SUMMARY:  Cabbage Radish Slaw uses a pre-shredded cabbage — kale — carrot — radish — etc  mix from your grocers (or DIY) and coats all with an EASY to prepare vinaigrette dressing. The beauty of this recipe is it makes readily available, for easy frequent consumption, many differing vegetables that are not ordinarily consumed often a total breeze.  Consuming increased variety of vegetables (target 30 a week!) is the cornerstone of how diet can increase both the diversity and richness of the microbiome,both ecological parameters that promote optimal conditions for the microbiome. This translates to the host (that would be you) benefits with both increased immune status and health.  In addition, the vinaigrette also uses the healthy fat, extra virgin olive oil  (EVOO) to ensure absorption of fat-soluble  vitamins and carotenoids. Because there are so many newcomers, under the recipe find Microbiome →  disease → Crib Notes For Dummies, and a summary of the interesting patterns emerging from the American Gut data. Â
SUMMARY: Don’t be duped into believing diet has nothing to do with your disease, or in preventing disease.  When the researchers themselves rethink and change up their own diet to eliminate the ubiquitous food additive emulsifiers because their research is finding serious adverse impact on the gut lining, I want everyone to rethink their emulsifier intake too, for your gut’s health.  Meet here, Dr. Andrew Gewirtz  and learn about his important work on Microbiome, Emulsifiers, and their association with IBD and Metabolic Syndrome (defined by NIH as having three or more of these factors or you take drugs to control them:  High triglyceride level, reduced high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, increased blood pressure, elevated fasting blood sugar, & large waist circumference. How concerned should you be about chowing down emulsifiers?  Their connection to gut inflammation and microbiome skew at the mucosal level caused Dr. Gewirtz to eliminate such from his and his family’s diet.  One tenet of the healing diets — eliminate processed foods — results in the elimination of emulsifiers. Perhaps it is time to reconsider your emulsifier intake too.
SUMMARY: Quinoa is a whole grain substitute that is gluten-free though it actually is a seed, commonly termed pseudograin. Most simply rinse, drain, then toss quinoa into a pot and simmer for 12 minutes calling that cooked. Though cooked, it may not be very digestible, and this method may be downright harmful to your gut. So how do you properly prepare soak quinoa? Learn here that quinoa is super easy to properly prepare although it does require, as a minimum to reduce anti-nutrients, a 12 to 24 hour acid soak prior to cooking. I’d do the quinoa soak purely for the culinary taste improvement truth be known as it removes bitterness from quinoa’s anti-nutrients in addition to making it easier on your gut! For more science, see below the recipe for quinoa’s: Impact to the microbiome, nutrient (including protein) punch, anti-nutrients and impact on those due to quinoa processing, and label de-coding for a Kind bar containing quinoa!
Summary:  Just sharing a fun educational event, that literally could change your health, wellness, and vitality, occurring this Sunday, February 28, 2016, in Pittsburgh should you be nearby. The FREE event isPittsburgh’s Fermentation Festival;  I’ll be attending and profiling ferment consumers and vendors for consideration in upcoming American Gut fermenting microbiome studies! Stop by and fill out the questionnaire!
Be a part of this unique FREE Ferment Consumer Profile Opportunity for American Gut fermenting microbiome studies and help further the understanding of the “How” and “Why” ferments modulate our immune system! For an added bonus… attend 5 workshops and learn how to ferment while you are at the festival. The workshops are led by an incredible battery of knowledge!I’ll be sharing how to make lactose-free grassfed yogurt that is part of the healing diet protocols (PALEO (some camps), SCD, GAPS, UMass IBD-AID).  Learn why fermented and traditional foods is part of WHAT EATING REAL WHOLE FOODS LOOKS LIKE. For a start, read below for Cleveland Clinic’s 5 reasons why you should be consuming ferments.
