SUMMARY: Bone Broth is a traditional food that has been on dinner tables for ages, and yet it has nearly disappeared from the American table. I spent years researching what’s in Bone Broth, and why I should make it for my family. After all, it seemed to be loaded with hidden dangers like the potential for lead leaching into the Bone Broth from the slow cooker vessel and the animal bones themselves, histamine reactions due to its long cook, and even contrary to what other bloggers write, the TRUTH is that the evidence finds there’s NOT a huge mineral load in Bone Broth. After reading loads of studies, I decided to post this BRIEF FREE summary of what I found because the evidence proved to me that there are many components in Bone Broth that makes it worthwhile to make. I now do so as do leading functional medicine doctors like Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials, Dr. Mark Hyman, and Dr. Kara Fitzgerald. You can also read here how bone broth is being used during fast just prior to cancer immunotherapy to improve outcomes for insulin resistant related type cancers (breast, colorectal cancer, endometrial cancer, pancreatic cancer, glioblastoma multiforme).
Category Archives: Whole Food
Luke’s Healthy Poptart PALEO, SCD (and its versions PRODUCE, UMass IBD-AID)
SUMMARY: This recipe, Luke’s Healthy Poptart, is particularly healthy because it uses blueberries, nuts, flaxseed, and Ceylon cinnamon. We’re talking brain health, microbiome supportive fiber, phytochemicals, and blood sugar regulating spices! The recipe is so satiating that nugget sizes are the serving size! This recipe came about because Luke was reminiscing and belly aching about not having the snack bag which included Poptarts, that we use to pack for the long 11 hour trip to the beach. It was easy to redo that food into a whole clean food, bursting with gut microbiome supportive ingredients and minus those that evidence shows can cause harm. Enjoy this recipe with redic delic pleasure! Happy New Year, Happy New Decade!
Weight and Avocados (Replace Refined Carbs with Half or Whole Avocado)
Summary: Few studies look at the role of nutrient combinations (particularly fat and fiber) to enhance satiety. With avocados the rage now, many wonder about the impact on their waist from eating avocados because they are high in fat. What most don’t realize though is that avocados are inherently rich in fiber and that fiber/fat combo should remind you of another functional food (i.e., nuts) which have loads of documented health benefits! Spoiler alert: If you haven’t begun yet to add avocados to your meal, read on. This newly published study found that those replacing refined carbohydrates with fat and fiber (from avocado), as part of a meal, felt significantly less hungry and more satisfied after 6 hours, compared with those who ate a low-fat, high-carbohydrate meal. Spoiler alert: They also found that this group had a healthy metabolic hormonal response, and that combo can help mitigate overweight and obesity! In other words, isocaloric dietary manipulation with a whole avocado promotes favorable metabolic responses in addition to enhancing satiety and reducing motivation to eat. This study was a randomized three-arm crossover clinical trial, [Zhu et al 2019], and it published in the journal Nutrients. The researchers looked at how meals that SUBSTITUTE a half or whole fresh avocado for refined carbohydrates affects hunger and meal satisfaction both subjectively and physiologically over 6 hours, in overweight and obese adults. Many of us are eating low-fat, high-carbohydrate meals so from a practical standpoint, the population studied represents a typical cohort of middle-aged people at risk for cardio-metabolic disease—a point when realistic dietary changes can make a significant impact on reversing the disease risk trajectory. The cohort, N=31, was relatively healthy overweight or obese volunteers having elevated fasting insulin concentrations with insulin resistance [27]. Listen up –> The important physiological implications learned from the study was that the addition of avocado limited insulin and blood glucose excursions, and this correlated with an intestinal hormone called PYY which is an important messenger associated with the physiological response. What that means is that this study provides more evidence that adding healthy fats and fibers into a regular daily diet can modulate blood sugar and insulin spikes and that can reduce the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Britt Burton-Freeman, Ph.D., the senior study author and director of the Center for Nutrition Research at Illinois Tech said, “The responses on the different satiety variables was surprising and helps us understand [or] think about how the fat and fiber may work to enhance satiety, even later, in the post-meal period.” End-game thought: E- A -T AVOCADOS in place of the refined carbs!
