balsamic vinegar for this dressing, read the label carefully, as many have lots of sugar. Distilled white, white wine, red wine, and apple cider vinegars are other good choices.
MAKES 1 CUP
¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup vinegar
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon freshly ground white or black pepper
Pinch of sea salt
Combine the olive oil, vinegar, garlic, onion powder, pepper, and salt in a 12-ounce jar with a lid. Cover the jar tightly and shake to mix. Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week; shake well before using.
RANCH DRESSING
When you make your own salad dressing, you have more control over what goes into it, even if you choose to use some prepared ingredients like mayonnaise. Here’s a quick ranch dressing with no unhealthy ingredients, provided you choose a mayonnaise that includes no wheat, cornstarch, high-fructose corn syrup, sucrose, or hydrogenated oils. Compliant store-bought mayonnaises made with avocado oil, rather than the commonly used soybean oil, are becoming increasingly available.
MAKES ABOUT 2 CUPS
1 cup sour cream
½ cup mayonnaise (this page)
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese (2 ounces)
1 teaspoon garlic powder or finely minced garlic
1½ teaspoons onion powder
Pinch of sea salt
In a medium-sized bowl, mix the sour cream, mayonnaise, vinegar, and 1 tablespoon water. Stir in the Parmesan, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt. Add up to another tablespoon of water if you want a thinner dressing. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks.
WASABI SAUCE
If you haven’t yet tried wasabi, be forewarned: It can be overpowering, but in a unique, indescribable way. The “heat” of the sauce can be tempered by decreasing the amount of wasabi powder used. (Err on the side of caution and use 1 teaspoon at first until you have a chance to gauge the hotness of your wasabi, as well as your tolerance.) Wasabi sauce makes a great accompaniment to fish and chicken. It can also be used as a sauce in wheat-free wraps (this page). For a more Asian variation, substitute 2 tablespoons sesame oil and 1 tablespoon gluten-free soy sauce, tamari, or coconut aminos for the mayonnaise.
MAKES ½ CUP
¼ cup mayonnaise (this page)
1 to 2 teaspoons wasabi powder
1 teaspoon finely minced fresh or dried ginger
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar or water
In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, wasabi, ginger, and vinegar, and mix. Store tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
EPILOGUE
IF YOU HAVEN’T gotten the memo yet, bagels are bad, donuts are disastrous, fettuccine can be fatal. And you’re not to blame for taking the bait of the awful, misguided information passed off as nutritional advice all these years.
There is no question that the cultivation of wheat in the Fertile Crescent ten thousand years ago marked a turning point in the course of civilization, planting the seeds for the Agricultural Revolution. Cultivation of wheat was the pivotal step that converted nomadic hunter-gatherers to non-migratory societies that spawned villages and cities, yielded food surplus, and allowed occupational specialization. Without the harvesting of wild, then cultivated, wheat, life today would surely be quite different.
So, in many ways, we owe wheat a debt of gratitude for having propelled human civilization on a course that has led us to our modern technological age. Or do we?
Jared Diamond, UCLA professor and author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning book Guns, Germs, and Steel, believes that “the adoption of agriculture, supposedly our most decisive step toward a better life, was in many ways a catastrophe from which we have never recovered.”1 Dr. Diamond points out that, based on lessons learned through modern paleopathology, the conversion from nomadic hunter-gatherer to agricultural society was accompanied by reduced stature, rapid spread of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and bubonic plague, dissolution of egalitarianism, and emergence of class structure ranging from peasantry to royalty, and sexual inequality got its start.
In his books Paleopathology at the Origins of Agriculture and Health and the Rise of Civilization, anthropologist Mark Cohen of the State University of New York argues that, while agriculture yielded surplus and allowed division of labor, it also meant narrowing the wide variety of gathered plants down to the few crops that could be cultivated. It also introduced an entirely new collection of diseases that had previously been uncommon. “I don’t think most hunter-gatherers farmed until they had to, and when they switched to farming they traded quality for quantity,” he writes. Quality sacrificed in exchange for quantity: remember Dr. Cohen’s words, as they serve as the defining theme in so much of modern life.
The standard modern notion of pre-agricultural hunter-gatherer life as short, brutish, desperate, and a nutritional dead end has also proven to be incorrect. The adoption of agriculture in this revised line of thinking should be viewed as a compromise in which convenience, societal evolution, and food abundance were traded for health—surely you recognize that health cannot be handed to you in the drive-through lane.
We have taken this paradigm to the extreme, narrowing dietary variety down to popular catchphrases such as “get more fiber” or “eat more healthy whole grains.” Convenience, abundance, and inexpensive accessibility have all been achieved to a degree inconceivable even a century ago. A
fourteen-chromosome wild grass has been transformed into the forty-two-chromosome, nitrate-fertilized, top-heavy, ultra-high-yield variety that now enables us to buy bagels by the dozen, pancakes by the stack, and pretzels by the “family size” bag.
Such extremes of accessibility are therefore accompanied by extremes of health sacrifice, all painfully familiar themes to all of us by now—obesity, arthritis, neurological impairment, even death from increasingly common diseases such as type 2 diabetes and dementia. We have unwittingly struck a Faustian bargain with nature, trading abundance for health, a trade you and your family didn’t even know you were making.
Should einkorn or emmer, primordial wheat that pre-dates thousands of hybridizations and other manipulations leading to modern wheat, be resurrected to replace modern versions? I think that is a really bad idea. As the anthropology community has amply demonstrated, human health took a nosedive even with consumption of traditional, wild strains of einkorn and emmer wheat and related grains. Beyond infectious epidemics and social stratification, consumption of traditional wheat resulted in an explosion of tooth decay and misalignment, iron deficiency, and knee arthritis—no surprise when you understand that seeds of grasses should never have become items on the human dietary menu in the first place, except in times of desperation.2, 3, 4
This idea that wheat not only makes people ill, but kills us—some quickly, others more slowly—raises unsettling questions: What do we say to the millions of people in Third World countries who, if deprived of high-yield wheat, might have less chronic illness but greater likelihood of near-term starvation? I can only hope that improved conditions in coming years will introduce wider choice in food that will allow people to move away from the it’s-better-than-nothing mentality that presently dominates.
Wheat Belly (Revised and Expanded Edition) Page 37
