The coconut, which botanically speaking is not actually a true nut but rather a drupe, is quite the amazing food. In fact, the coconut is one of the most versatile foodstuffs known to mankind. Among the many nutritional products it provides are:

• coconut flour
• coconut oil
• coconut milk
• coconut water

The flour you’ve already read about so no need to rehash that now. But I will elaborate a bit on the other three products.

Coconut Oil

Coconut oil has some remarkable properies. It contains predominantly medium-chain triglyceride (MCTs) saturated fats, in particular lauric acid. Not only are MCTs metabolized differently than their longer chain cousins (making them preferentially burned for fuel and less likely to be stored as body fat), but lauric acid in particular is believed to have strong anti-microbial and anti-viral properties.

As a cooking oil, coconut oil is second to none. It has a very high smoke point (180°C) and won’t readily burn. Due to it’s saturated fat content, coconut oil is also extremely slow to oxidize and can be kept at room temperature for up to two years with no deterioration of health properties.

Interestingly though, coconut oil liquifies around 24°C, so be prepared to purchase a solid product in the store, but find yourself with a liquid if you have an exceptionally warm kitchen.

Coconut oil has become my go-to oil when it comes to light pan frying or sautéeing. Although I must caution: just because coconut oil is heat stable and has beneficial health properties, you shouldn’t eat it with reckless abandon.

As with any refined oil it is a concentrated sources of calories (1 TBSP = 120 kcal) so you do still need to be sensible with your serving sizes.

Alright, enough of me blathering about the health stuff… on to the real reason why you read this article – the recipes!

For those of you who are sweet lovers but don’t do well with sugar, here is a coconut flour brownie recipe you can try.

Coconut Flour Brownies

1/3 cup coconut oil (extra virgin is best)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
6 large eggs
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 cup pecans or walnuts
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup Splenda or stevia

DIRECTIONS
In a saucepan at low heat, melt butter and blend in cocoa powder. Remove from heat and let cool. In a bowl, beat together eggs, non-nutritive sweetener, salt and vanilla . Stir in cocoa mixture. Add well sifted coconut flour and whisk the batter well until there are no lumps. Fold in the nuts. Pour batter into a greased 8″ or 9″ square baking pan. Bake at 350′ for 30-35 minutes.

Makes 16 brownies.

Per serving: 140 kcal, 12 g fat, 7 g carbohydrates (3 g fibre), 4 g protein

If you omit the nuts, each serving then provides 90 kcal, 7 g fat, 5 g carbohydrates and 3  g protein

Coconut Milk

Although coconut milk contains fewer calories and less fat than the oil, it still packs quite the calorie punch. This doesn’t mean it should be avoided, but rather that you shouldn’t make a habit of drinking a can of this stuff every day… unless you have IBS and are in a mass phase of a training program.

Two of my favourite ways to use coconut milk in cooking are in curries and as a means of adding a nice creamy texture to shakes.

Chicken curry

1 medium onion
2 clove garlic
1-2 tbsp curry powder
4 cup mushrooms, chopped
1 tbsp ginger root (optional)
1 tbsp coconut vegetable oil
10 chicken thighs (~2 lbs)
1 tsp cumin
1.5 cup coconut milk (~400 ml)

DIRECTIONS
In a frying pan, heat oil. Add chicken thighs and cook until no longer pink. Place chicken in a slow cooker or large cooking pot.
Toss chopped onion, mushroom and garlic into frying pan, sautée until translucent. Add to slow cooker. Add 1 can (400 ml) of coconut milk to stock pot. Season with curry powder, salt, pepper, ginger and cayenne (if you like it hot). Cook on low for 3-5 hours.

Makes 4 servings.

Per serving: 440 kcal, 29 g fat, 10 g carbohydrates (2 g fiber), 36 g protein

If you are a fat phobe, just use 1/2 can of coconut milk. But don’t use reduced fat coconut milk, that stuff is just vile.

Pina Colada Shake

1 1/2 scoop vanilla protein
1/3 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup pineapple
1/2 cup Almond Milk
ice as needed

Blend.

It’s like a party in your mouth… only there’s no alcohol so the good times are short lived.

But then you realize that by skipping the alcohol, all your clothes fit much better and so the happiness returns.