SCD French toast Using Lois Lang Bread. Gluten-free, Grain-free, SCD, UMassIBD-AID, PRODUCE, and some PALEO camps
SUMMARY. It took over a decade, but today I finally can scratch off my recipe bucket list, making Lois Lang’s Luscious Breadfrom the BTVC book. This bread is as very near to conventional wheat breads as it gets. It can be sliced and used for sandwiches, and of course here, we make it into redic delic EASY SCD French Toast. I freeze this bread in slices, separated with unbleached parchment paper. It makes for quick breakfasts AND fabulous travel food! Enjoy French Toast alone, with a shake of cinnamon, or a slug of honey. Maple syrup is also perfect if eating PRODUCE version of SCD, (now in study at 12 facilities across the U.S.) or PALEO. This recipe is GLUTEN-FREE, GRAIN-FREE, SCD, UMass IBD-AID, PRODUCE, and it is permitted in PALEO CAMPS that allow lactose-free aged cheeses. There is nothing not to luv about this recipe. Give it a try and let me know what ingredient additions you make using the basic Lois Lang Bread recipe!
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:
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 report. Costco 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 literature. Learn 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
SCD PALEO Cauliflower Mock Potato Salad, 1st of 5 fav veg recipes
SUMMARY: This post shares the first of five of our SCD PALEO fav veg recipes, SCD PALEO CAULIFLOWER MOCK POTATO SALAD ⇒ so redic delic, we even make it at the beach! They eat it so fast, I cannot keep it stocked in the fridge (and my clan knows it is cauliflower they are eating!!!) I want you to eat cruciferous vegs because they help with detox. That is not snake oil salesmanship ⇒ the Dana Farber Cancer Institute_Phytonutrient Rich Foods Add Color to Your Plate chart, explains: ” cruciferous vegetables are packed with dietary benefits and contain detoxifying enzymes. Aim for 1-2 servings of these vegetables every day.” Read more on that below. I also want you to eat 30 different vegs each week as that was found best for the microbiome from the American Gut data. An update on that data just published [McDonald et al 2018], and it still says to eat your 30! I am however noting a word of caution for crucifer consumption because crucifers can be problematic for those iodine deficient or with thyroid concerns, BUT cooking crucifers reduces goitrogen levels. That needs weighed against their health benefits, and all that is discussed below. The other mega health whammy of this recipe is that the fats usually used in these sorts of salads is changed up to be HEALTHY!!! This recipe uses mayo (Primal Kitchens) that replaces unhealthy industrial seed based oils with heart healthy monounsaturated fat (avocado oil) but you can make your own mayo, sub SCD yogurt, or if not strict SCD, use a quality plain Greek yogurt). To make it even easier to make this recipe when vacationing, prior to departure ⇒ Combine in a small bottle the base dressing ingredients: Dijon mustard, honey, EVOO, dill, and mayo if not already bringing that down! Put the bottle into your cooler. This makes it so easy to then make this salad because the rest of the salad ingredients you likely are already buying down at the beach! Happy summer!!!
