Almond Butter Beastie Bunless Bacon Burger

OMG what about my cholesterol if I eat this stuff?

I betcha you are looking at this delicious burger and thinking of your cholesterol!

Let’s have a look at why this burger is actually GOOD for your cholesterol levels!

There is a lot of controversial opinions and research on cholesterol, so I will just present some of the facts.

Few FACTS about cholesterol:

• Cholesterol is a necessary substance in the body.
• Our brains are made of mostly cholesterol.
• Hormones are made with cholesterol.
• Bile salts are made with cholesterol.
• Our cell membranes need cholesterol to stick together.
• Linking high cholesterol to heart disease is an oversimplified, incorrect approach, based on outdated research!

The way cholesterol levels are tested (the Friedwald formula) is based on the wrong assumption that the ratio of triglyceride to cholesterol is a constant 5:1, but as that ratio is not constant that leads to significant errors in calculation. (Volek and Phinney)

Effects of a high carbohydrate diet on cholesterol

• Carbohydrates can cause your tissue and blood cholesterol levels to raise, especially if you consume more calories than you need for energy.
• Digestible carbohydrates are broken into simple sugars, mainly glucose and fructose, before their absorption in the small intestine.
• As glucose and fructose are burned for energy in the body, a molecule called acetyl coenzyme A is produced.
• Acetyl coenzyme A can be used to either produce more energy, or it can be used to produce lipids such as cholesterol and triglycerides, thus causing carbohydrate-induced lipemia.
• High triglycerides are considerably more common in heart-disease victims than  high cholesterol. (Peter Kuo, Lars Carlson, Joseph Goldstein)

Effects of a LOW carbohydrate diet on cholesterol

• Consistently and significantly increase the size of LDL particles. Small sized LDL are the ones which have been determined to be the most dangerous. (B. Lamarche, I. Demieux and J.P.Despres)
• Lipid and inflammatory markers improve dramatically
• Serum Triglycerides get considerably lower.  Triglycerides levels have been determined to be a better predictor of risk, especially in insulin resistant individuals.
• Blood pressure is reduced.

On a low carbohydrate diet a temporary increase of serum LDL can be seen when quick weight loss occurs. That is a temporary effect due to the small amounts of cholesterol dissolved in the fat cells that get reintroduced to circulation.  Once the weight is stabilized, levels should return to normal.

Conclusion

As the insulin resistant liver of a carb intolerant person readily converts carbohydrates to fat (De Novo Lipogenesis) the main product of eating a high carb diet is excess production of  triglycerides, mainly as saturated fat palmitic acid. These are then released in to the bloodstream as highly saturated, triglyceride rich VLDL particles.

This is directly related to your carbohydrate intake and NOT your dietary fat intake.

When eating a well-balanced ketogenic diet saturated fats can easily be burned for fuel by the body, especially in the muscles and liver, thus reducing their levels both in the blood and tissues!

So enjoy your burger with a clean conscience!

5.0 from 1 reviews

Almond Butter Beastie Bunless Bacon Burger

 

Author: Vivica Menegaz

Nutrition Information

• Serves: 4 portions

• Serving size: 4
• Calories: 890

• Fat: 68 gr
• Carbohydrates: 8 grams NET
• Fiber: 10 grams
• Protein: 54.4

Recipe type: Main

Cuisine: American

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A decadent, delightful, delectable, distinctive burger! Probably one of the best keto burgers you will ever try!

Ingredients

• Almond Butter Sauce
• 1 cup almond butter
• 1 cup water
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• 4 fresh Thai Chili Peppers
• 6 tbs Coconut Amino
• 1 tsp Swerve
• 1 tbs rice vinegar
• Burger
• 1.5 pound Grass Fed Ground Beef (buy from local farms or from US Wellness Meats!)
• 4 slices Pepper Jack Cheese
• 8 slices uncured bacon
• 1 large red onion
• [url:3]8 large leaves of romaine lettuce
• Celtic Sea Salt[/url]
• Black pepper

Instructions

1. Almond Butter Sauce
2. Sauce can be made ahead then warmed before putting on the burgers.
3. In a small sauce pan mix almond butter and water.
4. Bring to a slow simmer on low flame, and keep stirring until it has reached a thick consistency.
5. Now add the coconut aminos and mix well.
6. In the meantime in a small food processor mix garlic clovers, the chili peppers, with their seeds, vinegar and Swerve, then blend until a smooth paste is formed. ( I used a coffee grinder for this).
7. Now add the chili paste to the almond butter mix and stir until well blended.
8. Set aside.
9. Burgers
10. Bring the ground beef to room temperature.
11. Shape into 4 patties, then put an indentation in the middle of each patty with your thumb, so the patty will not become round once cooked.
12. Once shaped place the 4 patties on a broiler pan, then sprinkle with plenty of salt and pepper.
13. Turn on the oven's broiler on high and once the oven is hot place the patties, at about mid-height in the oven.
14. Broil for about 7 min or until golden brown on top.
15. Now remove from the oven and turn.
16. Again broil for 5 to 7 min or until browned outside.
17. Now remove from oven and place cheese slices on the burgers.
18. Put back in the oven for 5 minutes until cheese melts.
19. Slice red onion in ¼" thick slices.
20. In the meantime fry bacon in a skillet until desired doneness.
21. Drain bacon on a paper towel.
22. To assemble the burger:
23. Place 2 lettuce leaves in the bottom of each dish, they can be folded if they are too large.
24. Now place the patties on top of the lettuce.
25. Place a slice of red onion on the patties.
26. If you want to hold your burger, let the bacon cool, then add the Almond Butter Sauce on top of the onion and top with bacon.
27. If you want to cut your burger, place bacon on the onion and top with abundant sauce.

Notes

The portions indicated in the recipe are LARGE portions. makes 6 to 8 small portions!

3.2.2807

PS If you wonder where the heck to get some high quality Pastured Heart Meat, and you have no local farms around you, I recommend US Wellness Meats. You can buy heart online form them!!