Grain Drain

Delicious eats that are all taste and zero grain.

Whether you’re celiac, sensitive, or simply focusing on your health, more and more of us are saying goodbye to grains. Gluten and grain intolerance have been on the rise for the last two decades and seem to match the rise in brain-related health issues like anxiety, depression, dementia, ADHD and more.

In the last decade alone, gluten intolerance levels have increased from 1 in 2,500 worldwide to 1 in 133.

William Davies, the cardiologist who wrote the New York Times bestseller Wheat Belly, believes that wheat is the culprit behind many unpleasant digestive and metabolic issues. He’s based his belief off of his own clinical research and his findings that after advising his cardiac patients to fully nix wheat and wheat products from their diets, not one of them experienced a heart attack.

Quite remarkable!

To elaborate on his theory, he also notes that centuries of selectively producing wheat crops has rendered them essentially toxic to humans today—and he seems to be correct in his notion.

In fact, researchers published a study in the British Journal of Nutrition that tested Dr. Davis’ theory of modern vs. ancient grains with twenty IBS patients. The results were clear—testers consuming a modern day wheat diet saw no improvement in their condition, but those on the ancient-wheat diet experienced drastic improvement in their daily symptoms.

Delicious Grain-Free Treats

Sometimes—despite knowing all of the reasons why we should ditch the modern grains and the toll they take on our bodies—we find ourselves craving our favorite sandwiches, wraps, and crunchy snacks. Fortunately, there are many fantastic swaps you can keep on hand in your kitchen to prevent falling victim to a guilty grain indulgence.

Raw Wraps. These yummy wraps were created with the goal to produce a product that makes you change the way you think about gluten-free substitutes. While many can taste bland and have little to boast about nutritionally-speaking, these are made from simple, real ingredients. Flavor choices include spinach wraps and kale wraps in a variety of size selections.

Wrawp. The Veggie Life wraps from Wrawp are fruit-free and made with organic lettuce, organic spinach, organic flax, organic coconut, organic turmeric, and black salt. You can use them to make a tasty wrap for any meal, or snack on them by themselves—plus, they’re a great way to sneak veggies into the diets of your pickier eaters.

Julian Bakery. Paleo bread from Julian Bakery is available in Almond, Coconut, Honey, and Cinnamon Raisin—and a vegan version is to come! While I would suggest limiting this to 1-2 times per week, it’s quite the suitable substitute when you just can’t quit your daydream of a savory sandwich.

They also offer Paleo Wraps made from three simple, but tasty ingredients—coconut meat, coconut water, and unrefined virgin coconut oil.

ChocolaTree. This brand will satisfy any grain pain. Their large product line boasts chia crackers, kale chips (in cheddar, rosemary, and chipotle), vegan cheese crumbles, pizza bread, onion bread, and two very fun flavors of wraps—tomato and curry. So you don’t have to choose just one, they also offer samplers that contain multiple products at a discounted price.

Ditching the grain is your gain, and with these delectable substitutes, it’s also easy.