Category Archives: Recipes: Salad Dressings, Condiments

Guacamole Avocado Mash, PALEO, SCD GAPS

Summary:  This is the third of five family favorite VEGETABLE redic delic recipes I’m posting –> Guacamole Avocado Mash, PALEO, SCD GAPS!  The other two recipes posted at SCD PALEO Cucumber Salad and SCD PALEO Cauliflower Mock Potato Salad! These salads meet all healing diet tenets be it:  Mediterranean Diet, Whole Foods, SCD, GAPS, PALEO, AIP…  I’m posting these recipes because so many stumble over how to make vegetables taste fabulous!  I was there too ⇒ These recipes evolved over a decade of trialing what our friends and kidos loved vegetable-wise!  Increasing consumption of many different colorful vegs is vitally important to your health ⇒ The American Gut Data finds that a target of 30 different vegetables each week increases microbiome diversity, and that is thought to be correlated to improved health because most all chronic diseases have reduced microbiome diversity! The beauty of all of these recipes are that they top leafy greens deliciously which further increases vegetable diversity, and this Guacamole Avocado Mash ALSO is a great topper on salmon or chicken!  Four take-aways from this recipe include use of fermented apple cider vinegar for probiotics, use of garlic and onion for prebiotics (or FODMAPs) to feed the microbiome (and hacks to those if intolerant), and the benefits of avocado which includes its fiber and high monounsaturated fat content for heart and brain health!  Here’s my Instagram recipe card:

Click here to read full article

6 Healthy Halloween Trays, Avocado Ranch Dressing Dip, PALEO, SCD

SUMMARYCandy corn is a vegetable!  And its all about the candy, right!?!  With parents AND schools increasingly saying NO, instead, serve up these 6 Healthy Halloween Trays with Avocado Ranch Dressing Dip ⇒ your kidos (and adults) will ♥ them!  You also do your gut, brain, and heart good because all those colorful eat—the—rainbow vegs boost the beasties in your gut that bloom the health promoting short chain fatty acids!  And nothing makes better great big green eyeballs than the Avocado Ranch Dressing Dip on these 6 Healthy Halloween Trays ⇒ That recipe is redic delic (a staple in healing fridges), and it’s really healthy (unlike that crap Ranch dressing you buy at your market) since my recipe uses avocados, a brain and heart healthy monounsaturated fat! So instead of candy, processed foods and chips, serve these veg tray gems (anytime of the year really) to draw your children to chomp more microbiome supporting, less toxin loaded, foods. Be sure to use EWG Dirty Dozen lists for guidelines on buying organic! And wash them with a 15  minute soak in water having a small handful of baking soda for 15 min followed by a rub and rinse! Wishing you a night full of frights and a bag full of delights that is buffered by these vegs! In the spirit, “Shadows of a thousand years rise again unseen.  Voices whisper in the trees, ‘Tonight is Halloween!'” Dexter Kozen. If you’re thinking ahead to Christmas, here is my Roundup of Healthy Holiday Trays! Happiest of Holiday all ⇒ PLEASE share, especially with teachers ♥ SUPPORT BRAINS FROM ALL ANGLES!

Click here to read full article

SCD PALEO Cucumber Salad (Mediterranean, Whole Foods, SCD, GAPS, PALEO, AIP)

