Wheat Belly 10-Day Grain Detox (15 page)

For most of the lunches and dinners, I've provided the main dish or stand-alone dish by itself; feel free to add a steamed vegetable or green salad as often as you like to increase your veggie intake.

DAY
1

DAY 2

DAY 3

DAY
4

DAY 5

DAY
6

DAY 7

DAY
8

DAY 9

DAY 10

RECIPES

WHEAT BELLY DETOX SHAKES

These are no ordinary shakes. Wheat Belly Detox Shakes give you that extra boost to accelerate success in losing weight and undoing the harmful effects previously incurred by eating wheat and grains. They are also easy to prepare, delicious, and surprisingly filling.

Detox Shakes come in a variety of flavors and serve as a source of prebiotic fibers to nourish bowel flora. One Detox Shake per day provides your entire daily intake required to cultivate and nourish healthy bowel flora. Remember: A transition back to a healthier profile of bowel flora is part of the formula for success in this lifestyle because it furthers the health and metabolic benefits of wheat and grain elimination. When combined with the probiotic strategy discussed earlier, it cultivates the bowel flora diversity that is a marker for great health, and helps minimize or avoid disruptions in bowel habits, such as constipation and bloating, that can develop during the first few weeks of dietary changes. Note that you ideally
vary
the source of prebiotic fibers/resistant starches by using, for example, a green banana in your shake on Monday, a raw potato on Tuesday, etc., as this encourages species diversity in bowel flora, a feature that characterizes high levels of overall health. Recall that the healthiest, slenderest, most metabolically healthy people have the greatest species diversity, i.e., the widest number of healthy species in their intestines. Varying your source of prebiotic fibers from day to day encourages species diversity.

The healthy fats of the coconut oil in each shake induce satiety for many hours afterward. These shakes are filling so that
they
easily can be consumed as stand-alone meals or meal replacements. They can also be used alongside a meal, but they truly are very filling and will reduce your need for other foods. Should you desire an even
more
filling meal replacement, add the pulp of one avocado, though you'll have to add ½ cup or more water or other safe liquid (e.g., more unsweetened coconut milk) to keep it drinkable rather than spoonable. But be warned: You will have an exceptionally filling meal that, if consumed for breakfast, may take you all the way to dinner and beyond.

The shakes are designed to make a substantial contribution to your daily requirement of magnesium from seeds. If pumpkin seeds are used, the shake adds 190 milligrams of (elemental) magnesium to your diet, while sunflower seeds add 117 milligrams. (It still helps to take a magnesium supplement as discussed in the previous chapter.) An occasional person, in the midst of detoxifying and staging a gastrointestinal recovery from grains, encounters difficulty with the quantity of seeds in the Detox Shakes; if you experience discomfort, leave out the seeds during this early experience. The inclusion of coconut milk, green banana or raw potato, and the optional avocado also yields oodles of potassium that helps maintain bone health and makes a major contribution to controlling blood pressure.

Each shake variation can also be used to obtain unique health benefits: metabolic improvements, such as reduced blood pressure, from a big wallop of cocoa polyphenols in the Mocha Coconut Detox Shake; metabolic benefits and modestly enhanced weight loss from the Green Tea Ginger Detox Shake; anti-inflammatory benefits from the Tropical Storm Detox Shake; and blood sugar benefits from plentiful Ceylon cinnamon in the Cinnamon Apple Pie Detox Shake. Choose the shake flavor and/or benefit you like best, or vary from day to day.

I advise you to use a blender or food processor/chopper with a strong motor, strong enough to handle the tough green unripe banana or raw potato. Note that the banana must be
green and unripe,
providing fibers that are indigestible to humans but
digestible
by bowel flora. One medium green, unripe banana yields up to 27 grams of indigestible fiber, while one medium (3½ inches in length) raw potato yields 20 grams. Recall that we aim for a total prebiotic fiber intake of 20 grams per day, a target not achieved in our Detox Shakes until Day 9 and 10. We therefore start with half a banana or half a potato, or no more than 10 to 13 grams of indigestible fiber per day, on Day 3, then increase to a whole banana or potato on Day 9. If you jump to the whole banana or potato too soon, you may experience excessive bloating and abdominal discomfort. It is also important that you start taking your high-potency probiotic supplement beginning on Day 1 to “seed” your intestines with healthy species.

