SUMMARY: Hey… listen up! You want to get SCD Cheese right because it is loaded with Nutrients & Beneficial Bacteria! ALL healing diets (SCD, GAPS, PALEO, AIP, FODMAP…) eliminate lactose because most inflamed guts can not digest lactose! Actually, the lactase enzyme in our gut (which breaks down lactose) is the last to return to normal after the gut has healed (see page 25, Breaking the Vicious Cycle (BTVC), Edition 13, 2010). Further, certain diseases (like 65% of autism have a lactase deficiency) are associated with lactose intolerance, and some diseases (like IBS which afffects ten to fifteen percent of the population) may have an intolerance to the quantity of lactose consumed in the diet. For IBS sufferers, 3 out of 4 are helped with the FODMAP diet which figures out if foods we all digest poorly (which includes lactose) are even tolerated and if so, in what amount! And the British Dietetic Association 2016 update for IBS recommends a trial period of a low lactose diet where sensitivity to milk is suspected and a lactose hydrogen breath test is not available or appropriate. So many people are benefited by reducing or eliminating lactose in their diet! This post explains how to do that deliciously using the SCD tenets, and it explains why eating lactose-free cheese is important (if you tolerate the casein protein) sharing 7 SCD cheese requirments to consider in selecting cheeses! Bottom Line: Everyone wants to get cheese right because it contains a whopping 10,000,000,000 or 10 billion MICROBES, and it seems they survive the gut transit ride and beneficially impact your microbiome diversity + richness… all good immune boosting stuff!
SCD Seasoned Almond Flour ‘Bread’ Crumbs and Veg Recipe
Summary: Seems everyone enjoys this staple gracing holiday tables going back generations! It was my Dad’s favorite and for good reason. Broccoli smothered in butter, cheese, and breadcrumbs. What’s not to LOVE about that? Wait tho — What to do if gluten-free? Toss the tenets of healing diets to the holiday wind? NO! Here’s my holiday gift to you — use SCD Seasoned Almond Flour ‘Bread’ Crumbs! Find the How-to in this post’s recipe: Broccoli, Cauliflower, and Cheddar Cheese, with Seasoned Almond Flour ‘Bread’ Crumbs. Don’t know how it never made it on my Holiday Pinterest Board, but it’s there now! HAPPY THANKSGIVING and early MERRY CHRISTMAS! Last, read my special note for thyroid patients. It’s crazy how so many of you don’t know this but, the cruciferous vegetables are on the goitrogenic foods list. That doesn’t mean they are off limits. What that means is they need steamed or cooked and that is what this recipe requires. You should be free to enjoy this recipe without worry of kicking up thyroid antibodies, but always check with your doctor! This recipe meets PALEO/SCD/GAPS/UMASS IBD-AID/Mediterranean too!
Move over gluten, ATI wrecks guts too.
SUMMARY. This post looks at other ways beyond Celiac and NCGS, that wheat can affect EVERYONE and includes new groundbreaking research being presented in Vienna. The bottom line: Move over gluten, ATI wrecks guts too, and… we have a new picture of what the inflamed gut looks like! ATIs, or amylase-trypsin inhibitors, are non-gluten proteins in wheat. ATIs activate specific types of immune cells [toll-like receptor 4] in the gut and other tissues. ATIs can trigger gut immune reactions that can spread to other tissues in the body. How bad can this get? “ATIs can lead to the development of inflammation in tissues beyond the gut, including the lymph nodes, kidneys, spleen and brain. ATIs can worsen the symptoms of pre-existing inflammatory based conditions like RA, MS, asthma, lupus, IBD, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease…” The final big hit: “ATIs may contribute to the development of non-coeliac gluten sensitivity (NCGS).” No wonder so many feel better ditching wheat since you knock out both gluten and ATIs AND decrease inflammation not just in the gut, but systemically! For an example, IBD and neurological association to ATI is discussed below! What about the non-gluten containing staples you may be consuming? Those displayed no or little of the toll like receptor 4 stimulating activity whereas ATIs displayed much!
