Introduction Sugar For Recipes

I always start my presentations to groups by stating that at least one person in the audience has had heart disease, kidney failure, morbid obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiac bypass surgery, multiple vascular stents, ridiculously high cholesterol, stress-induced and explosively high blood pressure, gluten sensitivity, and cancer. I don't mean that everyone in the group has gone through these things together, but rather that there is one person here who has been through everything. Even though they'd never expect it given that I appear to be a fit and active man in his late sixties, I go on to explain that it's my own health record after they find it difficult to believe. I describe how many of my health issues started when I was a fighter pilot in Vietnam and was repeatedly exposed to Agent Orange. Following the war, I actively pursued two diametrically opposed courses of action: intense medical study (ranging from family practice to a specialty in surgery and another in bariatrics, plus certifications like the ABBM, FACS, and ASBP), and a destructive way of life. I eventually started concentrating on my personal heath and implemented what I had learnt in my medical studies to my life after repeatedly avoiding death.

I felt as though I had found a kindred spirit when I met Denene Wallace, a fellow sufferer of nearly fatal diabetes who had regained her health by using a novel, nutrition-based approach to her treatment. I gladly ate the several loaves, cookies, and other sweets she cooked for me and adopted her dietetic approach into my own meals, which helped my conditions recover more deeply. Obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and celiac disease are chronic conditions that require ongoing self-control and support to be controlled. I am so happy that Denene and Peter Reinhart collaborated to publish these recipes so that anyone dealing with similar problems can utilize them to improve their wellness.

The following important principles on gluten intolerance, diabetes, and obesity that form the basis of my practice are supported by Denene's experience, which you'll read shortly. It is a compelling example of the value of being a proactive participant in your health management.

Gluten intolerance frequently develops from initially modestly bothersome diseases like colds and aches into a full-fledged hypersensitivity disease that necessitates daily care, whether it is caused by celiac genetic problems or other circumstances. An epic struggle for survival ensues. Even without the existence of genetic celiac disease, many illness symptoms, including exhaustion, skin rashes, chronic headaches, and sleeplessness, can frequently be linked to gluten sensitivity. Eliminating or drastically limiting gluten can frequently relieve these symptoms and treat the issue before it worsens or progresses.

Obesity frequently leads to type 2 diabetes, which in turn worsens weight issues. The biggest health problem of our time, obesity affects a significant section of the American population. When the body can no longer control the condition on its own and ceases operating as it should, excess weight turns into a disease.

Diabetes and celiac disease must be treated because they are chronic conditions. By changing the diet to cut out extra carbs, type 2 diabetes can frequently be controlled without insulin or medication (in conjunction with medical care). Our body uses insulin, which is naturally made in the pancreas, to convert carbs (and, to a lesser extent, proteins) into fat cells that can be stored as a source of emergency energy. However, overeating transforms into the diseases of obesity and diabetes when we overload the pancreas and it is unable to continue producing insulin to deal with excessive carbs in our system. Eliminate the carbs to stop the overproduction of insulin.

The easiest strategy to cut carbs is to avoid eating them, especially ones high in sugar and low in fiber. On the other hand, consuming foods high in dietary fiber is beneficial in many ways, particularly because they can help to balance off the intake of carbohydrates by helping them move through the body.

swiftly and protecting the body from excessive insulin production. Finally, swap out foods that are high in carbohydrates for ones that are high in protein. By substituting flours strong in carbohydrates and starches for nut and seed flours that are high in protein and good fats, Denene and Peter have done precisely that.

While achieving health and wellness requires both difficult and simple steps, it is always easier to handle conditions before they develop into serious diseases. The recipes in this book offer a simple method for swapping out unhealthy foods with those that promote health and even counteract the effects of sickness. They will also make you happy and content, which is a crucial component of my personal healing protocol. While celiac disease, diabetes, and obesity are all diseases, I firmly believe that there is no cure that involves taking pills. Changes in lifestyle are necessary to control or reverse them; you must take responsibility for your own health and commit to a lifetime of wellness. This book is a new tool, and I wholeheartedly encourage you to utilize it. I guarantee it will improve your life.

