Archive for January 25, 2015

Feeding Our Skinny Bacteria More Important Than “dieting” To Weight Loss

Do you know that we have trillions of bacteria in our gut that determine whether we’re lean or fat, and every day we feed and nurture them?

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI’ve pointed out several times that Calories in/Calories out as a weight loss strategy is false, it doesn’t work. Neither does dieting; that’s a statistic.   We’re not a Math Equation, we’re a Chemistry Set.  I’ve harped on the HORMONAL actions that happen when we eat grains, sugars, and processed foods:  fat storage, muscle breakdown, slow thyroid, etc, etc.

Science (the Human Microbiome Project) is showing that our BACTERIA are just as important as our Hormones when it comes to our weight.  We’re supposed to be filled, and covered, with bacteria; we actually have more bacteria than human cells.

To be healthy and lean, we need to have predominantly BENEFICIAL bacteria.  If we have an imbalance, and the pathogenic bacteria outnumber the beneficial bacteria, we’re in trouble.

What determines our bacterial well being?  A lot.  Antibiotics support pathogenic bacteria.  Most drugs ( OTC and prescription) change the pH of the stomach, which allows pathogenic bacteria to thrive.  Stress does the same thing.

A biggie:  our FOOD is our BACTERIA’s food, and what we put in our mouth determines who gets fed best, the Lean strains or the Fat strains.

The Standard American Diet (SAD) of 60% carbs (mostly from grains and sugar), not only initiates Fat Storage through high blood sugar and hormones, but it feeds PATHOGENIC strains, because they thrive on sugar.  Beneficial bacteria eat FIBER, from vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds.

So let’s feed our Skinny Bacteria! I’m including links to learn the nuts and bolts, but here’s a snippet:  Studies are showing that lean people have a bacterial population that includes more “bacteroidetes” bacteria. Bacteroidetes is an umbrella terms for several different species. Overweight people have more “firmicutes”, again, an umbrella terms for several species.

If you have more Firmicutes than Bacteroidetes, you’re going to have a hard time losing weight, no matter what you do. Firmicutes bacteria harvest more calories from our food, encourage more fat storage, and less fat burning. Who wants that? There’s also the brain signals I mentioned earlier: “slow down the thyroid, slow down the metabolism, she’s dieting again and I don’t want to starve to death!”  Our gut bacteria and our brain are intricately linked.

Here’s some tips on how to feed our Bacteroidetes, and not our Firmacuties.

Tip #1:  Eat 3 meals a day of Real Whole Food, with plenty of good fat, clean proteins, TONS of vegetables, some fruit, some nuts and seeds, and maybe some dairy if you tolerate it.  Fermented and cultured foods are a must.  DITCH THE GRAINS AND SUGARS.  ( Fat Bacteria THRIVE on grains and sugars) Our body was literally designed by God to run on Real Whole Foods. This means cooking.

Tip #2:  Have an Eating Plan that includes enough food at each of our 3 meals to genuinely Satisfy Our Hunger.  WE’RE NOT DESIGNED TO ENDURE HUNGER.  The brain just won’t allow it; it takes too many nutrients to do the constant upkeep and repair that happens all day and all night.   Again, our brains have an intricate and intimate relationship with our gut bacteria. Firmacutes bacteria – the sugar eaters – contribute to those annoying brain signals that conspire to make us search out more sugar ( who searches out more broccoli ?).  Bacteroidetes strains don’t do that!  Bacteroidetes thrive on Fiber and Resistant Starch in vegetables.

We have a lot of power when it comes to reducing our Firmicutes and increasing our Bacteroidetes.

A Real Whole Food Diet is so honestly and totally best for us.  We feed the good bacteria and signal hormones that trigger satiety in the brain.  The desire -or compulsion- to eat CRAP ( and feed the Firmicutes ) abates and abates every single day we eat like this.

Notice that feeding our skinny Bacteria is the same advice as building a strong immune system.