Note that if you experience abdominal discomfort with these shakes, you may need to stop and consult your doctor since this suggests that bowel flora may be severely disrupted from your previous diet and will not normalize with these simple, natural efforts. Thankfully, this is uncommon, but it's critical to correct; correction may require an initial period of prescription antibiotics and/or other corrective strategies to eliminate the undesirable bacterial species that have dominated your bowel flora and begin with a clean “slate.” Functional medicine practitioners and naturopaths are most likely to be expert in this area.

Optionally, these shakes can be used as a means of supplementing liquid iodine and vitamin D drops. The optional vitamin D dose suggested can be adjusted to suit individual needs; because 5,000 international units (IU) is a common need for adult men and women, I listed this as the quantity in the recipes below, but this amount can be adjusted to your individual need. Likewise, 500 micrograms of iodine is specified, as I believe this is close to an ideal dose, but you may need to adjust your iodine intake to your individual needs.

You can further modify your shakes by adding, for instance, a teaspoon or two of inulin powder to supplement the prebiotic fiber content; spinach, chard, kale, or spirulina for a dose of green veggies; and other vitamins, minerals, or nutrients.

MOCHA
COCONUT DETOX SHAKE

Cocoa in the form of cocoa powder is the most concentrated source of cocoa polyphenols that yield all the health benefits of cocoa and chocolate, including modest reductions in insulin and blood pressure and reduced cardiovascular risk. You can enjoy cocoa without guilt, as there is no added sugar to botch things up. An easy variation is to omit the coffee granules and replace them with 2 tablespoons of unsweetened, natural peanut butter to create a peanut butter cup flavor.

Makes 1

1 medium green banana or medium peeled raw white potato

¼ cup coconut oil, melted

1 cup unsweetened coconut, almond, or hemp milk

½ cup water

¼ cup raw pumpkin or sunflower seeds

Sweetener equivalent to 1 tablespoon sugar (e.g., ¼ teaspoon pure powdered stevia)

2½ tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon instant coffee granules

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Potassium iodide drops or kelp powder to provide 500 mcg iodine; liquid vitamin D drops to provide 5,000 IU (optional)

If using a green banana, peel and coarsely chop it. It's easier to use a knife and cut the peel lengthwise first, then shell out the pulp. If using a potato, coarsely chop it. In a blender, combine the banana or potato, coconut oil, milk, water, seeds, sweetener, cocoa, coffee granules, vanilla, and iodine source and vitamin D (if using). Blend until well mixed and the banana or potato have been liquefied. Serve immediately.

If your shake is too thick, add ¼ cup of water and blend briefly to mix.

Note:
Don't be fooled by the apparent high-carbohydrate count in these Detox Shakes. The carb grams quoted include the prebiotic fibers from the green banana or raw potato.

Per serving: 911 calories, 18 g protein, 36 g carbohydrates, 82 g total fat, 55 g saturated fat, 9 g fiber, 32 mg sodium

GREEN
TEA GINGER DETOX SHAKE

The polyphenols in green tea, as with cocoa, provide modest health benefits including reduced blood pressure, reduced insulin and blood sugar, facilitation of weight loss, and reduced fatty liver that typically accompanies a wheat belly. The powdered green tea used in this shake provides a wallop of green tea polyphenols because, unlike brewed tea in which the nutrients are extracted with hot water, you are actually consuming the powdered, ground tea leaves. You can find powdered matcha green tea in specialty tea stores.

Makes 1

1 medium green banana or medium peeled raw white potato

¼ cup coconut oil, melted

1 cup unsweetened coconut, almond, or hemp milk

½ cup water

¼ cup raw pumpkin or sunflower seeds

Sweetener equivalent to 1 tablespoon sugar (e.g., ¼ teaspoon pure powdered stevia)

1 teaspoon powdered matcha green tea

½ teaspoon ground ginger

Potassium iodide drops or kelp powder to provide 500 mcg iodine; liquid vitamin D drops to provide 5,000 IU (optional)

If using a green banana, peel and coarsely chop it. It's easier to use a knife and cut the peel lengthwise first, then shell out the pulp. If using a potato, coarsely chop it. In a blender, combine the banana or potato, coconut oil, milk, water, seeds, sweetener, green tea, ginger, and iodine source and vitamin D (if using). Blend until well mixed and the banana or potato have been liquefied. Serve immediately.