The Hypo Foodie

I have been allergic to cow milk ever since my childhood, but I have decided to ignore this fact for some time. Since I wake up every morning with severe congestion, I now think that it might be wise to avoid the consumption of other allergens in the morning.

"Going nut over this milk!"

My belly asking for more.

I started making almond milk not long ago, but also discovered you can pretty much use any nuts. The method to obtain milk is the same whichever nuts you use, the only difference is the soaking time. As I write this, the price of almonds is undergoing a tremendous rise due to the droughts in Califonia. If I can use another nut for my everyday use, it reduces the price of this milk alternative.

Ingredients

1 cup of raw cashews or other nut,

Enough filtered water to cover the nuts while soaking,

Approximately 4 cups of filtered water,

1 tbls of vanilla extract,

1 tsp sea salt.

Method:

Put the nuts in a covered bowl to soak at rook temperature ( see the chart below for soaking time ),

Once soaked, rinse and strain,

Chop the nuts in a food processor until it forms a puree,

Gradually add the 4 cups of water,

Strain the liquid in the bottle or pitcher of your choice,

Add the vanilla extract and sea salt,

Refrigerate and consume within a week.

"What do I do with the remaining nuts" you ask? Don't throw them away, the are perfectly edible and full of enzymes and minerals. Consult the next post for simple ideas on how to use them before they go bad.

Why soak the nuts? I am neither vegan or a raw-food nut ( no pun intended! ) but if I can obtain a better quality/price/nutritive goodness ratio with a few simple steps, I'm all for it! Just as I have mentioned in the previous post on "veggiefruit" about consumming fruits and vegetable peels:

"Don't buy vitamins! Just keep the ones you already have in your food!"

I now add:

"Don't buy minerals or enzymes, just activate ( or keep ) the ones that are in you food!"

Plants with nuts and seeds contain enzyme blockers ( among others: phytic acid ) to keep the seed sleeping until optimal exterior conditions to sprout, which corresponds to rain season. The natural "soaking" washes away the enzyme blockers and allows the seeds to wake up and grow. When we buy raw nuts ( roasted ones are "dead" ), we get rid of the blockers buy soaking, thus obtaining a living food that contains:

Enzymes that helps with digestion ( no need for pro-biotics ),

More vitamins ( mostly vitamin B ),

Amino-acids ( proteins ) easily absorbed by the body.

Soaking time

Almonds: 8-12 hours

Cashews: 2-3 hours

Oat groats: 8 hours

Quinoa: 3-4 hours

Walnuts: 2-8 hours

Sunflower seeds: 6 hours

To live with hypoglycemia, knowledge is not sufficiant; practical applications are crucial. Many ressources supply ample information on the physical and mental impacts of this condition, but offer very little down to earth know-how. Here is compilation of 10 day-to-day pointers that eases life.

1- Always carry something to eat.

I suggest that people on-the-go get a snack bag that is not only sturdy, but good-looking too. It gives that extra motivation to carry it and not forget it.

2- keep a food log.

At the very least, do it for some time at the beginning. A food log helps identify patterns and pinpoint responsible foods if we have a tough morning or worst: a bad day.

3- Exercise.

Exercise has many benefits to digestion, it stimulates the metabolism, eliminates toxins and helps with stress management. The optimal exercise time for both diabetics and hypoglycemics is 1 hour 6 days a week.

4- Eat lots of vegetables.

Prepare ahead one or two big salads a week ( with no dressing beforehand, it will preserve longer ) and eat it before most meals. You may also make "veggiefruit" ( see this post ) and add it to your breakfast. Vegetables are full of fibres, a good carbohydrate that slows digestion and helps to supply longer-lasting energy. Furthermore, they contain vitamins and minerals essential to healthy living. Eating vegetables, regardless of their origin ( organic or not ) is supperior to taking supplements for at least two reasons: they provide calories and nourish, which reduces appetite for other things; they are accessible to everyone and now more than ever, anytime of the year.

5. Eat fruits.

Fruits with a protein as a snack is a great way to fill up the tank. Even thought they are sweet, they are a good nutritious treat that nourishes just like vegetables. Hypoglycemics should still be carefull and reduce the amount they eat, never eat them alone and avoid them in the evening ( some believe that any food absorbed in the evening is more difficult to transform, which put hypoglycemics at risk of nightly crashes ).