This whole Microbiome science is fascinating, and I encourage you to learn more about it – which is really learning about ourselves. The more we know, the easier it is to make good choices. Here’s some links:

Read:

http://www.rocksolidnutritionandwellness.com/ebola-enterovirus-and-our-immune-systems-better-get-strong-now/

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/05/17/human-microbiome.aspx

http://www.amazon.com/Belly-Fat-Effect-Intestinal-Bacteria/dp/0991070313

http://www.rocksolidnutritionandwellness.com/natural-cures-theyre-real-learn-what-you-can-do-for-yourself-and-your-family/

Listen to:

http://undergroundwellness.com/podcasts/306-5-steps-to-permanent-gut-healing/

http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/the-llvlc-show-episode-876-brenda-watson-says-out-of-balance-gut-bacteria-at-the-heart-of-obesity/23639

Working “Man Parts”, Weight Loss, Youthful Skin, Joint Pain, What Do They Have In Common? They all benefit from Bone Broth and Gelatin.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI’ve done Posts on Bone Broth and Gelatin before, but I still get a lot of questions about it.  Here’s some facts, some recipes, and at the end several resources, that will inspire you to incorporate bone broth most days of the week. Remember:  Food is Medicine, or Food is Poison.  Bone broth and gelatin are Medicine.

First issue: “man parts”, you know what I’m talking about.  Men, those parts are full of arteries that should fill with blood, on demand.  If the endothelial cells that line those arteries are damaged ( from high blood sugar, insulin, chemicals, or hydrogenated fats) you’re not functioning like God intended.  Plaque and hardening of the arteries doesn’t just happen to the arteries near the heart….. If you have athlerosclerosis,  and/or high blood pressure, you’ve got endothelial dysfunction. If you have high blood sugar, you have endothelial dysfunction.  The gelatin in bone broth contains an enormous amount of collagen and other nutrients that HEAL THE ENDOTHELIUM.  ( check out link below for an interesting study )

Weight Loss; how does this tie in with bone broth or gelatin?  Easy.  Our liver – which is the MAIN SOURCE OF OUR DAILY CALORIE BURN, has hundreds of jobs to do every day.  A sluggish, toxic, clogged liver doesn’t burn as many calories as it could, nor does it adequately perform it’s jobs. The liver “detoxes”, or breaks down, old hormones, chemicals, alcohol, toxins, etc; it uses protein-based (amino acids) pathways to do that.  Bone broth and gelatin contain the amino acids that the liver wants and needs to do it’s many jobs.  If our liver’s happy, our daily metabolic rate increases.  If our liver is NOT happy, weight gain is more likely than weight loss.

Youthful Skin:  Again, easy.  It’s the collagen, along with the fatty acids and nutrients from bones/joints/hide/marrow etc, that supply the nutrients our skin needs to both regenerate and fight off assaults from the sun and (sugar)glycation.  Do you remember what glycation is?  It’s when our blood sugar stays high too long, and the sticky sugar molecules glycate, or attach themselves to protein molecules, basically destroying them.  Our skin ( just like our endothelium) is LOADED with protein molecules.  Age spots are glycated skin.  Wrinkles are glycated skin.  Saggy skin is glycated.  ******Our skin is made from NUTRIENTS, not the man-made chemicals ingredients in most skin care products.*****

Joint Pain, this is interesting.  I’m going to include links at the end to VERY NEW research(*) on connective tissue and rehab.  For all my friends and readers with shoulder/knee/hip etc problems, PURSUE THE LINK(*). It’s so new that your Ortho or PT might not of even heard of this.  Apparently, connective tissue isn’t the lost cause it’s been deemed all these years.

Tendons, ligaments, and the connective tissue that honeycombs throughout our muscle fibers, are made from ………..COLLAGEN.  To quote Professor of Sports Medicine Michael Kjaer, Ph.D., who’s using techniques and technology only recently available: “we always thought connective tissue was inert,”… but “Connective tissue is alive and has the ability to renew itself!”  There’s specific training protocols showing HUGE success with damaged tendons and ligaments, truly worth looking into. (*)

More relevant to this Post though, connective tissue is almost entirely collagen.  Molecular Biologist Keith Baar, Ph.D, says that after testing hundreds of damaged ACLs ( pieces of them actually) by soaking them in different solutions to see what compounds influence formation of new collagen:  “Gelatin is the big one.”    Nough said.

