Would you have to grind them by hand as to not lose nutritional value or can you use a food processor etc? Thank you for sharing, You have definitely change my families life for the better!

This seems like a good place to tell you - I tried making the almond biscotti  with ground flax seed.  The result was more like tiny bread loaves rather than crisp cookies.  The dough was very moist.  I haven't tried again with less liquid, or cooking longer.  They still tasted good.

Teresa

Yes, Teresa: Just try reducing the liquids a bit. You could also extend cooking time by a few minutes.

The result should be crispier, if that is what you desire.

Hi, Amanda--

You can grind them by hand OR food processor. Or you could just buy them pre-ground, in which case they shouldn't sit around too long to minimize oxidation. of the oils.

Hi. I have swopped normal bread to almond bread for my five year old daughter and she loves it and her stomach is never swollen anymore, but now I been told that almonds is very high in phytic acid. Is this something I need to worry about? Have been following your blog since I started LCHF here in Sweden in jan. Lost 10kg slowly but without effort.
Thanks Linda

Hi, Linda--

I really do believe that we have to pick our battles. Obviously, eliminating wheat is such an enormous issue for digestive health that just taking that step eliminates many, many health problems.

I am not convinced that the phytate issue is truly important, provided your diet is otherwise healthy and wheat-free. Note that just about every food we eat has some negative aspect, e.g., lipoxidation products in meats, goitrogens in broccoli and cauliflower, aflatoxin in peanuts, lectins in plants, etc. Because we've got to eat something and most of these effects have no real-world consequences, I think that nuts are, for the majority, a great part of the diet.

Also, note that, epidemiologically, nut-consuming people live, on average, 2 years longer than non-nut consuming people.

Kent Altena (Atkins Diet Geek) has some great videos showing how to adapt recipes to substitute almonds and flax seed for wheat:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjmO4BIHPhk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEaZCHWLiTI&feature=related

He's certainly helped me eliminate wheat from my diet entirely.  (Does a mean wiener schnitzel too.)

Nina

I have not missed wheat a bit since discovering almond flour, coconut flour and flax seed meal.  It's all great stuff and I think it's more filling than wheat, too.

Here is a simple recipe for Pancakes:

2 cups almond meal (Trader Joe's has the best price)
1 can coconut milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
6 eggs
a little salt
Mix wet and dry ingredients and then combine.  Fry in coconut oil.  I boil down some frozen mixed berries to which I add a little xantham gum or chia seeds to thicken.  I also add a little stevia to sweeten.  Then I put this over the pancakes with some whipped cream.  They keep in the fridge beautifully and then you just microwave them to heat up again and you have a quick and easy breakfast.

I would not replace all the wheat products you once ate with nuts. I consider them treats. A very good article on the phytic acid in nuts:
http://chriskresser.com/another-reason-you-shouldnt-go-nuts-on-nuts

No health price, for most people perhaps. But some people are allergic to tree nuts including almond, or allergic to peaches, which are related to almonds. It's actually fairly common. Why can't we for once pick a staple food that everyone can always eat (if such a food exists)?

What about the phytates and high omega-6? I guess that nuts, in an evolutionary perspective was consumed sparingly and in seasson. Now we have almonds (or nuts) every day. What do you think about that?

BTW, greetings from Spaing, and great blog!

Just made a batch of pumpkin muffins last night, I really like them but haven't got the kids convinced yet..I am sure if I slathered them with chocolate frosting they would find them more appealing.  They did like the pizza crust and waffles using almond flour though.  Trader Joes has almond meal for around $4 a pound, beats the $12 a pound they are trying to charge for the same things at the grocery store.

When I first read that headline of yours "Almonds are the new Wheat", I thought, 'Oh no hear we go he's about to denounce Almonds as the new evil'!

Was glad to see my fears dispelled.

Every day is just trading a big problem for an arguably much lesser problem, especially if you use these nut flours as many do to serve as recreations of traditional desserts and thus carriers of sweeteners. But if they're an occasional treat and not a staple source of calories, most people shouldn't have significant problems.

Hahaha  I too thought that way... but now I know!  We too love our almond meal pizza and almond flour muffins.

HA! I was also going to comment that Dr Davis has done such a good job of teaching me that "wheat" is a bad word that when I read the title of this post I also immediately thought that almonds were now being ex-communicated! Phew!

My thought as well, just after making two dozen low carb pumpkin muffins with almond meal

6 eggs? I do a similar recipe with 1 egg, and it comes out great. Seems like a bit heavy on the eggs.

Me too!  Was scared for a second!
And I must check out that recipe...

Mine came out crisp and wonderful!
I think there's a lot of flexibility in the recipe (which I like) to make substitutions (such as using coconut milk) and agree that you can play with it!  Playing with the recipe is a great excuse to make it again!

