Photo credit: Alyssa Mayrand
"I took Amelia's workshop on fermented foods and it was truly a wonderful experience. I learned so much about the body and why fermented foods are essential in helping with our digestion. It was a relaxed and informative environment that made it safe to share and explore questions about nutrition. Looking forward to trying my carrots and ginger! "
~ Alyssa Mayrand is a teach at The Martha's Vineyard Public Charter School
Photo Credit: Leah Jampel
Amelia is an incredibly dynamic teacher, full of light and life. She empowers her students by guiding them gently through the science of our bodies, and inspires us to make change through her positive energy and enthusiasm. In one workshop I learned what I feel every human should learn in 1st grade: it's not only what we eat, but how we feel about what we eat. How incredible to know that force feeding spinach will not do any good! The nutrients are just waiting for our minds, our hearts and our stomachs to align. I have an entirely new approach to eating - seeking enjoyment, embracing health, finding balance. Thank you Amelia!
~ Kaila Allen-Posin, M.Ed. with a concentration in Educating for Sustainability. Kaila works with the Island Grown Schools on Martha's Vineyard (MV) and is currently the IGS coordinator for the MV Regional High School and the Oak Bluffs Elementary School. She has also led adult education programs at the FARM Institute on Martha's Vineyard.
Photo credit: Tiffany Amber Vanderhoop
~ Tiffany, is a Textile Artist from Aquinnah, Martha's Vineyard. Her mother is from the Haida tribe and her work is Ravens Tail.
Photo credit: Tiffany Vanderhoop, Ravens Tail
PHOTO CREDIT: Rebecca Caridad of Manzanita Photo. Seals, being seals, in Ireland.
In this post I will discuss the story of the Selkies as I like to tell it, the Black Irish history, and why I named my friend and business Selkskin.
Selkskin, the name of this cherished business/being of mine, comes from the stories of the Black Irish. Have you ever seen the movie: The Secret of Roan Inish? It is a fantastic movie about a girl and her lineage of seal women, selchies or selkies. Selkies are seals in the water and women on land.
The story for me goes that one day an Irish man was coming home from work in his boat. On the jetty that climbed into the sea, he saw a beautiful naked woman. She was a magnet with pearl skin, long dark hair the color of seaweed away from the light and green eyes. She was stunning and he wanted her to be his. She accepted his offer to be his wife and went to live with him. They were married, had many gorgeous and strong children, and were happy for a time.
She had one possession. Her seal skin. She is, in fact a Selkie, a seal woman. Her husband tucked her skins away in the attic and they went about their human life.
One day when the man was coming home from work, rowing along, there was a seal circling him. She was nudging his boat and making sounds as though she were trying to speak to him. He moved around her as best he could and found himself wondering what had possessed the animal.
As he moved closer to the shore he saw movement on the beach, it looked like children playing he thought. My children, my sacred and precious ones. His heart was full of pride and gratitude.
Once he was in range of their faces he saw that it was his children. And yet they were not playing, they were crying and calling out to him. Startled with the instincts of a parent who needs nothing and is at the mercy of their children, he quickly increased his pace. He reached the shore and yanked his boat to safety. He was moving with such swiftness the boat almost flipped and he ran from is as it was slowly lapped by the waves and gently pulled closer and closer to the ocean.
This slow pulling of his boat was like a mirror to his heart. As he scanned the faces of his family it was clear the body that was missing was his wife, the Selkie. He felt his heart pulled under.
She, like his boat, had again become a part of the sea.
PHOTO CREDIT: Rebecca Caridad of Manzanita Photo.
From what I understand the Moorish first came to Ireland when they were kicked out of Spain. When the Moorish with their beautiful dark brown hair mixed with the fair Irish a new kind of Irish/Moorish people were born. Babies were born with pale skin, dark brown hair, and green eyes (like my lovely mother) and this was new. The term darkie was used as a derogative term and people were treated like crap for being darker. Isn't it amazing how we as humans can find a way to make each other slaves, demean each other and put each other down no matter the circumstance? The poor from Spain and the Irish have been penalized, civilized, and stripped of their culture like so many if you learn the history. People have survived so much it truly blows my mind. I recognize I come from such a privileged time and place. I don’t mean to sound like an ignorant yuppie brat – the privilege of my life is a gift.
PHOTO CREDIT: Rebecca Caridad of Manzanita Photo. Seals, being seals, in Ireland.
When I was growing up on the Vineyard there were always seals. They would be there by the boat in Woods Hole when we’d be boarding the Steam Ship Authority to go home. Seals have always been coming home for me. When I was in college I got into learning more about my Irish history. I got really excited when I learned about Selkies. I wanted so much to wake up and to be free from ignorance and suffering. The Selkie in me knew she was forever free.
This story is sad to many! Indeed. For this family to not be together, to have the mother leave because her true nature could not be contained in human flesh is very sad! And yet, I take something different away from this story.
Once I made the connection of my Selkies on the rocks at home, the Selkie in me, and this history I felt they had always been with me. They are there in my mind, on the rocks just out at sea beyond where the boat is docked, beckoning me home; beckoning me to come closer to myself every day, as Pema Chodron says.
While we have human bodies and they are precious, we are much more. I believe there is a spirit, an animation that makes us all truly necessary and important to be HERE, right now. We are not mistakes and so many of us, including myself, struggle with sometimes. We question our self-worth whether rationally, subconsciously, or we overtly put ourselves down. I want to stop doing this. I want to value myself and this story connects me, even just through my own need and interpretation, to a feeling that I come from somewhere and I have gifts that matter and are needed.
Blackstar and the music of Talib Kwali and Mos Def also taught me this. I remember listening to an album where they said positive changes comes when people remember that they are valuable. I knew this was truth and it still beats steady in me.
This story reminds me that I come from the land and the sea. I come from a family that has a strong and real lineage. I come from Mr. and Mrs. John Kelley who came over to NY in the late 1840’s from Country Cork, Ireland. They fished. They had children and moved to Maine. He fought in a war. I have roots. They are mine and I am proud of them even though sometimes they tug at my heart, are embarrassing, and they hurt. I am a tiny piece and there is such a bigger world that is real. People suffer and emotions feel throb and yet there is a vastness, a magic that I believe in. The magic that can’t be explained or bought fuels me and keeps me asking to thrive. I want more than to merely survive.
This story and my lineage remind me I don’t need to culturally appropriate any other spiritual tradition to fill the void. I as an America sometimes have felt lost and empty with only consumerism to consume me. We are taught that we have to assimilate and become an ideal. I say we don’t, I say we get to be ourselves fully, without apology, even when it’s uncomfortable and inconvenient. When we love each other, we stick with each as well unfold as we truly are.
This story reminds me that I come from somewhere and I have inherent value. I don’t believe life force, G~d some say, the universe makes mistakes. My best friend Rebecca says, throw your faith at it. I say I want to remember to trust this life and know that everything unfolds exactly as it should.
This supports me in my work and personal joinery with nutritional therapy. We don’t talk about the words therapy as a part of my field a lot. What this means to me is that addressing how we eat is about much more than food. My brother in life and kindred spirit Cristobal Roberto has recently reminded me that it is nourishment and healthy eating habits in relationship to spiritual fulfillment, exercise and moving the bod, and rest that all come together to cook us and to support a shift in health. Vitality comes from a person that is nourished on all levels.
For me health is interconnected and the story of the Selkies, the Irish Seal Women, reminds me to go the roots. An imbalance can be addressed partially if we only look at the surface and the symptoms as their own island. In other words we can only heal so much by licking the surface of a wound. With myself and you I want to address concerns and things I need to shed at the root. What is truly aggravating the things I would change in my life? What are the things/people/experiences/foods/practices that make me sing from the top of mountains and from the shore of a sunny sea? What makes me feel alive? That’s what I want to find.
Your,
Amelia
Photo credit: Travel Brochures
Glass large rectangular baking dish
Stainless steel sauté pan or cast iron skillet
Sharp fine knife
Serving pieces
Sea salt
One medium size whole, pastured duck
2-3 Radishes
3 Large carrots
1 Medium onion
2 cups of wild, organic blueberries
Bacon
Photo credit: Nourishing Meals
Take the liver, heart, and organs out of the duck. Please the duck in your clean sink and wash it gently with filtered, pure water. Pat dry.
I sauté the organs and up with rosemary, leeks, and sea salt as an appetizer and eat them up. This is how one of my best friends and business partner: Cristobal Roberto taught me to enjoy life to the fullest. Thank you to the end of the earth and back. Me en canta pato asado!
Chop the vegetables to your desired shape and size.
Place them at the bottom of the baking dish. I like to put a ¼ of a cup of stock in the dish too for moisture as it cooks. This makes it so the veggies don’t burn too.
Rub the duck with a little ghee (clarified butter) or coconut oil to help it to not dry out. You can also use a little left over duck fat for this if you have done this before or you have a good kind of fat lying around.
Sprinkle with sea salt.
Place over the veggies in the baking dish. The fat from the duck will melt down, cooking the veggies. It’s so fine.
Roast for 45 minutes on 350 and then turn the duck over and roast for another 45 minutes.
Depending on the size of your duck and the power of your oven you made need a little more or less time to bake your duck. I like it to be done and yet not overdone. When I am cooking just duck breast on its own I like it rare. It is best to roast the whole duck through.
Let cool for about 20 minutes.
I eat it for various different meals. I like to eat the legs and thighs first. I then carve a bit of the breast for another meal and it is so great the next day. I like to wrap the duck breast in two pieces of organic, pastured sugar-free bacon!
Serve to your loves and eat those duck legs with your bare fingers! ;-) I like it cave woman style for sure.
Photo credit: In Sock Monkey Slippers
A nice sauce to go with it is sautéed wild, organic blueberries with a bit of honey. Simply warm both ingredients in a small sauté pan and its lovely to rub on the duck before you roast it if you want a sweeter flavor!
If you want to use the bones after baking a chicken that's a great idea because not only do you get the protein and fat from the meat and skin for many meals you also now have the bones to heal further. If there are other organs I sometimes out them in the stock if I don't want to eat them. I used the turkey bones from our wild thanksgiving bird and those have been the gift that keeps on giving! I am just on my last batch now in January because I alternate with beef bones. You can use any animal bones you can find especially from local farmers. Those are the best. Sometimes they have so much if you create a good relationship they'll give them away!
If you roasted your whole animal and are not in the mood to make stock right away, put all the bones and left overs in a zip lock bag and freeze them for later. When you are ready take them out and throw them in the filtered water! It's truly that easy. No big deal. I have a few bone broth recipes on the blog!
Photo credit: Nourishing Meals
Your,
Amelia
Photo credit: She Cook She Cleans
Cutting board
Sharp Knife
Stock pot for cooking veggies (so you can blend easily with immersion blender)
Bone broth/stock
Bowls for enjoying!