6- Drink lots of water.

When we eat more fibres, it is essential to drink lots of water to stay hydrated. Moreover, studies show that we sometimes missinterpret thirst for hunger. Drinking before snacks and meals reduces overeating.

7. Favor the flavor.

We are increasingly aware that the food industry offers products full of fats, sugars and salt to add taste. Choosing better quality food that is flavorfull in itself is a good way to satiate and reduce the quantity, thus cravings.

8. Cheat " smartly ".

Temptations to eat rich and sweet foods are plentifull and difficult to fight. When we cut on their consumption for a while, we reduce the tolerance for sweet taste, which results in needing less to give satisfaction. Nevertheless, when we cheat regularly, we maintain that desire instead of loosing it. It is then prefferable to stray and eat a whole cake instead of having a little piece everyday. This means that the smart way to deal with temptations is to recognize our weakness and "plan" to yield in on a progressively longer laps of time.

9. Be accountable, not radical.

On the same note as the previous suggestion, one has to agree that a sugarless regimen is difficult to maintain for a long period of time. It is still possible to improve our health by understanding which foods triggers negative effects on our well-being and eat less, if none of them. That being said, if we are overly anxious or obsessive about those negative effects, it is as dammaging to our health, mood and happiness as eating them in the first place. If we keep in mind that we know how and can do our body right, being accountable for the choices we make is what we should aim at instead of punishing us with guilt when we don't do so good.

10. Eat at regular hours.

Skipping meals impedes sugar stability, same as skipping snacks. Planning our daily schedules around our needs is crucial to keep a constant flow of energy. If we establish those habits, our internal clock gets used to it, and if we don't let too much time separate those intakes ( for most it is around every 3 hours ) we limit the risk of overeating because our brain does not tolerate to be starved and switches in stocking-mode, or jumping on the first thing that we get: often junk-food.

What are your own tips? Do you have any questions on mine? Support from people living the same thing is a factor in staying motivated. Don't hesitate to comment, I cannot wait to read you.

Muffins are often considered a good snack, but store-bought ones ( even the packaged mixes we cook ourselves ) are more like cakes in small portions. They are too sweet, contain little fiber and are many times too fat.

I often cook buckweat muffins because my husband and I love its taste and nutritional values. For a good comparison on flours, consult this graph compiled by another blogger: https://ggiswheatfree.wordpress.com/2012/06/13/so-many-flours-so-little-cupboard-space-how-gluten-free-flours-compare-for-carbs-and-protein-content/

Many people favor buckwheat flour because it contains no gluten, which also means that it tends to rise less than other muffins. I have often ended up with muffins that were really thick or rather dry, which is absolutely not the case for this recipe that is a keeper and one to be shared. It is moist, flavorfull and even my belly-bully relishes it ( as you may have guessed it smirked at the thought of buckwheat muffins because of some too healthy previous versions).

Makes 24 muffins.

Dry ingredients:

2 c. Almond flour,
2 c. Rolled oats ( if allergic to gluten, read the footnote ),
2 c. Black buckwheat flour,
4 ts. corn starch,
6 tbls. baking powder,
1 1/2 ts baking soda,
2 ts. Cinnamon,
2 ts. Cardamom,
1 ts. Ground ginger,
1 ts. sea salt,
1 c. Chia seeds,
3/4 c. of raisins,
3/4 c. of sunflower seeds,
3/4 c. pumpkin seeds.

Liquid ingredients:

320 ml. milk,
100 ml. coconut oil,
1 c. of honey ( or other syrup sweetener adjusting its quantity based on its potency ),
5 eggs,
2/3 c. vanilla,
1 1/2 c. of veggiefruit with apple, ginger, zest en juice of one lemon ( consult this post

http://not-your-typical-food-blog.blogspot.ca/2015/10/veggifruit.html

or simply grate the ingredients together )

Instructions:
In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients and mix,

In another fairly large bowl, combine liquid ingredients and mix well,

Add the liquid ingredients tonthe dry ones mixing together until it forms a good dough,

Pre-heat the oven at 400 F.

Put the mixture in a silicon molds prefferably, if not, use previously greased or paper layed ones,

Cook 20 minutes or until the tops turn golden.

* In the case of gluten allergy, it is best to purchase certified gluten free oats as it often handled in facilities that handle other flours, even though oats is naturally gluten free.