Wheat Belly holiday swaps

Yes, you can have pumpkin pie . . . and biscuits and gravy, and mashed “potatoes,” and cranberry sauce, and plenty of other holiday dishes on the Wheat Belly lifestyle. 

Some people worry that, by banishing all wheat, grains, and sugars, they will have to suffer through a Thanksgiving dinner of dry turkey meat and lettuce leaves and miss out on all the traditional tasty dishes. But that is simply not true. You can enjoy a glorious, delicious, and healthy Thanksgiving dinner while living the Wheat Belly lifestyle. But, in order to preserve your health and not gain, say, 3 pounds from the holiday or suffer a metabolic disaster, there are some easy swaps you can use to replace unhealthy holiday staples with healthy Wheat Belly-compatible alternatives.

So here is a list of easy swaps to make for ingredients and dishes that will help you navigate this holiday safely while not sacrificing anything in taste. And, as someone who avoids all wheat and grains, you cannot consume any dish containing wheat or grains else you may experience re-exposure reactions–diarrhea, bloating, joint pain, anxiety, anger, mind “fog,” return of inflammation and autoimmune conditions, etc.–enough to ruin your holiday. But family and guests who are not wheat- and grain-free can safely eat your wheat/grain-free dishes without any problem whatsoever (except for those with allergies to our replacement ingredients, such as nuts). By following such Wheat Belly swaps, there is therefore no need to prepare, say, a pumpkin pie for the grain-eaters and a pumpkin pie for the non-grain eaters. Just serve the wheat/grain-free version and everyone will be happy.

In addition to the many holiday recipes in the Wheat Belly Cookbook and Wheat Belly 30-Minute Cookbook, here are some ideas for healthy swaps and recipes. On the left find the traditional ingredient or dish; on the right is our Wheat Belly swap:

Gravy thickened with wheat flour or cornstarch———-Gravy thickened with coconut milk, cream/butter, sour cream, pureed mushrooms, eggplant, zucchini, broccoli, pumpkin, squash. (More on Wheat Belly compatible thickeners, savory and non-savory, can be found here.) Of course, use your drippings as your gravy base.

Mashed potatoes———-Mashed steamed cauliflower. Recipe here.

Biscuits and gravy———Biscuits and gravy made with almond flour and safe thickeners. Recipe here.

Cranberry sauce———-Cranberry sauce made with organic cranberries and sweetened with your choice of one of our benign sweeteners

Dressing/stuffing———-Dressing without breadcrumbs or bread. Recipe here. (Note that this dressing recipe is not intended to be cooked in the turkey, but made separately.)

Soup—————-Soups without noodles or unhealthy thickeners. Recipe for Cream of Mushroom soup here. Be sure to save your leftover turkey with the bones to make soup/broth afterwards.

Pumpkin pie———Pumpkin pie with a ground pecan or walnut crust and no-sugar-added filling. Recipe here.

Cheesecake————Cheesecake made with a ground pecan or walnut crust and no-added-sugar filing. Recipes for Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake, Double Chocolate Cheesecake, Blueberry Cheesecake Pie.

These Wheat Belly food swaps allow you to have a safe and healthy holiday without weight gain, without the agony of wheat/grain re-exposure, without rises in blood sugar, while participating in the all the good eating and fun.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!