One head of organic cauliflower
One onion, a few bulbs of garlic
1 bushel of leeks or rainbow chard
Bacon
Sea salt
1/2 pound Lard or duck fat (you can use it for some many things). You could also take the bacon grease from cooking the bacon or the fat from roasting a whole pastured duck). I highly recommend roasting a whole duck if you haven't ~ it's a spiritual experience!!
Feeds 6-8 people. Selkskin 30 mins or less!
Photo credit: The Scent of Oranges
If you don’t have bone broth or have never made it yourself I have a recipe! If you want to buy it make sure to get an organic, free-range chicken broth from a health food store.
Chop the leeks and cauliflower. You don’t have to chop too small, they will cook and then be blended.
Saute the onions and garlic separately with duck fat or lard. They do not have to be cut too small either.
Take 3 cups of stock and bring it to a boil, add the cauliflower and leeks and bring the pot to medium heat.
Cook until the veggies are soft, roughly 15-20 minutes.
Add two tablespoons of lard or duck fat for healthy fats and flavor ;-)
Sea salt to taste
Photo credit: Pampered Chef
Blend with your Pampered Chef Deluxe Cooking Blender until you have the desired texture. I like it thick! The more liquid you add the thinner your soup will be. If you want it thinner add more stock or a bit of pure, filtered water.
Cook the bacon on the side. Once it is to your desired crispness chop it up and sprinkle it on top of the soup! It’s so incredibly simple and delicious. I hope you just love it :)
Your,
Amelia
“The single greatest lesson the garden teaches is that our relationship to the planet need not be zero-sum, and that as long as the sun still shines and people still can plan and plant, think and do, we can, if we bother to try, find ways to provide for ourselves without diminishing the world. ” ― Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
In this blog post I will discuss The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan, the beauty and liberation of small, local farming, big food companies, corn and how it is destructive for farmers, the fast food industry, the animal industry and the modern traps, how processed food is not worth the convenience, and why I love Pollan’s books tremendously!
The Omnivores Dilemma by Michael Pollan is when it comes to eating nothing is simple, straightforward, or without consequence. If we do not think about what we eat and just go off of the cereal commercials or fill our lives with processed food, our bodies will become nutritionally deficient, sick, and possibly laden by disease. If we only eat processed food we also support big food companies, Monsanto, and other corporations that have harmful and unethical practices. Pollan beckons the reader to dig deeper and to understand that our food choices matter. Beyond just our health he asks us to look at the lives of the animals we eat and how on a large scale they are not raised humanly. He also asks: aren’t the farmers involved getting the resources they deserve? Is it fair? What are the holistic costs of processed food?
Some authors who write books on eating well and being healthy use an authoritative voice to tell the reader they need to change and buy organic. I feel this approach is not the most helpful. Pollan does not arrogantly say eating organic is right and everything else is wrong. He investigates the difference in organic food vs. conventional produce/processed food. He deconstructs the fair practices from the farmer’s perspective, the realities of how that money from the food we buy is giving back to the farm or to the food giants, and how organic food can differ greatly in taste, nutritional value, and ethical impact.
Pollan has a great sense of humor about corn. He discusses the impact the industry of corn has on big farmers, small farmers, and human health. He lightheartedly refers to corn as a being that succeeded in taking over much of the earth and more specifically farm land. If it had the ability to dream of concurring the American processed food system, Pollan would say it succeeded. He points out that so much of our processed food on a global scale is largely made up of corn. Many of us enjoy a corn on the cob in August while the sun is hot and the nights are long. Corn has moved far beyond this.
In processed food we eat corn in the form of hydrogenated oils. Hydrogenated oils are in everything from bread to ice cream, in the fillers in starchy carbohydrates, to the food that feeds the animals that then feed many humans. Pollan describes the life of an industrial cow (as he bought one and followed it’s life in the fed lot). It is not at all OK. They don’t get to move, or play, or eat things that make them feel good. With this information it is easy to see why it would be hard to still eat animals raised this way. Pollan has taught me more about the corrupt animal food industry. Animals from cows, to pigs, to chickens are fed corn and a mixture of other animal parts. Many times these mixtures contain their own species. This is so destructive and cruel. It is also of vital importance that I know more about how this works. This knowledge furthers my conviction to not be a part of this. We have the power to not eat animals who are forced to live this way. It is easy to see how people become vegetarian and vegan. I get it. I still eat meat. I have known for the past 15 years that I could only eat free range animals who were allowed access to pasture and a good quality of life. The knowledge that Pollan imparts educates the reader even further into why animals who are raised sustainably are so important. When animals eat corn as opposed to their natural diet they are also much less nutritious to eat.
Corn is not only bad for our health when it is over processed it is also not good for the farmers involved. Pollan goes into detail about his experience on a farm with a true big corn farmer. He tells the story of how corn farmers are continuing to be bullied into growing more corn from the government through defective subsidies. The farmer grows more and continues to lose more money. As corn goes up in quantity the price is driven down. Pollan gives the reader more and more reasons to not participate in a system such as this. He also discusses the fast food industry. All fast food is mostly corn. When he breaks it all down the truth is astonishing.
Pollan spends time with a local, small Kansas farmer who does not sell his meat and produce to anyone who cannot pick it up themselves. His relationship with this farmer started with a phone call where Pollan asked him to mail him his quality, sustainable meat and the farmer said no. This led to Pollan’s week stay on the farm where he got up at 5 a.m. and worked. He got to see cows, pigs, and chickens living together in harmony. The animals on this farm use their own excrement to compost the grass the other animal will fed on in the next few days. Farming can be a symbiotic and beautiful thing. The reader cannot help but see how amicable quality, organic farming can be. The chickens and the cows of this small farm had a relationship of reciprocity, they were raised humanly by content farmers, and were delicious. Sounds ideal to me.
Pollan’s third big adventure was creating a meal that he foraged and hunted himself. He made a connection through all three stages of his journey to take more responsibility for the food he was consuming. He did this through educating himself about the processed food industry, then killing an animal he helped raise on a small farm, and finished with the idea of only eating what he could pull from the ground or was an animal he could hunt himself. He called this the perfect meal once it came into fruition with a group of his loved ones. He was real about it’s faults. He made the distinction that it was not the most delicious by any means. He burnt one of his foraged mushrooms and the sea salt from San Francisco was too toxic to eat. But it was perfect because he did what he said he was going to do and the meal came from his own two hands.
I had not realized how much corn was in everything. I have not eaten processed food and things with hydrogenated oils in them for a long time. This was a great lesson on how often corn is added to processed food. I thought it was amazing when he did the calculations of how much corn was in the fast food meal that he and his family ate while driving in the car burning fossil fuel. The connection he made between the processed food industry and the fossil fuel industry was necessary, bold, and scary. This is so important to understand. I think I was avoiding seeing this hard truth that big business really has blended these industries of war and food together. I feel much more educated on the connection between fuel and food. I am partaking in intelligent discusses on the subject and I am recommending this book regularly. I know organic food is expensive. Books like this make it even more real how I cannot put a price tag on my health or on the lives of the people and animals who get that food to me.
I loved when he processed his experience of killing a chicken he had watched live on the farm for the past week. I can’t imagine how it would feel for the farmer who raises animals regularly from beginning to end. I am so curious about this. This was the first real story I had read about how it was to kill about 300 chickens humanely and without ruining the people who do it. It was incredible to learn that small farmers only kill when necessary. Many small farmers spread out how many times a year that they kill their animals. Pollan discussed studies that have shown that workers who are forced to do this daily show more of a tendency towards violence and causing harm.
This was further education into how there are a few people on the top of the big food giant companies who are making money off of the backs of corn farmers. I knew the government subsidies and benefits they offered farmers were disreputable. I did not realize the debt that many farmers are in just to keep going. I also didn't realized how trapped many of them feel because other crops just won’t pay the bills. My friend would work on a corn harvest in the month of July while we were off for the summer from college. I would hear crazy stories. It is sad to hear that the more corn they grow the less money they make. It is extremely unfair and is such a broken system. Pollan does a wonderful job of tying a lot of complex information into one succinct section of his book on the corn industry. I hadn't realized how interlocked the fuel and food industries are. Corn truly is the essential link.
I am absolutely in love with this book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I learned so much about industrial farming vs. local, smaller, organic farms. I loved his stories about humanly raised animals. I was really emotionally painful to read about the feed lots. They are full of sad tales of the tortured lives of industrially raised cows, pigs, chickens, and more. I am so impressed by Pollan’s honesty with how much of a privilege it is to eat organic. I enjoy how he playfully critiques this privilege especially in terms of elite groups of foodies in America. Some people can afford to buy local, organic, and sustainable food. Many cannot. Even with the best intentions a lot of the times many of us are still ignorant to how the choices we make every day either benefit or hurt the small farmer. He seems to critique this without being rude or arrogant and yet he simply brings attention to the fact that figuring out, whats for dinner? is no simple endeavor. It is truly an omnivore’s dilemma.
His tone and the way he approaches his book is also brilliant. He doesn't come out ordering the reader around telling us what to think, he lets the reader accompany him on his journey. As he goes through the corn fields with the big farmers, visits the small farmer and kills a chicken himself, and makes a meal for his loved ones from things he foraged and hunted, he lets the reader think for ourselves. He lets us ask the questions with him and he provides real answers as to why organic tastes better and is more sustainable. He bases his beliefs and opinions in experience and scientific research. I respect that. I love it. His writing is approachable from many different political stances, opinions, or perspectives. I believe this is a writing style and way of educating that has the real potential to change American’s perspective on: whats for dinner?
Your,
Amelia
Photo credit to: Gluten Free Fix
Photo credit to: Huffington Post
Photo credit to: The Healthy Foodie
Yum! I will preface this by saying you do need to have a strong digestive fire to eat these. Eggs, coconut, and banana can all be dampening food. They can be more difficult for those healing from digestive concerns or chronic inflammation. I recommend you only make this recipe after consulting with a health care practitioner to make sure these are right for you <3
From your pantry:
A cast iron skillet/stainless steel pan
A spatula stainless steel or wooden is best
A mixing bowl
A fork or whisk
Buy 3 simple ingredients:
1 1/2 big bananas ready to be squashed (I use my hands and then a fork :)
3 tablespoons melted ghee (clarified butter) or coconut oil (add 2 tbs to the batter if it is dry and use the rest to fry the pancakes)
make 'em
Selkskin20minsorless: 5-10 to prep and 10 to cook! Makes about 8 medium-size pancakes
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl (the eggs and bananas mixed first separately) and then add the coconut flour until all chunks are smoothed out. If you add the melted ghee or coconut oil to the bananas the warmth helps to mash them if they are not completely ripe. Fry in the pan like normal pancakes with extra ghee/butter or coconut oil. Ready to serve in 10 minutes or less and the family is sugar free, healthy, and happy :-)
Photo credit to: Kitchen Riffs
Photo credit: Sweet Make Me Smile
For an alternative syrup idea I like to mix 1/2 a banana (more if I double the recipe for more people) and blueberries and warm it up with little bit of coconut oil so that you can drizzle that on top instead of maple syrup or honey. I noticed that I don't feel great when I eat maple syrup or honey. They are too sugary for me and yet this is a fun alternative way to feel like you have a special topping. You can also add a little extra coconut milk in there and it's great :-) it makes the topping a bit creamy. You can also add a splash of coconut milk (add more if it seems a little dry to your batter, the more you add the more thin your pancakes will be).