See My Microbiome Recipes on Instagram with practical insights
SUMMARY: GREAT NEWS: My Instagram @patty.carter is posting some of my gut flora supporting microbiome recipes!I will still continue to post recipes on this website (and other posts with direct links to the science) ⇔ I’m adding Instagram because it is a great work around for the Pinterest failure to post the entire description on images posted (at this time, they truncate descriptions when you view them)! 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! The second reason for adding Instagram is that I will post practical insights for integrating microbiome support into your lifestyle effortlessly and seamlessly ⇒ like today’s Instagram post showed my Whole Foods Market food haul, and it linked to the newly published May, 2018 American Gut new findings ♥♥♥ The bottom line, for my Instagram…it is best if you follow me to get the full recipe and practical integration insights, (but you don’t need to) –> just link here @patty.carter! The balance of this website post shares what posted in my Instagram today which included my Whole Foods Market food haul, and the link to the newly published May, 2018 American Gut new findings (which continues to confirm that 30 different vegetables consumed each week is best for microbiome diversity and health) ♥♥♥
Why You Must Understand Epigenetics
SUMMARY: Why Must You Understand Epigenetics? Because epigenetics is the real driver of your health status, and diet plays a major role in gene expression (aka epigenetics), at least in this post’s animal study! Mention this fun fact at holiday gatherings as others notice and comment — good and bad — about your favor of healthy whole foods with resist of the nutritionally empty and microbiome harming options! Epigenetics is a big word but it simply means the process by which your genes are turned on or off (aka expressed) in good or bad ways. You already know, diet pre-selects “who” comprises the gut microbiome. This post shares the University of Wisconsin-Madison mouse study which found that the molecules produced by the microbiome (aka metabolites) tells our genes what to do (turn on or off). This study looked at two diets: a carbohydrate rich diet (one rich in plant carbohydrates similar to fruits and vegetables humans consume) and pitted it against the Western, Standard American Diet (SAD) (think high in simple refined carbs, added sugars, and unhealthy fats — this is found in most all home cooked, grocery prepared, and restaurant meals as they use convenient processed ingredients). Their results showed the plant based diet yielded a more rich microbiome which in turn, produced metabolites that seemed to favor host-microbe communication as they chemically communicated with cells, including cells FAR beyond the colon (the liver and white fat tissue), to dictate gene expression and health (metabolic — insulin, lipid to name a few) in its host. In contrast, the metabolites of the SAD did not provide this communication likely because it was MISSING the necessary metabolites to do so! If you think this is awkward party talk, what is even MORE AWKWARD is feeling others watch what you eat so that they can learn what foods express their genes best! You’ve worked hard to learn microbiome. I am in awe and proud of you. Now it’s your turn to pay it forward and teach others by doing!
Look… Your genes are not your destiny. Disease is rooted in our DNA EXPRESSION.
Epigenetics triggers disease in those predisposed.
Time to learn a short EASY bit more about epigenetics now that you know THIS is the real driver of your health status.
I love this video analogy of epigenetics: “What is Epigenetics? An Entertaining and Educational Primer”, GreenmedTV, April 2013. Look through the below slides to see how they use only PUNCTUATION VARIANCE TO DRAMATICALLY CHANGE UP THE DIALOGUE CONTEXT. This is a great analogy to what epigenetics does. EPIGENETICS DOES NOT “CHANGE UP” HUMAN DNA — that is constant for a lifetime. Rather, an EPIGENETIC CHANGE READS THE INFORMATION DIFFERENTLY AND EXPRESSES GENES ACCORDINGLY; THAT CAN BE BENEFICIAL OR DETRIMENTAL TO HEALTH AND DISEASE STATUS. I want you to think of this analogy as you read through the short EASY technicals of epigenetics because epigenetics is easier to get than it sounds! Here’s the bottom line: “Interactions with the environment do not change the genes, but they alter their expression by switching them on and off through chemical tags on the DNA“. — Gut microbes switch host genes on and off under influence of diet
Now for the technicals made EASY and simple: A module from Learning Genetics, from the University of Utah, called The Epigenome at a Glance explains:
- DNA contains the instructions for building all the parts of the body. DNA is wrapped around proteins called histones. Both the DNA and histones are covered with chemical tags. This second layer of structure is called the epigenome. See this in the below slide.
- The epigenome shapes the physical structure of the genome. It tightly wraps inactive genes making them unreadable. It relaxes active genes making them easily accessible. Different genes are active in different cell types. The human DNA code is fixed for life, but the epigenome is flexible.
- The epigenome changes in response to signals. Signals come from inside the cell, from neighboring cells, or from the outside world (environment). The signals from the outside world or environment that epigenetic tags react to include diet (things we eat are broken down and circulate throughout the body), stress (physical, emotional, chronic inflammation, disease), sleep, toxins, and more (see parameters on the below Whole Health Pillars slide). The epigenome adjusts specific genes in our genometic landscape in response to our rapidly changing environment.
- It is Proteins that Carry the Signals to the DNA. Once a signal reaches a cell, proteins carry information inside. Like runners in a relay race, proteins pass information to one another. The specifics of the proteins involved and how they work differ, depending on the signal and the cell type. But the basic idea is universal. The information is ultimately passed to a gene regulatory protein that attaches to a specific sequence of letters on the DNA.