HOW DO I USE GELATIN OR BONE BROTH EVERYDAY?   Some people drink it straight up. I don’t. I treat it like water.  I cook my meat, fish, chicken and vegetables in it, and I make soup.  I even add it to my Low Carb Cheese Cake  Recipe!

How to make Broth:

Fill your Crock Pot or Stock Pot with water

-1 tbsp apple cider vinegar or white vinegar ( helps break down bone matrix – and we want all those bone building minerals!)
-chicken bones/fish bones/beef/lamb/venison bones
-OPTIONAL:  chicken feet – wow, does this contain a lot of gelatin, 
-Low and slow heat for 24 to 48 hours.

THIS IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE I SWEAR.  I add herbs and spices later, to the individual dishes I make, not to my stock. That way I can go in any direction I choose.  People who drink it straight up tend to add (their favorite) veggies and herbs to the pot.   EITHER WAY WORKS.

I save my bones throughout the week in a big ziplock, and keep them in the freezer until I’m ready to make the broth.

Don’t want to make broth? A couple of options.

1) Buy Gelatin.  I use Great Lakes brand, because I think it’s the best.  Check out their site, or go straight to Amazon. Mark and I put gelatin in our morning smoothies, and this is what I add to my Low Carb Cheesecake recipe (to follow).

2) Buy already made REAL bone broth.  Broth is no one’s secret anymore.  A Broth Cafe has opened in NYC; if you google “buy bone broth”, you’ll see several good options; and if you live in my neck of the woods ( Fauquier Co, Va), we have 2 stores carrying fresh made:  IGA in Marshall, and The Whole Ox in The Plains.  (You can also buy bones at either of these stores, or your local butcher shop.)

Now for the Recipes!  Our dinner tonight:  Chicken and Vegetables with BROTH

20150117_174036

A 1 Pot Meal:

2 c broth

1 c slow roasted tomatoes
1 c shredded chicken
1/2 head of cauliflower
3 c collard greens
4 garlic cloves ( we LOVE garlic )
dried: oregano, sage salt, chives, salt & pepper

And Dessert:  Low Carb Cheese Cake with Gelatin – to die for!  This recipe actually makes 4 mini cheesecakes AND a regular size cheese cake.

20150114_162654

Crust:

1 1/2 c almond flour
1/2 c coconut flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup coconut oil or butter
1/2 c Swerve
1 tsp Celtic sea salt
1 egg

Blend and press into your spring foam pans. The crust will be on the thinner side.  If you like a thick crust, just make 1 big cheese cake.  Warning: this makes a LOT of crust.

Filling:

4 8-ounce packages Organic Cream Cheese, softened
3/4 -1 c Swerve
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs room temperature
1/2 c Great Lakes Gelatin

I always wrap my spring foam with aluminum foil ( if any drips out it’s a huge mess ).  Bake your smaller cheesecakes for 35-45 minutes, and a large cheese cake for 55 -to an hour.  When you insert a knife it should come out almost clean.  REFRIGERATE FOR AT LEAST 12 HOURS, 24 IS EVEN BETTER.

If you’re struggling with your weight or your health, focus on changing your mindset from Food is about Calories to Food is Medicine or Food is Poison.  The more you shun Poison Foods, and Adopt Medicine Foods, the leaner, healthier, and more energetic you’ll become, I promise.

Learn More:
*http://www.mensfitness.com/training/build-muscle/harness-power-your-muscle-matrix*

http://paleogrubs.com/chicken-soup-recipes

http://www.judytsafrirmd.com/gelatin-for-anxiety-sleep-and-appetite-suppression

http://www.amazon.com/Nourishing-Traditions-Challenges-Politically-Dictocrats/dp/0967089735  GREAT COOKBOOK!!

Struggling With Real Whole Food, No Grains or Sugars? Look At What I’m Eating, and A Candy Recipe

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAMichael Pollen has a line that goes something like this:  Real Food are foods your great-grandmother would recognize.  YES THAT’S A PARAPHRASE, but it’s close.