These are great for a special brunch at home. I like my cooking better than going out now! To add even more sass I make poached eggs with ghee hollandaise sauce to go on the side. And now it's not brunch with out a champagne glass so I fill it with sparkling water and berries or lemon/lime ;-) Then we are really rockin'! Have fun kids.
I used to work at Trattoria Corso in Berkeley, CA. We had a cocktail called the Contessa Bella with elderflower liquor, prosecco, and a long lemon peal like the beautiful waves of hair from a contessa bella herself ;-) I love brunch. It is one of the things that really makes me feel, yay, I'm going to have a great brunch! when I get up in the morning on a day of with loved ones. I am looking to not loose that excitement and love of food as I eat better and more cleanly. With this set up I only gain energy and still keep my love and thrill for brunch. It's awesome and being without sugar doesn't mean giving up what I love. And I save $$$ so I can afford organic :)
I hope you enjoy brunch without the sugar hangover :)
Your,
Amelia
All photo credit and recipe idea to my best besty: Rebecca Caridad Facteau of Manzanita Photo
Yum! I will preface this by saying you do need to have a strong digestive fire to eat these. Eggs can all be dampening food. They can be more difficult for those healing from digestive concerns or chronic inflammation. I recommend you only make this recipe after consulting with a health care practitioner to make sure these are right for you <3
Bowls for mixing
Fork/whisk
Measuring spoons/cups
Disposable Cupcake holders (so that the egg doesn't stick to the pan)
3/4 cup cooked sugar free & pastured turkey, beef, or pork bacon
2 small handfuls fresh spinach, chopped
6 large eggs (I use Pete and Gerry Eggs - pastured and happy)
1/4-1/2 cup coconut milk
1/3 cup sautéed peppers
1/3 cup shredded raw cheese (if you tolerate dairy, I'm off it and yet the man likes it)
Unrefined sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup ghee (clarified butter) I drop a little at the bottom of each egg muffin (on top of the cupcake holders :)
Yileds 12 egg muffins. About 20 mins prep time and 10 mins cook time. Selkskin30minsorless. I am always looking for ways to balance my passions/creativity, part-time and full-time jobs, relationships, house hold, and self care. This modern life, eh?
Saute the bacon first. Add the chopped veggies and meat to the beaten eggs. You can easily make this vegetarian - leave out the meat :) Line the cupcake pan with disposable holders. Bake on 350 for 10 minutes using the cupcake holders so it doesn't stick. Put them in the fridge, pop 'em in the toster the next day for breakfast and you are good to go. And you ate a homemade breakfast today, hooray! :)
Eating cleanly has been both liberating and yet healing can definitely be emotional. You are not alone. Practicing eating well is good direction regardless because it shows we care about ourselves!
I recommend getting local, organic produce whenever possible. It's worth it, who needs the added stress of more toxic stuff to process? I get a veg delivery each week from Boston Organics and they add on my eggs too. I also get my sugar free bacon from a Boston area delivery service that supports local farmers and animals that are pastured and treated well :) Do you eat meat? Where do you get yours from? Tell me what you think and if these worked for you on the go!
Your,
Amelia
Photo credit to Rebecca Caridad Facteau of Manzanita Photo
In this post I am excited to talk about a great book by Natasha Campbell-McBride MD, MMedSci (neurology), MMedSci (nutrition), Put Your Heart in Your Mouth, processed food and the connection with inflammation and heart disease, amino acids as the building blocks for the heart’s repair system, cholesterol: the myths, power, and the media, vitamin D and heart health, other common health concerns such as atherosclerosis and the connection between our overall health/digestive system, how we exercise, the connection between blood sugar regulation, insulin resistance, diabetes, and heart disease, how the heart runs on fat (it’s preferred source of fuel), my experience with inflammation and healing from an injury, and how education can liberate us from the feeling that disease and deterioration are inevitable.
In her book Put Your Heart in Your Mouth Natasha Campbell-McBride MD, MMedSci (neurology), MMedSci (nutrition) talks about heart health in terms of the food we choose to put in our mouths. Foods that are alive can heal and dead foods can kill.
Dr. Campbell-McBride describes how heart disease is inextricably linked to the harms of eating processed foods, refined carbs/sugar, and denatured foods. Whole foods including good quality organic, pastured eggs, meat, and dairy (for those who can tolerate it and choose to eat them) offer necessary nutrients for the heart. Meat and fat have been attacked as being the cause of heart disease, heart attacks, and other diseases that ail the heart. Good quality protein (which is properly digested and assimilated) is necessary to create amino acids taurine and carnation which are vital to the heart. The amino acids taurine and carnation are the precursors which help to repair and renew muscles, vessels, and much more in the heart. It is also extremely important for the heart that we have a good stomach pH to digest and assimilate calcium, magnesium, and B vitamins.
Dr. Campbell-McBride breaks down the myths of cholesterol and fat in our culture. The author asks the reader to consider who may be benefiting from these myths that animal fats and meat with cholesterol are bad for the heart. She gives detailed and clear examples of scientific research and work that has been done to directly contradict these harmful stories. Dr. Campbell-McBride explains that the people in power continue to benefit from these myths because the general population are not taught to dispute these false messages. Big food companies put a lot of money into making sure contradictory research about quality animal fats and products stays out of the mainstream media. We need to educate ourselves. She asks the reader to question processed food. If we take a good long look at the list of ingredients we can’t understand and how we feel after we eat them, are we really that surprised when hear theories and research that challenge that processed foods are not harmful? Many of the natural vitamins/minerals have been processed out of these foods and then synthetic vitamins are injected back in that our bodies cannot assimilate. The cereal box and pasteurized milk sells itself to you as being rich with vitamin D, calcium, and fiber and yet who is that serving?
Dr. Campbell-McBride breaks down the importance of vitamin D for the heart. The heart contracts with the help of calcium and relaxes with the necessary magnesium. Calcium is a game of cofactors. Vitamin D and the other fat soluble vitamins A, E, and K must be present in ample amounts for calcium to be absorbed and used properly by the heart. She draws attention to the fact that many common health concerns in America (and more and more globally) are exacerbated by vitamin D deficiency. We need vitamin D to support mental health concerns, obesity, heart disease, diabetes and blood sugar regulation, chronic pain, auto-immune diseases, osteoarthritis, rickets and osteomalacia, muscle weakness, cancer, high blood pressure, immunity challenges, and hyperthyroidism to name some of the major concerns. The body is such a precise and tactful physiological system. If we do not have the cofactors and precursors we need (which we can obtain through fully digesting a whole food, properly prepared diet) we can cause serious damage one little deficiency at a time. A uncomplicated act (which is no less important) like sitting in the sun and getting vitamin D can help us to prevent heart disease and much more. Sitting in the sun is cheep and lovely - so that’s also great.
Dr. Campbell-McBride breaks down that atherosclerosis is a disease which is caused by inflammation. Our blood vessels that lead to the heart need to be healthy for our heart to be. The endothelium is a layer of cells in the walls of our blood vessels. It does very important jobs which science is still working on understanding. This controls how we make and dissolve blood clots and muscle tone, produce many hormones, immune function, movement, and helps with the balance of electrolytes and minerals to name only a few of the things the endothelium regulates.
We see a lot of dysfunction today with this important endothelium. It unfortunately does not often get the nutrition it needs through a processed food diet and is forced to focus on helping with inflammation and repair. If the focus stays on inflammation, imagine what happens when all the jobs listed above are done with half or less of the attention necessary. It’s like a team at work where most of the members are sick. It is extremely hard to complete the necessary daily tasks of the organization. If this imbalance is allowed to continue we see the signs and symptoms of atherosclerosis. Man-made chemicals, pesticides, smoking, processed foods, poor digestion, and a lack of healthy gut flora and acid production, and nutritional deficiencies aggravate atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis and other imbalances that contribute may start with signs and symptoms from these toxins and if they are allowed to continue they will lead to disease. Digestion is fundamental to nutrition and to heart health so that we can get the nutrients the heart and all of it’s support systems need to function.
We can change our fate. We do not have to succumb to heart disease and cranky old age. Dr. Campbell-McBride emphasizes the importance of eating alive foods and exercise. The heart loves movement and cardio as we are now seeing more and more in main stream America. This is not just your gym trying to make money, the heart needs exercise to improve circulation and to receive large and hopefully lovely amounts of oxygen from clean air. There are many toxins where many of us exercise in gyms and cities today. It is important to be aware that we take deeper breaths when we exercise and so clean air will greatly improve our health.
Dr. Campbell-McBride provides wonderful motivation to eat well and move our bodies. After get that walk, run, canoe ride, swim, or class in she provides yummy recipes for the readers to look forward to. I have only tried a couple myself and I look forward to trying more. It is so helpful when trying to eat a whole food diet to make it fun and enjoyable! Eating more for healing doesn't have to be just another thing we have to do that takes away everything we knew and enjoyed. Whole foods can remind our bodies who we are and give us vitalism. If it’s not enjoyable at first Dr. Campbell-McBride recommends we listen to ourselves and what we like, go slow, and do what makes sense for our lives in the moment. There is a lot to learn and thank goodness we are blessed with this life to learn it.
There is a strong connection between blood sugar regulation, insulin resistance, diabetes, and heart disease. One of the significant causes of heart disease is inflammation. Cortisol is a hormone involved in regulating our blood sugar levels. Inflammation is exacerbated by high levels of cortisol in the system that are often present due to blood sugar imbalances caused by diets high in refined sugar/carbs and processed foods. When cortisol is produced in a balanced way it has an anti-inflammatory affect. When there is too much of it we have harmful amounts of inflammation and we may begin to see signs and symptoms of insulin resistance. Over time if this goes unaddressed, diabetes and heart disease can result. This can be prevented with a properly prepared, nutrient dense whole food diet. I acknowledge there is always bio-individuality to consider and we are not in control of everything. We do design the plan and the way that we put food in our mouths. We have the power to not develop heart disease.
The heart runs on fat. We need essentially fatty acids (and also good quality proteins and complex carbs) for the cells of the heart to have a healthy lipid bilayer which allows nutrients to get into the heart cells and for toxins to be released for detox by the liver. Fish oils and cod liver oil are like sweet, sweet music for the heart. It is the fuel that will keep our hearts healthier and stronger for longer. The good quality fats for the cells are especially important for the calcium and magnesium to enter into the cels of the heart through the functioning lipid bilayer so that the heart can contract and release.
Cholesterol does not clog up our arteries and cause heart disease as we have been taught by mainstream pharmaceutical companies and by people in power who have a stake in keeping this belief system in place for profit. These large corporations would perpetuate the belief that animal and good quality fats like coconut oil clog our arteries to make money and not with our health in mind. Cholesterol is like spackle for holes in our walls. It goes into the space created by deficiency and repairs what is damaged. To cut cholesterol out of our diets is dangerous and reckless.
