It’s November, so the holiday season is just about here. For a lot of Americans, that means overeating and weight gain. In fact, the average American gains around 5 pounds in the 2 month “holiday eating season.”
And that’s not just unhealthy – it’s ridiculous.
That’s why Dr. Gundry challenges his patients to make the holiday season the “holiday slim-down season.” He suggests trying to lose 5 pounds during this time of year to balance out everyone else’s 5 pound gain.
But that doesn’t mean giving up on the delicious flavors of the holidays…
In fact, he just did an interview with K-ABC in Los Angeles where he talked about go-to holiday recipes, like his signature Gluten-Free Millet Stuffing.
Dr. Gundry with K-ABC’s Lori Corbin talking turkey…literally.
It’s just like a classic bread stuffing, but with one SIMPLE swap: ditch the unhealthy bread and use cooked millet in its place.
When it comes to a holiday slim-down, that’s important… because lectins are directly linked to weight gain.
Let me explain:
Lectins are a highly toxic plant protein that actually stick to certain cells in your body, including your insulin receptors.
That means lectins can actually block the hormone which controls your appetite… so your brain never gets the message that you’re full and you just keep eating.1,2,3,4
And bread (whether it’s cornbread or wheat bread) is LOADED with dangerous lectins to spark your appetite. That’s why it’s so important to make this easy swap.
The best thing is, the finished dish gives you all the classic flavors of the season – onions, sage, garlic – but without the scary side effects.
In fact, this recipe is even tastier than the original. The millet adds an addictive nuttiness you just don’t get from lectin–loaded bread.
But what is millet, exactly?
It’s an ancient seed that’s lectin-free, and people have been eating it for THOUSANDS of years. In fact, archaeologists discovered a 4,000-year-old bowl of millet noodles in northwestern China!5
It cooks similarly to rice… and along with being lectin-free, it’s loaded in healthy prebiotic fiber, protein, and Omega-3 fatty acids.
So how do you turn it into stuffing? Well, it’s actually pretty simple.
Dr. Gundry’s Gluten-Free & Lectin-Light Stuffing Recipe
Ingredients (Serves 4-6):
- 3 cups cooked millet (prepared according to package instructions)
- 2 yellow onions, finely diced
- 3 carrots, finely diced
- 3 ribs celery, finely diced
- 1 pound mushrooms, finely diced
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ½ tablespoons minced fresh sage
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoons dried poultry seasoning (no salt added)
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ cup grass-fed butter OR ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350F (conveniently, the same temperature as my turkey!) Butter your favorite 9X13 casserole dish and set aside.
- Add the cooked millet to a large mixing bowl, and set aside.
- In a large skillet or wok, heat half the butter or oil over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, celery, and onions and cook until tender, stirring regularly. Add the garlic, sage, parsley and poultry seasoning and cook 2-3 minutes more, until mixture is very fragrant. Add to bowl with millet.
- Heat the rest of the oil or butter in the same skillet, and add the mushrooms and thyme. Cook until mushrooms are golden brown and tender, then add to the millet mixture.
- Stir stuffing mixture to combine and season with salt and pepper. Add mixture to the baking dish, and bake for 25-35 minutes, until stuffing is hot all the way through and the top is golden brown.
You can even stuff it inside the turkey like regular stuffing. Just make sure the center of the stuffing reaches 160 degrees, for food safety reasons.
That said, try baking it in a casserole dish.
However you prefer to make your stuffing, please – give millet a place on your holiday table. You’ll love it. And keep checking this blog for more of Dr. Gundry’s favorite holiday recipes.
Sources
1. Jönsson T, Olsson S, Ahrén B, Bøg-Hansen T, Dole A, Lindeberg S. Agrarian diet and diseases of affluence – Do evolutionary novel dietary lectins cause leptin resistance?. BMC Endocrine Disorders. 2005;5(1). doi:10.1186/1472-6823-5-10.
2. Hedo J, Harrison L, Roth J. Binding of insulin receptors to lectins: evidence for common carbohydrate determinants on several membrane receptors. Biochemistry. 1981;20(12):3385-3393. doi:10.1021/bi00515a013.
3. Veniant MLeBel C. Leptin: From Animals to Humans. CPD. 2003;9(10):811-818. doi:10.2174/1381612033455369.
4. Considine R, Sinha M, Heiman M et al. Serum Immunoreactive-Leptin Concentrations in Normal-Weight and Obese Humans. New England Journal of Medicine. 1996;334(5):292-295. doi:10.1056/nejm199602013340503.
5. Lu, Houyuan et al. “Culinary Archaeology: Millet Noodles In Late Neolithic China”. Nature 437.7061 (2005): 967-968. Web.
