Category Archives: Whole Food

Blog: IBD, Blog: Microbiome, Whole Food

IBD Crohn’s: SCD increased microbiome diversity but Low Residual Diet reduced diversity

3 Comments

SUMMARY:   Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) increased microbiome diversity in Crohn’s patients. The pediatric and adult IBD clinics at UC Davis Medical Center (Sacramento, CA) conducted the study,  Analysis of Gut Microbiome and Diet Modification in Patients with Crohn’s Disease, and here, found:  

  1. SCD increased microbiome diversity whereas the low residual diet (LRD) decreased microbiome diversity.  Interestingly, the SCD diet included an increased microbiota representation of F. prausnitzii, an anti-inflammatory commensal.
  2. Patient diet COMPLIANCE was about 80%, and
  3. The SCD MICROBIOME DIVERSITY REMAINED despite a 30 day washout between diets.  

Given that it is now understood that IBD is associated with reduced microbiome diversity, perhaps this aspect of SCD (increasing microbiome diversity) explains the success many find using SCD to manage IBD as well as heal other illnesses.  The followup post, NICE, EATING SCD INCREASED F. PRAUSNITZII… HUGH?!? explains the significance of F. prausnitzii in the microbiome.

Click here to read full article
Blog: Digestion, Blog: FODMAPS, Blog: Microbiome, Whole Food

IBS: FODMAPS, Stomach Microbiome, Rifaximin Antibiotic Treatment, seriously?!?

9 Comments
SUMMARY:  Learn impact of FODMAPS, Stomach Microbiome, Rifaximin…  FODMAPS Diet helps over 70% of IBS likely because long term diet changes the microbiome in the stomach & gut.  FODMAPS isn’t a life long diet; you reintroduce & learn your individual dosing limits.  
Many now realize the need, if not necessity, to transition to a whole foods diet.  

Foods from restaurants or cafeterias, prepared foods (even at sites considered healthy such as Whole Foods), and the obvious boxed foods make it tough for consumers to avoid caloric dense non nutritive foods with industrial seed oils and added chemicals, pesticides, and GMOs.  The diet — health connection is becoming apparent; many suffering chronic disease(s) are trying to change diet and lifestyle to improve health and wellness.  Eating whole foods can be daunting but the safest bet is making it yourself and to do so in quantity so as to make this lifestyle change sustainable:

Click here to read full article
Blog: Digestion, Recipes: Dehydrator, Recipes: Nuts, Whole Food

It’s EASY to Soak and Dehydrate Nuts

10 Comments
WHY YOU WANT TO SOAK AND DEHYDRATE NUTS: 

Soaking and dehydrating nuts is EASY and it makes them more digestible since anti-nutrients are neutralized and enzyme inhibitors are eliminated.  If you are like many of my clients, you have no clue what the significance is of what I just said.  So another way of saying this is, unless you soak nuts, you will block mineral uptake, and this totally defeats the purpose of trying to eat nuts for nutrient density.

A surprising plus of proper nut preparation is that the process takes out the bitterness in taste making nuts taste incredibly sweet and delicious, which is what they are supposed to taste like.  I’d soak and dehydrate nuts solely for this culinary taste improvement truth be told.  Clients do too after they sample them.  I am always amazed to see what the filtered water looks like after a soak.  Someday I’ll do a lab analysis, and we’ll learn what actually is in that yuck.  One thing I do know, nuts blow up in size by the end of the soaking period leaving no doubt that they have absorbed the salt soaking medium:

Click here to read full article
Blog: Cancer, Blog: Microbiome, Whole Food

Colon Cancer, Biofilm, Bacteria, Probiotics Role

3 Comments

SUMMARY: New Colon Cancer, Biofilm, Bacteria, Probiotics ROLE in Colon Cancer findings out of John Hopkins: biofilms are present in 89% of tumors (13/15 cancers & 4/4 polyps) removed from right ascending colon, but only in 12% of tumors on the left side (2/15 cancers and 0 polyps).

Most colorectal cancers are known to develop slowly, over five to 10 years, “and it’s a disease that’s curable if you diagnose it early,”  says Cynthia L. Sears, M.D., professor of medicine and oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health.  Well…  therein lies the rub as the gold standard test,  colonoscopy, many do not do.  Additionally, as discussed in the post,  “YOUNG ADULT NEWLY DIAGNOSED COLON & RECTAL CANCER DOUBLES BY 2030,” there is an alarming increase in colon cancer among the young who typically do not have colonoscopy.  

Click here to read full article
Blog: Digestion, Recipes: Dehydrator, Whole Food

How-To Dehydrate Apples & Preserve the Enzymes, EASY

5 Comments

SUMMARY:   Learn Why and HOW to  dehydrate apples and preserve the enzymes!  Spoiler alert:  Properly dehydrating apples at a low temperature preserves maximum nutritional density and natural live enzymes since you can use organic apples picked seasonally and locally at their peak of ripeness, and the internal temperature of the fruit stays below 118F which maintains active enzymes!  The total dehydration time for this recipe is about 12 hours!