SCD Chicken Tortilla Soup
Summary: SCD Chicken Tortilla Soup is an EASY and nutritious family favorite that my kidos ask me to make! We have this soup year round, not just on cold Fall and winter nights. It’s a great way to increase your children’s vegetable and bone broth consumption, And if you must have ‘tortilla chips’, try the below substitute! Tip: Grill twice as many chicken breasts as you need for the week and make this soup in bulk. Often I quadruple this recipe and freeze portions. My kidos always take it back to college, and often, I use frozen soups as my “ice” for travel! If you happen to have a lot of leftover chicken or turkey (think Thanksgiving), this recipe makes great use of it! The “hot” seasonings — simply adjust to your family’s preference. Last, I’m sharing for the first time, my real thoughts on our pre-SCD meals (in hindsight) along with where the healing recipes that I post are really rooted. Clue: “There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace.” ― Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac
Defy Autoimmune Psoriasis: Green Tea, Black Tea, Lemon Juice Antioxidant
SUMMARY: Plenty of studies find anti-inflammatory effects of dietary antioxidants such as green tea for chronic disease. Even in IBD patients, who have a very messed up microbiome (a finding of the American Gut data), the benefits of antioxidant therapy is well documented (see below studies). Read here about a simple EASY N=1 hack for one IBD patient that shut down a mild psoriasis skin flare that began two years ago. They flared psoriasis, but not the autoimmune IBD, eating strict healing diet Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) probably due to a gluten/sugar airborne exposure. The hack that worked for stopping psoriasis: Green Tea, Black Tea with Lemon Juice antioxidant blend! I share their recipe here! It is simple enough that you may want to add it to your immune calming anti-inflammatory arsenal too! Make sure to see below for why it is important to NOT drink Green Tea for antioxidant benefit along with Iron.
Embriette Hyde, Knight Lab, Workshops, Portland
Summary: Just sharing a fun educational event, that literally could change your health, wellness, and vitality, occurring Friday October 14 thru Sunday, October 16, 2016, in Portland should you be nearby. I especially highly recommend catching the keynote speaker, Friday October 14, 2016, Dr. Embriette Hyde present “Redefining Human: Living and Eating in a Microbiome World”. Embriette is Program Manager for THE AMERICAN GUT PROJECT and works for KNIGHT LAB at the University of California San Diego. Earlier this year I worked with Embriette and Knight lab on profiling Pittsburgh ferment gut consumers for upcoming Knight Lab probiotic studies. Without a doubt, Embriette’s Keynote presentation will be awesome! If you can make it, register for Embriette’s talk, Knight Lab, Workshops, Portland, here. Please let us know in the comments your thoughts if you are fortunate enough to attend!
Watch Bacteria Become Antibiotic Resistant
SUMMARY: This genius 2 week time-lapse video by Harvard Medical School lab lets you watch bacteria become antibiotic resistant. This experiment is thought to be the first large-scale glimpse of the maneuvers of bacteria as they become superbugs as they encounter increasingly higher doses of antibiotic and adapt to survive — and thrive — in them! Also read what to do if prescribed an antibiotic. Why? Antibiotics severely affect microbial diversity in the gut for months after exposure (4 months for clindamycin, 12 months for ciprofoxacin)… An added bonus of this experiment is the rewriting of lab research tools: The use of a large scale petri plate now opens up new ways for researchers to think about and conduct novel experiments!
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!
Microbiome Awareness Conversation from Seminar
SUMMARY: Sharing more Microbiome Awareness conversation from the May 26 seminar, so that all can benefit, even those unable to attend! Learn great microbiome support tips! Amaze yourself with how much you actually learned and know! Comment if I don’t touch on your thoughts; lets continue the conversation!
Background and more on our bio
Dana Grau and I spoke at the Microbiome Awareness Seminar. We explained what the microbiome is and included discussion of diet and lifestyle impact to the microbiome which affects its health. 70+ percent our immunity resides in the health of the microbiome and that microbial community then plays a key role in determining your health:
Microbiome Awareness TMAO Conversation
SUMMARY: Microbiome Awareness TMAO was summarized in the May 26th seminar, and I suggested condiment size portions for red meat regardless of meat quality (pastured or confined feed lot operations). Carnitine in red meat acts as an antioxidant and plays a crucial role in the mitochondria—the energy-producing structures in cells—notably in muscles, including heart muscle. But carnitine has a dark side — TMAO. This post shares TMAO follow-up so that all can benefit, even those unable to attend! A subsequent post will share more conversation from that evening, but TMAO is a lot of good information, and it deserves a post of its own.