SUMMARY: Candy 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!
Kidney Stones, food.
SUMMARY: 1 in 11 people have kidney stones! They’ve been trying to formulate an oral commercial probiotic for a while because it worked GREAT in mice to decrease the urine oxalate levels. Oxalates in the kidney are a primary cause of calcium oxalate kidney stones. But the short of it is that in clinical trials on humans, it FAILS. Humans are NOT mice, at least as far as this commercial product goes. Another problem was that they couldn’t even find the target probiotics in some of the commercial products, and that means that it is really hard to process certain gut microbiome species in a manner that permits their commercialization. The Pearl for kidney health: Keep eating food that binds the oxalates in the gut so it stays out of the kidney where it can form stones. Also look at what you are eating ⇒ Food should bloom beasties that neutralize the oxalates. And keep the fluids plentiful too! ♥ Read on to learn about kidney Stones, food ♥ Why? Because once an individual has formed a stone, the likelihood of recurrence is 50 percent or greater at five years and up to 80 percent at 10 years.
Move for Brain Health
SUMMARY: You can’t outrun a bad diet, but that said, you must still move for brain health! This post shares a study that published last week, [Choi et al 2018], that found that the brain cognition benefit of exercise(that would be new neuron production (aka neurogenesis) AND increased production of brain derived neurotropic factor (BDNE)) could NOT be achieved by drugs alone because those newly produced neurons could not survive in the inflamed Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) brain tissue. However, it was achieved in a mice AD model by combining drugs and gene therapy to simultaneously turn on neurogenesis and BDNF production, but there is NOT YET a way to safely achieve the same effect in humans using drugs and gene therapy. The Pearl: Induce both new neuron neurogenesis and BDNF via exercise in order to let the newly produced neurons survive and thrive! Specifically, for brain health, Joyce Gomes-Osman’s study looked at almost 100 existing studies associating exercise with 122 different tests for brain function, having data for over 11,000 older people. [Gomes-Osman et al 2018] found ⇒ Exercise one hour, three times a week using a diverse regimen that includes aerobic exercise, resistance training, AND mind-body exercises like tai-chi because all are associated with evidence specifically supporting benefits for brain health in both people without cognitive decline as well as those with mild cognitive impairment or dementia. ♥♥♥ Go move! ♥♥♥ Exercise ⇒⇒ New Neurons +++ BDNF ⇒⇒ IMPROVES Cognition! Additionally, another important reference for appreciation of other factors beyond movement impacting cognition and AD, is: Alzheimer’s Dementia Bredesen Approach.
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
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 👉
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!!!
Intervention Diet Weight Loss Study
Summary: It is NOT calories in, calories out. This Intervention Diet Weight Loss Study is looking to show just that. It is being conducted by five prestigious universities: Framingham State University, Boston Children’s Hospital, Indiana University Bloomington, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Baylor University! The study evaluates the effect of dietary carbohydrate and sugar consumption independent of energy content on body fatness and metabolism in a rigorous feeding study. The study looks at WHY diets high in total carbohydrate, with or without added sugar, acts through increased insulin secretion, all during substrate partitioning towards storage and body fat, leading to increased hunger, slower metabolism, and accumulation of body fat. This is a randomized controlled feeding study involving 128 adults with BMI between 27 to 40. The test diets include very low carbohydrate (about 70% fat), High carbohydrate low sugar (25% fat, 0% added sugar), and high carbohydrate high sugar (about 25% fat, 20% added sugars).
