New Year, New Guts

Today, I am starting a new healing diet called the SCD (Specific Carbohydrate Diet) or the GAPS diet.  These diets are very similar and are used to clean and heal the guts thus allowing the body to heal from many ailments and symptoms.  From now on into the New Year, I will be blogging about how I am doing on this diet.  It is restrictive and I judge it will be hard to keep on it, but I want to try.  I will have to be my own advocate.  I plan on being on it for at least 3 months....more if I feel I need more healing.

It's going to be hard for this carb and lactose addict to do this, but I want this journey to be as raw and as a real as the foods I will be eating on it.

Since the diet is so restrictive, it is going to take some adjusting to meal prep for myself.  My plan so far is:

My homemade herbal smoothies for breakfast
Broth or broth-y soup and/or salad for lunch
A SCD altered dinner

I stocked my freezer with frozen broccoli, cauliflower and butternut squash to replace my usual carb side dishes (potatoes and all grains are not allowed on this diet in order to not feed the bad flora in the gut).

My Thoughts on Grains

There are varying views on grains, whether they are healthy or not and whether people are getting sick on them or not.  From nutritional expert to layman, opinions abound on the matter.  I decided to add my own opinion to the matter.  I have no medical authority.  I have simply been studying health and nutrition for myself for nearly 2 decades.

Are grains bad for you?  I don't believe they are.  However, I do believe that people are getting sick from eating grains.  I believe that in general, people are losing the ability to properly digest grains.  But why?

1.  Our Western (American) diet is overloaded with grain products and thus some of us are developing an intolerance and allergy to being over exposed to grains.

2.  Our generally poor diet and chemical exposure had damaged our guts, even across generations, making it harder for some people to digest grains.

3.  Formula feeding and not breast feeding our babies long enough and putting them on grain-based foods as their first foods is damaging some people's ability to digest grains.

4.  Our grains are mass produced on depleted soils and not as healthy as they ought to be.

5.  Our grains are overly processed into undigestable non-foods.

6.  Our grains are not properly prepared (sprouted or soaked).

I do not believe that we were created or evolved to not eat grains.  I do believe God gaves us grains as part of our diet.  I also believe that some people simply cannot eat grains or gluten products, just like some people can't tolerate dairy or strawberries or nuts.

Some people learn they can eat grains if they are properly prepared (soaked or sprouted).  Others learn they just need to limit their grains and not rely on them as the foundation of their meals.  Still others have to eliminate grains or gluten for a time and heal their guts before slowly reintroducing grains into their diet.  Some can never eat grains or gluten again.  Some find that returning to grains made in a more traditional manner (such as eating oatmeal rather than puffed cold cereals) is better for them.

I also believe that we should not ascribe to a false sense of health by needlessly eliminating grains or gluten just to try a fad diet plan or unsupported dietary dogma.  Just because one person actually does well on a certain dietary lifestyle doesn't mean you will, too.  Health is personal.

So, don't panic and think you need to eliminate grains or gluten from your diet.  Research it for yourself and see what's best.  Don't jump onto the gluten-free or grain-free bandwagon just because it's the latest dietary fad.  Find what works for you.

Grain-Free Scone Success!

Almond Flour Berry Scones

I found almond flour at our local health food store and tried THIS recipe out.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but a lick of the raw batter on the spoon was promising.

Promising, indeed!  The final product is quite tasty and filling to boot!  All those healthy fats in the almond flour, butter and eggs really makes this a satisfying dessert, snack or even breakfast!

Nourishing Recipes

Today, in the fitness challenge group I am a part of, our challenge is to find a healthful recipe and share it.  Another step up in the challenge is to actually make the recipe.  I'm game!

Thankfully, our head coach has encouraged the challengers to avoid "healthy" recipes that feature processed, canned soup ingredients.  Just because it is low-fat or low-cal doesn't mean it is healthful.  Hence why I've entitled this post "Nourishing Recipes."

I am choosing THIS recipe from THIS list of GAPS/SCD recipes.  You can't go wrong health-wise with any of these recipes.

Other great sources of nourishing, healthful recipes:

Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon  (every single recipe in this book is nourishing, natural and healthy and it includes gourmet desserts!)
The Healthy Home Economist
Cheese Slave
Nourished Kitchen
Food For Kids Health

Natural Sweeteners...a better choice

Honey, preferably raw:  Raw honey is chock full of enzymes and amylases that help us more easily digest carbs.  Local honey contains pollens that can help ease allergies.  Honey has trace amounts of vitamins and minerals and contains many antioxidants.

Maple Syrup:  Maple syrup is full of trace minerals such as calcium, manganese, iron and zinc.

Rapadura:  aka dehydrated cane sugar juice.  This sweetener is rich in minerals and is close enough to sugar for baked goods.