Summary:  This is the second of five family fav vegetable redic delic recipes I’m posting –> SCD PALEO Cucumber Salad. The first posted at SCD PALEO Cauliflower Mock Potato Salad! These salads meet all healing diet tenets be it:  Mediterranean Diet, Whole Foods, SCD, GAPS, PALEO, AIP…  You can add whatever vegetables you want to help meet the target of 30 different vegetables each week to increase microbiome diversity! These salads are also great topped on leafy greens!  The BIG thing to learn in this post is that cucumbers are high on the EWG Dirty Dozen pesticide residue list (they are listed fifteen) so buy them organic if possible.  Regarding the green peel, I recommend you peel cucumbers unless you can confirm there is NO coating, even if the cucumber is organic.  I don’t want your gut seeing coatings!  To avoid coatings, try growing cucumbers in your garden ⇒ they grow insane in ours!  Or source from a farmer you trust!  Of course this recipe usesunadulterated EVOO  ⇒ those are listed on this UC Davis PDF reportCostco Kirkland Organic or California Ranch are listed as unadulterated on this report.  Unadulterated EVOO is a heart AND brain healthy monounsaturated fat.  This oil is a predominant ingredient on the Mediterranean Diet and MIND diet!  The MIND diet stands for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay.  It combines Mediterranean, DASH, AND aging brain literatureLearn a bit more about it here! ♥  It’s the first time I’m posting about it, but contact me to learn How-Tos, Workshops, or for CME! XO

Click here to read full article

SIX Family Fav SCD PALEO Salad Dressings

SUMMARY:  Sharing  SIX  of my ridic delic family and friend approved SCD PALEO Salad Dressings along with my homemade fermented Dijon mustard recipe (because some recipes have this as an ingredient)!  I want followers here to have these recipes since they just posted on my Instagram, patty.carter, and this is a work around to Pinterest truncating image descriptions (which meant that you couldn’t see all the description, and thus ingredients, for some of these recipes)! Of course, continue contacting me direct for those Pinterest recipes, all of which focus on the healing diet tenets from SCD, PALEO, Mediterranean Diet, and others! ♡  These dressings are what got my kiddos eating massive amounts of colorful microbiome boosting salads!  They are that redic delic!!!  We even take these salad dressings to the beach! 👙  I double these recipes making them in bulk to always have them on hand and to make light the work prep! Also learn in this post that there’s good reason these dressings are always in healing fridges 👉

Click here to read full article

Simply Amazing SCD Avocado Dressing & Dijon Mustard Recipes

Summary: =&0=&grocery store and restaurant options are not doing your gut or your waistline any good!=&1=&and=&2=&needless gut damaging food-like ingredients like emulsifiers, that are obesogenic, cause low grade inflammation, metabolic syndrome, IBD if predisposed, inhibit your liver’s main detox P-450 gene, and precludes your absorption of essential life preserving fat soluble carotenoids which you can literally see in all the eat-the-rainbow colors I preach!  =&3=&Valentine’s holiday,=&4=&Simply Amazing SCD Avocado Dressing along with it’s Ranch Dressing variations and the=&7=&  which is used in the dressing recipe.  Both are staples in my healing kitchens!  I am in total ♥ with the mayo product that I also use in this recipe — Mark Sisson’s Primal Kitchen Mayo with Avocado Oil=&8=&Dr. Suskind NIMBAL SCD PRODUCE study materials!  Many of you know I have been eating the healing diets for over a decade, settling into SCD’s modified versions now in microbiome test, to induce and maintain remission of an autoimmune disease medication–free all=&9=&arounds=&11=&njoy my redic delic creamy truly healthy Simply Amazing SCD Avocado Dressing along with it’s Ranch Dressing variations As a double added bonus, the Delicious Homemade Dijon Mustard (SCD legal of course) recipe is also included!  XOXO to you and yours, Happy Valentine’s holiday ♥

 

 

Make the redic delic creamy truly heart, body, and brain healthy Simply Amazing SCD Avocado Dressing along with it’s Ranch Dressing variations! As a double added bonus, make the Delicious Homemade Dijon Mustard (see the second recipe in this post)! Enjoy knowing all are of course SCD legal!

Ingredient nuances

Primal Kitchen Mayo with Avocado Oil is SCD legal according to Dr. Suskind NIMBAL SCD PRODUCE study materials!  From the Primal Kitchen website, the ingredients are: Avocado Oil, Organic Cage-Free Eggs, Organic Cage-Free Egg Yolks, Organic Vinegar (from Non-GMO Beets), Sea Salt, Organic Rosemary Extract.