COMMENCEMENTS BY PETER

As evidenced by my past works, I am not gluten sensitive. However, as anyone who has seen me also knows, I am not immune to the dietary issues caused by my passionate consumption of products made from wheat. I used to be lean and mean, but after opening a bakery, I developed a romantic relationship with bread goods of all kinds. When I was twenty-one years old in 1971, I worked in a communally run vegetarian restaurant in Boston where no white flour, white sugar, or white rice was allowed to enter. I read everything I could get my hands on regarding nutrition and the numerous then-current food fads, including macrobiotics, raw foods, sprouting, wheat grass therapy, food combining, and juicing. One of my personal fitness heroes, Jack LaLanne, and I even got to meet. All of my childhood food allergies and sensitivities seemed to go away after three years of solely consuming organic food and unprocessed whole grains. I was a lean 136 pounds and five feet six inches tall. I felt wonderful. After those three years, we sold the restaurant, everyone left, and I once again switched to an omnivorous diet in the following stage of my journey.

I kept fantastic health even as my weight progressively climbed, which I attributed to those three active years spent immersed in a healthy lifestyle. I weighed 155 pounds and had grown stocky by the time my wife, Susan, and I launched our own restaurant and bakery in 1986. I gained weight and would have been heavier if it weren't for the daily, physically demanding task of baking hundreds of loaves of bread, which helped me burn off a lot of calories. I was up to 165 pounds when we sold the firm seven years later.

I started putting on weight more quickly as soon as I left daily production and switched to lecturing at culinary schools and authoring books. My weight increased to over 200 pounds as a result of the cumulative impact of tasting exquisite white-flour breads of all varieties and having access to the culinary creations of world-class chefs and restaurants to which I lost all control. Although I was having fun, looking for the ideal pizza while doing research for my book American Pie didn't help either. To put it frankly, I was obese. Fortunately, I never quit exercising, so it was firm fat, marbled with muscle. However, there was cause for concern, particularly with regard to that most harmful of fats: belly fat. I recently made the decision to start losing weight seriously thanks to Susan's encouragement.

A few years prior, I had already met Denene Wallace at a private taste of some of her gluten-free goods, and I was impressed by how excellent they were. Since 1991, not long after the publication of my first book, Brother Juniper's Bread Book, I have been researching gluten sensitivity. Around that time, Loree Starr Brown, a frequent patron of Brother Juniper's Bakery, strolled in one day with a box of homemade loaves and muffins that she had made using my book's recipes but all using rice flour rather than wheat flour. They tasted great. After that, Loree continued to inform me about celiac disease, a condition that nearly took her life before it was identified and treated by eliminating all sources of gluten from her diet.

There weren't many gluten-free items available on the market at the time because it appeared that only a tiny percentage of people had problems with gluten. However, like most people who stop eating bread, Loree missed it terribly. As a result, she created her own recipes and taught me how to make them, using ingredients like rice flour, tapioca flour (also known as cassava flour), potato starch, xanthan gum, and egg substitutes to create breads that were reminiscent of the ones I made at Brother Juniper's Bakery. A couple of years later, Loree and I worked together to create a few gluten-free recipes that were included in the revised Joy of Cooking (1998 edition), for which I was the editor of the bread chapter. Soon after, I started developing my own versions of gluten-free foods using my unique technique of using flour derived from pumpkin and sunflower seeds to enhance flavor.

One of my recipes is currently utilized by a significant frozen food company as their gluten-free crust.

The goods I produced were decent, if not great. However, Denene Wallace's offerings were revolutionary. Additionally, healthy food is really only as good as it tastes, as every chef and gourmand is aware. Usually, people won't consume something just because it's healthy for them; they have to like it. I think the majority of us adhere to the "flavor rule," which is simply that flavor is important! Denene made it quite evident that she followed this fundamental rule by producing delicious baked items that also met all of her nutritional requirements while being free of gluten, sugar, and carbs.

I realized I couldn't do it without Denene as my collaborator when the chance to produce a book about gluten-free baking arose; one that wouldn't simply regurgitate what already exists in other books but would add fresh alternatives for home bakers. In order to present more than 80 recipes that are unlike any in other books and that, in our opinion, are not only safe for those who must avoid gluten, sugar, and foods with a high glycemic index, but also so delicious that even those who do not have such dietary restrictions will enjoy them, we pooled our collective knowledge and the results of our experimentation. Because flavor is everything!

