A couple years ago, Dr.William Davis published “Wheat Belly,” (Rodale Books, 2011) a book on the health risks of wheat he discovered while working as a cardiologist. The wheat he studied was genetically altered in the 1970s and was sold in stores during the mid-to-late ’80s, with unintended effects, according to Davis.
“If you introduce all kinds of changes into the plant, you potentially change many other characteristics in the plant.When they sold it, they started to see all kinds of weird effects,” Davis says. The new wheat produced an opiate-like effect on people and increased their appetite. Davis also found that wheat antagonizes psychological disorders like ADHD, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Wheat also causes high blood sugar since it has a glycemic index of 72 compared to table sugar at 55. It can also increase risk of heart disease and diabetes, according to Davis.
“It’s not really intended to be a diet so much.When I first wrote the book it was really an articulation of what has been done to wheat,” Davis says of his research. His editor had suggested putting suggestions for a wheat-free diet. Other people also asked for suggestions on how to make meals without wheat.
So on Christmas
Eve 2012, he released a cookbook with 150 delicious, wheat-free recipes to help people make easy, healthy meals.
Davis stresses that while people lose weight by taking his advice, it comes from cutting wheat not calories.
“This is an ‘eat more’ if you want to approach,” Davis says.“You’ll never hear from me, push your plate away, cut your portion size, cut your fat. Eat all you want of good foods. Eat more eggs, eat more meat and keep the fat on your pork and beef. Have more butter, have more cheese, have more vegetables, have more nuts.”
In his cookbook, many of his recipes are for dessert or for things that are considered junk food, like pizza.
Here are a few of Davis’ favorite wheat-free recipes: Pecan Streusel
PECAN STREUSEL
COFFEE CAKE
Ingredients
2½ cups almond flour
½ cup garbanzo bean flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
Sweetener equivalent to ¾ cup sugar
Dash sea salt
3 eggs, separated
3/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 ounces butter, melted
Juice of ½ lemon
Topping
½ cup almond flour
¼ cup pecans, finely chopped
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
½ cup xylitol
1 tablespoon molasses
6 ounces butter, cut into ½-inch
widths, at room temperature
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease
bread pan.
In bowl, combine almond flour, garbanzo flour, cinnamon, baking soda, sweetener and salt, and mix.
In small bowl, whip egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff peaks form.At low speed, blend in egg yolks, vanilla, melted butter and lemon juice.
Pour liquid mixture into almond mixture and mix thoroughly. Pour into microwave safe bread pan and microwave on high for three minutes. Remove and set aside.
To make topping, combine almond flour, pecans, cinnamon, xylitol and molasses in small bowl and mix. Mix in butter.
Spread topping on cake. Bake for 20 minutes.
RASPBERRY CHOCOLATE
CHEESECAKE
Ingredients
Crust:
1 1/2 cups ground pecans (or walnuts or almonds)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa
powder
4 tablespoons butter, melted (or
coconut oil)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Filling:
16 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cup coconut milk (or sour cream.
This should be the thick coconut milk,
not the thinned kind in the dairy
refrigerator.)
3 eggs
Juice of one small lemon and
1 tablespoon freshly-grated lemon peel
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Sweetener equivalent to 3/4 cup
sugar
12 ounces fresh or frozen raspberries
Chocolate:
6 ounces 100 percent chocolate
(unsweetened baking chocolate)
2 tablespoons coconut oil (or butter)
Powdered sweetener equivalent to
1/4 cup sugar (no liquid sweeteners)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix ground pecans, cinnamon and cocoa powder in bowl.Add butter, egg and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Pour mixture into a 10-inch by 2-inch cake pan and flatten along bottom. Spread mix up along sides for approximately 1 inch. If mix is too soft to hold its shape along the sides, refrigerate for several minutes and try again. Place in refrigerator to harden.
In large mixing bowl, mix cream cheese, coconut milk, eggs, lemon juice and lemon peel, vanilla, sweetener and six ounces of the raspberries. Mix with blender at low to medium speed until it begins to thicken.
Melt chocolate (Microwave in 15-20 second increments.).When melted, stir in coconut oil and sweetener. Note that the sweetener must be non-aqueous, i.e., a dry powder, because a water-based sweetener such as liquid stevia will not mix with the oils of the chocolate.
Remove the pie crust from the refrigerator and pour chocolate mixture on top, reserving one to two tablespoons for topping.Tilt pie pan to spread chocolate evenly. Place in freezer for 10 minutes.
Remove piecrust and pour filling mixture into pan. Bake for 45 minutes or until knife or toothpick comes out clean.
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