Per serving: 390 kcal, 21 g fat, 18 g carbohydrate (3 g fibre), 37 g protein

Coconut Water

This product is derived from the interior of young coconuts and is naturally low in sugars and high in a number of minerals and electrolytes. Unfortunately, most of  the products labelled coconut water found in stores contain significant amounts of added sugars.

Therefore, canned coconut waters are only really ever a reasonable beverage choice during and after physical activity; definitely not something to induldge in daily (unless you can find a low-sugar variation).

So there you have it. A few simple and delicious ways you can incorporate more coconut into your lifestyle.

Not that I expected you to burning desire to do so beforehand, but at least now you’ve got a couple of reasons to!

Till next time, train hard and eat clean!

Related posts:

1. Coconut Flour: A Figure Athlete’s Best Friend
2. Big ideas in sandwich making: low carb wraps
3. 400 Calorie Fixed

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

Everyone loves sandwiches. They are convenient, portable and can pretty much be customized with any mix of ingredients that suits your fancy. However, over the past few years breads have gotten a pretty nasty reputation as a physique wrecker and deservedly so. Whether the drawbacks are because of gluten intolerance or just simple over-consumption, eliminating bread goes a long way towards helping people manage their weight.

Of course, removing bread means you’ve eliminated 90% of people’s lunch options. So in an effort to help us, food manufacturers have popularized the wrap. Ahh… the wrap, the supposedly healthier alternative to the sandwich. In fact, I can’t count the number of times I’ve had someone tell me they made the switch from bread to wraps in the effort to clean up their diet. Small problem though… if you look at the nutritional content for most wraps, you’ll find they often contain more calories than would get in 2 slices of bread!

A healthier option? Not really.

Sadly, it doesn’t seem to matter whether your grains come from bread, a wrap, a bowl of cereal or noodles; refined grains pack a significant calorie punch with a low nutritive value. It’s no coincidence that most people get a lot leaner and healthier when they reduce their grain consumption, or at least limit it to specific times of the day. But having grain reduction as a goal and actually accomplishing it are two very different animals.

The allure of grains stems from the fact they are so easy to prepare and store. In fact, it was the increased popularization of cereal grain consumption that allowed civilization to flourish. But in one of those cruelly ironic twists, it seems that a large intake of cereal grains are one of the leading causes of many diseases of civilization. Irony certainly is a bitter pill to swallow.

So what’s a bread lover to do? Unlike a lot of experts who suggest untenable meal plans, I prefer to actually come up with solutions that work in the real world. In fact, I pride myself on figuring out ways to make healthy food both convenient and tasty. And although my attempts at creating a physique friendly bread have universally been met with failure, I have recently created a low-carb wrap that is pretty damn fantastic if I do say so myself. The beauty of this recipe is that it takes only 3 ingredients and any unused wraps can be stored in the fridge for several days.

GT’s low-carb wraps (printer friendly Low carb wraps)

• 1 cup egg white
• 1 1/2 TBSP ground flax seed
• 1 level TBSP coconut flour

*You’ll need a crepe pan for this recipe.

Heat the pan on low-medium and add a dab of coconut oil or cooking spray. Combine all the ingredients in a mixing cup, making sure to stir well as the coconut flour takes a while to dissolve. Once the mixture has been adequately mixed, pour a thin layer into the pan. Tilt the pan so that the mixture covers the entire surface and cook until the edges start to curl. Flip and continue cooking for another 20-30 seconds.

Remove from heat and let cool 2 minutes before eating. Nothing more complicated than that and you’ve got yourself one heck of a sandwich vehicle.

I took the liberty to do a quick comparison with a popular brand of wraps so you can see the difference. My homemade wraps have less than half the calories, a similar amount of fibre and twice the protein.

As an added bonus for you ovo-lacto vegetarians, having two of these wraps stuffed with avocado, lettuce, tomatoes and mushrooms is a “vegetarian-friendly” meal that also provides 20 grams of high quality protein. The real beauty of these wraps is that they can be used at any meal, not just post-workout. How’s that for a real world solution… a guilt-free sandwich that also helps your physique transformation efforts!

Of course, feel free to stuff your own wrap any which way you like. In fact, I’d love to hear about some of the more imaginative sandwich combinations you come up with!

Till next time, train hard and eat healthy.

Related posts:

1. My Fav 5: New Foods
2. Healthy Ideas for the Lazy: Vegetables in a Bag
3. Dumb things smart people do