In reality, there’s big differences between our time and Grandma’s.  For one, the wheat is totally different.  Since the 1970s, we have Dwarf Wheat varieties that are NOTHING like previous varieties. Dwarf wheat is loaded with gluten proteins.

Gluten proteins cause more problems than I want to detail right now, but if you’re reading my blog, you already know this.

Next, we have access to fruits and vegetables year round.  This is good, and this is bad.  Bad because many of these are grown with chemicals that cause cancer and disease.  Good because if we eat the ones grown WITHOUT chemicals, we’re getting a load of nutrients that prevent cancer and disease.

Look at my What I Eat page for ideas.  Real Whole Food without Grains and Sugars is COMPLETELY DOABLE, even for a big family and working moms.  It takes thought, practice, planning, and the right attitude, but anyone – and I mean that – can do it.

Chocolate Coconut Candy:

1/2 cup Coconut Oil

1/4 cup Coconut Butter

2 tablespoons Cocoa Powder

EITHER: 1 – 2 tbsp powdered Swerve or Full Dropper of Liquid Stevia

DIY Lotion, Carrot Soup, Elderberry Syrup; Homemade is Worth the Effort, Here’s Why

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAttitude is everything, and my attitude is that I’m Smart, Organized, Energetic, and Able. Believing this about myself makes a busy day much easier mentally, because thoughts affect words and actions.

You are also Smart, Organized, Energetic, and Able.  God didn’t make duds.

In light of those statements, here’s a few recipes. Please don’t move on after reading the word “recipes”.  Homemade is so worth the time and effort, for many reasons; WEIGHT LOSS IS ONE OF THEM.

Our world is a Toxic World.  We literally breath in chemicals, sleep on chemicals, rub on chemicals, and ingest thousands of chemicals every single day.  84,000 chemicals are legal in the US; many are untested, many are unregulated, and many are deemed potentially or definitely dangerous and still allowed in our food, water, and body care products.

These chemicals, which make things smell good, taste good, look good, or feel good, have consequences.  Many of them are hormone/endocrine disruptors, mimicking estrogen.  This has led to men and women and children having higher estrogen levels than what’s healthy, resulting in a long list of problems, from low sperm counts to cancer. Other chemicals cause disease, behavior problems, headaches, and I could go on and on.  You get it.

Remember in my last post I said that Food is Medicine or Food is Poison, and EVERY SINGLE POST IS ABOUT WEIGHT LOSS?  The weight tie-in here is that estrogenic chemicals, along with the sheer volume of total chemicals we ingest/breath/absorb, stress our liver to the point where being a normal healthy weight, or weight loss, isn’t possible.

Our liver has to break down and get rid of every chemical that comes into our body, whether by mouth or skin.  Our liver is responsible for breaking down old hormones. Our liver metabolizes fats and proteins.  Our liver compromises the largest portion of our daily calorie burn ( the brain and heart come in next, and then our muscles ); if our liver is tired, toxic, and over-burdened, happy weight is practically impossible, so is good health.

Read the labels of EVERYTHING; look up some words you see on EWG.org, learn what these chemicals do and you’ll become increasingly motivated to Do It Yourself, I promise. 

I’ve got 3 recipes here that I promise are easy, and wonderful.  Compare the store bought ingredients with the DIY ingredients.

This is Elderberry Syrup, aka, Sambucal, it’s used as either a preventative tonic, or a cold medicine.  Here’s the ingredients:         20150109_060142⅔ cup black elderberries

3.5 cups of water
2 T fresh or dried ginger root
2 tsp cinnamon powder
½ tsp cloves or clove powder
1 cup raw honey (we get from our farmer’s market)

Compare that to the ingredients in Tylenol Cold and Flu:

Acetaminiphen, Dextromethorphan HBr, Guaifenesin,Phenylephrine HCl, and finally,carnauba wax, croscarmellose sodium, D&C yellow no. 10 aluminum lake, flavor, hydroxypropyl cellulose, hypromellose, magnesium stearate, microcrystalline cellulose, polyethylene glycol, pregelatinized starch, sucralose, titanium dioxide.  O.  M.   Gosh.  Why would we put this in our bodies, or our children’s bodies?

