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More and more people are looking for alternatives to wheat these days, due to allergies, intolerances, and digestive conditions. Most low-carb, gluten-free alternatives to wheat are very expensive and, honestly, don’t taste very good. Coconut flour provides a suitable solution. It is the new gluten-free alternative to wheat flour for baking and cooking and, as a bonus, coconut flour is also low in carbohydrates and high in fibre.
Coconut Flour is made from fresh organic coconut meat. The meat is dried and defatted and then finely ground into a powder very similar in consistency to wheat flour.
Gluten-free
Coconut Flour is a good source of protein. It has as much protein as wheat flour but without the specific “gluten” protein found in wheat. This is an advantage for a growing percentage of the population who have developed an allergy to gluten or who have a wheat sensitivity. Hypoallergenic, gluten-free coconut flour is also safe for those with celiac disease or leaky gut syndrome.
High-fibre
Coconut Flour is high in fiber. In fact, coconut flour has the highest percentage of dietary fibre of any flour, containing 61 percent. As a comparison, wheat bran contains only 27 percent fibre, and coconut flour contains four times as much fibre as soy flour.
Coconut flour fits well into a weightloss program because its high-fibre content helps provide bulk to a meal, and a feeling of satisfaction. In addition, fibre, for the most part, is not broken down or digested in humans, and therefore provides no calories.
Studies have shown that consumption of an additional 14 grams of fibre a day, which is equivalent to 1/4 cup of coconut flour, is associated with a 10 percent decrease in calorie intake and a loss in body weight.
Fibre is necessary for good health. Fibre helps to keep our intestines, clean, healthy and functioning, and regulates bowel movements.
Research has linked a high-fibre diet with a decreased risk of degenerative diseases such as cancer and heart disease. Many studies have shown a correlation between high-fibre diets and a lowered incidence of colon cancer.
In addition, researchers at the University of Lund, in Sweden, found that fibre in the diet can absorb toxins that promote cancer.
Coconut flour is heart healthy. Its fibre helps to reduce cholesterol in the body and decrease blood pressure, for example, thus reducing risk of heart disease. Studies have also shown that coconut consumption increases the activity of antioxidants that protect the heart and arteries from the free radical damage that causes atherosclerosis.
Low-carb
Coconut flour is ideal for those who follow a low-carbohydrate eating plan. It has fewer digestible (net) carbs (fibre) than any other flour, including soy. It even has fewer digestible carbs than most vegetables, which means its carbohydrate content passes through the digestive tract
without being broken down or absorbed and is passed out of the body essentially unaltered.
Using coconut flour
This gluten-free, high-fibre, low-carb flour can be used to make breads, cakes, pies, and other baked goods. Because coconut flour lacks gluten and is highly absorbent it cannot be used as a complete substitute in standard wheat flour recipes. Use coconut flour to replace 15-25 percent of other
flours in most standard recipes. A variety of delicious baked goods can also be made using 100 percent coconut flour.
gluten-free, high-fibre, low-carb
Coconut Flour ...Hope for Celiacs
Coconut Flour Recipes
The following recipes are being reprinted,with permission, from Dr. Fife's latest book, Cooking with CoconutFlour (Picadilly Books, Ltd., 2005). You may want to invest in his book to learn more about the benefits of coconut flour and to obtain his dozens of coconut flour recipes, including breads, cakes, cookies, muffins, pies, cobblers, meatloaf, coconut fried chicken, and more.
Best Ever Corn Bread Muffins
3 eggs
3 Tbsp butter or coconut oil, melted
3 Tbsp honey
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp coconut flour, sifted
1/4 tsp baking powder
3 Tbsp cornmeal
Blend together eggs, butter, honey, vanilla, and salt. Combine coconut flour, baking powder, and cornmeal and whisk into batter until there are no lumps. Pour batter into greased muffin cups. Bake at 400 F (250 C) for 12 to 16 minutes. Makes 6 muffins.
*This is an Excerpt from Eye Opener Magazine
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