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Quick and Healthy Food Hacks

  • April 28, 2017

A healthy diet is one of the foundations of optimal health. There is no shortage of dietary advice online, but it can be difficult to know where to turn for accurate information. Men’s Health threw their hat in the nutritional ring with a report on quick and healthy cooking hacks. 

In general, the recommendations they made seemed reasonable, but the information they provided was far less comprehensive than my nutrition plan. The first step to a better diet is to ditch all processed foods. You also will want to avoid sugar. There is a considerable amount of compelling evidence that excessive amounts of sugar — all forms of sugar, but fructose in particular — is the primary driver of obesity, as well as many if not most chronic and lethal diseases like diabetes.

In place of processed foods, you will want to consume only whole and nourishing foods that have been sustainably sourced. Make sure at least one-third of your food is raw. When you cook or process food, the shape and chemical composition of its valuable and sensitive micronutrients can be severely altered. Heating in particular destroys and damages these nutrients. This is one reason why people who consume a highly processed food diet are prone to malnutrition or nutrient deficiencies.

Cooking food at high temperatures also produces unhealthy byproducts like acrylamide and thermolyzed casein, which are carcinogenic chemical compounds. This is the exact opposite of raw uncooked foods, particularly fruits and vegetables, which contain live “sun energy” known as biophotons.

There is an epidemic of hidden intolerance to wheat products today, and the primary culprit is gluten. Found in wheat, this protein contains gliadins, which are molecules that can cause toxic reactions and trigger an unwanted immune response. Gliadin is water-soluble, causing it to bind to your cells.

If you are gluten sensitive, your body will produce antibodies that will attack the cells that gliadin has attached itself to, treating them as an infection. This response causes damage to the surrounding tissue and may exacerbate other health problems throughout your body — a key factor why gluten can have such an immensely negative effect on your overall health.
This does not necessarily mean that pizza is no longer an option. Check out my delicious Cauliflower Crust Pizza. With the cauliflower crust pizza, not only are you skipping the unhealthiest element of pizza — the crust — but you’re replacing it with a powerhouse veggie.



Cauliflower Crust Pizza

Ingredients

  • 2 teaspoons melted butter or Dr. Mercola’s coconut oil
  • 2 1/2 cups organic cauliflower, grated (about 1/2 a large head)
  • 1 large organic pastured egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 1/4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, preferably raw
  • 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
  • Kosher or Dr. Mercola’s Himalayan salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup tomato sauce (avoid canned, use natural jarred or fresh)
  • 1 cup organic grape tomatoes, sliced in half
  • 2 cloves garlic, sliced
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • Fresh basil leaves, optional

 

Procedure

  1. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, and preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
  2. Grate the cauliflower using a box grater until you have two cups of cauliflower crumbles. Steam until soft and let cool.
  3. Mix in the egg, 1 cup mozzarella, parmesan cheese and salt and pepper. Once combined, pat into a 10-inch round prepared pizza pan. Coat lightly with melted butter or Dr. Mercola’s coconut oil and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden.
  4. Top the pizza with the sauce, 1/4 cup mozzarella, grape tomatoes, garlic and red pepper flakes. Bake in the oven until melted and bubbly, another 10 minutes. Top with basil before serving.