Cassava Flour: 40+ Favorite AIP Recipes - Gutsy By Nature (2024)

FAQs

Can you eat cassava flour on AIP? ›

AIP, being grain-free as well as gluten-free, creates a fairly good challenge. The main flours used in AIP baking are as follows: Cassava flour, Tapioca Starch, Coconut Flour, Tigernut Flour, and Arrowroot Starch.

Bonus: Cassava flour is low in sugar and minimally processed, so it's considered a Paleo-friendly ingredient that allows those following the diet to still enjoy baked goods when cravings strike.

Cassava flour is a highly versatile ingredient with numerous uses in the food industry, including in all sorts of baked goods, tortillas, porridge, pancakes, and gluten-free pasta and pizza. Manufacturers also sometimes use it as a thickener for ice cream, sauces, and dressings ( 1 ).

Tigernuts, despite the very confusing name, are not nuts. They're small tubers – root vegetables, sort of like sweet potatoes. Because they're not nuts, they make a great flour for those with nut sensitiviies, allergies, and anyone on a nut-free diet like AIP.

Cassava contains anti-inflammatory properties due to its high vitamin C content. When eaten regularly, cassava's vitamin C content can help lower inflammation by reducing the risk of oxidative stress. It does this by providing antioxidants that can balance out free radicals.

It's High in Carbs

Lastly, due to its starchy nature, cassava flour is a high-carb flour which means that it won't work well for individuals following low carb diets like the ketogenic diet.

The glycemic index, a system that helps diabetic patients know the impact of food on their blood level, shows that cassava's glycemic index is 46. This means that cassava is less likely to cause any sudden increase in the blood sugar level.

Nutrition of Cassava

However, it's a good source of potassium, folate, vitamin C, and several other nutrients. Though this doesn't make cassava unhealthy, people following low-carb diets and people with blood sugar regulation issues, such as those with type 2 diabetes, should avoid consuming large amounts of cassava.

Cassava isn't a nightshade, a group of plants that include potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplant. Some diets (like the autoimmune protocol diet) ban nightshades, which makes cassava an ideal substitute for potatoes. Research, however, doesn't suggest that nightshades are harmful to eat, the Cleveland Clinic says.

Cassava is POSSIBLY UNSAFE when eaten regularly as a food in large amounts.

Is cassava flour good for the gut? ›

Great for maintaining gut health, cassava flour contains 2 grams of fiber per ¼ cup. Eating a diet rich in dietary fiber will help add bulk to your stools, making digestion a lot easier. Fiber also helps regulate the body's use of sugars.

You can use cassava flour pretty much as you would any other flour, but its taste and texture lend it to be particularly special in specific recipes. "I use cassava flour to make bread, cookies, salsas and mole because its fine texture is a thickening agent.

The answer is probably no. While occasionally eating psyllium husks (perhaps as an ingredient in a gluten-free baked good) probably won't cause harm except in certain people with autoimmune conditions or severe digestive sensitivity, the “cons” outweigh the “pros” in this case!

However, cashews are not included in the autoimmune protocol due to their incredibly high phytic acid content (higher than many other nuts, including almonds and walnuts).

Instead of cornstarch, use arrowroot flour or tapioca flour. We found that arrowroot flour works well to thicken sauces and gravies and helps to lighten the texture of baked goods. Tapioca flour works well in coatings, such as velveting chicken for stir-fries.

FOODS ALLOWED Beverages Juice, soda, sports drinks, coffee, tea and rice, oat, potato, hemp or coconut milk. Breads, crackers, flours, pasta and cereal made from the following: amaranth, arrowroot, barley, buckwheat, cassava, chickpea, lentil, millet, oats, potato, quinoa, rice, rye, sago, tapioca, and T'eff.

These Gluten-Free Tortillas with Cassava Flour are soft, foldable, and the best, quick and easy grain-free tortilla wraps! They're super adaptable and versatile — use them for sandwiches, burritos, tacos and more! Plus, they're naturally AIP/paleo and vegan too.

Plantain Chips & Cassava Chips are two of My Favorite AIP Store-Bought Snacks. These chips are both great options because you can usually find these nowadays at regular grocery stores.

Complex carbs like cassava flour take longer to digest than simple carbs do. This long digestion time allows your body to use the sugar more slowly, having a less immediate impact on blood sugar and fat storage. When choosing which complex carbs to eat, stick to those that haven't been overly processed or refined.