One of the joys of helping people with their nutrition is actually coming up with novel ways to make healthy food taste good. Although it’d be great if everyone could be convinced to eat spinach and tuna simply because of their health benefits, the fact of the matter is that our eating habits are governed largely by our taste buds.

When it comes to overcoming “taste bud bias”, the challenge of breaking someone of a refined carbohydrate addiction is second to none.

Without getting into a lengthy biochemical explanation as to why, humans are much more likely to develop addictions to refined carbohydrate-based foods (or carbohydrate-fat blends), than they are protein-based foods or primarily fat-based foods.

Ever had an insatiable craving for olive oil, a pat of butter or piece of tilapia?

Didn’t think so.

Come to think of it, I’ve never come across anyone who was unable to tear themselves away from a bowl of quinoa or a bag of carrots.

But breads, sweets, pasta, french fries… all these foods are prime offenders when it comes to the “oh my god, I can’t believe I just ate the whole thing but even this realization isn’t going to stop me from doing it again sometime in the near future” category.

Any bets on which one is going to win out?

Making matters worse, when you factor in how a little life stress can make carbohydrate cravings intensify for many individuals (particularly females), then the importance of finding a solution becomes clear.

Ahh… the joys of hormone dysregulation!

But this piece isn’t about hormones; rather it’s about giving you a solution for carbohydrate cravings.

One of the benefits of having worked with a number of female physique athletes is that I’ve had to devise a whole slew of creative meals that pack a whole lot of nutrition into relatively few calories, while also tasting amazing.

As I mentioned in an earlier article, So you Want to be a Figure Competitor, figure athletes historically have followed all kinds of ill-advised diet and exercise rituals in their quest to get ultra lean.

Unfortunately, the standard practice of prescribing way too much cardio and far too few calories tends to do massive  damage to their metabolic and hormonal systems.

Since I refuse to eschew a client’s health in the pursuit of some aesthetic goal, I’ve spent a lot of time researching and tinkering with food combinations and meals that not only taste good, but also create the short- and long-term hormonal environment that allows for healthy, sustainable fat-loss.

Lately, one of my go-to ingredients for recreating “comfort” carbohydrate foods is: coconut flour.

But before I detail some of the novel aspects of coconut flour, I probably need to clear up some misconceptions about coconuts in general.

Clarifying Coconuts

Sometime in the middle of the last century, coconuts and coconut oil really started to fall out of favor due to their high saturated fat content. As everyone knows <cough, cough> high intakes of saturated fats cause heart disease.

This statement might make sense if we conveniently ignore the fact that coconuts have long been a dietary staple of tropical nations due to their high-energy content and amazing versatility, yet the incidence of heart disease among tropical nations is often lower than that of North Americans.

Even though 92% of the fat in coconuts is saturated, the majority is made up of the medium-chain triglycerides caprylic, capric and lauric acids. These medium chain triglycerides (MCTs) are absorbed differently than long-chain fatty acids and there is evidence in human weight loss trials that diets higher in medium chain triglycerides can contribute to greater fat loss.^1,2,3

Not only might MCTs contribute to greater fat loss, but research continues to emerge questioning the supposed link between saturated fat intake and the progression of heart disease^4,5. Thankfully, we are starting to wise-up to the fact that natural saturated fats are not going to immediately cause you to drop dead but are, by and large, health promoting.

But coconuts are about so much more than just their oil, which incidentally is both wondrously healthy and remarkably heat stable; making it by far the #1 choice for cooking.

Coconuts also contain a significant amount of fiber. And as we know, fiber is both necessary for keeping you regular and full when going through a period of caloric restriction.

Coconut Flour and You

Unlike most commercial flours that are high in carbohydrates, the majority (58%) of the carbohydrate content of coconut flour comes in fiber.  By contrast, wheat bran, a more traditional high-fiber source, is only 27 percent fiber. So, how does coconut flour stack up overall? Let’s take a look:

Now you’ll probably be thinking “damn, apart from the fiber content, coconut flour seems pretty much like whole wheat flour”. You’d think that… except when you cook with coconut flour, it swells up more than a bodybuilder the day after hitting up a Chinese buffet.