Attend these 5 Workshops and Learn from:
Trevett, Legume Bistro: Applications for Fermented Vegetables: Ways to Incorporate Fermentation into your Daily Cooking. 10:30am- 11:45am
Jennetta, Prescription Foods: The Health Benefits of Fermented Foods 12pm- 1:15pm
Naomi, Red Star Kombucha: Kombucha 1:30pm- 2:45pm
Greg, The Pickled Chef: Kim Chi 3pm- 4:15pm
Mike, A Few Bad Apples: Hard Cider 4:30pm- 5:30pm
DIY fermenting is EASY and delicious!  Or… check out the vendors that do it for you (see below for those attending)!  Stop by, learn what fermentation is all about, or just say, “Hello!”  You can read more about Pittsburgh’s Fermentation Festival here, here, and here.  The Facebook Page is here.
FESTIVAL DETAILS &Â Ferment Consumer Profile Opportunity for American Gut Studies
Pittsburgh’s Fermentation Festival is a free family-friendly eventSunday, February 28, 2016 from 10am- 5pm.  A $10 contribution will give access to five workshops where you can learn from masters all about fermenting. Workshop registration begins at 9 am or preregister online here),  For the flat $10 fee you can choose to attend as many workshops as you wish with the workshops running throughout the day.
Local businesses that will be sampling and selling fermented products include:
Sauerkrauts from Prescription Foods and Laurel Vista,
Kimchi from Clarion River Organics, The Pickled Chef and Ferment Pittsburgh,
Kombucha from the Coop and Red Star,
Cider from Stanton Heights-based community group Bad Apples, and
Wild yeast brews from Hop Farm Brewing Company.
Plus, Family Farm Creameries will be releasing a brand-new kefir ice cream for the event.
Why should you consume ferments?
Below, Cleveland Clinic explains 5 Reasons You Should Add More Fermented Foods to Your Diet…  Don’t worry… This doesn’t mean you have to eat lacto-fermented pickles for breakfast, lunch and dinner for gut health!  The byproducts of fermentation (and thus the benefits) vary depending on the type of food that is being fermented — whether it’s cabbage or cheese.
1.
You can’t digest your food alone. Good bacteria help break down what your body can’t. This fermenting and metabolizing results in other substances that are beneficial.
Summary:  Serve these Mini Loaf Pancakes to your Valentine on Valentine’s Day, or anytime actually!  These pancakes use almond flour, SCD lactose free yogurt or coconut milk, eggs and honey.  When in a pinch for yogurt, I’ve even used thawed frozen SCD banana yogurt, and it worked great!  What I most like about this recipe is that you can bake these in bulk, even doubling the recipe.  They freeze well and make scrambling for breakfast a no brainer.  These pancakes are also great travel and on the run food.
Special ingredients I use:
Actually, there is nothing “odd” ingredient wise in this recipe!
It is SCD/GAPS/UMass IBD-AID legal, full of wholesome whole food ingredients such as this SCD lactose-free yogurt (Update:  coconut milk can be substituted) and this Honeyville blanched almond flour, which you are already familiar with if you follow the healing diet tenets for PALEO, SCD, GAPS, or Mediterranean.
Regarding coconut milk; it is difficult to find such without added gums and other additives.  Trader Joe’s does carry an organic coconut milk that seems SCD legal; the ingredients are: organic coconut milk (filtered water, organic coconut  extracts 48%) but they have refused to give out information on the product or provide a letter indicating no other hidden ingredients; be cautious for reactions if you use it.  Wellbee’s sales Organic Natural Value coconut milk which has a letter on file at the BTVC yahoo health blog thus it is SCD legal.  Last, coconut milk is easy to make.  I usethis recipebut I use a whip stick instead of a blender and just use the back of a spoon to push on the pulp to further drain the milk through the fine sieve. Â
SUMMARY: Here is a heads up on an upcoming Costco EVOO and Berries Organic Feb Sale! And of course.. there’s other things listed but those caught my eye as they are staples in my kitchen and should be in yours too.  The EVOO isn’t adulterated and the berries…. learn here why you want to eat some daily for your heart, brain, and anti-cancer!