Further, from the website :  Primal Kitchen® Mayo takes us back to our primal roots—pure, nutritious, real-food ingredients with no artificial colors, preservatives or additives. It’s the first ever avocado oil-based mayo, made with organic, cage-free eggs and vinegar from non-GMO beets whipped into that full, rich classic mayo taste you love. Because avocado oil boosts the bioavailability of nutrients it’s paired with, you increase your body’s absorption of antioxidants whenever you add a dab of Primal Kitchen Mayo. And our mayo is free of sugar, gluten, dairy, soy and canola-oil, and Non-GMO Project Verified so you can indulge to your taste buds’ delight.

  • Heart-Healthy, Monounsaturated Fats
  • Nutritious Ingredients
  • Primal, Paleo & Keto Friendly

=&13=& mustard.  This recipe is a staple in my healing kitchens. It is on my Pinterest Condiment Board.  I always double the recipe to make it in bulk — it is that redic delic, and it is a real ferment!!!  Use it whenever you need mustard, including just for a dip of cheese! This recipe is SCD and PALEO, but not AIP because of the mustard (the wine boils off).  If you don’t make your own Dijon, perhaps use SCD legal Annie’ s Organic Dijon Mustard or Trader Joe’s Deli Style Mustard  (both are listed on the  Dr. Suskind NIMBAL SCD PRODUCE study materials.)

 

 

Monounsaturated Fatty Acids

The cream type dressing I use to buy for my family was Cindy’s Kitchen of Brockton, Roasted Garlic Caesar Dressing Dip.  I hated the ingreds, but my family luved the taste.  You have to pick your battles, and I was not making my own mayo which is used in creamy salad dressings.  I bought the Cindy’s from Whole Foods Market and even though it didn’t pass my strict muster, at least it was refrigerated.  So I caved.  Thanks to Primal Kitchen Mayo with Avocado Oil, that is no more as I use this as a base ingred in all my  creamy redic delic ranch type salad dressings which also happen to be SCD legal!

Label de-coding the ingreds in Cindy’s Kitchen of Brockton, Roasted Garlic Caesar Dressing Dip (red highlights problem ingreds):

Non-GMO Expeller Pressed Canola Oil, Filtered Water, Tapioca Syrup, Imported Pecorino Romano Cheese (Sheep’s Milk, Cheese Culture, Salt and Enzymes), Garlic, Pasteurized Egg Yolk, Non-Fat Dry Milk, Lactic Acid, Anchovies (Anchovies, Salt, Olive Oil), Non-GMO Soy Sauce (Water, Non-GMO Soybeans, Wheat, Salt, Organic Alcohol) Worcestershire Sauce (Distilled White Vinegar, Molasses, Water, Sugar, Onions, Anchovies, Salt, Garlic, Cloves, Tamarind Extract, Natural Flavorings, Chili Pepper Extract), Sea Salt, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Black Pepper, Roasted Garlic, Mustard Flour, Xanthan Gum. *CONTAINS: EGGS, MILK, ANCHOVIES, SOY, WHEAT.

Click here to read full article

Salad and Dressings WorkShop, microbiome focused

SUMMARY:  Following the May 26 Treesdale seminar, you wanted to know practically how to improve microbiome health.  You now understand it exists, it is changeable, and it is behind 70% of immunity.  So here it is:  attend the Salad and Dressings WorkShop in Wexford, PA! You know you have got to nourish your trillions of microbiome beasties and that certain fats are best till the dust settles on the other oils and their associations to disease.  For those unable to attend, read the prebiotic and probiotic discussion in this post for tips for those two true microbiome supporting salad components. If you are local, come learn how to put it all together!  