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) ♥♥♥
Autism, autoimmune, cognition, Alzheimer’s and other neurological concerns of our times
Summary: The article, [Handley, j.b.Handleyblog.com, April 2, 2018], is a must read for anyone interested in autism and/or autoimmune conditions including cognition, Alzheimer’s and other neurological concerns so prevalent in our times. Handley’s article will make you think twice about healthcare shots and the power of the microbiome to mitigate immune system damage and dsyfunctionality=&4=& for autism: =&5=&role of immune activation events for vaccines containing aluminum adjuvants (in utero via maternal vaccines, as well as post birth vaccinations=&6=&=&7=&[Mold et al 2018] As well, autism is strongly linked to gut dysbiosis thus Handley’s article addresses, autoimmune and neurological interested audiences listen up: That immune activating event(s) can cause gut dsybiosis, that aluminum is also found in the brains of neurological diseases including=&14=&aluminum in the brains of individuals who died of familial Alzheimer’s disease=&15=&mediating gut microbiome inflammation using diet. Leading light Alzheimer’s researcher [Exley 2017 Editorial] notes: “Alzheimer’s disease is not an inevitable consequence of aging in the absence of a brain burden of aluminum.” His editorial can be read here: Aluminum Should Now Be Considered a Primary Etiological Factor in Alzheimer’s Disease Truth be told, healing dietary tenets that I teach are baseline for the chronic disease mitigation, autoimmune and autism healing diets (SCD, GAPS, FODMAPs, etc), and there are anecdotally plenty that see benefit of microbiome dietary intervention. These diets remove dietary aluminum, and below I note where you’ll find it. I also give substitutions for baking powder which contains aluminum. Handley’s article also contains The Three Letters, sent in 2017 to caution American public health authorities, authored by three of the most important scientists in the field of aluminum adjuvant toxicity — Dr. Christopher Shaw of Canada, Dr. Chris Exley of England, and Dr. Romain Gherardi of France. Whether you are a parent, grandparent, or just someone trying to get their arms around the microbiome — diet — health link, Handley’s article is a great read. Accordingly, my post, focusing on autism, autoimmune, cognition, Alzheimer’s and other neurological concerns of our times, will only summarize a few pertinent salient points of Handley’s post.
How Aluminum Adjuvant in Vaccines Can Cause Autism
In sum, “Five clear, replicable, and related discoveries explaining how autism is triggered have formed an undeniably clear picture of autism’s causation, and possibly ways to alleviate the symptoms, too. Most of the research that has created this understanding has been published in the last 36 months, and largely from international scientists in the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Israel, and China… Published studies are showing that autism is caused by an immune activation event. The adjuvant in vaccines — aluminum adjuvant — can activate the brain’s immune system and is far more neurotoxic than previously realized — all the new science has been published in just the last few years. Aluminum can cause IL-6, the key cytokine implicated in autism. Chinese scientists — for the first time anywhere in the world — used a vaccine to trigger an immune activation event, and recorded elevated levels of IL-6 in rats… Vaccines, administered early and often, are igniting immune activation event after immune activation event. [Handley, j.b.Handleyblog.com, April 2, 2018] International Scientists Have Found Autism’s Cause. What will Americans do?
“…while the aluminium content of each of the 5 brains [of people with autism] was shockingly high it was the location of the aluminium in the brain tissue which served as the standout observation…The new evidence strongly suggests that aluminium is entering the brain in ASD [autism spectrum disorders] via pro-inflammatory cells which have become loaded up with aluminium in the blood and/or lymph, much as has been demonstrated for monocytes at injection sites for vaccines including aluminium adjuvants.”
A “monocyte” is a type of white blood cell, of which one form of monocyte is a “macrophage.” A macrophage can be thought of as the garbage man of the immune system, eating up foreign substances, cell debris, etc. As you will see in a moment, macrophages appear to be playing a critical and devastating role in triggering autism, serving to escort aluminum injected from a vaccine directly into the brain, where it can disrupt brain development and trigger autism.
How Much Aluminum is in Our Brains?
Here’s the evidence for aluminum in autism and Alzheimer’s brains.
For autism, [Mold et al 2018]: “Aluminium-selective fluorescence microscopy was used to identify aluminium in brain tissue in 10 [autism] donors. While aluminium was imaged associated with neurones it appeared to be present intracellularly in microglia-like cells and other inflammatory non-neuronal cells in the meninges, vasculature, grey and white matter. The pre-eminence of intracellular aluminium associated with non-neuronal cells was a standout observation in autism brain tissue and may offer clues as to both the origin of the brain aluminium as well as a putative role in autism spectrum disorder.