Put Your Heart in Your Mouth by Natasha Campbell-McBride MD, MMedSci (neurology), MMedSci (nutrition) goes beautifully with the book Know Your Fats: Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils, and Cholesterol by Dr. Mary Enig which breaks down the science behind fats on a molecular level. I love these two books together because they break down the myths that good quality fats and cholesterol are horrible for us, cause heart disease, and will make us fat or obese. We need more people that understand the physiological role of fats in the body in order to contradict these myths. I believe this would help America and the world to be more empowered and happy as it would give us all more energy and feelings of good health. It has given this to me and to members of my community who are willing to challenge that what we’ve been taught about butter, animal fat, and cholesterol is incorrect.
My personal experience has shown me that inflammation aggravates dysfunction. I was injured and I was not healing because I was in denial and I was sad about being limited. While I respect that this is what I felt, I also noticed that I had to address this or nothing was going to transform. I stopped eating sugar last winter of 2014. I ate it again the following thanksgiving. Man was it not worth it. The week after suddenly honey was in everything again and I felt worse. So I stopped again and this time I stopped eating grains, processed food, sugar, dairy, and legumes (beans for example), and drinking alcohol. I went extreme because I was tired of being sick and tired. I wrote more about this if you want to read on :)
It has not been fast. I still experience the secondary injuries from the original harm. And yet I am finally better! I noticed a few days ago that I have not been experiencing muscle spasms as I was before! I have noticed that sugar aggravated inflammation for me and that it was making my injury worse. Not living with the feeling of waking up with my muscles clenching like I was being choked is worth not having a cookie. Oh yes. It’s glorious.
Sometimes we give up something only to realize we were in our own way and that our old habits were not serving us. Good riddance! I am thankful for this education which has been liberating.
Moreover, we need more strong, intelligent doctors who know and share this information such as these two professional and intelligent women do. It makes me feel hope that we have the resources and the potential in this world to contradict the myths that are truly causing heart disease such as processed sugar and foods. I love Put Your Heart in Your Mouth by Natasha Campbell-McBride MD, MMedSci (neurology), MMedSci (nutrition)! I will be reading this again and again and I have been recommending it to all my loved ones and clients who are open or who are questioning the myths surrounding food, more traditional methods of cooking/eating, and heart disease. I am so grateful, thank you!
Your,
Amelia
Photo credit to: Multiply Delicious
Yum! I will preface this by saying you do need to have a strong digestive fire to eat these. Eggs, coconut, and banana can all be dampening food. They can be more difficult for those healing from digestive concerns or chronic inflammation. I recommend you only make this recipe after consulting with a health care practitioner to make sure these are right for you <3
These are a wonderful grain-free option if you are doing a Whole30 or simply exploring life without grains for a while. My mother and I have both been in search of foods that give our digestion a break and are easy to enjoy. These are great! Thanks for the inspiration mom. I am a lucky baby ;-) Try them out as muffins or banana bread. I do both!
Below is the way to make them and the recipe. Let me know if you have questions! If you make them, let me know how they come out!
Photo credit to: Gracie Carroll
Fork/whisk
Measuring spoons/cups
2 Mixing bowls (dry and wet separate and then mixed together)
Disposable Cupcake holders or baking sheet for banana bread (so that it doesn't stick to the pan)
2 large bananas (I usually let them get real ripe/almost fully brown and then put them in the fridge or freezer until I'm ready to use them)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup melted coconut oil/ghee (clarified butter)-it is delicious with both
1/3 cup coconut flour
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
This will make about 9 muffins or a ex-small batch of banana bread. I double the recipe for a medium batch of banana bread.
Prep: Selkskin10minsorless
Total: Selkskin30minsorless
I don't add any other sweeteners because that is what's best for me. You can certainly add a tablespoon of honey, date sugar, or maple syrup if you are not used to life without sugar yet - no judgment here. Also blueberries are great baked in or drizzled on top :) We all do what works!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Line a small bread baking pan with a baking parchment sheet. To make muffins line with individual muffin parchment.
In a large stainless steel/glass bowl add bananas and with a fork or an immersion blender if you prefer. I use a fork or whisk as I like a little banana chunk.
Add eggs, coconut oil/ghee, vanilla until mixed well.
Add the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Add coconut flour, salt, and baking soda. Once these are well mixed add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and again mix well until you see no chunks of any dry bits.
If it is a bit dry add a tablespoon of coconut milk :) I like to eat these with coconut cream and blueberries as well and it is delicious!!
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until the top is a bit crispy and golden. Put a toothpick in the middle and if it is clean then they are ready.
Cool for 5 minutes.
If you are anything like me living without dairy is not easy! I love creamy, sweet things. I am dairy free now and I recently completed a whole60. In this time I broke my sugar addiction. Before thanksgiving I hadn't had sugar for several months. On thanksgiving I thought: I'll try it. No good. I was putting honey on too many things the week after that and I realized I just couldn't dabble with sugar. So I decided it was off the menu.
Now I eat a banana and I am like woah that's sweet! It's nice and gratifying. So for an extra treat sometimes I add a smashed up banana to coconut cream. If you take a can of coconut milk, when you first open it after it has sat for a day once you get it from the store, it has a thick coconut cream on the top of the can. It is the consistency of cream cheese (swoon). So this on top of these banana muffins is such a nice treat :) I think it is important not to just mimic all of m favorite sweets in a paleo fashion while not addressing the underlying emotional eating pattern or reason I ate sugar in the first place. There is nothing wrong with craving sweets - it is a basic human way of detecting good quality nourishing food. I am not into beating myself up. I simply want to be tactful about why I am eating what I am eating and to not use food as another way to repress or to be mean to myself - I want food to be love. I want it to be the way I felt when I made these! My love and I connected and laughed and enjoyed how good these were together. I love this so much, it doesn't even feel like work!! <3
They will keep for 2-3 days in a container, longer in the fridge or freezer. If I am going to freeze them I wrap pieces individually in plastic wrap.
Love them up! I know me and my family do :)
Your,
Amelia
Photo credit: The Swirling Spoon
1 cup raw cashews
1/4 cup tahini (I use sprouted sesame seed butter to ensure quality tahini product)
1/3 cup lime juice
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cumin
1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne
Filtered water
Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish (optional)
A drizzle of olive oil on top (optional)
Preparation (this took me 25 minutes to make and very little time to make disappear ;-)
Photo credit: Karyosmond
I soak the cashews in a glass bowl of water for eight hours. It is really helpful to do this a night before you wake up on a day off. You can also put them to soak on your way out the door in the morning if you want to make it later. If this is too much of a time commitment, soak them for at least three hours. Drain and rinse. I do this several times and then shake all the extra water out and place them in a bowl. I use my immersion blender or break them up with my hands depending on how chunky you like it. I like really chunky cashew hummus. You can also use a food processor at this point.
I toss the rest of ingredients in the bowl and use the immersion blender or (food processor) to blend. Stop when you have your desired chunkiness. If you blend it to a puree it will be very thick. Slowly add a 1/4 of a cup of water until you like the texture. The more water you put in the thinner the hummus be. I to only use a little water so that it is thick and easy to lift with a cucumber or a carrot like the hummus you can buy from the store. I did not use garlic, cumin, or parsley because these tend to be a bit upsetting for my stomach and to hot in terms of balance and Chinese medicine. I also used lime instead of lemon and yet feel free to use what you like!
Drizzle a bit of olive oil on top.
ABSOLUTELY love this! It’s so rich and satisfying and it digests well.
I got this recipe idea from the Whole9 website (the recipe is from Mel over at Dino-Chow recipes). These folks are so helpful when trying to keep things interesting! Cashew Hummus is soooooo good. I don’t miss the chickpeas and my stomach doesn’t hurt after I eat hummus now. I hadn’t realized until this past couple years how hard chickpeas (and legumes in general) were for me to digest.
The Whole9 also provides variations to the recipe:
Olive: Add black olives to the mixture before blending. For canned olives, 20-30 is a good number. For fancier cured Greek olives, start with 10-15 and add more to taste.
Roasted Red Pepper: Add 1-2 roasted red peppers and 1/2 teaspoon paprika to the mixture before blending. To roast peppers, cook on a grill or under the broiler until charred and soft. Place in paper bag for 10 minutes, then peel. Or take the easy route, and buy them in a jar at the store.
Sun-dried Tomato: Add 5-7 sun-dried tomatoes to the mixture before blending.
Recipe credit: Whole9 & Dino-Chow recipes
Photo credit: The Swirling Spoon & Karyosmond
Your,
Amelia
Photo credit to Matt Roth for The New York Times
If you're in the Boston area I'm teaching a fermented foods class in Somerville, Mass on Saturday, February 21st at 4 pm!
Want to join? We'd love to have you!
Email me at Amelia@selkskin.com for more info.
“It may seem strange to us that, in earlier times, people knew how to preserve vegetables for long periods without the use of freezers or canning machines. This was done through the process of lacto-fermentation. Lactic acid is a natural preservative that inhibits putrefying bacteria. Starches and sugars in vegetables and fruits are converted into lactic acid by the many species of lactic-acid-producing bacteria.” ~
Photo Credit to the talented and kind Brandon Boldenow
Bone broth helped me to heal my gut after an injury!
In this blog post I will share my gut healing after an injury, my emotional struggles, my physical sensations, my past and present approaches to healing with foods, what I’ve cut out, how I work with sticking with myself through the hard times, meditation, yoga, and my teacher Pema, practices, new revelations, how my injury unfolded, and how to carpe diem!
I was face timing with my loved one last night. Until I had my own gut discomfort I didn't realize that another one of my people has struggled too. I've been thinking a lot about how Pema Chodron writes about fear and fearlessness. Pema inspired me to consider: if I don't know my fears how can I become fearless? Fearlessness might look like having our fears not rule us and design our lives. Dear beautiful readers: I want to shed the shit holding me back. If you're with me, can I get a hell yes?!
It's tricky because healing with foods isn't fast. I was answering questions about what I've done to help my own bloating and general digestive discomfort with my loved one last night. We talked about how it was going and to be honest it's not been easy. For me it's been over a year. There have been huge improvements and slower times with feelings of stagnation. I am amazed by the healing powers of the human body. Man is she magical and transformative. At times it is hard to keep the faith and to not just want to quick fix. In the past I may have reached for some tums, mint or ginger tea, or something that would relieve my symptoms. Now I know that even if the symptoms go away there is still an underlying issue that may not be completely addressed. Healing is multi faceted, a life long journey and that’s alright. I am not doing anything wrong. Even if it's not fast. Even if they're still the subtle or strong discomfort as I drink bone broth and I eat fermented vegetables I know I am taking a step towards myself as opposed to hiding. It took me months to go to the doctor after my injury so believe me, I am not above hiding. I was embarrassed about that for a while and now I am ready to let it go as I am not trying to change myself. I want to stay with myself.