Spend more time with the solution than the problem!!!
Microbiome Awareness is NOT Paralysis

I want you to know, I had a conversation YESTERDAY, at a “Healthiest Employers” awards conference in Pittsburgh with  a key medical director at UPMC about microbiome awareness to the lay.  Dr. P told me “…microbiome awareness to lay is paralysis!”  He asked, “What do you do now… post the presentation?”  He insinuated you did not know what to do with the microbiome information.  I showed him the Salad & Dressings WorkShop brochure and invited him, not that I expect him to attend.  I want you to know, this is NOT the first time I have listened to medical professionals speak of lay inability for understanding microbiome impact on health.  I totally don’t get this attitude.  I see the microbiome supporting changes you guys implement after I present microbiome awareness.  While the conventional medical establishment can remain silent on microbiome awareness, you seek, learn and act.  I applaud you!!!

Salad and Dressings WorkShop, microbiome focused

In this class you will make, taste, and take salad dressings and accompaniments all the while learning about:

  • True microbiome supporting salad components,
  • FATS (monounsaturates, polyunsaturates, carotenoid absorption, unadulterated EVOO sourcing, etc.)
  • Herbs and Spices (part of your 30 vegs),
  • Proper preparation of plant sourced protein (quinoa/lentils/nuts/seeds),
  • some TMAO, and
  • much more putting science into practice! Hint: It isn’t red peppers, carrots, cucumbers and greens.

Bring your own glass jars and Ninja if you own one.
DATES (pick one): June 14 or 21
Time: 7 PM
Cost: $20
RSVP to: Biome393@gmail.com or Danagrau27@yahoo.com

Share with your friends! If you can’t make either date but want to attend let us know. We’ll try to add a third date!

Four microbiome supporting salad components

lightbulb21 & 2:  Microbiome nourishing salads always includes whole food prebiotics & probiotics.

3 &4:  Microbiome nourishing salads always eliminates dressings containing gut degrading ingredients like emulsifiers and pro-inflammatory oils.

For details, see the emulsifier post here.  For the  oils, see the soybean, corn, vegetable posts that discuss their associations to disease:  here for diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and IBD, here for the need for fat and what is the best fat along with a great salad dressing recipe, and here for less breast cancer diagnoses consuming EVOO than nuts but more diagnoses consuming no/low fat.

Prebiotics are food for the probiotics.

This is why we eat prebiotics along with probiotics!  think about kimchi — its ingredients naturally combine prebiotics  (cabbage, radishes, ginger), and the fermentation provides the probiotics! But there are unfermented foods that we eat that gets fermented in the colon; these are called prebiotic foods.   Adding prebiotic and probiotic ingredients are two microbiome supporting salad components.

Prebiotics insights

Prebiotics are not living; prebiotics are non-digestible fiber that reach the colon.  The bacteria present  in the colon ferments (consumes) those fiber substrates and can stimulate selectively the growth of probiotic-like bacteria normally present in the gut.

The definition of prebiotics is changing as advances in the understanding of diet–microbiome–host interactions challenge important aspects of the current concept of prebiotics.  This paper argues that the prebiotic definition in 2010 (inulin, FOS, tGOS, and lactualose) should be explanded to include inulin, FOS, tGOS, human milk, oligosaccharides, and candidate prebiotics such as resistant starch, pectin, arabinoxylan, whole grains, other dietary fibers, and noncarbs that exert action through modulation of the microbiome:

Prebiotics are currently considered to be :  Inulin, Fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), Polydextrose,  Arabinogalactan, and
Polyols—lactulose,  lactitol.  In the US, the main prebiotic sources are 70% wheat, and 20% onions.  I’ll update this citation as I’ve lost it for now!  You should choose lots of variety of the food examples within these categories (not inclusive):

Fiber and Prebiotics: Mechanisms and Health Benefits explains:  All prebiotics are fiber, but not all fiber is prebiotic.  Fiber intakes around the world are less than half of recommended levels.  From this paper:  Most commonly consumed foods are low in dietary fiber.  The Nutrition Facts label is based on 25 g of fiber recommended daily for a 2000 calorie diet. Americans typically consume about half of the recommended amounts of fiber each day (about 15 g/day) [17] Flours, grains, and potatoes are the most popular sources of fiber in the American diet; while fruits, legumes, and nuts are the least popular sources [17].  Fiber and Prebiotics: Mechanisms and Health Benefits further explains:

  • Prebiotics are non-digestible substances that provide a beneficial physiological effect to the host by selectively stimulating the favorable growth or activity of a limited number of indigenous bacteria. This generally refers to the ability of a fiber to increase the growth of bifidobacteria and lactobacilli, which are considered beneficial to human health. Benefits of prebiotics include improvement in gut barrier function and host immunity, reduction of potentially pathogenic bacteria subpopulations (e.g., clostridia), and enhanced SCFA production.  
  •  An important mechanism of action for dietary fiber and prebiotics is fermentation in the colon and changes in gut microflora.  Classification of a food ingredient as a prebiotic requires scientific demonstration that the ingredient [2]:
    – Resists gastric acidity, hydrolysis by mammalian enzymes, and absorption in the upper gastrointestinal tract;
    – Is fermented by the intestinal microflora;
    – Selectively stimulates the growth and/or activity of intestinal bacteria potentially associated with health and well-being.
  • Carbohydrates having the ability to be utilized by lactobacilli and bifidobacteria [49] are: Galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) and lactulose were shown to support the most favorable growth characteristics, while poor growth was shown with inulin, maltodextrin, and polydextrose. Mixtures of short chain oligosaccharides and inulin showed more growth.
  • Fber and plant food sources (Table 2) that favorably alter the intestinal microflora include:  Inulin, oligofructose, and FOS — increases fecal bifidobacteria at fairly low levels of consumption (5–8 g per day).   Acacia gum — produced a greater increase in bifidobacteria and lactobacilli than an equal dose of inulin, and resulted in fewer gastrointestinal side effects, such as gas and bloating [41]. Banana consumption (2 per day) — increased bifidobacteria, Mitsou et al. [48]  Polydextrose — dose-dependent decrease in bacteroides and an increase in lactobacilli and bifidobacteria [42,43]. Wheat dextrin — increase lactobacilli,  reduce Clostridium perfringens, and increase bifidobacteria [44]. Psyllium — was found to have prebiotic potential in a small ( = 11) study in women [45].  Whole-grain wheat breakfast cereal had a prebiotic effect, while wheat bran did not. 
Maybe it is the other things in food high in fiber that protect health!

Foods that are high in fiber, whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and legumes contain more than just fiber. These co-passengers with fiber may provide the protective health properties of fiber, rather than the fiber itself [19]. Also, additional properties of fiber, such as viscosity and fermentability, may be more important characteristics in terms of physiological benefits. Viscous fibers are those that have gel-forming properties in the intestinal tract, and fermentable fibers are those that can be metabolized by colonic bacteria. In general, soluble fibers are more completed fermented and have a higher viscosity than insoluble fibers. However, not all soluble fibers are viscous (e.g., partially hydrolyzed guar gum and acacia gum) and some insoluble fibers may be well fermented (Table 1). Fiber and Prebiotics: Mechanisms and Health Benefits

Gobal consumption of prebiotics varies; we don’t eat much of them!

North America consume 1 to 4 gms/day of inulin or oligofructose, Western Europe consumes 3 to 10 gms/day.  –Prebiotics and Probiotics Science and Technology, Volume 1.  Quite a difference!

There is a synergistic effect of consuming prebiotics and probiotics together.

When probiotics and prebiotics are used in combination, they are known as “synbiotics.” The combination of suitable probiotics and prebiotics enhances survival and activity of the organism, for example, an FOS in conjunction with a Bifidobacterium strain or lactitol in conjunction with Lactobacillus strains [23]. The combination of prebiotic and probiotic has synergistic effects because in addition to promoting growth of existing strains of beneficial bacteria in the colon, synbiotics also act to improve the survival, implantation, and growth of newly added probiotic strains… The combination of probiotics and prebiotics significantly reduces the serum cholesterol level and that can be used as an alternative remedy for hypercholesterolemic problems without any side effects to the consumers. Effects of Probiotics, Prebiotics, and Synbiotics on Hypercholesterolemia: A Review

Many actually don’t eat a lot of microorganisms!