SCD PALEO One Pan Shrimp Fajitas
SUMMARY: This post shares a redic delic SCD PALEO One Pan Shrimp Fajitas recipe, that is kid friendly, friend approved, and company worthy! ♥ It is a great rotation add-in for your meatless, seafood, meals! And, as expected for my recipes, this dish is loaded with a redic delic amount of vegs and spices that in addition to their nutrient and microbiome noshing fiber benefit, also contain antioxidants, and polyphenols with known health benefits which you get by consuming them! Learn the Why’s behind the health benefits of this recipe (antioxidants — why you want to eat them at every meal and phytochemicals), along with important shrimp — seafood sourcing and cooking precautions! Key Pearls of this post: DO NOT eat shrimp at restaurants. Eat Wild or Farmed shrimp YOU source. Regarding raw vs precooked shrimp: Raw shrimp will have more bacterial loads then precooked (60% vs 16%, respectively) but cooking raw shrimp properly (145F internal temperature held for at least 15 seconds) would destroy the bacterial loads.
This EASY one dish shrimp fajitas recipe, a fav in my kitchen, is served often for meatless, seafood meals, making eating tons of polyphenol antioxidant rich vegs and spices redic delic, and it is kid approved! Use whatever vegs you have on hand, so have fun and experiment! This recipe is super fast and easy using precooked shrimp, and that is how my tribe makes it at school. But if you prefer to use raw shrimp see the note section for instructions. Understanding safe shrimp sourcing is important and those details are within this post. To make light work, we use premixed SCD chili powder (recipe is in the note section). Source: One Dish Shrimp Fajitas, biomeonboardawareness,com/
What’s healthy in SCD PALEO One Pan Shrimp Fajitas:
Shrimp, while not one of the SMASH Omega-3 fatty acid rich fish (Salmon, Mackerel, Anchovies, Sardines, and Herring), does contain the antioxidant astaxanthin and iodine.
- Iodine is a nutrient that is increasing in deficiency as people move to consuming sea salt instead of processed iodized salt. Vulnerable populations are: Borderline iodine deficiency was found for women of childbearing age; excess was found for children. [Second National Report on Biochemical Indicators of Diet and Nutrition in the U.S. Population, Executive Summary 2012].
- Astaxanthin is a type of carotenoid, with antioxidant activity that is 100–1000 times greater than that of vitamin E. It is commonly found in crustaceans such as shrimp and crab, as well as marine organisms such as salmon, krill, and algae [Barros et al., 2014]. Dietary astaxanthin supplementation has beneficial effects in the treatments of inflammation, cardiovascular disease, lowers blood pressure, and oxidative damages, suggesting that astaxanthin is a functional food ingredient. [Fassett et al 2009] cardiovascular, [Pashkow et al 2008] cardiovascular, [Preuss et al 2008] lowers blood pressure.
Antioxidant 101! Here is why you want to eat antioxidants at every meal (most are mainly found in plants). Spoiler alert: Free Radicals!
[Oliveira 2015] explains: “Antioxidants are one of the body’s biggest lines of defense against free radicals (aka oxidative stress) that is continuously occurring within us. Free radicals are metabolic (waste) products that form every time you eat (when the body turns food into energy), if your immune system fights an infection, and in response to environmental agents like stress, air pollutants, radiation, cigarette smoking, drugs or other chemicals. Free radicals occur often and are problematic when they are produced in quantities greater than the body can handle.” Antioxidants removes free-radicals after they’ve formed or prevents their formation in the first place. If the balance is spoiled, “oxidative stress” occurs, leading to deterioration of normal cell functions and even cell death. How?
Antioxidants fight free radicals by ‘giving’ one of their own electrons to the free radicals without becoming free radicals themselves. Simply put, an antioxidant is not a substance, but a chemical property, i.e. it acts as an electron donor.
“Free radicals are chemically unstable and hunger for an extra electron. If there is no antioxidant to donate, or give, an electron, the free radical reacts with nearby molecules to ‘steal’ the needed extra electron (to gain stability). That alters the structure and function of the molecules that gave up the electron, and it becomes a free radical itself. That starts a cascade reaction that ultimately results in damage to cells. For example, free radical damage can harm your DNA resulting in mutation into cancerous cells. It can also increase the likelihood that LDL (otherwise known as a ‘bad’ cholesterol) gets trapped in an artery wall. It is therefore hardly surprising that free radicals have been linked to a number of chronic diseases including cancer, strokes and heart disease.”