I am conscious of cutting out certain foods that may be aggravating me even if the symptoms are better. I now live in the idea that I am doing something to address the underlying issue and that I have the power to do this myself and with support. There's no drug company, no doctor, or other practitioner that I'm dependent upon for my healing. I believe they can support me and yet ultimately the healthy life style choices are up to me. It’s time to treat myself with the worth I have.
I'm trusting the inherent capability of my body to know that my core will move towards balance. This is the nature of being if I practice getting out of my own way. And it's really cool. I think it's a great opportunity to learn how capable and strong we are. I have a habit of trying to make things rosy and of sugarcoating things. I just admitted this to myself recently and it was hard for me. I realize I have a whole storyline behind certain charges emotions and yet I'm kind of done labeling everything. Figuring myself out. Right now I want to move forward. Let things be as they genuinely are and just do my best with what I have. So for me that's bone broth, that's preparing my own foods, that's taking what I can do into my own hands, and being: hey she's going to try to relax and we'll see how things go. I hope that you can find support here at selkskin and some inspiration towards your own power and what you can do for yourself! Healing with food Is real.
In meditation we discover our inherent restlessness. Sometimes you get up and leave. Sometimes we sit there but our bodies wiggle and squirm and our minds go far away.
“This can be so uncomfortable that we feel it's impossible to stay. Yet this feeling can teach us not just about ourselves but also about what it is to be human. All of us to derive security and comfort from the imaginary world of memories and fantasies and plans. We really don't want to stay with the nakedness of our present experience it goes against the grain to stay present. These are the times when only gentleness and a sense of humor can give us the strength to settle down...
...The pith instruction is, Stay…stay...just stay.”
~ Pema Chodron ~ The Places That Scare You - A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times
Even just as I was writing this blog post about staying with myself, my injury, and my path of healing I just had to stop. I need to get up and stretch now much more than I used to when I write. This is annoying. I don't like the feeling of being interrupted. I want to get in the flow of writing and I want to do what I want to do.
So when I have to stick with myself and stay I find it frustrating that I get irritated. And I can see that this is a cycle because when I get irritated, I notice I get more tense in the place in my shoulder area where my injury first was. And so it is more important than ever to notice how I've had to slow down and adjust my behavior. Pema teaches me that staying with myself (getting up and stretching and taking a break even when I don't want to) is learning to be flexible and that's why I meditate. I train in being flexible andI sit to remain curious. I train in being in the present moment and the idea is that flexibility comes from my ability to be here more often. I feel this.
I think it's so funny that even when I write about how I adjusted after an injury I notice the areas where I still don't want to help myself. I notice where I wish I was different and what I wish I could magically change. This makes it more clear the importance of staying with myself. If I don’t to live in fear, i can cultivate being gentle and kind to myself - what else is there? What else is there besides this life but cultivating the willingness to take care of myself? I feel like such a silly lady writing all these things down when I can't always practice them myself. I don’t think that’s the point. Being honest about where I am is for me right now. I write this down, I write to you now because I want to remind myself and you that we're not alone. Pema reminds me: other people feel this way. I say that to myself when the going gets angry or tired or just done and it helps.
So I take a break. I thought if my muscles are feeling a little bit exhausted from typing I should take a break sitting. So I decided to read. And then after reading for a few minutes I noticed that it wasn’t utilizing the resources I have. In the note app on the iPhone one can speak and the App will write our words down. Yeah Amelia, this has been around for a while ;-) ha! And just giving myself a moment to consider another option I found one that was different. When I'm so harsh with myself that I see only one way: no you must finish writing that's what you really want to be doing right now! I miss other options. When I push myself I notice my old injury spot gets worse. And yet when I take a break another option arises. I notice I can trust my own mind.
So much of my healing has been about trusting that I am 100% capable, right now of doing what I need to do. I'm good.
The things that came up for me around this injury in my gut health has been embarrassing. I notice a lot of self-worth and body image issues. I feel not-good-enough, overweight, and unattractive. This is interesting considering that I've lost weight. I felt like I couldn't even enjoy it because my stomach was sticking out several more inches then the space I actually take up when I'm not bloated. That has been hard for me. When it was extreme I was frustrated that I couldn't enjoy all the work that I've done and the weight that stabilized. Through this all there was for me to do was to just stay with myself. I mean this has really taken a year at least to start to feel better. That's due to so many things. If you're in a similar situation I don't want you to feel that's the same for everybody. I acknowledge that I was in school until October, my partner bought a house, I have been in a day job that isn’t stimulating or challenging for me. There are many factors that contributed to this. And I share with you now to show you that I'm human. I'm nutritionist who is continually trying to be honest with myself. I am healing and challenged with foods. You're not alone and neither am I :)
I also noticed that my anxiety would get worse sometimes throughout this gut healing. Because I'm a Nutritionist I know digestion is the process that allows me to absorb and use the nutrients in food. I find myself getting really nervous thinking I'm spending all this money on organic, local, happy meat and veggies and eggs and various expensive foods. And I would feel frustrated because I was concerned I might be wasting them. I now know that I was not. I wasn't putting harmful pesticides into my body and I've been putting my money where my mouth is in the sense that I support the part of the food industry where I would really like to see more changes. So while I would notice my anxiety would get heightened I can also see how eating better made me feel better. Over my moods and hormones started to stabilize and I wasn’t as reactive. I can think clearly and I committed to my meditation in the still of Chygam Trungpa and I'm listening to Pema Chodron talks while I take breaks. I am putting things in place that support the direction I want to be going.The other option is to do nothing. That made me worse and my physical therapist reminds me that I have an active role to play. Yes it takes work, it takes time, it takes money, it takes attention, and it takes cultivating love and gentleness. I feel like where I was before I was putting my attention on healing was worse. There was a small voice that was like: if I hide and hibernate the reality won’t find me. It seems it often does. Even though this takes attention and practice it has become the only way now that I want to go and continue to go.
I started making broth sporadically last year and then started feeling like it was too much work. I was frustrated with the whole process of storing it and having enough when I wanted it. So I stop for a few months. And then I realize this really isn't that hard to figure out how to keep bones in my freezer at all times. I needed to think it through and be prepared. I started buying meats like whole chickens. Even if I wasn't ready to use the bones right after I baked the chicken I started putting them in the freezer in a bag or a container.
Also every time I was at whole foods I would pick up some beef bones if I had room in my freezer. I try to always have bones around now. I discovered a online delivery service where they will deliver local meet to my door and you can add bones. It’s all meat and animal products from Pastured, organic, local farmers and bones are an add-on item. It took research and time and yet now it's habit in my life to always have bones. So now I find I make bone broth and I drink it every day. For more information on bone broth I have a recipe in the recipe section of this website www.selkskin.com.
I become a huge fan of fermented foods and that's a tricky subject with gut healing. Cabbage is often fermented in sauerkraut or kimchi. Cabbage can also cause bloating and it did for me. I found this with beats too unfortunately. I looked into some of the foods on the GAPS, IBS or food maps diets and some of those vegetables were also aggravating to me like cauliflower, legumes, and broccoli. So the fermented food that works best for me is fermented cucumber/pickles. It's really important to get these organic because of how cucumbers are heavily sprayed with chemicals and pesticides.
I fermented pickles now from my vegetable delivery service which is great.
I currently do not have a car and I live in a major city in the East Coast so it makes sense for me to do a lot of things as a delivery. Especially when working a full time job and having my own part-time business! What's great about these services is that they deliver in containers that are reusable so there's not a lot of waste. It works for me because of my injury because of not being able to carry groceries for a long time as easily. I'm really grateful for this. I can now carry a bag of pretty heavyish groceries for about a 5 minute walk where as I couldn’t before so that’s freakin’ fabulous!
Also through the help of one of my favorite nutrition, body-work, herb friends I discovered that cooking my food thoroughly especially in the winter really helps with digestion. It's hard for my body to digest foods that are raw at every meal. I alternate between raw and cooked foods. I can do soft-boiled eggs and a cucumber or a cut up pepper for breakfast and then I find if I try to eat a salad for lunch it's a bit too harsh, too much fiber for me so alternating between a cooked meal works really well. I keep a small crockpot at work that's about 1.5 quarts and that really helps if I put it in on warm an hour before I want to eat. Then the food is warm at work without having to use a microwave.
I found the Whole30 program was a good way to go for me. I cut out grains, sugar, legumes, dairy, and processed foods/oils out. These foods are common aggravates a lot of people. Today is the 60th day that I've done this and I've noticed a huge benefit. I think when it comes to digestive issues it is hugely beneficial to cut foods out so that we start from a neutral ground in the gut to know what foods make it worse. So I did the cutting out for 60 days. I want to keep going with the no foods and yet I might add ones as I go along and I feel it makes sense. When I do want to try a food group, I'm going to add them back in very slowly. I've been keeping a journal of what my body feels like. I write everything down as in my mood, if I feel irritable, stressed, good, or too bloated and my other actual physical responses. In 1800s and some of the 1900s before Northern America had a lot of the food/allergy testing we now have this is what doctors would do with their patients.
The whole30ers recommend adding one food group back in at a time one food. So dairy for instance you would eat at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I'm going to try it with raw cheddar cheese and see how I feel after I take that day of eating dairy. Then take two more days off of not eating anything else new. The goal is to see the effect of a particular food. So I'm going to leave two days of very clean eating between adding something else back into my diet. At first doing this whole process was unattractive to me. It seemed like way too much work. At the idea of it I was exhausted so I didn't push myself. I started to do this when I had exhausted every other option. I had a lot of resistance. I'm really glad I did. It’s like any other accomplishment that is completely working. I believe I’ve got to love the body I got!
Another post specifically on the whole30 to come!
The injury I sustained did not allow me to do a lot of cardio, yoga, or chopping of food that I love to do. I had to learn to ask for help - man was that embarrassing to realize how hard that is for me! I felt the judge rise up inside me and say, what’s wrong with you? The reality: nothing. A real woman knows how to ask for help ;-) I figured out what I COULD do in the kitchen and with exercise and I chose to move forward. I walk 4-7 miles and am now up to 30-45 minutes of yoga a day so don’t loose hope if you are in a similar boat! I am paying attention to portions of fat and yet I have lost weight eating mainly veggies, protein, and quality fat.
When I first was injured my doctor explained I could take aleve as it is a muscle relaxer and I sustained a muscle injury and more. I followed because I was in a lot of pain. And secretly, I thought I was above the negative affects of NSAIDs because I have been very active and healthy in my life. And I'm just soo coo as an alternative lady, raised by hippies on the sea, lived in Colorado and Northern CA ~ I'm untouchable right? ;-) You know that kind of new age high? I thought: they won’t be that bad. I was cocky. I was WRONG. Two aleve twice a day for three months destroyed the inner lining of my stomach and that was over a year ago. Still healing! I am getting a lot better and yet my alternative route has not been simple or easy. And I have made peace with that. Ultimately I can’t deny that I am starting to feel stronger and like I have a capacity for more emotionally despite the rough patches I go through. And I know the physical strength will come. I do feel the return of more movement and strength every day. I still have the fire in my belly and the curiosity of heart! That basic goodness and inherent capability is always there even when the clouds devour temporarily.