The post, AVG NUMBERS AND KINDS OF MICROORGANISMS CONSUMED IN A DAY showed how little microorganisms we really eat.  The post discussed the study,  The microbes we eat: abundance and taxonomy of microbes consumed in a day’s worth of meals for three diet types, (Average Amer. Diet, USDA, & Vegan).

  1. The Average American (AMERICAN) focused on convenience foods,
  2. USDA recommended (USDA) emphasized fruits and vegetables, lean meat, dairy, and whole grains, and
  3. Vegan (VEGAN) excluded all animal products.

The AMERICAN and VEGAN dietary patterns had 3 orders of magnitude fewer total microorganisms than the USDA dietary patterns, with total microorganisms of CFU and CFU respectively. Neither the AMERICAN nor the VEGAN dietary pattern meals contained fermented foods that were not heat treated as part of meal preparation. For example, the AMERICAN lunch and dinner contained cheese that was either cooked on a grill or baked in the oven and the VEGAN lunch contained tofu, which was cooked in the vegetable broth.

The USDA lunch also had the highest amounts of yeast and mold (and CFU respectively) of all the meals, and this meal also had relatively high amounts of aerobic bacteria (CFU).

There are many sources of probiotics and prebiotics and variety is likely important.  Maybe it is the other things in food high in fiber that protect health!

Foods that are high in fiber, whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and legumes contain more than just fiber. These co-passengers with fiber may provide the protective health properties of fiber, rather than the fiber itself [19]. Also, additional properties of fiber, such as viscosity and fermentability, may be more important characteristics in terms of physiological benefits. Viscous fibers are those that have gel-forming properties in the intestinal tract, and fermentable fibers are those that can be metabolized by colonic bacteria. In general, soluble fibers are more completed fermented and have a higher viscosity than insoluble fibers. However, not all soluble fibers are viscous (e.g., partially hydrolyzed guar gum and acacia gum) and some insoluble fibers may be well fermented (Table 1). Fiber and Prebiotics: Mechanisms and Health Benefits

Look over the below probiotic and prebiotic list and consider consuming variety since all have differing phytonutrient, bacterial, and fiber benefits:

Live probiotics benefit the microbiome.  Are dead probiotics beneficial to our guts?  

Yes according to the study below, especially for constipation.  Dead probiotics altered the microbiome and had gut beneficial functional impact, but the microbiome impact was different than how the live probiotics altered the microbiome.

Probiotics are living bacteria and yeast that live in the GI tract.  They modulate the microbiome.  Probiotics are defined as ‘live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host’ (10), and the administration of these organisms might change the composition of host gut microbiota.

The studies below show that both living and dead probiotics help gut function but there are differences in microbiome constituency.  This altered metabolites (chemicals produced by the microbiota) including short chain fatty acids (see below for those many benefits).  The ramifications of the differing microbiota is not yet known, but health benefits were realized for both dead and living probiotics for the Lactobacillus gasseri CP2305 strain .  Oral ingestion of certain live probiotics colonized the gut.

Nineteen strains of lactobacilli (each 5×106/ml) were fed to healthy volunteers in 100 ml of fermented oatmeal soup.11 Biopsy specimens showed that the organisms colonised jejunal and rectal mucosas. Adherent lactobacilli were recovered from jejunal samples 11 days after the probiotic was stopped, while mucosal clostridia decreased up to 100-fold in some volunteers. In rectal tissue, anaerobes and enterobacteria were reduced.

Click here to read full article

Healing diet holiday recipes (AIP, PALEO, SCD, GAPS)

Summary:  Most everyone wonders what are the ingredients that make up healing diet holiday recipes and that create nutrient dense, anti-inflammatory, low toxin great tasting traditional food that even folks not on any dietary restrictions will enjoy.  Seems impossible, but it is absolutely possible.  I do it all of the time; guests are amazed and hosts welcome such! For predinner delights, check out these appetizers! Otherwise, lets dive into our soup, tenderloin and sauce recipes, as well as many AIP blogger all time holiday favorites! Happy Holidays!

