Granola is so easy to buy; just pick out the one that you like and put it in your grocery cart. Voilà! You know what else is easy? Packing on the lectins! So where in the granola are the lectins hiding?
Actually, the lectins aren’t really hiding. Granola has such a good wrap, that it’s easy to just grab a bag (or box) without wondering if it’s really all that healthy. After all, it’s granola; how bad could it be? For starters, like I said earlier, the lectins aren’t really hiding; an ingredient high in lectin is usually the first and foremost ingredient. Furthermore, I have not found a store bought granola that does not contain ingredients loaded with lectin.
Have a look at the ingredients of some of the healthier granolas on the market.
The good news is that you are eating granola at all, right? Granola tends to be packed with nuts & seeds and “healthier” grain. That’s good, right? Have a look at the first ingredient in all 4 brands? Oats!
I grew up on oats; oatmeal to be exact. For me, oatmeal is comfort food; it’s synonymous with love. My dad use to make oatmeal for us as kids. Every day before school, we had a bowl of oatmeal. I wanted a bowl of sugary coloured stuff and my dad was like, “nope!” Actually, before I get caught in a lie, it’s not true that I ate oatmeal every morning. Some mornings, my dad served us Cream of Wheat. Anyways, no hate here, because oatmeal (and Cream of Wheat) make me think of my dad.
However, as far as lectins go, oats (and wheat) have a lot of it. You may recall from the “What is Lectin” post, that lectin is an antinutrient. Well, if oats have a lot of lectins and lectins are antinutrients, then oats contain antinutrients. Antinutrients contribute to leaky gut syndrome, cause inflammation and digestive upset, weaken the immune system and can trigger autoimmune disease. All that from eating granola? I tried to find a commercial brand of granola that was not heavy with lectins. Unfortunately, I did not find any. Since I cannot live without granola; I have it as a snack, I have it with yogurt and I use it to make energy balls; I make my own lectin-free granola. It’s the surest way to get the kind of granola that my body responds well to, the kind of granola that doesn’t harm my body; the lectin-free kind of granola. You can make homemade lectin-free granola too. It’s easy and the taste will amaze you!
Make your own lectin-free granola!
The recipe below is full of wonderfully healthy and nourishing ingredients; nuts, cocoa nibs, coconut, dates and cinnamon. Give it a try. Your body will thank you!
Lectin-Free Granola
Delicious Easy Homemade Lectin-Free Granola
Ingredients
- 5 cups lectin-free nuts*
- 1 cup cocoa nibs (optional)
- 2 cup unsweetened, unsulphured shredded coconut
- 1 cup no sugar-added pitted dates
- 2 eggs (optional)
- 3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 3 tbsp water
- 3 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp salt
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat oven to 300⁰F and line a baking sheet (or 2) with parchment paper.
- Step 2 Place nuts in a food processor and pulse until chopped.
- Step 3 Place nuts into a large bowl and stir in cocoa nibs (if using) and coconut.
- Step 4 In a medium bowl, whisk egg whites with the water, until slightly foamy. The egg whites help the granola to cluster together.
- Step 5 Add melted coconut oil, cinnamon, vanilla and salt to egg white mixture and whisk together.
- Step 6 Pour egg white mixture into nut mixture and mix well until combined.
- Step 7 Spoon and spread the entire mixture onto the baking sheet.
- Step 8 Bake for 20 minutes, stir the granola and bake for another 15 minutes.
- Step 9 While the granola is baking, place dates into the food processor and pulse until chopped and put aside. You’ll be adding the chopped dates to the granola mixture once it has baked and cooled. I used to add it to the mixture prior to it going into the oven, but I found that the dates would harden and practically crystalize.
- Step 10 Once the granola has baked, allow it to cool on the pan.
- Step 11 Once cool, add chopped dates to granola mixture and stir to combine.
- Step 12 Store granola into airtight glass jars or containers. I usually put half of it in the freezer to use at a later date. It freezes really well.
*Some nuts have trace amounts of lectin.
