Bluffview Teen Shares Recipes in ‘Hangry Boy’ Cookbook

Harley Glazer knew the Specific Carbohydrate Diet could keep his Crohn’s disease in remission. But in a world of fast food and donuts, a food plan that limits diners to very simple sugars in unprocessed foods is challenging for any teen to follow.

Thanks to the Bluffview resident and his family, though, the task may be getting easier. The 16-year-old’s first cookbook, Hangry Boy: A Cookbook to help reduce inflammation, is available to shoppers for $22.60 on Amazon.com.

Inside are more than 100 recipes Harley and his family have developed in the six years since his diagnosis. The book includes appetizers, breakfast and baked goods, main meals, sides, desserts, dressings, sauces, seasonings, and soups. 

Bagels — one of Harley’s favorites — are back on the menu thanks to gluten-free flours. So are chicken wings, ice cream, pizza crust, and pigs in a blanket made from grass-fed paleo hot dogs and almond flour wraps.

“It’s incredible what you can make following the rules of this diet,” Harley said. “You just have to be willing to do it.”

Harley was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a chronic inflammation of the digestive tract, at age 10 after he collapsed in pain halfway through the first match of a tennis tournament in Corpus Christi. 

A gastroenterologist gave the family one option: biologic medications. But Harley’s mom Denise, who has a graduate degree in biochemistry and has worked in the food industry, was concerned about the powerful drugs’ side effects and began looking for alternatives.

She found the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, and it worked. Today, Harley is back on the tennis court for three to four hours a day if he has time. He’s homeschooled, is taking advanced placement classes, and recently went to the Cleveland with his dad for National Sports Card Convention.

Harley is interested in business and continuing to play tennis. He’d like to go to a college where he can do both after he graduates from high school. He also hopes to help kids with Crohn’s and Colitis in the future.

“It’s important even in the rough moments when you feel down, or you feel isolated, that other people have gone through this,” he said. “And that you can get through, too.”