Hi All, I know in many of the zone books oat flour is used, so I assume that is acceptable. What about rice flour? For example, I'd like to use rice noodles for a pad thai type of meal. Also is oat flour really the only recommended flour for zone? It's not bad, but pretty heavy and I'd like to maybe mix in another flour for baked goods. Thanks!

Hi Jennifer,

Rice flour wouldne be a gret carbohydrate choice. In fact oat flour, even though included in some Zone recipes, is also unfavorable carbohydrate.

You could try Almond flour, but watch the Fat content.
And Shiitake noodles are a nearly zero carbohydrate noodle replacement.
.
Another alternative:
Dreamfields pasta, while unfavorable - allows you a huge portion (4 oz uncooked, 8 oz cooked)
for only ONE block of carbs, but still unfavorable. But compare to regular pasta/noodles that only allows 1/4 cup as one block as the unfavorable carb.
And because the additional carbs in Dreamfield's pasta are (patented) bound, you get additional unsoluable fiber.

I have also experimented baking with almond flour and also coconut flour. There is a neat website that I enjoy visiting which has tons of gluten-free recipes, some baked goods that use these flours. Actually many of the recipes can be adapted easily to the Zone, just have to watch some of the unfavorables.

www.elanaspantry.com.

Hi again, Jennifer. Keep in mind that all flour would be considered unfavorable carbohydrate.

Of course, one will need to consider the fact that almond flour and coconut flour are not entirely carbohydrate (good amounts of protein and fat), and therefore would not impact insulin levels as other flours would.

There is also ground flax flour.
Though Flax is inefficient in converting to Omega-3,
It is a little better as a "Fat" flour like Almond o Coconut.
.
I make a ground Turkey burger or Grass-Fed organic Beef burger with
a small combination of all three. Adds not much Fat, very little Carbs,
and with seasonings is pretty darn tasty according to both my wife and my daughter.

I still have to try the flatbread wrap recipe that you posted a while back, John!

Have you tried it, yet?
I have not made it in a while.
Though I do have 2 Zone Foods flatbreads left over from my business trip,
and about 5 Granola packages. Though no Nuegat Bars left.
.
I will have to make that flatbread recipe, again, soon.
As I recall, it only takes a couple of minutes in the microwave.
And fairly overall quick to throw together.
.
(I took that [I think] from a Free-Trial Rodale Gluten-Free book, that I sent back after the free trial.)
it was not worth the price, but that was the only thing in there really worth it.

P.S. Cran-Cat:
It seems that you and I are on-line at the same time!
I recorded this week's NASCAR race at Las Vegas, so my wife could watch it
since she got off her 2nd PT job at 7 PM. We're watching it now, zipping through the commercials.
Our 20 year old daughter is also watching it with us.
.
YES, I make dinner for her, and also thios afternoon, I made the Chocolate Mousse for her, too.
She made sure to purchase the needed ingredients wjile I was in Las Vegas ...
So, I obliged ...
BUT, I made it with Marscapone cheese.
Less protein and more fat substituting it for the Cottage Cheese.
So, a lot less balanced, and not Zoned, but worth it!
.
AND Yeah, I considered staying in Las Vegas another 2 days to go to the NASCAR race,
but my wife would not have been too pleased, at BOTH me being gone another 2 days
(yeah, after 26 years she sill missed me), AND going to a NASCAR race without her.

Yeah, I think we are!

That is neat that you made dinner and the mousse for your wife--and that you thought of her and shared the race together on TV rather than going to it by yourself. Sweet!

My DH and I have been married for 17 years, but dated for quite some time before we tied the knot. So, altogether have known each other for 25 years. I was not happy with him when I tried to talk him into getting a dog and he didn't agree. But, will get over it... I made him some of my Cincinnati Chili and he commented that he really liked it a lot. He had never said this before, but I guess I really needed the positive comment. So, that is how we get this to work out, some give and some take. All is good!

Hi Sue, Question - why is oatmeal not considered unfavorable? Isn't oat flour just ground up oatmeal?

Thanks John. I never heard of Shiitake noodle. I assume it is made from mushroom. I will check it out. THanks!

Jennifer, yes it is oats ground into flour. Dr. Sears explains in his books that the more you process a food (such as grinding oat kernels to produce flour, the less favorable that food becomes because it elevates blood sugar more quickly.

Jennifer,

The more processed a food becomes, the quicker it is to digest and the more sharply the glucose hits the bloodstream, thus spiking insulin levels in order to control it.

But also bear in mind, even if it is a flour, oat flour is still a better choice than wheat flour, due to its lower glycemic load. Sometimes, even if we choose to eat foods that are out of the Zone guidelines, some unfavorable foods are better choices than others.

Ok, I'm sure I read that but did not process it. THanks it makes perfect sense.