I am confused? Can someone explain the difference in almond butter and ground almonds. I buy an almond butter, that the only ingredient is "organic ground raw unblanhed almonds". I have also gone to Whole Foods and had almond butter ground from raw almonds made on the premises by yourself. How is this different nutrient wise from eating almonds. If there is nothing added to the butter, what is the difference, if there is any.
Almonds are and have been for over a year now an important part of my wheat free gluten free diet (celiac condition). My lipid profile is great, with my historically low HDL at 27 having almost doubled to 48. For me, that is good. Any response would be appreciated.

Hi, IBH--

The only difference is that the butter is more finely ground. When you grind almonds, it first turns to ground almonds, then to almond butter if you continue.

By the way, don't neglect your vitamin D; it usually causes HDL to go way, way up, though it can take over a year to do so.

Relax, Mer! Yes, almonds are a good thing.

THX FOR THE RESPONSE AND TIME. YOUR BOOK IS EXCELLENT, AND I HAVE SHARED IT WITH A NUMBER OTHER CVD PATIENTS, OF WHICH I AM A GROUP MEMBER OF THAT CLUB.

I HAVE NOT FORGETTON TO TAKE MY VIT. D3. THX TO MY DR. WHO BELIEVES IN TRADITIONAL AND COMP. MEDICINE, I HAVE BEEN BEEN ON 6000 IU VIT D3 FOR LAST 8 MONTHS. I STARTED, PRE SUPPLEMENTATION AT VIT D3 LEVEL OF 12, CRAZY LOW. NOW IT IS AT 45. JUST STARTED TO INCREASE TO 7000 IU/DAILY TO TRY TO GET TO THE 50-60 LEVEL.
THX FOR YOUR BLOG AND RESPONSE TO MY AND OTHER QUESTIONS.

Are these recipes in a book form or are they scattered amongst the Dr. Davis' many blogs?  If there isn't a recipe book available, I hope, Dr. Davis, there is one in the making (in your spare seconds).  I just love your blogs.  Thank you very much.  You do us all a great service.

Hi, Mary--

I hear you!

In addition to the recipes scattered in the blogs, there are about 40 in the Wheat Belly book, another 40 or so in the Track Your Plaque Recipe book.

My publisher, Rodale, has also mentioned the idea of a cookbook as the next in the Wheat Belly "series," but nothing final just yet.

It's nice to hear that you are enjoying them. After all, I'm no chef nor gourmet; I'm just trying to find a healthy path for everyone while enjoying some recrafted healthy dishes.

You're welcome, IBH!

Isn't it surprising that many of the answers to heart disease are 1) so simple, and 2) the OPPOSITE of conventional advice?

Hello - could you provide your recipe for almond meal pizza?
Thank you!

Check out the Hybrid Pizza on Stuff I Make My Husband blog. The crust for this pizza contains eggs, mozzarella cheese and coconut flour, etc.
I usually use a combo of coconut and almont flour.   Her article the Great Pizza Experiment is awesome

Can you put a limit on the amount of baked goods i.e. almond flour muffins, cookies  per day that we should consume

I have engaged in more discussion about fish oil than any other supplement. Just remember we could care less about the fish oil, what we are after is the EPA+DHA Omega 3 in the oil. The rule of thumb is, "the higher the price, the more Omega 3." You can save money and get the 30% in the Kirkland or Sam's Club brand or spend a lot more money and get the 50% to 70% brands.

I have engaged in more discussion about fish oil than any other supplement. Just remember we could care less about the fish oil, what we are after is the EPA+DHA Omega 3 in the oil. The rule of thumb is, "the higher the price, the more Omega 3." You can save money and get the 30% in the Kirkland or Sam's Club brand or spend a lot more money and get the 50% to 70% brands.

Often I have wondered about the benefits, if any, of krill oil versus regular fish oil.    
It seems that the Phospholipids in the Krill oil play a role in HDL quality.

I have not yet found a good paper explaining this, but Neptune Technologies is doing some research on this.  I prefer whole foods, rather than drugs, but the research on this topic looks interesting.

From their website on a research on concentrated phospholipids form krill oil:
Neptune Technologies & Bioressources Inc. Reports Completion of Acasti Pharma Comparative Benchmarking Program versus Lovaza®



Laval, Québec, CANADA – November 25, 2010 – Neptune Technologies & Bioressources Inc. (“Neptune”) (NASDAQ: NEPT - TSX.V: NTB) subsidiary, Acasti Pharma Inc. (“Acasti”), reports the completion of its  preclinical program designed to compare the lipid management effects of Acasti’s drug candidate CaPreâ„¢ versus prescription drug Lovaza®.  Blood lipids were monitored in two animal models in order to assess and compare the efficacy of CaPreâ„¢ and Lovaza® over a 12-week treatment period.

