Probably the single biggest thing you can do for your health is to modify your diet.  Why is that?  More than anything else, what you eat impacts your insides because it literally moves into you.  Everything else, except for breathing, is supposed to be kept outside your skin.  Obviously, I am not counting health challenges like bullets, swords, teeth and claws of wild animals, and other things that rudely cross the natural skin barrier that protects us from the outside world.  But what we eat and drink we want to cross that barrier because it has what we need to survive – nutrients.  The problem is all the other stuff modern food has mixed in with it that is not so good for us.  Our gut has some pretty amazing biotechnology designed to protect us from the kinds of poisons that food and water carried thousands of years ago, but it has not had the time to bio-adapt to the huge number of modern poisons that fill every bite of our modern diet.

Now I write about all this scary stuff frequently.  But without dietary alternatives, this awareness has little impact.  Sure a few people will maybe try eating organic for a while, but the reality is we love the diet we have always loved and will probably go back to it.  As I see it, the only way around this dilemma is to reproduce the foods we love without the poisons.  To that end, I present the humble cheeseburger.

Cheeseburger?  What could be bad about a cheeseburger?  Well, let’s count the potential issues.  Obviously, the meat will need to be organic and grass-fed to limit the poisons fed the steer from the grain-based feed – both the pesticides and glyphosate as well as the natural overload of omega 6 oils that normally exist in grains.  This same problem exists in the burger bun, plus the damaging effects of gluten on the gut lining from the wheat-based flour.  For those doing keto, there are also excess carbs in the bun and the ketchup.  You also have the problem of nightshade toxicity from the tomatoes in the ketchup.  Mayonnaise is probably the worst source of excess omega 6 oils.  At least the pickles and mustard are fairly safe.  Last of all is the cheese of course.  Dairy foods are full of issues, from the casein that acts like gluten on the gut, to the opiate casomorphins, to the lactose sugars that cause so much gut distress.  So how do we work around all these issues?

My plan is to show you how to make all the ingredients for a cheeseburger in a healthy form.  It would be an insane amount of work just for a cheeseburger, but this is about making basic ingredients to have in the fridge for all sorts of recipes – basic buns, mayo, ketchup, and cheese.  Then when it is time to have a cheeseburger, all you have to worry about is getting clean meat.

Basic keto burger buns/ sandwich rolls 

into a mixing bowl put:

2 ½ cups almond flour

½ cup Psyllium husk powder

2 Tbs. Dr. Dave sugar

2 tsp. Salt

2 tsp. Baking powder

(optional for flavor: 1 Tbs. Nutritional yeast)

stir and add 1 cup egg whites (from a carton)

bring 2 cups water to a boil

add 4 tsp cider vinegar to water

Pour into dry ingredients and mix with a beater 30 seconds

Let dough sit for 1 minute then scrape sides and turn

out onto a working surface – cut into 8 equal pieces

With wet hands form into patties and put on a baking

sheet lined with parchment paper

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour – let cool

Cheese – everyone loves cheese 

3 cups Brazil nuts, Macadamia, Cashews, or Almonds

1/4 cup avocado oil (may need a little extra for cashews and almonds)

¼ cup nutritional yeast

1 tsp. salt

1 Tbs. Wasabi powder

2 capsules curcumin (opened – for yellow color)

(optional: 1 tsp minced garlic, ¼ tsp black pepper, 1 tsp onion powder)

Grind into nut butter in Vita-Mix / high-speed blender

next, add

1 cup water and

½ cup Gelatin

In a small pan – soften gelatin then heat until dissolved.

Add:

¾ cup flavored vinegar – I like pepperoncini with vinegar

Pour hot mixture into Vita-Mix with nut butter and quickly blend all together.  Once smooth, quickly pour into a glass container, scraping out the mixer with a silicone spatula.  Cool in fridge.

Mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard are probably America’s favorite condiments.  Traditionally mayonnaise has always been a pain in the butt to make at home, but if you have a wand immersion blender, it now becomes easy.  Here is a link to a youtube video to show you how easy it really is.  This is my favorite recipe.

Mayonnaise – healthy

¾ cup Avocado oil

¾ cup C8 Brain Boost oil

1 room temp egg

2 tsp white vinegar

1 tsp mustard – dry or Dijon

1 tsp lemon juice

½ tsp salt

2 drops Dr. Dave liquid sweetener

The secret to success with this recipe is everything must be at room temperature.  Put everything into a pint jar and put the blender down into the mix at the bottom – start blending on high and slowly raise the blender.  Instant mayo!

Ketchup

Last of all is lectin-free ketchup.  About half the world has negative reactions to tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers.  Plus ketchup is mostly sugar, so bad stuff.  Here is a very reasonable substitute without all the bad stuff.

1 cup Jicama boiled/ steamed soft

½ Beet boiled/ steamed soft

2/3 cup white vinegar

2/3 cup vegetable glycerin

1 tsp real salt

1 tsp onion powder

½ tsp garlic powder

Put everything into the Vitamix and blend on high until smooth.  If you want to make it a bit more decadent, I would add in a tablespoon of bacon grease.

Okay, now we are ready for our cheeseburger!  Personally, I sous vide my burgers at 140 degrees for a couple of hours then finish them off with a quick pan braise for a few seconds with the cheese added.  We have our bun, mayo, ketchup, mustard, and pickles – slide that hot juicy cheese-dripping burger into the bun and get ready to enjoy the good life!

Take care,

David