Here’s Carrot Soup,  DELICIOUS! (and easy)

20150108_171941

The ingredients were:                        20150108_165456

5 cups of homemade chicken broth
1 can of coconut milk
a Vitamix full of cooked carrots
1 cooked onion,4 garlic cloves
1 TBSP garam marsala; cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt&pepper

Compare that to Campbells Vegetable Soup Ingredients:

TOMATO PUREE (WATER, TOMATO PASTE), POTATOES, CARROTS, WATER, PEAS, CORN, DICED TOMATOES IN TOMATO JUICE, GREEN BEANS, ENRICHED MACARONI PRODUCT (WHEAT FLOUR, EGG WHITES, NIACIN, FERROUS SULFATE, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), SUGAR , CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF: MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, CELERY, ONIONS, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, SALT, FLAVORING, YEAST EXTRACT, LOWER SODIUM NATURAL SEA SALT, SPICE, ASCORBIC ACID, DISODIUM GUANYLATE, DISODIUM INOSINATE, PAPRIKA EXTRACT.

Last, Homemade Lotion I made yesterday morning for Macy before she went back to school, it took 10 minutes:

The Ingredients are:                  20150109_055505

coconut oil
shea butter
cocoa butter
almond oil
Wild Orange essential oil

Compare that to Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizer:

Water, Mineral Oil, Sesame Oil, Propylene Glycol, TEA Stearate, Glyceryl Stearate, Lanolin Alcohol, Petrolatum, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Yellow #5, Yellow #6, Red #33.

The old advertisement:  Better Living Through Chemicals…… it’s not true.  We have way too many chemicals in our life; DIY ( unless you can hire someone to Do It For You ) is important!  Not convinced?  Learn more through the links below:

http://www.liverdoctor.com/liver/the-liver-and-detoxification/

http://foodbabe.com/2013/02/26/are-over-the-counter-medicines-making-you-sick/

https://ispub.com/IJU/2/1/7519

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2726844/

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/opinion/kristof-how-chemicals-change-us.html?_r=1

Recipe Makeovers: Cauliflower Pizza Crusts and Caesar Salad Dressing that make you Lean and Healthy

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI received an email from a reader, asking if I could do another post on weight loss soon.

My response:  EVERY SINGLE POST IS ON WEIGHT.  Food is Medicine or Food is Poison, and our weight is a side effect of that fact.

If Weight Loss is our first priority when it comes to food, We’ll NEVER SUCCESSFULLY LOSE WEIGHT AND KEEP IT OFF. Ever.  95 – 99% of everyone who loses weight on a Diet gains it back.

Low calorie foods, low fat plans, starving ourself, skipping meals, exercising a ton, and STRESSING ABOUT OUR WEIGHT are literally guaranteed to make us gain weight in the long run, because we’re eating toxic food and/or employing toxic behaviors.  Poison.

Weight Loss is never a priority for our body or brain.  For women particularly, losing weight is the last thing our body wants to do, even when we carry excess fat.  Fat’s crucial not just for building our Brain, Glands, Organs, Bones, and Immune System, but our body makes many of our Hormones from fatty acids.

Healthy fats, vegetables, herbs, spices, clean proteins, seasonal fruit, nuts, seeds…..Medicine.

My point?  To lose weight and keep it off, we HAVE to eat Medicine Foods.  Also, cut the Grains, Sugars, and Chemicals; those things ruin our liver, our brain, our arteries and destroy our hormones. Permanent weight loss is impossible as long as they’re a regular part of our diet.

Here’s some recipe makeovers that I promise are husband and kid approved. These recipes contain Nutrient Dense Real Whole Foods (Medicine) guaranteed to satisfy our body and brain, and help us lose weight.

WARNING/ADVICE:  Sometimes with picky kids and husbands, it’s best NOT to tell them what’s in the food.  Don’t set yourself up for snide (or worse) comments about the ingredients or your efforts to make you and your family healthier.  Just do it.  Stay strong and determined no matter what mud a teenager slings at you.  The great thing about Real Whole Food is that fat, herbs, and spices make EVERYTHING taste good.  Broccoli with butter, parm, and sea salt?  DELICIOUS.  Chicken with skin on/bone in?  Delicious.  Bacon, brussels, butter, sea salt and pepper?  Delicious.  Stay with the program, be persistent, and eventually,… you’ll win.

