Wrapping it Up in (Nut) Flour
Image being able to eat a decadent brownie, whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookies or bake a cake for your anniversary all while following The Paleo Diet! Wait…hold on a sec. How is this possible? Actually, it’s not. At least not as something that humans should be eating regularly. Unfortunately, far too many who are keen to benefit from all that a real Paleo approach has to offer are misled down a path of something other than Paleo…towards a Pseudo Paleo regime. This would consist of simply working backward from the Standard American Diet and replacing ingredients or foods for something similar but perhaps gluten-free or without corn syrup which might render a final product that’s close in taste, texture and appearance to the original, but completely missing the boat on the whole point of implementing a Paleo approach. The idea of Paleo is to mimic the food groups our ancestors had with modern day foods we can easily find in our farmer’s markets, grocery stores and our own backyards. And what about ‘treats’? For a special occasion, sure, go ahead and bake that almond-flour, dairy-free torte or prepare a batch of gluten-free, honey sweetened gingerbread cookies. It’s good to have the option to do so now and then to create balance, such as for a child’s birthday party. Just tread lightly, though, if you’re looking for that ‘crunchy’ snack to replace the wheat thins you were eating, or something to ‘thicken’ that stew you’re making. You can easily prepare oven baked, herbed root vegetables to create crunch and implement a reduction of cooking to render a less watery end product of something you’re cooking. Nut flours, even more so than their origins in raw nuts, tend to be inflammatory, low ranking in terms of nutrient density and overall, not something anyone needs to be consuming with any regularity. Need a treat? Get your Paleo groove on in the truest sense of the word and treat yourself to how amazing you’ve begun to feel! Bye, bye, inflammation!