    * A low daily human equivalent dose of 1g CaPreâ„¢ reduced LDL-C (bad cholesterol) levels by 40% and increased HDL-C (good cholesterol) by 180% in a normal rat model (“SD”) while 4gr of Lovaza® did not show any significant effect.
    * An even lower daily human equivalent dose of 0.5g CaPreâ„¢ was shown to be as efficient as 4g of Lovaza® in reducing triglycerides levels by 40-50% in obese rats with severe diabetes and high triglycerides (“ZDF”)


“These results suggest that a low (0.5g to 1g) daily dosing of CaPreâ„¢ is more effective than 4g Lovaza® in elevating HDL-C and lowering LDL-C and triglycerides.  These effects become even more striking considering that a 1g daily dose of CaPreâ„¢ contains 8.9 times less EPA and 11.1 times less DHA than the recommended 4g daily dose of Lovaza®. It is also important to note that the triglycerides reduction was observed only after 4 weeks and was maintained throughout the study suggesting a significant metabolic impact of CaPreâ„¢,” said Dr. Bruno Battistini, Senior Director, Pharmaceutical R&D of Acasti.

If one brand showed slight excess of PCB's, does that mean all the rest also contained PCB's only just the right amount?

What are the benefits to cardiovascular health of taking plant/algae sourced DHA vs fish sourced EPA/DHA?

What do you think of the conclusions in this blog post?
http://thehealthyskeptic.org/when-it-comes-to-fish-oil-more-is-not-better

For a "healthy" person are your recommendations the same- as in make sure to get a high quality fish oil?

I really appreciate you taking the time to write on this blog.  Thank you!
Char

or you could just eat natural food sources of omega-3, like wild salmon, tuna, sardines, grass fed butter, eggs from pastured chickens, fermented cod liver oil. then you wont need supplements.

cheers
jack k

What if you can't stand the taste of fish like salmon and sardines or fermented cod liver oil?

I'm hoping Carlsson's is good, that's what I've been taking for the past few months and I love how it tastes like lemon oil, not fishy at all.

While there is debate on the reduction in cardiovascular events with omega-3 fatty acids, I use them to achieve correction of a number of physiologic parameters:

1) Reduction of triglycerides
2) Acceleration of clearance of postprandial lipoproteins, such as chylomicrons, chylomicron remnants, and VLDL
3) Reduction of lipoprotein(a)

The data on the likelihood of cardiovascular mortality correlates inversely with RBC omega-3 EPA + DHA; the relationship is quite strong. While we lack prospective trials outside of GISSI Prevenzione on the reduction of cardiovascular death with higher levels, given the overall improved surrogate measures of risk, I believe that the data overall are sufficiently compelling.

Funny, I've been reading up about this lately. I like the fact that if we can - there is the possibility of actualy getting the appropriate amount of EPA+DHA Omega 3's by eating fish. I recently started buying sardines just for this purpose and I'm going to try real hard to incorporate oily fishes. I like it when people help others minimize the amounts of supplements they use.

dr. davis

i can't smell anything rancid in my distilled fish oil with orange flavour but its so weird its too heavy barely digests and stays as if stuck in the chest. feels horrible.

not sure what to make of it.

There are a few benefits of a plant based diet: avoiding acid load, toxin accumulation in the food chain, and another one, high lipid peroxidation level of the longer chain EFA.
So I just heard that "Reduction of triglycerides" using fish oil, is an effect of liver damage.

Just search for this book:
"Fatty acids in foods and their health implications" - Ching Kuang Chow
I just quote from the chapter V. MEMBRANE UNSATURATION AND LONGEVITY
_______________________________
In summary, the above mentioned studies provide a correlation between the maximum longevity of animals and the degree of unsaturation of membrane fatty acids. That correlation joins the previously stated one between the rate of mitochondrial oxygen radical generation and the maximum
longevity of animals. In long-lived homeothermic vertebrates, both free-radical production and the
membrane fatty acid unsaturation are lower, offering an explanation for some of the main causes of
the low aging rate peculiar to these animals. No studies have been carried out on these aspects in
relation to dietary fat and, as it will be stated below, this is another notable aspect of fatty acids and
aging.
_______________________________

Is there an over-the-counter brand of fish oil that closely matches prescription Lovaza?

westonaprice.org has very informative articles on this. Type "cod liver oil" in the search box to find their articles.  There is great info on how the better brands are manufactured.