Specifics: Â My local Costco has a “Save on Organic at your local Costco” deal going on Feb 1-21, 2016. Check if yours does… The kitchen staples I’ll be stocking up on are:
Kirkland Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil. One word: Unadulterated with other oils that are associated with diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Ok… lied; that was a dozen words. Sale is $1.50 off, limit 2.
Sunrise Growers Organic Antioxidant Berry Blend (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, cranberries — See product information here. Sale is $2.20 off, no limit.
Costco EVOO and Berries
Kirkland Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil. This Kirkland Organic EVOO isn’t adulterated by rancid industrial seed oils. See UC Davis pdf. That is a big deal. Those oils that adulterate tons of other olive oils are usually those that are associated with diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Use unadulterated EVOO to make salad dressings so you can absorb the micronutrients in those salads.  NOTE:  Lowfat salad dressings won’t absorb those micronutrients. See the posts here, MEET THE FATS & BEST SALAD DRESSING OIL, PART1 and here, SOYBEAN OIL, CORN OIL, DIABETES, AND METABOLIC SYNDROME for specifics and great dressing recipes.
Summary:  Most everyone wonders what are the ingredients that make up healing diet holiday recipesand 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 ourButternut Squash Soup opener and incredible Whole Beef Tenderloinrecipe 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.Â
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 therecipe in this post.  Another insider tip:  This soup stays frozen for all day travel replacing ice packs nicely and moving through TSA without incident!
Whole Beef Tenderloin (AIP, PALEO, SCD, GAPS) — at every Christmas meal for as long as I can recall:
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 diet, you 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).
SUMMARY: Â This… Thanksgiving morning! Homemade Chocolate Hazelnut Spread. Â Actually, don’t save this for only one day; we certainly don’t! Â Easily make this in bulk and freeze.
Ingredients and Processing I Prefer to Use
The nut ingredients in this recipe make these bars an advanced food for those on healing diets such as SCD, UMass IBD-AID, GAPS, or PALEO.  For this very reason, I recommend using these instructions to properly prepare nut and seed ingredients  whenever possible to make such more easily digestible.  But if you don’t do this step, no worries since the notes section of the recipe provides alternate instructions for toasting those nuts!  The recipe is not SCD/GAPS legal due to the cocoa, but it is in accordance with The PRODUCE Study (a modified version of SCD), the UMass version of SCD which is called IBD-AID, PALEO and also FODMAP friendly if maple syrup is substituted for the dates; details are broken out below the recipe for those interested.
Summary: Â I subscribe to the Julia Child philosophy of
“I’d rather eat an occasional little piece of the real thing than a giant bowl of the imitation!”
November… two Scorpios living under the same roof, celebrate lit candles on this So Simple Chocolate Birthday Cake. Â FODMAP friendly, and within limits of UMass modified SCD named IBD-AID. Â This coconut flour and maple syrup based seven ingredient cake was actually preferred in its taste trial test compared to the traditional iced cookie cake. Â That is reason enough to not relegate this dessert to a once a year show, rather keep it in your families rotation. Â We certainly do.
It’s size? Small? Yes, see… it is so nutrient dense and satiating that a little goes a far way.
So Simple Birthday Chocolate Cake and healing diets
Only seven ingredients to evaluate. Â The verdict: legal for UMass version of SCD and FODMAPs, but not legal for SCD/GAPS:
The deal breaker for SCD/GAPS is the cacao. Â SCD/GAPS would just substitute honey for maple syrup.
But the UMass version of SCD, called IBD-AID, would permit the ingredients of this cake providing sugar-free dairy-free chocolate shavings are substituted for the dark chocolate chips.
 FODMAPs would permit this recipe (recognizing small sizes are consumed) providing:
The sweetener used is maple syrup (honey is not permitted due to excess fructose) and
Summary: Â This post nails the need for increased variety of vegetables for chronic disease prevention and management and addresses quantities. Â It includes a delicious, phytonutrient rich, and quick recipe for eating the beets, cabbage, red colors; this subcategory of vegetables can be a hard sale to your family but you’ll learn in this post why you want to include such. Â It is especially timely given the fall seasonal foods now available and your requests for more vegetable recipes.