Stevia:  This is an herb and a little goes a long way.  Some people are sensitive to stevia and be aware that many commercial packets contain additives.

Date Sugar:  Date sugar does not dissolve easily, so it is great on top of muffins or in oatmeal.  It is high in tryptophan, which is an amino acid that has a calming effect.

Molasses: high in B vitamins and minerals such as iron, zinc, copper, calcium and chromium, this sweetener.

Sorghum syrup:  ditch all that agave syrup/nectar and try sorghum syrup, instead.  It is rich in B vitamins and minerals such as phosphorus, iron and calcium.

The best thing we can do is get used to a lower sweets diet and save sweetened food as a treat rather than a regular part of our daily diet.  It takes some time, but one thing I've personally noticed is that the less refined/fake sugars in my diet, the more I taste the natural sweetness of fruits and vegetables and the flavors of unsweetened foods.

The Healthy Home Economist
Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon
Nutrition Facts
The World's Healthiest Foods
Authority Nutrition

Detoxifying Twists

I thought it was just health nut mumbo jumbo....twist your torso and detoxify....but, in practicality, there seems to be something to it!  Since I started doing the twists, I am no longer bloated or...ahem...constipated.  Plus, it feels sooooooo good on the back.

Consider it a hug for your internal organs.  Wringing them out, you move digestion, gas, and perhaps even toxins along their paths...out.

Here are some popular twists to do.  Yeah, I'm stealing them from google images.  I was going to do my own pictures, but I figured these would show proper form better than I can and that's important:

Images from:  www.kristinmcgee.com, www.breakingmuscle.com, www.shape.com, www.alignyo.com

Don't Fear the Fat or Egg Yolks!

Remember in 1990's?  It was an era of "fat is BAD!"  Ummm....did that do much of anything to reduce the obesity epidemic in America?  No!!  Instead, people avoided healthy fats to their detriment and adopted the low-fat, no-fat chemical s**tstorms that are out their now.

Lemme say this once and for all, so listen carefully:  GOOD FATS (in healthful moderation) WILL NOT MAKE YOU FAT!!  And healthful moderation may be more than you think.

So, please, stop thinking you're doing yourself a dietary and healthy lifestyle favor by eating fat free yogurts.  Especially the flavored ones.  Learn to love plain whole milk yogurt and load it up with fruit, turn it into a veggie dip (with real herbs, not some chemical-laden packet of mix), add nuts, unsweetened coconut, honey, maple syrup, etc and enjoy the filling goodness.

Listen, we need fats.  Fats help absorb vitamins.  Fats keep our body going.  Fats help us feel full so we don't gorge ourselves on empty calories.  Embrace the avocado, the almond, whole milk (preferable raw), butter, olive oil, coconut oil, salmon, EGG YOLKS....but toss those nasty vegetable oils (canola, corn, shortening, PAM).

And please, enough with this egg white stuff.  Eat the yolk!  I'm begging you!  The yolk is full of goodness and good cholesterol.  You NEED good cholesterol for a healthy brain.  People on low/no fat diets and low/no cholesterol diets are more likely to get dementia!  But don't just buy any conventional egg.  And avoid those "vegetarian fed" eggs.  Sorry, but anyone living on a genetically modified corn and soy diet isn't going to produce much of anything healthful...find a local farmer who lets their chickens peck the ground for bugs and seeds and such and buy their eggs, then eat the whole darned thing!

Here are some great resources on the info I've presented here:

The Five Fats You MUST Have

How Vegetable Oils Make Us Fat

Get Your Fats Straight

Why Skim Milk Will Make You Fat

Health Benefits of Egg Yolks

You need to feed your body and feed it well for it to run properly and grow good muscle and cells and such.  You can't have that if you are feeding your body with processed chemicals and not giving it the building blocks it needs (good fats and cholesterols).

After my first baby was born, I could not budge the last bit of baby weight.  I exercised regularly and ate a low-fat diet.  Why wasn't my weight budging?  After reading research on fats, I took a leap of faith and switched to a full-fat diet and eliminated almost all processed foods.  You know what happened?  I didn't blow up like a balloon.  I dropped not only the last 5 lbs of baby weight, but I dropped nearly 10 lbs!  I had muscle tone and strength and wellness like I never had before!

I've had 4 babies and I still eat a full-fat diet and I weigh less now than I did before I got pregnant with my first!

One caveat....all bodies are different and we have different ways of metabolizing foods.  So, while you should eat good fats every day and not shun them, your body may not be able to handle as much as mine.  Or you may not like the more "robust" look that comes with a traditional full-fat diet.  Our world's view is very slender and toned.  On a woman, the full-fat diet usually presents a more Marilyn Monroe look than Jillian Michaels.  See what works for you.  Experiment and be mindful of your body, but please PLEASE do not shun good fats and egg yolks.  Our bodies need them!