Our bodies can create their own antioxidants, but we also need to take in additional antioxidants from our food, most are mainly found in plant food. Pro Tip: Every time we eat, our body makes free radicals, so eat antioxidants at each meal! “You can’t just eat a bowl of berries at breakfast and expect to effectively combat free radicals throughout the day. A much better way to combat the damages of free radicals is to ensure that each of your meals contains high antioxidant foods.”
The vegs and spices used in this recipe contain in addition to their nutrient and microbiome noshing fiber benefit, phytochemicals that are packed with antioxidants and polyphenols with known health benefits which you get by consuming them. They also contain anti-nutrients, which can be harmful or beneficial.
Phytochemicals 101
Phytochemicals are chemical compounds produced in plants (especially organic) in order to protect themselves against environmental threats like predator insects, pollution and disease. Phytochemicals can be broadly classified as nutritional (e.g., essential fatty acids, proteins, vitamins, minerals and phenolic compounds) and anti-nutritional chemical compounds (e.g., oxalates, tannins, nitrate), and they are also packed with antioxidants. [reference 12 in Horticult Int J 2017, 1(2): 00011]
Phytochemicals work together, not in isolation from one another or your entire diet. Pro Tip: Eat the rainbow of vegs and fruits to get sufficient phytochemical diversity as each has different roles.
Regarding polyphenols: There are over 8,000 identified polyphenols found in foods such as tea, wine, chocolates, fruits, vegetables, and extra virgin olive oil. [Han et al 2007] Epidemiological studies and associated meta-analyses strongly suggest that long term consumption of diets rich in plant polyphenols offer some protection against development of cancers, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, osteoporosis and neurodegenerative diseases 4,5 (Fig. 1). [Pandey et al 2009]
Some polyphenols include [Oregon State Univ, Phytochemicals]:
- Carotenoids — Offer free radical protection.
- Curcumin — Blocks carcinogens, induces programmed cell death in cancer cells and protects against DNA damage.
- Chlorophyll and Chlorophyllin
- Fiber — Feed your microbiome 30+ vegs each week so it can do its job properly! See this post, Optimal Microbiome Diet from American Gut Data.
- Flavonoids
- Garlic
- Indole-3-Carbinol
- Isothiocyanates
- Lignans
- Phytosterols
- Resveratrol
- Soy Isoflavones
Anti-nutrients are chemicals produced by plants and spices (especially organic) that ward off predators. “Anti-nutritional
factors include: cyanogenic glycosides, protease inhibitors,
lectins, tannins, alkaloids, and saponnins. If consumption of anti-nutrients exceed an upper limit, deleterious effects related to the absorption of nutrients and micronutrients may occur which can interfere with the function of certain organs. Certain harmful effects might also be due to the breakdown products of anti-nutrients. When present in small amounts, anti-nutrients and their breakdown products may possess beneficial health effects which include: anti-inflammatory and protection against age-related inflammation and chronic diseases like cancer, heart disease, and dementia.” [Gemede et al 2014] [Horticult Int J 2017, 1(2): 00011] Examples of well studied anti-nutrients are: Olive oil’s oleocanthal [Presti et al 2017] (beneficial effect against oxidative stress, inflammation, cardiovascular diseases, cancer and aging-related illness). Red wine grapes reservatrol [Berman et al 2017](beneficial effect for neurological disorders, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes disease biomarkers; negative effect for certain cancers and NAFLD). Curcumin from turmeric [Hewlings et al 2017] (aids in the management of oxidative and inflammatory conditions, metabolic syndrome, arthritis, anxiety, hyperlipidemia, exercise-induced inflammation and muscle soreness, and a relatively low dose can provide health benefits for people that do not have diagnosed health conditions. Caveat: It is poorly absorbed but adding black pepper — piperine — yields a 2000% increase in availability. I’ve added some mechanisms of action in the Reference section below).