See You Later, Tapioca

I love potato chips. Growing up my favorite flavor was sour cream and onion and I would eat entire bags of it. Nowadays I really enjoy plain salted potato chips, with sea salt and vinegar coming up a close second.

Much to the consternation of Pineapple I love to bring home new brands and flavors. All. The. Time. One of the more exotic flavors I savored is Black Truffle and Olive Oil; basically mushroom-flavored potato chips. Definitely not something pineapple would have imagined could even exist.

But alas, I can no longer have potatoes. Consequently I have been looking for alternative treats which will give me the same satisfying crunch while still being acceptable on my diet.

I regularly find vegetable chips, but they are almost always cooked in sunflower/canola/soybean oil; not Paleo-AIP-friendly.

Before embarking on this diet I had found some grain-free tortilla chips which were an okay alternative to corn chips. What I remembered about those chips was a little bit about the story on the back; the company founders were a husband and wife whose daughter had an autoimmune disease so they created the chips to avoid grains like corn.

Because I knew those chips were created to support an anti-inflammatory diet, I thought I hit the jackpot when I found cassava strips. These particular vegetable chips are not inherently flavorful--which is a potential sign of less-than-nutritious food--but I figured I could supplement the flavor with some good guacamole while still getting great crunch.

I also found cassava chips, which are basically the same texture as funyuns or Cap'n Crunch, but made with cassava instead of corn. The plain version is basically devoid of flavor--a few steps above cardboard which has a negative flavor--so they require a flavorful passenger such as guacamole.

Whenever I bought a lot of cassava strips/chips I found that I would start to get brain fog. If I ate those chips for several days in a row, I would gain weight (I don't have a scale and don't actually measure my weight, so I rely more on how I feel). I figured the weight gain was because cassava is basically starch.

"Maybe I should just eat it less frequently," I thought.

A few weeks ago I discovered these awesome marshmallows called Smash Mallows. I read the ingredients and found that the primary ingredient is tapioca (a.k.a. cassava) instead of corn syrup (which is the standard for marshmallows).

"Cha-ching!"

And they were on sale.

"Double cha-ching!!"

Pineapple and I both love the Pineapple Coconut flavored ones.

Last Saturday I went to the store to get more Smash Mallows. While there I walked past the grain-free tortilla chips again. Each time I notice them, I wonder if I can get them but have a vague recollection that I shouldn't. Sometimes I look at the ingredient list and think "Chia seeds? I can't have chia seeds." and then I put the bag back on the shelf. This time, though, I thought "Maybe chia seeds are okay in smaller quantities. I'll look them up."

And so I searched and found this article.

Wait...what? Cassava is not Paleo-AIP friendly?

NOOOOOO!!!!

I can't eat Smash Mallows anymore? I also just lost the crunch of cassava strips/chips!

Sadness.

But that explains why I don't feel great when I eat a lot of cassava strips/chips. That also explains my weight gain.

However, all is not lost. I can have cassava once in a while after my auto-immune disease is completely under control--I'm almost there; I no longer apply medication and my inflammation is low.

In the meantime, maybe I need to learn how to create my own chips. Daikon radish chips, anyone? Or maybe kale chips?