I’m sharing four of my family’s and guests favorite holiday recipes (and my Pinterest Holiday board shares more) for our Butternut Squash Soup opener and incredible Whole Beef Tenderloin recipe which literally melts in your mouth and is great topped with  Alton Brown’s Horseradish Cream Sauce or our fav Mushroom Sauce. The Horseradish Cream Sauce uses SCD 24 hour dripped yogurt (or Greek yogurt), and it is also a great salad dressing!  We’ve tested lots of recipes but these stand the test of time and remain our holiday tradition first course and main entree.   It is interesting that long before I even knew what a healing diet truly was, the soup, tenderoin, and mushroom sauce recipes are coincidentally also autoimmune-protocol (AIP) compliant as well as PALEO, SCD, AND GAPS compliant.  The Horseradish Cream Sauce is PALEO, SCD, AND GAPS compliant, but not AIP compliant due to the dairy.  AIP is explained further below, but suffice it to say AIP is perhaps the most challenging of the healing diets due to the vast amount of foods eliminated, albeit this is temporary.  I bet some of your own family favorites are AIP compliant!

I’m also sharing an incredible roundup of AIP blogger all time favorite and most popular holiday recipes Check out the AIP ingredients listed  below for several of those recipes for clues as to what are less gut irritating recipe ingredients and to learn more about this healing diet. 

Happy holidays everyone!

Butternut Squash Soup Recipe (AIP, PALEO, SCD, GAPS)

My Butternut Squash Soup Recipe has evolved over the years and is a combination of the best of many recipes including Epicurous. Usually for the holidays we serve this plain; you can add ingredients (lentils or berries) for a complete meal after the holiday blitz.  For easy “How-to” instructions for making calcium rich nutrient dense bone broth for use in recipes see the recipe in this post.  Another insider tip:  This soup stays frozen for all day travel replacing ice packs nicely and moving through TSA without incident!

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

Whole Beef Tenderloin (AIP, PALEO, SCD, GAPS) — at every Christmas meal for as long as I can recall:
Image of Whole Beef Tenderloin
Source: biomeonboardawareness.ccom
MANY MORE AIP Healing diet holiday recipes

Actually, there are a wealth of AIP compliant recipes online from amazing bloggers.  This download, “Holidays on the Autoimmune Protocol, a recipe guide by the AIP blogging community” gathers together over 80 AIP compliant holiday recipes by the top AIP bloggers. The free pdf link is here.  The document is interactive meaning you’ll need to click on the links to go to the recipe page on the original author’s website.

AIP is arguably one of the strictest of the healing diet protocols. AIP is used to induce remission in autoimmune diseases eliminating most all gut irritants.   An AIP compliant recipe eliminates grains, beans, dairy, eggs, nuts, seeds (this includes spices such as nutmeg, fennel, coriander, cumin, dill, and poppy and sesame seed — cautious use is recommended for pepper, vanilla bean, cardamom, juniper, and allspice), and nightshades (these are potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and spices such as cayenne, chili powder, chili pepper flakes, curry, paprika and red pepper)!  Don’t panic here… AIP is successfully used by many and although it is not a forever dietyou are never meant to return to the Standard American Diet.  Following gut healing AIP, you reintroduce foods; most can successfully reintroduce  nuts, seeds, dairy, eggs, rice, buckwheat, and quinoa (properly prepared in most cases).

Click here to read full article

Soybean oil, corn oil, diabetes, metabolic syndrome & P-450

Summary:  Learn the association between Soybean oil, Corn oil, Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome & P-450 inhibition, the main liver detox enzyme, having significant effects on expression of genes that metabolize drugs & toxicants.  Now is the time to be wary of and consider eliminating polyunsaturated fatty acids soybean oil and corn oil (as well as vegetable oil —since this typically contains soybean oil) as they were found to:

  1. Link to diabetes and metabolic syndrome. In the US, metabolic syndrome is estimated to be present in 20–30% of adults and 3–10% of children [100,101]. 
  2. Significantly affect the expression of many genes that metabolize drugs and other foreign compounds that enter the body, suggesting that a soybean oil-enriched diet could affect one’s response to drugs and environmental toxicants. The single most highly represented family of dysregulated genes was that of the [key liver detox] cytochrome P450 (Cyp) genes (30 genes total).