I experienced a lot of bloating, gassiness, and pain after eating. Sometimes I would look pregnant! Not that I don’t love pregnant bellies and yet it was scary. My doctor told me you’re young, you’ll heal. And I just wasn’t.
Feeling knocked down by an injury and not being able to digest well as a nutritionist feels bad to say the least ;-) I felt I should be better, I should know better, and I was harsh. Meditation has been a helpful friend to these experiences of self-deprecation and hopelessness. There is healing. Reach for vitality with me!
Your,
Amelia
“Dehydration equals stress...” Dr. F. Batmanghelidj
In this post I am going to discuss my personal experience with hydration and a book. First I want to share how water helped my UTIs. Then I want to tell you about how Dr. Batmanghelidj used water to help his patients, and the parts of his book Your Body's Many Cries for Water, You’re Not Sick; You’re Thirsty Don’t Treat Thirst with Medication which discuss water’s effect on specific aliments, water filtration systems, water resources, activity and water, the minerals in pure water, diuretics and dehydration, asthma, emotional/mental health, and diagnosing first with water.
When I was 14 a doctor told me I had a smaller formed urethra. I was experiencing all of the symptoms of UTIs. The medications, cranberry juice, and suggestions from doctors/health care professionals didn't work. The doctors then decided to stretch my urethra. This was painful, invasive, and not nice to say the least! It turned me off to doctors and the medical world for a long time because I felt betrayed and hurt. I know now they were doing their best and that there are a lot of great doctors out there. They no longer perform the procedure of stretching a urethra.
I was sitting on a couch at my dad’s house one morning. The burning was so painful I could not move without crying. I was bent over and felt paralyzed. I don’t know exactly what happened and yet a moment later I was drinking two full glasses of water slowly. At first I was hopeless and yet I did it anyway. I felt better in about 20-25 minutes when I went to the bathroom and I noticed that the burning had decreased 75% I would say. It was truly magical. Honestly I thought a mystic witch had come to save me with an enchanted formula. It was water.
One Glass of Water. Then another glass of water.
I decided from this point on I would go nowhere without my water bottle. I remember telling my friend on the bus and she said hey that’s not a bad habit to get into, it will really help your skin too. Was she ever right. I put that habit in place young enough that now when sitting by a computer working ~ I drink. Exercising ~ I drink (just enough not too much J). It served especially when I moved to Colorado for college.
In CO I spoke with several healers: midwives, Buddhists, counselors, acupuncturists, nutritionists, and herbalists. They explained that avoiding sugar, chocolate, dairy, wheat, and other grains would be helpful. Bacteria collect around the urethra which can make the burning and pain worse. Processed foods and foods with sugar aggravate the symptoms. I didn’t know. I wasn’t ready for all that at 19. Give up all the fun and free time chillin’ foods? No way. I would be good at it and then would have a case of the fuck-its as a good friend of mine says. I am 31 now and starting to really commit. No more. Sugar is not worth pain anywhere near my reproductive system! So yeah, change with the diet is always nice and fast with no emotional difficulty right? ;-)
Water I love you. I owe you much of my quality of life. Healers thanks for the love. And Buddhism, thank you for reminding me that I am capable of staying with myself and being kind.
Hydration is fundamental to overall well-being. In Your Body's Many Cries for Water, You’re Not Sick; You’re Thirsty Don’t Treat Thirst with Medication Dr. Batmanghelidj discusses how sipping pure water throughout the day can improve and prevent many health problems. Water can ameliorate quality of life. Water is especially helpful for those who are currently suffering from many ailments such as asthma, allergies, or autoimmune diseases. It also cushions the joints, moistens oxygen for easier breathing, and helps to flush toxins and waste.
In American society we often use pharmaceutical drugs as the go-to solution for many diseases, deficiencies, and discomforts. Dr. Batmanghelidj challenges this immediate approach to medicate. As a doctor himself he offers a cheap and simple alternative: drink more water. He doesn’t simply order the reader to do this as he is an expert on the subject. He does an excellent job of explaining how water can improve life and help folks with various health concerns by sharing the success stories written by his patients. These stories (most of them letters to him organized throughout the book depending on the topic at hand) explain how drinking pure water on a regular basis helped them feel better and improved their symptoms. One child's asthma went away almost entirely through drinking his daily requirement of water.
Dr. Batmanghelidj explains it is important to know about the quality of the water we are drinking. What’s in it? What may be toxic? We are best served by drinking water that is from as pure and natural a source as possible. If a natural good water source is not available from the tap, there are many purification systems available. Also, each town and city has information about their water and what may be in it such as harsh chemicals from industrial plants, chlorine and fluoride, pesticides, bacteria, parasites, pharmaceutical drugs (from people who are taking them and detoxing them), and many more foreign substances depending on the water treatment and what is present in the area. There are filtration solutions that are expensive and ones that are less pricey that can be attached to a whole house supply such as osmosis which can catch many harmful substances and yet wastes a good amount of water. There are also cheaper solutions such as a MAVEA (which are BPA free) or Brita filter and yet these can breed bacteria through the charcoal filter and do not catch as much of the toxins as more advanced systems. Good solutions can be found if we put in the time to research. I use a shower water filter and a MAVEA for now as I cannot afford a whole house purification system! If you are a bit $$$ flusher check out reversed osmosis and or ceramic and charcoal blend purification systems.
Dr. Batmanghelidj also points out how the benefits of water are best utilized by the body when we are active in addition to drinking the right amount of water. For each of us this is different. Even as little as a half an hour walk a day coupled with drinking more water tremendously helped all of his patients. The best result he found was in walking about an hour in the morning and in the evening.
Water is more than simply hydrogen and oxygen. It has other electrolytes and minerals (when it is in its unadulterated form such as from an unpolluted mountain spring). This kind of pure water is harder and harder to come by these days and yet a pinch of good quality sea salt in a cup of water in the morning can help with electrolyte balance (as well as with adrenal fatigue). Too much water can drive down our mineral balance and so it is important to discover out how much is right for each individual. Too much water can also overburden the kidneys which are late to complain so we want to take preventative measures when possible.
Dr. Batmanghelidj sees many symptoms of pain as a sign of thirst. He mostly goes over the diseases, pain, and imbalances he worked with through his patients. He addresses: dyspeptic and colitis pain, false appendicitis, hernias, rheumatoid arthritis, back, neck, and Angolan pain, headaches, emotional/mental/lifestyle imbalances such as stress and depression, high blood pressure and cholesterol, hypertension, obesity, asthma, allergies, and more. Anyone struggling with any one or more of these would be hard pressed to not find some great advice in this book. He talks about the importance of water for joint health. Cartilage needs the right amount of lubrication from water to protect the joints. Water moistens oxygen for easier breathing and thus is extremely help for folks who struggle with asthma. If we are overweight and dehydrated we cannot properly flush toxins and excrete waste. We need water in order to create the proper hydrochloric acid to absorb and assimilate nutrients, especially in the stomach. Water’s list of health benefits goes on and on. If you have any of these health concerns this book is medicine.
Dr. Batmanghelidj beckons the reader to look at the over-consumption of diuretic drinks in our North American culture (which is rapidly becoming normalized globally). Many of us over do it with caffeine, alcohol, sodas, juices, energy drinks, and even tea. These drinks all dehydrate the body. For every amount of these we drink our body needs 1.5 that amount of water to bring it back to where we need to be in order to function to our best ability. We need adequate water for most of the metabolic and biochemical processes of our body to function correctly.
I learned more about asthma and that is very helpful as my loved ones struggle with this. Many adults and children suffer from Asthma. I am with Dr. Batmanghelidj on this: it is unnecessary distress. Asthma and allergies are indicators that the body has resorted to an increase in production of the neurotransmitter histamine, the sensor regulator of water metabolism and its distribution in the body. I had not realized how asthma functioned or its relationship to water. Histamine makes it harder for water to evaporate as it needs to from the lungs because of bronchial constriction. It also helps us to fight bacteria and viruses. Dr. Batmanghelidj found in scientific research and in practice that he could improve the comfort of breathing for asthmatics in three to four weeks through gradually supporting them to drink their ideal amount of water.
Emotional/mental health concerns like stress, anxiety, irritability, depression, and hypertension can be greatly improved through upping water intake. These health concerns are usually met with medication as the solution. Dr. Batmanghelidj explains how water can help with brain health physiologically and how this supports emotional well-being. Our brain tissue is affected by dehydration. We have energy-generating pumps which help the brain use the electrical energy necessary for function and water drives this process. Dehydration slows this generation down and much of the time this leaves many of us feeling down and negative. This dysfunction is often diagnosed as depression. This can also be connected with chronic fatigue syndrome and stress.
Dehydration equals stress... Dr. Batmanghelidj teaches us. Ultimately stress and dehydration become a vicious cycle. Many hormone processes are suppressed by dehydration and we need our hormones to function properly for brain chemistry to be balanced. Dr. Batmanghelidj does an exquisite job of breaking down the importance of the major hormones: endorphins, cortisone, release factor, prolactin, vasopressin, and renin-angiotensin. Serotonin (the happy brain chemical) is also highly dependent on proper intake of water to be successfully produced in ample amounts. Overtime many mental health concerns can be relieved through increasing water intake. I discussed this idea with one of my loved ones and they explained they did feel mentally more positive after increasing their water in take over a few days! Everything truly is interconnected.
I thought it was fascinating how Dr. Batmanghelidj taught about how right abdominal pain is not necessarily a sign that the appendix needs to be removed! I remember feeling this and worrying as a child. Right lower abdominal pain is not necessarily inflammation and can be addressed first with a glass of water. If the pain does not decrease after one or two glasses than a health care professional should be contacted of course. We can diagnose certain symptoms with a glass of water before jumping to medication. What empowering knowledge to have. I have tried it with headaches recently. I gave it one to two hours and it was gone with water and slowing down. I was extremely happy to have not used harmful drugs unnecessarily.
I absolutely love this book. It was one of the most fluid (no pun intended ;-) and easy to read books. I was engaged and learning the entire time. I love how human and scientific his writing is. It’s nice that it’s not one or the other! Dr. Batmanghelidj tells the stories of his patients and the reader hears the benefit of drinking more water. It’s nice to hear real tales of people feeling better. I enjoyed the scientific breakdowns as well when discussing the stomach/duodenum, the joints/cartilage, brain chemistry, as well as various diseases and aliments. I am still digesting it all and I want to read the book again soon. I have been recommending this book to all who are interested since I finished it! I appreciate his work very much. He seems like such a sweet man who really wanted to do good for people in the world! Gotta honor that.
