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Mesquite Meal

See also: Mesquite Rediscovered

Q. What is Low Carb, Low Fat, Low Glycemic, and high in dietary fiber but Naturally Sweet?

A. Mesquite Meal!

Q. How do you use Mesquite Meal?

A. Add it to stir-fry’s, soups, just about anything. Use it as a flour substitute, as a condiment the versatility is truly limitless. Using Mesquite with other foods helps to lower the glycemic load of high carb foods. What this means to you is that you don’t get hungry so fast, it reduces the amount of sugar that is stored as fat, prevents blood sugar spikes, and it helps to liven up recipes that might need a little pizzazz. Use it on fish, meat, and poultry to add dietary fiber and great taste to your meals.

Q. Why is low Carb important?

A. Truly, low carb is sort of a misunderstanding. What we really know today is that there are “good” carbs and “bad” carbs. Limiting carbs that are high glycemic is really what’s important. In the late 1960’s America learned that fat in our diets was directly related to heart disease. Without understanding that only certain fats needed to be avoided we cut all fats to a minimum. The food industry replaced the fats with sugars in order to keep foods tasting good and it worked. Unfortunately, we did not know that the high carbohydrate diet the American Heart Association and others had recommended would cause the obesity problems of today.

Q. Why is low fat important?

A. Here too we find that low fat really means limited saturated fats and avoidance of partially hydrogenated fats. Mono and poly unsaturated fats are healthy and we need them.

Q. What do you mean by “Low Glycemic?”

A. Low glycemic means that the carbohydrates you eat will not significantly raise your blood sugar. If you eat, lets say, potatoes then you will increase your blood sugar to a level that calls for an insulin response from your body. Insulin enters your blood and stores the carbohydrates in the muscle and liver but just a little may be stored there so the rest is stored as fat. Low glycemic foods will not call for an insulin response and there fore no carbs will be stored as fat.

Q. Why is Dietary Fiber important?

A. Dietary fiber has been show to slow down digestion allowing carbs to be absorbed into the blood stream slowly. This too prevents a call for an insulin response allowing your body to utilize these “sugars” as they become available essentially burning them as needed. Dietary fiber also helps lower bad cholesterol and increase good cholesterol. In short, it’s very healthy for one to increase their intake of dietary fiber.

Summary:

Today we are very aware of our need to be careful of the foods we eat. We look to labels for information on the amount and type of fats, the amount and type of carbohydrates, and total calories per serving. Selecting high quality, low carbohydrate, low fat, low glycemic, high dietary fiber food is difficult, but now there is help.

Mesquite meal is 100% natural, low in carbohydrates and fat, low glycemic, high in dietary fiber, and naturally sweet. You can sprinkle, shake, or mix mesquite meal into all of your everyday foods to create healthier and tastier dishes with very little effort.

This traditional Native American food is produced by gathering ripened seed pods from the mesquite tree and grinding them into a high protein flour. Desert dwellers have used mesquite pods as a staple food for centuries and bartered with them to neighboring tribes. Mesquite meal is great for flavoring steaks, chicken, pork and fish. It can be added to vegetable stir-fries, scrambled eggs, biscuits, breads, soups, even ice cream. The list is endless.

Mesquite meal can be used as either flour or a spice. As flour, it is generally used in combination with other flours using about 30% mesquite. As a spice, sprinkle generously then grill, fry, broil or add it to almost anything for a great mesquite flavor. It won't take long to adjust the amount to use for your personal taste.

In addition to its great taste, the major benefits of mesquite meal include high dietary fiber content, high protein and a high lysine content. It's also a good source of manganese, potassium and zinc. The result is a food with the ability to stabilize your blood sugar level. This is very good news for diabetics, weight watchers and for those who want to eat healthier. For anyone who uses a meal replacement drink and finds they are hungry long before lunch time will love mesquite meal. Just add a tablespoon of mesquite meal to your drink. It will help you stave off hunger for about 4 to 6 hours.