Bagels and WHY NO WHEAT!

Are you trying to eat gluten free and not feeling so well? Maybe flu-like, depressed, irritable? There are 2 main reasons why this happens.

1. Some people do go through "flu" like symptoms when their fat cells are shrinking because this is where the toxins are stored. When you start to lose the fat, the toxins are released into the bloodstream causing ill-feelings. Not pleasant, but it is the truth.

2. The more serious issue is the opiates in wheat that cause withdrawal symptoms when people cut wheat out of their lives, which is also ?flu-like??tiredness, crabby, depression?. The issues comes in when people decide to be 80% good on the diet. Most clients are determined enough to eat gluten-free during the week, but they allow themselves to have ?cheat days? on the weekends. Well, it takes your body 4-6 days to get the withdrawal symptoms out before you feel AMAZING (no joint pain, no hunger between meals, TONS of energy), BUT if you cheat every weekend, you get re exposure symptoms. Every time you cheat, the wheat increases dopamine just like heroin.  This is why people complain of ?low carb? diets and lack of energy.


I also work with people trying to "carb load" once they sign up for a marathon. Carb loading is one fast way to gain weight while training for races! This always happened to me! BUT not anymore. I eat about 20-30 carbs a day and the last 1/2 marathon I ran, I took 4th place. Ketones are a longer lasting energy source than carbs. I no longer "hit the wall."











"HEALTHIFIED" BAGELS OPTION 1:
1/4 cup coconut oil or butter, melted
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup unflavored whey protein
5 eggs
½ tsp Celtic sea salt
1 tsp aluminum free baking powder
OPTIONAL: 1 tsp guar gum or xanthan gum (chewy texture: see below)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Blend together eggs, coconut oil/butter, salt, and spices if using. In a separate bowl, mix coconut and whey with baking powder and guar gum. Blend the dry mixture into the wet until smooth. Grease a donut pan (click HERE to find) with coconut oil spray. Bake for 15 minutes. Makes 6 bagels.

VARIATIONS:
"EVERYTHING" Bagel: add 1/2 tsp dill, 1/2 tsp dried chives
1/2 tsp dried parsley, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp garlic, 2 TBS parmesan cheese
Onion bagel: add 1 tsp dried onion flakes
Cinnamon: add 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp stevia glycerite and 1 tsp vanilla (and use vanilla whey instead of unflavored)

NUTRITIONAL COMPARISON (per bagel)
Lender's New York Bagel = 270 calories, 4g fat, 6g protein, 55 carbs, 8 g fiber
"Healthified" Bagel = 161 calories, 13g fat, 8g protein, 2.9 carbs, 1.7 g fiber


OPTION 2 (Nice and Chewy):
6 egg whites, whipped
3 TBS psyllium husk powder (no substitutes)
2 TBS coconut flour
4 TBS cream cheese, softened
OPTIONAL: additional spices

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Separate the eggs and save the yolks for a different recipe (such as Craig's favorite...creme brule!). In a large dry bowl, whip the egg white until VERY stiff. Slowly sift in the psyllium husk and coconut flour. Gently stir until well encorporated. Slowly add in the cream cheese (and spices if desired). Grease a donut pan (click HERE to find) with coconut oil spray. Dollop the dough into the pans (it will not rise much, so put a lot into the pan!) Bake for 17-20 minutes. Once totally cool, cut in 1/2 and store in the freezer for easy breakfast options! Makes 4 bagels.

NUTRITIONAL COMPARISON (per bagel)
Lender's Bagel = 270 calories, 4g fat, 6g protein, 55 carbs, 8 g fiber
"Healthified" Bagel = 104 calories, 4g fat, 7g protein, 11.6g carbs, 8.8g fiber (2.8 effective carbs)

If you are new to baking gluten free baking you may be thinking ?What is the Xanthan Gum and Guar Gum?? and ?Why do I need them?? Well, they help keep mixes from separating, they create a 'chewy' texture, and stop solid particles from settling to the bottom (like when the blueberries sink to the bottom of a coffee cake). You can use just one or the other; but for the best results, you can use a little of both. AND I say ?a little? because ?a little? goes a long way!

The gluten in white flour creates a paste when you mix it with water (in Poland, they use this to hang wallpaper!) This sticky concoction serves the same purpose that guar gum and xanthan gum do in gluten free baking. One component of gluten free flours lack is that ?chewy texture? that we crave when eating breads, adding this will help bring that texture back. The gluten in wheat thickens dough and traps air bubbles to make baked goods light and fluffy. Xanthan gum tends to help starches combine to trap air, while guar gum helps keep large particles suspended in the mix.

Guar gum is good for cold foods (?healthified? pancake syrup) while xanthan gum is better for baked goods. Foods with a high acid content (such as lemon juice) can cause guar gum to lose its thickening abilities. If all you have is guar gum when you are making a citrus baked good, just increase the amount of guar gum. HELPFUL TIP: Add thickener to the oil in a recipe, making complete mix of oil and gum before adding to the rest of liquid ingredients. Using a blender or a food processor helps get them to dissolve properly; clumps will make a big unappetizing bite in foods.

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