Your,
Amelia
"Water" Japanese calligraphy ~ Photo credit: Kanzi
Photo credit to Rebecca Caridad Facteau of Manzanita Photo
In this post I will be sharing some of my personal experience since I have not been eating grains, processed sugar, or processed foods with trans fats/hydrogenated oils. I will also go over the book Know Your Fats: Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils, and Cholesterol by Dr. Mary Enig. I will focus on these aspects: the roles good quality fats in the body and why it is important that we eat them, the molecular structure of fats and why this matters, how trans fats/hydrogenated oils cause a deterioration to health, why coconut oil, butter or ghee (clarified butter), and animal fats are superior cooking oils to hydrogenated/heavily processed vegetable oils, why we were taught good quality saturated fats were bad and how this is about money and power, bio-individuality of genes, Dr. Weston A. Price and his research, cholesterol and why we need it, and the amount of fats in the diet that are ideal for a healthy body/mind to maintain vitality and energy.
MY STORY
I am 56 days into 60 days off grains, processed sugar, and processed foods with trans fats/hydrogenated oils in them. I have also not been drinking alcohol. I have been eating a lot of quality animal fat, ghee (clarified butter), coconut oil, sprouted sesame seed butter/tahini, vegetables and protein. I walk 4-7 miles and do 30-45 minutes of yoga a day. I recently sustained an injury that has not allowed me to do a lot of cardio so I am paying attention to portions of fat and yet I have lost weight! I was 133 and I was 121 when I weighed myself after 30 days on the Whole30 program (which I have extended to 60 days). After the 60 days I plan to incorporate a glass of wine here and there and occasional vegetable oils when I go to a restaurant that uses them to cook a fillet of fish. I do not plan on eating vegetable oils at home or again if it is not the only thing around!
I find fats to be satiating and that ghee especially really does make my food taste so much better! I also have completely fallen for coconut. Yup, I’m jumping on the paleo train ;-) I find coconut to be great with berries and nuts instead of yogurt or dessert, that coconut milk is great in soups and omelets, and that it is very creamy and satisfying. Whole foods has a nice organic brand of coconut milk and you can also stock up online easily. Coconut oil is not only great to cook with but it also is wonderful as a body moisturizer after the bath. I have stopped using other oils to cook with and expensive lotions all together. It’s simple and liberating. A little coconut oil as a moisturizer goes a long way. I also love that coconut oil is antibacterial!
I miss grains sometimes and yet I will reincorporate them into my diet again if after I test them for sensitivity they show to be beneficial for me. If I am sensitive to them at this point the world of vegetables has substituted so wonderfully with fats that I don’t feel I need them. I am sleeping better because fats and veggies for dinner is also much easier for me to digest especially at night. I get up at 6:30 am now. It’s still hard because it’s winter in MA and yet I am noticing waking and getting up is easier. Overall, eating fat is working out really well for me! I feel mentally and emotionally more stable and I trust that my hormones in general are more balanced as I feel this clarity. Let me know if you have questions or comment below to share with me your journey! It’s nice to know we are not alone :) If you want to read more about my journey with healing my digestion and learning to absorb nutrients fully check out Softening Into Injury.
Read on if you want to learn about the why behind this change that has helped me to feel better and more about the book on fats by Dr. Enig.
Dr. Enig
"EL | In interviews and toward the end of your book, you are quite critical of the food industry. Why?
ME | I believe the food industry is actively perpetuating a lie: that processed food, imitation food, is just as good as real food. The reason they’re doing this is that there are billions of dollars to be made selling that food. But to make those billions, you have to spin things so that people don’t really know enough to question or change their behavior. If you keep on repeating a lie often enough, you end up with a lot of people believing it. For instance, the medical profession bought into the industry’s myths about cholesterol and fat; then they started pushing low-fat diets into the population without really investigating the science. That helped the food industry put all of these artificially manufactured fats into the food supply. And the more of that that went into the food supply, the fatter people became and the more they thought they needed a low-fat diet."
~ Experience L!fe Magazine · DAVID SCHIMKE · JANUARY - FEBUARY 2004
Expert fats researcher Dr. Mary Enig offers surprising insider views on good fats, bad fats and the food
Photo credit to Mary Enig and Bethesda Press
In the book Know Your Fats: Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils, and Cholesterol Dr. Mary Enig breaks down the science behind fats on a molecular level. The beginning of her book assists the reader in the process of understanding what fats and oils are. Fats (lipids) are made of molecules termed triglycerides. A triglyceride is made up of a few fatty acids (p. 9). If you understand the information provided on fatty acids you will have grasped one of the major takeaways of this book. Fatty acids were almost called vitamin F when scientists first began to explore the body's need for a balance of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids. They are as vital to immune health as vitamin C for example.
The molecular structure of fats is important. Understanding how they are built can help us to understand how they affect the body. We now know that beneficial fats like coconut oil and butter which are more stable (fatty acids that are not damaged by heat). These more stable fats are favorable to cook with. Coconut oil is a good one because it is a good source of lauric acid in the diet. The structure of the fatty acids also helps us to determine which are too fragile and unstable to cook with such as olive and flax seed oil. These oils are unsaturated fat and this can mean they are polyunsaturated or monounsaturated.
Enig breaks down on a molecular level saturated fats like coconut oil and animal fats which are straight chain fatty acids that can stack evenly on top of each other almost like 2x4’s in the lumber department at Home Depot. Fats that are more fragile when heated like unsaturated fats have molecular structures that curl and bend. Compared to unsaturated fats monounsaturated are moderately stable fatty acids and polyunsaturated are comparatively unstable. This is a simplification as it always depends on the fat and the situation. The degrees to which they curl and bend is dependent upon the type of fatty acid as each have different constructions. Consistently, they do not stack on top of each other neatly like solid fats; they have space in and around their structures.
For clarification it is helpful to note a bit more about the specific structures of saturated and unsaturated fats. Saturated fats have no carbon bonds (this makes sense as they are more solid, there is less space for anything else)! Unsaturated fats can be either monounsaturated or polyunsaturated. This is logical if you break it down. Monounsaturated fats have at least one double carbon bond in their carbon chain and polyunsaturated fatty acids have several. The hydrogen can interact differently with each kind of fatty acid based on how may carbon bonds they have in their chains.
This means at room temperature (depending on how cold or hot the climate) saturated fats like coconut oil, butter, or ghee (clarified butter) will be firm. Unsaturated fats are usually liquid at room temperature such as sesame seed oil for example. The delicate Monounsaturated fats are usually liquid at room temperature and do not go rancid easily. Polyunsaturated fatty acids are always liquid and they can be damaged quickly if they are not cold pressed, organic, and prepared/stored properly. We usually see the monounsaturated, high quality olive oil in the dark green glass bottles. It protects the fragile oil from being damage by light and other environmental factors. It is also important that fragile oils such as olive oil (and most seed, nut, and vegetable oils) are cold pressed so that they are not spoiled. These oils can be chemically altered and become toxic when high heat is used. This is especially true for seed, nut, and vegetable oils that are popular in North America such as corn, canola, and peanut oil. These became some of the favorites of large food companies in the early 1900’s when the food giants began to gain power and even more so around WWII when hydrogenation of especially vegetable oils became popular and common place. It was then that the food giants first discovered the financial benefit that could come from the process of hydrogenation of fats and oils. It made the food last longer on the shelves and yet many of them had no idea what it would do once ingested.
When an unstable, omega 6, polyunsaturated fatty acid like safflower or corn oil is hydrogenated, those molecular structures are forced from bent or curled state to a straight structure so that they can maneuver and act like a solid in processed foods. These are very harmful to the body.
Our health will be improved if we can stay away from foods that have hydrogenated oils. I recommend looking at the ingredient labels on your foods always!
It is a fun process to learn which oils are best to cook with and which are best as salad dressings or used o drizzle over veggies and other foods.
Rancid and hydrogenated oils can aggravate all sorts of health problems. These harms can be seen in the form of blood sugar dysregulation, diabetes type I and II, hypoglycemia, Insulin resistance, problems with vision, lower levels of testosterone (than what is optimal), low birth weight, stunted brain development in children, and more that have yet to be studied/discovered. We need more attention dedicated to this topic in scientific research.
This is the best coconut oil I have found. Photo credit to Dr. Bronners
Enig’s book taught me about the benefits and potential harms of dietary fats. Ultimately we need more information than we currently have as a culture! It is certainly changing for the better and yet we have more work to do. It would be particularly helpful to have more information based on unbiased scientific research that looks into the benefits of fatty acids of all types and about the harms of trans fatty acids/hydrogenated oils.
In Enig’s chapter 1 Knowing the Basic Facts About Fats she explains,
All the rhetoric not-with-standing, we really don’t know if, as adults, eating 50% of our fat as saturated fatty acids (this is the percentage that is found in human milk) causes any health problem or relieves any health problem because we have never measured the dietary intake of different fatty acid classes accurately! However, when we have looked at what the fats were in our diets from the historical perspective, we don’t find any problem with the natural fats that have been around for eons… (p. 44)
It is a sound point that humans have eaten fats found in nature as whole foods for a very long time and there is something to be said for the health of people who eat their ancestral diets and have not been introduced to the modern diet (such as the studies by Dr. Weston A. Price). It is also impossible to ignore that fats which have not been altered/hydrogenated by human food processing and are prefect just the way they are in terms of their nutritional value. I understand that simply saying, The Inuit folks in Canada, Greenland, and the United States are healthy and they eat a diet high in saturated fat so it must be good for me too is an oversimplification. A diet of 80-90% saturated fat will not be beneficial to all. And yet what about the simple test of time argument when choosing our foods?
How does exercise, job type, climate, ancestry, and so much more play into what fats may be most beneficial for each bio-individual? How can we listen to any one study that says animal fat is the worst for example when we don’t have the unbiased scientific info to back that up? I say, we can be our own experiment. We eat certain things, tactfully cut others out, add them back in, document our experiences while eliminating possible harmful foods and we see that we can think more clearly and feel more openly without hydrogenated fats in our lives. It’s pretty clear once you try it out.
I hear a lot of concern from people in my community who are nurse practitioners, dentists, and doctors in regards to nutrition and the lack of research (for example that many supplements have not been FDA tested and we are unaware of many possible contraindications). I hear this point and I would love to see more unbiased information that was not run by big companies with particular agendas in regards to fatty acid balance. It is important to address our bio-individuality and to understand that we all have different heredity, blood type, life styles, ancestry, and other specifies and thus different fatty acid balance needs in regards to saturated, polyunsaturated, and monounsaturated fats. It is helpful that the Nutritional Therapy Association based on their diverse nutritional resources and medical professional contacts recommends 30% saturated fats, 10% polyunsaturated (omega 3s and omega6s), and 60% monounsaturated fats as a good place to start until more individual needs are uncovered. I am excited for the day when more of the empowering information I have learned from my nutritional studies are supported by scientific studies so that we can better work with folks in various medical fields and health care professions. I understand we make great strides towards this daily and I am hopeful that we will only improve in our knowledge.
