Before I was diagnosed with celiac disease, I had successfully lost weight following a physician monitored low carb diet. By following a low carb diet I was able to lose over 50 lbs. I was thrilled of course, relished in being thinner and felt great. My doctor was wonderful and worked with me closely.
Once I had reached my goal Dr. McKenna started to introduce wheat back into my diet, and that’s when things started spiraling out of control. Not only did I gain back the weight very quickly but my thyroid levels went wacky and I started feeling really sick.
I didn’t know at the time that 18 mos of living extreme low carb would clean out my gut, and once they decided to introduce wheat back into my diet I would become very ill. Good news is, I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease within the year and was back to feeling good again. The weight? Well, it is still there and then some.
Now, that I have a great feel for gluten free cooking and baking, I am looking for ways to cut back on my carbs again. I will never go extreme low carb again- I don’t want to diet anymore. I’m simply looking for modifications in my gluten free lifestyle and trying to introduce more “grain free” options.
The Paleo/Primal diet is mentioned a lot in blogs now and I feel that it’s a more moderate form of reducing carbs from your meals. I, however am not looking to add more animal meas into our meals. I want balance! I’m not going back to the old diet days of preparing a different meal for myself and my family. I think we all should be healthier together, no extremes.
So, here is a recipe to start going grain free. To me, this is a recipe that offers a granola bar type option. It is also raw, which keeps the healthy benefits of the nuts in the bars. I saw this recipe on civilizedcavemancooking.com and wanted to modify it to fit my needs. As, I have mentioned I have thyroid disease and Brazil nuts have a good amount of magnesium in them, which promotes thyroid function.
Brazil nuts are very high in calories and fat, but are known to lower LDL, increase HDL, are rich in mono-unsaturated fatty acids, are high in selenium and vitamin E. You only use 1/2 cup of brazil nuts in this recipe, which for me made 12 large bars.
Raw Gluten Free Date Bars
Ingredients
- (adapted from the recipe Apple Pie Caveman Bars)
- 2 cups pitted dates
- 1/2 cup brazil nuts
- 1/2 cup finely chopped dried organic apples
- 1/4 cup raw almonds
- 2 tbsp melted coconut oil
- 2 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
Instructions
- In your food processor, add dates, brazil nuts and almonds.
- Process(pulse) until mixture is chopped quite finely.
- In a large bowl add chopped mixture, chopped apples, spices and melted coconut.
- Mix well.
- Line a 8 x 8 pan with parchment paper.
- Add mixture to lined pan and flatten well.
- Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to cool.
- Remove from pan and slice into bars.
- Bars can be individually wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in refrigerator as a great lunch snack or anytime you feel like a granola bar.