This recipe is PALEO, SCD, GAPS, AIP, and NIGHTSHADE friendly fare, but not FODMAP friendly unless within your unique re-intro tolerance limits.  Cabbage, beets and onions are fructans, one food compound eliminated on FODMAP unless you’ve reintroduced these vegetables and you know your tolerance quantities.  Keep in mind that FODMAP loads are cumulative, and this recipe contains three fructan foods which bumps up it’s fructan total load.  One family’s tip for integrating cabbage back into their low FODMAP  lifestyle is detailed immediately below the recipe, and perhaps this preparation technique can work for you too.
I am glad to see the word is getting out on the importance of increasing carotenoids,
RA. Lupus,  IBD, psoriasis, and neurological such as Parkinson’s and early memory loss/dementia, depression, anxiety, event PTSD (fighter pilots with narcolepsy), traumatic brain injury, as well as diabetes and obesity (to normalize blood sugars), and heart disease atherosclerosis which is now being looked at as possible autoimmune since it is a gut and inflammation issue.
Interestingly, the diet has been shown to statistically significantly increase micronutrient status from baseline to 12 months (see below slide.) Â Not surprising really when you realize vegetable wise, these folks (men and tall women) are consuming 9 cups of vegetables a day, 3 cups from each of three categories: greens, colorful, and sulfur rich. Â Smaller frames target 6 cups/day. There are other diet requirements as well.
Source: biomeonboardawareness.com
It is the gist of this diet, vegetable wise, that I want to focus as I do believe this is one part you need to get for chronic disease prevention and management.  In general, when you eat whole foods you get much more than the vitamins; you get thousands of compounds that science has yet to discover and which aren’t present in supplements.  All work synergistically together to give the cells in your body what they need. Â
Phytonutrients are one category of compounds found in food.
Fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts and teas are rich sources of phytonutrients.  Phytonutrients help slow down the aging process, enhances immunity, and serves as antioxidants. Many subgroups comprise phytonutrients.  Different phytonutrients offer different benefits and work synergistically with each other. One orange contains over 170 different phytonutrients. Â
It is important to eat a variety of phytonutrients and to eat vegetable phytonutrients with a healthy fat for absorption.  One strategy is to rotate diet.  So for green phytonutrients, one day add in some kale, the next lettuce, the next spinach, and then beet greens or chard. You can use endless frozen varieties of greens in soups, smoothies, or even added to your eggs, with ease.  Eating wide diverse foods gives more health-promoting phytonutrient benefits.  Here’s what you can do with frozen phytonutrients:
Yellow, orange, and red pigment in fruits and vegetables and
Dark, green, leafy vegetables. Surprised? These are not the common yellow color since chlorophyll, the green pigment, masks the rich carotenoid, beta carotene, which greens contain.
Flavonoids (polyphenols, isoflavens, and phytoestrogens)  Over 9000 flavonoids have been identified.  Flavonoids are reddish pigments, found in red grape skins and citrus fruits. Polyphenols are found in green tea and berries. Isoflavones are found in peanuts, lentils, soy, and other legumes. Other phytonutrients include inositol phosphates (phytates), lignans found in flaxseed (phytoestrogens), isothiocyanates and indoles (indoles are found in cruciferous vegetables), phenols and cyclic compounds, saponins, sulfides, and thiols, and therpenes. Some of these are actually anti-nutrients and/or gut irritants.  For example, some chronic kidney disease diets focus on reduced oxalate foods):
Slide source Maelán Fontes PhD — Food and Western Disease Beyond Nutrients: Antinutrients, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb3CFXcqEcI
This recipe targets all three phytonutrient categories used for the WAHLs Protocol healing diet Â
which consists of:  greens, colorful, and sulfur rich foods;  Details of each of these categories can be found below the recipe. Dr. Wahl explains that these categories can be thought of as:
providing your cells what they needandtaking away that which interferes with their proper function.Â
providing your cells what they need and taking away that which interferes with their proper function. 