In other words, coconut flour provides a huge volumizing effect with a minimal caloric and carbohydrate cost.

In fact, 1 cup of coconut flour seems to make as many muffins as does 3 cups of wheat flour, so we can operate under the working assumption that it also provides 2/3 fewer calories.

Same great taste, now less filling!

Now, before you start swapping coconut flour into every carbohydrate-based recipe you can think of, I gotta warn you: coconut flour is gluten free.

This makes coconut flour awesome from a physique perspective but garbage from a “keeping your meals from falling apart” perspective. Therefore, if you are going to make coconut flour part of your diet, you are going to need a couple of suggestions of how best to start.

Pumpkin Spice Coconut Flour Muffins

4 eggs
1 scoop protein powder
½ cup coconut flour
1 cup almond milk
2-3 tbsp low-calorie sweetener (Splenda or Stevia both work)
½ cup pumpkin
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon baking powder

1. Blend together eggs, almond milk, sweetener, salt, and vanilla.
2. Combine coconut flour, baking powder and protein powder, mix thoroughly until there are no lumps.
The flour absorbs fluids like crazy, let it sit for 2 minutes and watch it grow!
3. Add pumpkin and cinnamon. Continue mixing.
4. Pour batter into muffin cups. Bake at 350 degrees F (205 C) for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes 6 jumbo muffins.
Nutrition info (per muffin): 110 kcal, 5 g of fat, 7 g of carbs (3 g of fiber) and 10 g of protein

Figure Crepes

1 cup egg whites
1/3 cup almond milk (or any type of milk)
1 scoop protein powder
1 heaping TBSP coconut flour
1 TBSP chia seeds

1. Mix the protein powder and almond milk until protein powder is mostly dissolved.
2. Add in the egg whites, chia seeds and coconut flour.
3. Continue mixing until the coconut flour is fully dissolved.
4. Pour 1/3 of the mixture into a frying pan and cook as you would a pancake

Makes 3 large crepes. Serve topped with berries or your favourite low-sugar syrup.

Nutrition info per crepes: 100 kcal, 1 g fat, 4 g carbs (2 g fiber), 17 g protein

There you go, a couple of ways to turn traditional comfort foods far more physique friendly.

Who didn’t love crepes and pancakes as a child? Now you can love them again as an adult.

In fact, the overall high-quality nature of the ingredients makes these recipes deserving of a spot in your regular rotation, no matter your health or physique goals.

Till next time, train hard and eat clean!

1. Han JR et al. (2007). Effects of dietary medium-chain triglyceride on weight loss and insulin sensitivity in a group of moderately overweight free-living type 2 diabetic Chinese subjects. Metabolism, 56, 985.991.
2. Kasai M et al. (2003). Effect of dietary medium- and long-chain triacylglycerol (MLCT) on accumulation of body fat in healthy humans. Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 12, 151-60.
3. St-Onge MP and Bosarge A. (2008). Weight-loss diet that includes consumption of medium-chain triacylglycerol leads to a greater rate of weight and fat mass loss than does olive oil. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 87, 621-626.
4. Mente A, de Koning L, Shannon HR, and Anand SS. (209). A systematic review of the evidence supporting a causal link between dietary factors and coronary heart disease. Archives of Internal Medicine, 169, 659-669.
5. Siri-Tarino PW, Sun Q, Hu FB, and Krauss RM. (2010). Meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies evaluating the association of saturated fat with cardiovascular disease. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 91, 535-46.

Related posts:

1. Coconut Classics
2. Protein Pancakes: The World’s Best Breakfast
3. Big ideas in sandwich making: low carb wraps
4. The Making of a Figure Competitor: Nikki Olivastri
5. 400 Calorie Fixed