Also worth noting: the soybean plus fructose diet had less severe metabolic effects compared to the soybean oil diet, but it did cause more negative effects in the kidney and a marked increase in prolapsed rectums, a symptom of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which like obesity is on the rise.

The significance of this study  

The July, 2015 study, Soybean Oil Is More Obesogenic and Diabetogenic than Coconut Oil and Fructose in Mouse: Potential Role for the Liver, is believed to be the first side-by-side study looking at the impact of saturated fat, unsaturated fat and fructose on obesity, diabetes, insulin resistance and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, which along with heart disease and hypertension, are referred to as the Metabolic Syndrome. It is also the first study to perform the corresponding liver genome-wide expression profiling and metabolomics analysis.  

Click here to read full article

Meet the FATS & Best Salad Dressing Oil, Part1

SUMMARY: The focus of this post is to better your understanding of vegetable oils and unsaturated fats.  Raw vegetable salads are chock-full of important vitamins and nutrients, but the latest science says you won’t get much benefit without eating them along with both the right type & amount of fat. In fact, essentially no or very low absorption of carotenoids was observed when salads with fat-free salad dressing were consumed (see this study or this study, Table 3.) 

In this post learn: the preferred fat/oil for best carotenoid absorption (spoiler alert: that would be unadulterated, organic, and cold pressed EVOO brands which are listed in the  UC Davis pdf report here — scroll down to the lightbulb for more details), that you can actually ditch dressing and instead add half an avocado, or you can add cooked eggs to an incredibly small amount of dressing to even further boost carotenoid absorption. Make certain you consider the sections entitled What inhibits Carotenoid Absorption for possible impact due to your particular health status, and the tips for Decoding Labels.

Ummm… all those low or fat-free eaters, listen up….  Ends up, fat really does matter when it comes to carotenoid absorption as this Purdue University study  shows.  Bonus: You are going to learn fatty acids (and those not healthy) in this post.  Use this to choose the fat/oils you want in all your foods, not just salad dressings.

Ingesting healthy fat is absolutely critical to your health as You need fat to absorb fat soluble vitamins (Vitamins A, D, E, Carotenoids, CDC nutrition report)

If you use diet to avoid or battle chronic disease, you’d better be absorbing it’s micronutrients and antioxidants; thus the point of this post focusing on fats/oils and carotenoid absorption.

Adhering to an anti-inflammatory diet is the answer to reducing, managing, and even reversing chronic disease. Through diet we  increase anti-inflammatory Omega-3 fatty acids, decrease inflammatory (Omega-6 fatty acids, and food intolerances), and increase fruits and vegetables to increase antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. High quality meat, grains, and diary have a place in a nutrient dense diet, but this post is about cold use oils and maximizing nutrient and antioxidant absorption from uncooked produce.

The point is to reduce your risk of chronic disease that shortens lifespans and to live with vitality.  The lifespans of babies born today are shorter than their parents, and the diseases affecting men and women, are devastating lives, families, and incomes. What diseases?Ages 45 to 54 and 55 to 64 are shown in the below slides & are telling:

3 Dietary Factors Deliver 80% of value in terms of disease risk and body composition.

Dr. Peter Attia, M.D. (mechanical engineer ⇒ Stanford MD ⇒ surgical oncology fellow ⇒ healthcare consultant ⇒ NUSI (founder with mission to answer with scientific certainty through the best possible research— what we need to eat to be healthy questioning current guidelines — check out NUSI NEWS page) has gone so far as to say, My point:  Just modifying your diet by the 3 factors I mention in this post:

Click here to read full article