Switching from a standard American diet to a gut-healthy diet can be hard. Change is uncomfortable. And deprivation is even worse.
Lack of discipline, strong cravings, and resistance to restriction derail most people from successfully making the switch.
The trick is making the changes very slowly, using the “crowding out” method (I learned this in health coaching school).
Taking everything you love out of your diet at once is going to send your body into shock. Bodies are conservative in nature. THEY DON’T LIKE SUDDEN CHANGE.
But slowly adding in foods that heal the gut is going to help your body adjust to new, healing foods and is likely to lead to new healthy cravings.
This method uses PLEASURE instead of DISCIPLINE to help you make a healthy shift.
It took many months to achieve my grain-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free diet. This time around my motivation to change my diet was wanting to eat what my clients to eat, so I could share this experience with them.
Giving up sugar was not that hard for me so that was my first step. I used dried fruit to get me through random cravings. But giving up bread and cheese was a a huge challenge. I tried several times to go cold turkey with both and had little success.
My secret to making a successful shift
I realized that giving up both at the same time was too much. So I started first with bread.
The key to a bread-free life is being creative with it and finding decent replacements for those bread moments (snacks with tea, breakfast toast or a comfort carb craving).
I began to explore the grain-free bread options. There were so many out there. My first step was buying coconut bread online. Next I found some recipes and started baking my own bread out of coconut flour, almond flour and eggs.
Here’s my collection of bread experiments. Fresh baked, store bought, fancy and simple, sweet and savory. I added sweet potatoes, gelatin and applesauce to some of the breads for moisture, a firm texture and sweetness.
1) Fresh baked almond bread with applesauce. Here’s the recipe video.
2) How to make it fancy. Hollow out the almond bread and fill it with coconut cream mixed with carob, cacao, cinnamon, and dates.
3) Coconut Paleo bread uses egg whites only. I ordered several loaves and froze the rest.
4) Insanely delicious. Will make you forget all about real bread. This coconut flat bread uses sweet potato or butternut squash as it’s main ingredient and holds together with gelatin. Recipe here.
After eating these yummy bread substitutes a while I was used to not having grains in my life. I don’t suggest eating too much of these coconut or almond flour product while healing your gut because they can be heavy and hard to digest.
But it is a great way to transition off bread without a loud rebellion from your body.
Time to tackle dairy.
Good bye dairy….hello hemp milk!
There are many alternative “milk” products out from almond, sunflower, hemp and oats. I don’t recommend soy milk and oat milk is delicious but very high in sugar!
My favorite milk substitute is hemp milk due to its concentrated nutrients and anti inflammatory and hormone balancing properties I also like the nutty taste. I try to limit nut milks because I already eat plenty of nuts and don’t want to over do it.
When I crave dairy I make myself this shake from hemp milk, carob powder, a ripe banana and a squeeze of fresh fresh orange. The filling, creaminess of this drink helps tame my dairy urges.
To ease my cravings for fatty cheese, I ate a lot of healthy saturated fat like coconut oil, avocado, bacon and beef. I even made a soaked cashew dish with spices and lemon juice. Just put all the ingredients in the blender.
My strange healthy cravings
When I started eating grain and dairy free my body experienced some strange cravings like….
1. Holy Basil tea with frozen fruit ice cubes (mango and strawberry).
2. Bacon and sauerkraut on coconut toast
3. Oranges and cilantro. I could not get enough oranges.
Feeling creative and excited!
Ridding myself of my two “addiction” foods made me feel empowered, like I could do anything! I put that energy and excitement into experimenting with unique and novel recipes I never tried.
Cooking became a fun and challenging puzzle to solve. How could I recreate my favorite dishes grain-free? Check out my grain-free answer to Pad Thai and crab cakes.
Get out of your cooking comfort zone
Getting out of my cooking comfort zone brought new life to my cooking process. It was no longer a chore but an adventure in creativity and new experiences. Cooking is a great creative outlet. And you can eat your art.
Inspired snacks
Finding satisfying snack is one of the biggest challenges on a grain-free diet. Here are some options from my kitchen lab. I suggest stashing a fruit and nut bar like a Lara bar in your purse or desk at work for emergencies.
1. Sunflower butter and blueberry chia “jelly” on coconut bread. The blueberry jelly is made by soaking a tbsp of chia seeds with a tbsp of water and a cup of frozen blueberries. Stevia is optional.
2. Seaweed salmon rolls. Just cut up some (sugar-free) smoked salmon, cucumber and avocado. Roll and eat. No rice needed.
3. I made my own fruit and nut trail mix with pistachios and exotic super berries like goji berries, golden berries, cranberries, cherries and mulberries. You can add pumpkin seeds for a blast of zinc and protein.
4. One of my most delicious idea was to soak dried fruit (cranberries and prunes) in Chai spice-flavored Kombucha (or any flavor you like). You can make this into jam by blending it. Soaking fruit can break down their hard to digest elements. And soaking in probiotics will increase digestibility.
How to sex up your veggies
Raw veggies just don’t do it for me. My body intuitively knows how hard they are to digest. Cooking veggies caramelizes them, bringing out their natural sugars. Salt, oil and spices add tons of flavor. You won’t even recognize these sexy beasts when you’re done roasting them.
Fun with Fermentation
I also started brewing my own fermented beverages. I tried making my own kombucha many years ago but it took way too long and was problematic. When I discovered how easy it was to make COCONUT WATER kefir I was super excited.
I bought kefir grains online, reconstituted them in sugar water and poured in the coconut water. That’s it. In less than a day I get 32 ounces of fermented, probiotic-rich, gut healing coconut water.
This bubbly water also makes a good snack and a great replacement for soda.
Play in your kitchen
How can you make nourishing yourself a joy instead of a chore? Do you enjoy trying new recipes? Creating your own? Cooking with friends? Taking classes? Sharing your creations online? Cooking for family? What do you like to do in the kitchen? How can you make it fun?
We’re blessed to live in a world of abundance. There’s so many healthy substitutes for gut damaging foods. Look at this as an opportunity to expand your taste buds and grow your culinary experience.
Going grain-free is not food jail. It’s an opportunity to get out of food jail (and your cooking/eating rut).
Tell me about your creations in the kitchen?
Angela Privin is proof that IBS is NOT an incurable disease or a disease at all. IBS is a body out of balance. It’s an invitation for change. After solving her own IBS mystery more than a decade ago Angela trained as a health coach to help others.
Angela uses both science and intuition to help people figure out what’s out of balance in their body. She works with lab tests, dietary changes, supplementation and nervous system rebalancing. Get help rebalancing your digestive system and solving your IBS mystery here.
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