- A gene regulatory protein attaches to a specific sequence of DNA on one or more genes. Once there, it acts like a switch, activating genes or shutting them down. Gene regulatory proteins also recruit enzymes that add or remove epigenetic tags. Enzymes add epigenetic tags to the DNA, the histones, or both. Epigenetic tags give the cell a way to “remember” long-term what its genes should be doing.
You can PLAY (so can your kidos!) with the epigenetic controls at this website to SEE and MAKE epigenetics happen! Just Do it… NOW!
The PEARL: Signals from the outside world can work through the epigenome to change a cell’s gene expression, moving towards health, or not.
Now for the University of Wisconsin-Madison diet study.
The study, Diet-Microbiota Interactions Mediate Global Epigenetic Programming in Multiple Host Tissues, with full text PDF here, found that gut microbes have a huge role in health as they alter the host gene expression in a diet dependent manner. The two diets studied, a plant based carbohydrate rich diet (think fruit/vegetables) compared to the Western, Standard American Diet (SAD) (think low fiber and high in simple carbs, sugars, and unhealthy fats found in most all home cooked/grocery prepared/restaurant foods as they use processed ingredients), expressed genes very differently not just in the gut, but in the liver and fatty tissue FAR removed from the gut. From the Wisconsin University News article, Gut’s microbial community shown to influence host gene expression:
My Healing Diet Holiday Appetizers, a Roundup!
SUMMARY: Openers Thanksgiving Day are actually all day long in our home. Friends and family stop in knowing a culinary taste dream awaits them. Incredibly though, my openers are simple with many made way ahead of time and pulled from the freezer a day or two ahead. That is the only way to go because, well… it is too much fun celebrating with my guests then being creative in the kitchen! Here’s my roundup! You will find the recipe links below, or if the recipes have not yet posted, I printed the instructions below. The Holiday Board on my Pinterest has these plus even more greats if you want other variety! Hoping you enjoy My Healing Diet Holiday Appetizers Roundup! Happy holidays!
Artisanal Irish Soda Bread – I’ll have to take pics this Thanksgiving because I don’t have any! You can press the loaf flat using unbleached parchment paper. Also, mini loaf pans (lined with unbleached parchment paper) worked great! Bake ~15 minutes at 325F convection bake. There were NO problems with over browning (see below). This Artisanal Bread is wonderful to use as an appetizer at all holiday meals, it is always welcome at parties and gatherings, and it makes a great Artisanal hostess gift. TIPS:
- Make sure to use this tweak for SCD/GAPS/PALEO. Always substitute honey (or maple syrup if you follow the UMass IBD-AID diet) instead of agave nectar. Actually, all of you should follow this tweak because well… NO one should be eating agave. It is too loaded with fructose, and that is a hard to digest FODMAP for everyone.
- Cut the dough in half. Keep one plain, and toss 1/4 cup raisins in the other half. Two ridic addictive delic appetizers for the effort of one! I butt them together, bake, and plate them that way!
- Watch the oven temperature to prevent over browning. I have a convection oven and find that reducing the oven temp to 325F is absolutely necessary to prevent over browning of this bread. If you have a regular oven, watch closely to see if you need to reduce the temp to prevent over browning.
Baked Rosemary, Almond Flour & Butternut Squash Gnocchi (SCD/GAPS/PALEO) (see Comment Section for the recipe if link fails (as well as an alternate recipe using almond flour and coconut flour)) with my Favorite Pizza Sauce (SCD/GAPS/PALEO) (recipe below).
Favorite Pizza Sauce: 15 oz jar tomato sauce (or 5 fresh tomatoes – see below for How-Tos) + 2 tsp oregano + 1 1/2 tsp garlic granules + 1 tsp paprika + 1/2 Tbsp basil + 1/2 tsp onion granules. 1/2 tsp honey (opt). Mix all ingredients in a small pan. Simmer ~20min to thicken a bit. Freeze excess. Instead of canned tomatoes, you can use 5 fresh tomatoes. Just core and cube them. You’ll need to simmer the sauce a bit longer, ~30min, to reduce the liquid. Stir more often as it thickens to prevent burning. Use an immersion blender to whip the sauce smooth. Add the spices at the end.