To demonstrate my commitment, I worked on this book with a specific goal in mind. I wanted to lose weight this time—at least 25 pounds and ideally more—by the time it was published, unlike while I was writing my prior books, when I gained weight while testing recipes. In the epilogue, I'll discuss that in more detail.

DENENE'S COMMENCEMENT

Even as a young child, I always believed that I had an artistic soul. My love of drawing and my seemingly ongoing urge to reorganize and remodel my bedroom were clear indications of my artistic proclivities. These skills ultimately led to a highly prosperous interior design career, first in Louisiana and then in Georgia. Early in the 1990s, I started my

own interior-design business, The Design Source, in an Atlanta suburb. I had a great time growing my business for fifteen years by giving my clients stunning living spaces.

I had no idea that my capacity for creativity and artistic expression would eventually come in handy when I dealt with a sudden and profound health crisis. First, in 2003, my husband Greg and I both learned that we were gluten sensitive. My doctor then informed me that I had type 2 diabetes and would need to take insulin shots for the rest of my life in the summer of 2006. The breaking news was tragic. I'd never struggled with my weight and always considered myself to be in good health. I started my daily regimen of five insulin shots and started learning more about diabetes. My research led me to assume that altering my eating and exercise routines might enable me to at least decrease the amount of insulin shots I need to take and possibly do away with them altogether.

I started removing different things from my diet as I became more knowledgeable about blood sugar problems. I had never been a huge sweets or dessert eater, so eliminating things with sugar was rather simple for me. My intake of carbs, which are broken down into sugars that eventually enter the bloodstream, had to be significantly reduced. Although challenging, starches like corn, potatoes, and rice could be reduced or eliminated. But I found it difficult to cut out all grain-based breads from my diet. A Southern kid weaned on her mother's homemade food simply couldn't survive on meat, salads, and green veggies. I looked online, in natural food stores, and in supermarkets for substitutes that wouldn't have a detrimental effect on my blood sugar levels. But what I discovered was quite disheartening. The items that were available at the time had a taste similar to or worse than cardboard.

I soon came to the conclusion that I would probably have to produce my own bread goods if I wanted to have them in the first place. I then started experimenting with substitute flours. The process was drawn out and cumbersome, and it was frequently marred by failures that led to garbage can failures. I didn't receive any formal training to be a baker, so the learning curve was quite steep. But my lack of training also had a huge advantage: I had no rules or preconceived notions to stifle my

innovative investigations, notably with flours made from nuts and seeds. Proseed Flour and a line of baked delicacies with more than fifty products—all perfectly delicious—were created after two years and a ton of baking tests. I was able to entirely stop using insulin shots by using these products in place of traditional grain-based baked goods (along with other diet and lifestyle adjustments).

I'm currently in the licensing process for large food corporations to use Proseed Flour products. Peter Reinhart was invited to participate in a taste test by our marketing company, Davis Brand Capital, as part of the preliminary steps to identify the suitable markets for these items. Peter thought I had reached new heights in baking using alternative flours because of the taste and texture of the eight distinct goods Greg and I presented that day. Peter was really impressed. Later, he urged me to collaborate with him on a gluten-free baking book he was writing for Ten Speed Press. He said, "Let's go all the way and make it gluten-free, sugar-free, and low-carb."

I've never received any formal instruction in baking or cooking, but I've always regarded myself as a fantastic Southern cook, and I love cooking beautiful meals for family and friends. You may be sure that I worked just as hard to create delectable recipes for this book that are just as fantastic as those that use my Proseed Flour. I also wanted to make sure that the instructions were straightforward enough for non-professionals to follow and reproduce. Each recipe was created and tried out under Peter's direction.

These recipes' low-carb, gluten-free substitute flours have transformed my life and assisted in my body's healing. This book should be useful for both individuals who need an alternate diet and those who simply desire delicious, healthful baked goods, in my opinion. I firmly believe that everyone should consume delicious cuisine, and it is even better when delicious food is also beneficial to your health. Enjoy!