A product similar in principal to krill oil is Vectomega.  It is a phospholipid bound salmon oil made from salmon heads.  The heads used to be discarded and this is a resource that doesn't deplete the food of whales etc.  According to the companies data, one tablet is the equivalent of eight standard capsules (probably 2.4gm of EPA+DHA).  It is a little pricey, but you will never burp it and it is very portable when you travel.  I suggest to my patients that if they regularly take much more than 2.5gm, that they get AA/EPA ratio available thru many labs.  yourfuturehealth.com,    LEF.org

Supposedly DHA converts in the body to EPA pretty easily.  Anyone know any data about taking DHA alone vs with EPA?

to come from other side, I have started to read Ray Peat's articles and he is big on the dangers and overhype of non saturated fatty acids , in particular omega 3. It makes sense that humans having developed in hot climate require primarily saturated fat to protect from heat, light and oxygen. There is a reason why fish oils smell and why vegetable oils must be deodorized, it's basically our body telling us that non saturated oils are bad for us. Ray Peat says these oils make our membranes "floppy" and our skin prone to photo dammage by the sun. Basically we need all the saturated fat we can get primarily from coconut oil and butter but polyunsaturated fats should be minimum and certainly no supplement. Read up here
http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/fishoil.shtml
http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/membranes.shtml
http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/unsaturatedfats.shtml

I take at least 900 EPA + 600 DHA fish oil daily. I usually take 1-2 softgels with each meal. I continue to experiment with higher doses, but so far, I can't tell the difference between 5 softgels daily vs 10 softgels daily except 10 softgels means 50 extra calories. Sometimes I actually need extra calories, so I've taken as much as 40 softgels in one day.

I guess I'm the only one who actually LIKES chewing my fishoil capsules. To me they are like a treat! This has the added advantage of knowing for sure if they are rancid. I've been getting Sundown Naturals for over a year - never had a bad one yet. The taste is very mild and I they never make me burp.

dr. davis i d like to know your take on this

http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/fishoil.shtml

I've found that Barlean's cod liver oil is least offensive taste-wise, followed by Spectrum. Both are molecularly distilled. I have trouble finding Barlean's, however.

In declaring EPA and DHA to be safe, the FDA neglected to evaluate their antithyroid, immunosuppressive, lipid peroxidative (Song et al., 2000), light sensitizing, and antimitochondrial effects, their depression of glucose oxidation (Delarue et al., 2003), and their contribution to metastatic cancer (Klieveri, et al., 2000), lipofuscinosis and liver damage, among other problems.

Dr. Davis,

Should Vitamin D gelcaps have an odor? I've been taking a generic drugstore brand and they always have an unpleasant smell, but I assumed they were supposed to.

Thanks!

@arnoud - phospholipid-bound Omega-3 appear to get incorporated into membranes 1.5 to 2X more than triglyceride or ethyl ester Omega-3. But Neptune researchers have not explained why krill oil reduces LDL more than Lovaza.

@Geoffrey Levens - just about every food product has small amounts of PCBs. Yes, fish oil too. Cod and Shark liver oils typically have much higher levels. More on fish oil and PCBs here.

Retroconversion of DHA to EPA is not very efficient. Roughly 10% of DHA gets converted to EPA. EPA to DHA far less efficient. Several metabolic factors affect these conversions. Bruce Holub at Univ Guelph has done great work on this. Check out PMID: 9507234 and 9076673.

@John - Several brands have 700 - 900 mg Omega-3 per pill, like Lovaza.

A few have 20-30% more Omega-3 than Lovaza:
Minami Nutrition CardiO3
OmegaVia
Ocean Blue Professional
RenewLife come to mind.

These all have over 1000 mg Omega-3 per pill.

Next-gen fish oil (pipeline) drugs like Epanova and AMR101 are mostly EPA - so worth looking into high EPA OTC formulas for a fraction of the price.

$2000 per month doesn't seem so bad.  For the three of us, two adults and one 18yr old, we pay $2600 per month.  But my wife had cancer twice:  Hodgkins Lymphoma 24 years ago and breast cancer six years ago.  Before doing anything that might be dangerous, I remind myself of the $1500 deductable.  

kevin

dr. davis

i did some research and to answer my own question on fish oil...
for those without heart disease (like me) 1 gram of fish oil is sufficient and should be taken with 4 grams of saturated fat otherwise fish oil slips through the intestines undigested. 4 grams of saturated fat is used for making the liver start bile production.


-----------------------------------
original question

dr. davis

i can't smell anything rancid in my distilled fish oil with orange flavour but its so weird its too heavy barely digests and stays as if stuck in the chest. feels horrible.

not sure what to make of it.

It is good; however the oil came from the liver. It can contain too much Vitamin A and it could be dangerous if u overdose. I suggest sticking with eating a variety of fish.

ah great info.......i live in the UK and I usually take different supplements, plz cud u tell me what should i look for while buying the fish oil....tnx in advance

Wow, flying to india - yaerh its cheap - but what about the quality?