How to Dehydrate Apples to Preserve Live Enzymes

My directions incorporate the Excalibur-9-Tray-Digital-Controller-Dehydrator-76970-User-Manual.pdf, Raw and Living Food Guidelines, Excalibur Dehydration Guide. This manual explains that nutritional value AND enzymes are preserved if the INTERNAL temperature of the fruit is kept UNDER 118°F/48°C: 

Click here to read full article
Blog: Autism, Blog: Clinical Trials-Diet/Environment/Disease, Blog: Digestion, Whole Food

A professional autism dietary intervention program.

1 Comment
Summary:  It is time to share what a successful professional autism dietary intervention program can look like for autism management.

“Special Diets and Nutrition For Autism: Why They’re Cost Effective,” is such an interesting read from Judy Converse MPH RD LD, a registered dietitian since 1989, who then self taught herself, beginning in 1996, diet impact for her son’s growth, feeding, and developmental challenges at birth.   She then expanded training to learn biomedical intervention for autism, becoming a DAN practitioner, and ultimately provided instruction in nutrition for Autism Research Institute, US Autism and Aspergers Assocation, National Autism Association, and many others. She has lectured for many local and national audiences about the profound impact nutrition and a healthy gut have on the developing brain as well as authoring three books and created the first web-interface accredited learning module for health care providers on nutrition and autism in 2007.

Click here to read full article
Blog: Microbiome, Whole Food, WholeFood-SCD Yogurt,FermentedVegs

Avg numbers and kinds of microorganisms consumed in a day

2 Comments

SUMMARY:  Surprisingly, only a narrow range of microbes has been researched to date, mainly microbes involving disease or probiotic types.  Little is known regarding what microbes actually exist in our food, their quantities, or even how much they vary for the differing diets (or even meal to meal for that matter!)   This study estimated the total numbers and kinds of microorganisms consumed in a day by an average American adult for three differing diets: Average American Diet, USDA, and Vegan.

Click here to read full article
Pillar: Toxins, Recipes: Fish, Recipes: Poultry, Recipes: Vegetables, Whole Food

Vegetable Spiralizer Noodles. No gluten & arsenic grains!

2 Comments

Many need a spaghetti substitute especially when first decreasing gluten and grain consumption, and instead are increasing vegetable consumption.  A Paderno Spiralizer (this Williams-Sonoma website has a nice How-To use video) is what I use to make vegetable spiralizer noodles.  There are other spiralizer brands but I find the three blade Paderno to not be cost prohibitive (shop online), and it has lasted through many uses.

Vegetable noodles is a neat trick for spaghetti sides, be it scampi or marinara sauce based.  Recipes abound on the internet using spiralizer vegetable noodles, but a few of my favorites are:

Click here to read full article
Blog: Cancer, Blog: Microbiome, Whole Food

By 2030 adult young colon cancer diagnoses doubles

6 Comments

SUMMARY: Learn here that adult young colon cancer diagnoses doubles by 2030.

The number of young adults (aged 20 to 34, and 35 to 49 years) with newly diagnosed colorectal cancer is anticipated to nearly double by 2030.

Worth repeating:  By 2030 adult young colon cancer diagnoses doubles

For ages 20 to 34 years, colon cancer increase is 90.0% and rectal cancer increase is 124.2% by the year 2030.

For ages 35 to 49 years, colon cancer increase is 27.7% and rectal cancer increase is 46.0% by the year 2030.

For patients under age 34, the increase is across all stages of disease: localized (confined to the colon or rectum), regional (contiguous and adjacent organ spread, such as to the lymph nodes, kidney and pelvic wall) and distant (referring to remote metastases).

Click here to read full article
Blog: Microbiome, Blog: Microbiome & Fiber, CME_Microbiome, MICROBIOME WELLNESS PROGRAM, Pillar: Exercise, Pillar: Sleep, Wellness Vendor (Microbiome focus), Whole Food, Worthwhile Resources - Podcasts, Books...

Optimal Microbiome Diet From American Gut Data

42 Comments

SUMMARY (updated Aug 2018):  Dr. Rob Knight’s talk, Saturday, October 18, 2014, listed eleven factors that optimize the gut microbiome based on the American Gut Data cautioning all is preliminary.  These are listed below along with an interesting article titled:  “Can We Eat Our Way To A Healthier Microbiome? It’s Complicated,” in which Dr. Knight and Jeff Leach (founders of crowd sourcing project “American Gut”) discuss the microbiome diet.  A KEY finding was that the more vegs consumed (30 different each week is BEST), the more diverse the microbiome, and that is thought to be associated with health and improved immune status since MANY chronic diseases (see the below Table) have changes in microbiome diversity AND composition, [Cantinean et al 2018].  A 2018 update on the American Gut data just published, [McDonald et al 2018], and it still says to eat 30 different vegs each week! This post also provides insight into what the microbiome experts are saying about translation of microbiome research into clinical practice.  And last, my synopsis of Dr. Knight’s talk is provided (see below the light bulb) along with my listing of fav microbiome researcher labs whose work is discussed in this post! Use them and PUBMED for your own disease prevention or mitigation research. Always. Stick with the evidence for answers as this blog does.

Click here to read full article