Here’s a picture of our dinner last night:  Cauliflower Pizza and Caesar Salads with homemade dressing.                                                      dinner 1:4

If you look online for Cauliflower Pizza Crust recipes, you’ll find 1.6 million; they’re nobody’s secret, and they’re all pretty similar.  (Helpful hints to follow) Here’s the recipe I use:

CAULIFLOWER CRUST PIZZA

Full head of cauliflower, RICED ( in your food processor or Vitamix )

1 egg
1 tbsp sea salt
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1/2 cup of your favorite cheese.  You’ll see recipes that use goat, parm, mozzarella, and cheddar, just pick one.

Directions: Set oven to 450.  “Rice” the whole head of cauliflower, and then either steam it ( more dishes, but better ) or put it in a pot of 1″ water and cook it, just for a couple of minutes.

IMPORTANT:  YOU HAVE TO GET ALL THE WATER OUT OF THE CAULIFLOWER.  Don’t whine.  Think positive thoughts, like, you’re going to have pizza and you’re not going to feel stuffed/bloated/or regretful the next day, PLUS, you’re eating a sulfur containing cruciferous vegetable that prevents cancer and disease.  Good thoughts.

I put my cooked cauliflower in a fine mesh strainer and press with a big wooden spoon, then I put it in a dishtowel and twist and wring until even more water comes out.  Cauliflower contains a lot of water, and you need it fairly dry.

When you’re done, mix it in a bowl with all the other ingredients; if you used a big head, you have enough for 2 pizzas, or one very thick crust. You only need about 2.5 cups per thin crust. Thicker crusts may not act like “real” pizza, i.e, you’ll have to cut them with a fork instead of holding them.  MOMS:  if your kids are suspicious of your efforts, make the crusts thin so they’ll stay together when they’re held. I’ve been at this long enough that I can make a thick crust and we all use forks, but switching the family diet from Fake Foods (poison) to Real Foods  (medicine) needs to be done gently, and wisely.

Put a piece of parchment paper on your stone, and use your hands to form your crust, then bake it for anywhere from 10/12 minutes for a thin crust, to 25 minutes for a thick crust. (read my hints at end of post)

When it’s baked, load it with your favorite toppings.  Last night I used slow roasted tomatoes, sausage, onions, herbs, and cheese.

Back in the oven at 425, for 16 minutes, and you can make your salad and dressing.

Caesar Salad and Dressing:   Look at these ingredients! How did we ever start thinking that brain food like this could be bad for us???

3 eggs ( I use farm fresh eggs, but use pasteurized if you want )
1 can anchovies
1-2 garlic cloves
1 tbsp Red Wine vinegar
1/4-1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 c lemon juice
1/2 c parm
1/2 tsp yellow mustard

1/2 cup of Extra Virgin olive oil

Directions for dressing:  put the first 8 ingredients into your BLENDER or VITAMIX, and blend for a minute.   Then sloooowly pour in the olive oil; you’re emulsifying it, that means you need to drizzle the olive oil into the mix for it to set up thickly.

Pour this over a bowl full of romaine, shredded parm, and bread crumbs made from COCONUT MILK bread croutons.  Or just make your favorite salad, and use this dressing because it’s absolutely delicious and your family will love it.

A few last words of advice:

1) I’ve heard juicing the cauliflower is the best way to go, no wringing, but I haven’t tried it.

2) If your cauliflower head is extra big, add an egg white.

3) Judge your crust by how it looks more than time; it should turn light brown and “crusty”.

4) If after all your efforts the “dough” is still pretty wet, add 1/2 to 1 tbsp of coconut flour.  Coconut flour absorbs liquid;  start with the 1/2 tbsp and go from there.

5) To make croutons with Coconut Milk Bread, cut off a slice, tear into pieces, drizzle with olive oil, salt, and bake for 10 minutes on 350.  Judge from there if they need a few more minutes.