Enig goes on to say that historically saturated fatty acids were consumed regularly and there were barley any trans fatty acids. When trans fatty acids were present they were in the form of ruminant fats (fatty acids that are naturally manufactured via bacterial metabolism when we have eaten specific animal products, for example dairy, beef, or lamb). I am of the mind that scientific studies cannot hurt and yet we as humans have traditionally thrived from eating fats from animals, butter, and tropical oils depending on our ancestry. This is the powerful information of time given to the modern omnivore, to coin Michael Pollan’s term from his book: The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. It is not fool proof and yet we cannot deny that 200 years ago there was not nearly as much heart disease and diabetes.
I loved the historical perspective that Enig brought to the table. She compares how in the 1800 and early 1900’s using animal fats (which can be a blend of both unsaturated and saturated fatty acids depending on the fat) was quiet normal. It is incorrect to think of animal fats as exclusively bad saturated fats. Enig points out that it is easy to see how big businesses got involved in the marketing processes of the food industry. For instance if you look at how particularly the United States went from using mostly animal fats to hydrogenated vegetable oils between 1935-1985 it does make me wonder, why?
I do want to make an important note here about how much I respect the vegetarian choice from an environmental stand point and from a kindness point of view. I love vegetarian diets for the reality that so much land and resources go into raising tortured animals for the purpose of feeding many people at one time. I get why agriculture was a huge break through during the agricultural revolution and now it is on such a large scale that the animals are not treated as beings with the right to their own quality of life, or to breath fresh air, or to eat a diet that is natural to their inherent state of being. I also dislike how many resources are used in the transporting of our animal products and would love to see more local, sustainable, free range, organic practices become the norm. That being said, I still think we can eat animals and animal products, in moderation, while being aware of sustainability. We have to be really tactful and educated in how we do so. Maybe this means we eat less quantity and yet more quality products from farms that we know and love. There is also the way of hunting our own food as well.
To return to the topic of why we moved from eating animal fats to hydrogenated vegetable oils on a large scale as a country, it seems that many big food businesses put a lot of money into making specific science reports look as though animal fats can cause or contribute to cancer and heart disease for example. In contrast these studies found in Enig’s book posited that hydrogenated vegetable oils did not cause various mortal diseases. They would skew the studies by making many of the animal fat control groups full of smokers over the age of 50 when the vegetable oil control groups had younger participants as well with barley any smokers in the group. The people in power of the big food industries have an ability to spin the effects of hydrogenated oils on our health. If you want more information on this topic please look up Sally Fallon and her research, writing, and videos on the subject. Her video The Oiling of America is grounded in research and truth. It is refreshing to say the least!
I enjoyed learning about the truths of cholesterol. I’d always had a feeling this was also wrapped up in the perspectives and agendas of big food business. Up until Enig’s book on fats I had not really understood how cholesterol worked and what I should really be aiming for in terms of healthy cholesterol.
The rudimentary molecule Acetyl-coA is what cholesterol is made from. Cholesterol is different, especially in digestion from fatty acids, carbohydrates, and proteins. Enig teaches us that significantly less than 50% of the cholesterol we consume is absorbed (as opposed to infants who require more, especially for the advancement of the brain). A certain amount is required by our body to be healthy as we can only manufacture some. Again this is something that comes down to bio-individuality. A person’s lifestyle, genetics, and other factors will determine how much cholesterol (take for instance serum cholesterol) may be beneficial and what might be detrimental.
Polyunsaturated fats cause our bodies to synthesize more cholesterol than saturated fatty acids do. We also all have varying serum cholesterol. Natural fatty acids will affect a person system differently depending on the starting serum cholesterol. If you have high serum cholesterol that mostly will go down if you eat saturated fat and if you begin with low serum cholesterol and eat unsaturated and monounsaturated fat it will increase (p.57).
I could study cholesterol for years and still not understand it completely. This book was a great place to start in terms of taking a crack at it. It is important not take what we hear in the mainstream culture/media to be all there is to know about the topic and we should all be encouraged to do our own research on cholesterol when it comes to our own health.
Enig suggests a 2 to 3:1 to 1.5 of omega-6 fatty acids to omega-3 fatty acids for most people (of course this always depends on the individual needs and circumstances). This is a debated topic. Many say the ratio of Omega-6s to Omega-3s in the diet should be approximately 1:1. Besides these differences (which I think both perspectives make sense depending on where you are standing) I did not find anything else that stood out as a contradiction. As with most things this comes down to the person, their situation, and bio-individuality.
I absolutely love Dr. Mary Enig’s work. I am so proud of how she challenges the misbeliefs that fat and cholesterol are simply bad. It is so harmful to not have the correct information and I am looking forward to her educational information permeating our culture!
I enjoy how Enig explains and suggests a 2 to 3:1 to 1.5 of omega-6 fatty acids to omega-3 fatty acids for most people. She suggests 2 to 3 percent of the total calories consumed should be from omega 6s and 1 to 1.5 percent from omega 3s. This means for optimal health the beneficial fat percentage of our diet would be 30% fats (of course this always depends on the individual needs and circumstances).
I appreciate that she notes a difference for pregnant and nursing women, infants, and children. She explains that pregnant women need more minerals, vitamins, and essential fatty acids. Enig suggests that pregnant women make beneficial fatty acids about 3 to 5 % of the calories their diet with a ratio of 2:1 of omega-6 fatty acids and omega-3 fatty acids. Much of this education is left out of the everyday experience for pregnant women I have spoken to about nutrition and childhood. To be aware of the nutritional needs during childhood is so vital to a life of optimal health! I want to see more education around nutritional needs during childhood in the Unites States. Our children’s health is directly tied to our success as a culture that promotes intelligence and ingenuity. We can’t break new ground and challenge the old if we are all fatigued and deficient in fatty acids!
Fatty acids are crucial to so many of the body’s functions. So please eat what your body craves in a beneficial way. Eat butter or ghee (clarified butter) and free range, happy, local, organic animal products like raw dairy and animals that have had a good life if you participate in eating animal products and if you tolerate them well. If you don’t say yes to these please try sweet, delicious coconut oil and let your desire for beneficial fats in! Enig teaches us not to be afraid and she could not be more correct. Encourage your cravings for this splendid nourishment that make the food taste marvelous!
Stay tuned for more on how to loose fat through eating fat. Next book on quality fats I read: Eat Fat, Lose Fat: The Healthy Alternative to Trans Fats by Enig and Fallon. Yyeeeeeess!
Your,
Amelia
,Photo credit to Rebecca Caridad Facteau of Manzanita Photo
In this post I will discuss adrenal fatigue, my personal experience, and Dr. James L. Wilson’s book Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome. This book covers: what adrenal fatigue is, how diet, sleep, exercise, and well-being affect our adrenal glands, the importance of relaxing and enjoying life, everyday stressors and hormones, how protein and good quality fat can help, why cutting down on grains, sugar, and processed foods can give us more energy, and how knowledge is power towards the growth we have the potential to see in ourselves and our health.
I had mild adrenal fatigue in 2014. I feel reaching towards balance in terms of energy, stress, and eating well is a path not a destination I will arrive at perfectly :) I have found it easier to get to bed between 10 and 10:30 pm since I took a break from eating grains, sugar, and processed foods with trans fats/hydrogenated oils in them. I have also not been drinking alcohol. I wanted to balance my blood sugar and hormones. I walk 4-7 miles and do 30-45 minutes of yoga a day. I recently sustained an injury that has not allowed me to do a lot of cardio so I am paying attention to portions of fat and yet I have lost weight!
I experience adrenal fatigue after a big move, a change in relationship, a stressful work week or a lot of travel, and when there are things in my life I want to change and yet feel stuck or held back from for various reasons I create. It feels a lot like being tired and sick of being sick and tired! I noticed I can feel very sad, irritable and quick to react negatively, hopeless, and just not the bright shinny self I am used to being. I know there are many factors and yet from what I learned about the hormonal role of the adrenal glands in mood and sleep I feel now I know better how to support myself.
I know that if I eat well, I’ll sleep better, that this will help me with the will power to eat better the next day, and that it will be a empowering cycle as opposed to a up hill climb I am constantly battling. Who needs to add extra stress, eh? It took a while to make this habit (about a year) and yet it is starting to feel more normal now. I am maintaing a healthy weight and I have more energy for things that will help me makes the changes I want and to be more creative and expressive as in writing this blog and connecting with you :) Share your stories with me below! Have you experienced anything like this that may be adrenal fatigue?
If you want to learn more about the why behind what I learned about adrenal glands and how this motivated change, read on.
“The purpose of the adrenal glands is to help your body cope with stresses and survive...Adrenal fatigue, in all its mild and severe forms, is usually caused by some form of stress. Stress can be physical, emotional, psychological, environmental, infectious, or a combination of these. It is important to know that your adrenals respond to every kind of stress the same, whatever the source.”
~ Dr. James L. Wilson Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome
In Dr. James L. Wilson’s book Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome he explores adrenal fatigue which can also be referred to as hypoadrenia and hypoadrenalism. Wilson explains that Adrenal Fatigue is common and yet for many it is uncharted territory. Adrenal Fatigue is a condition of the adrenal glands and is aggravated by normalized stress. We often do not give ourselves enough time to rejuvenate and rest. This is something we can empower ourselves to change and that we can recover from. Diet and lifestyle adjustments play a key role in regaining our inherent vitality.
It is not something that is commonly diagnosed or considered by a majority of doctors on an everyday basis. When we are stressed, tired, overworked, and/or suffering from difficult life changes all at once this is a lot for the body and particularly the adrenal glands to take. Consistent, sudden, and/or prolonged stress make it nearly impossible for the adrenal glands to regulate properly.
Wilson reminds us to keep it simple. If we can relax, retrain ourselves to participate in things that we enjoy, eat well, and engage in restorative exercise we help our adrenal glands. Good quality sleep, playing, laughing, singing-or whatever brings on happiness and peace can contradict fatigue and the signs and symptoms of adrenal fatigue. I don't want to assume you as the reader are experiencing this and yet I am sure you can look around at your community and see that a lot of people are tired. Many people complain about fatigue in American culture. I especially hear this from people who are constantly under pressure, taking on a lot a once, and/or are suffering from loss/illness/disease. The highs are high and the challenges are fierce. Chronic stress can quickly turn into feelings of being stuck, hopeless, and depressed.
I have been addressing my own adrenal fatigue this past year as I was in my course to become a certified a Nutritional Therapist Practitioner. It is a practice to not eat sugar or processed food. Also getting to bed between 10-10:30 pm has been a challenge for me! The information in this book gave me the why which has helped to motivate me in times when I feel: Why do I need to do this again? Cause my mom told me to? That doesn't do it for me. I need the physiological reasons. If you enjoy that too, read on.
When beginning to understand adrenal fatigue it’s helpful to look at how the adrenal glands work. They sit right above our kidneys (ad-renal) and are about the size of a large grape. The adrenal glands help to regulate hormone function, stress management, and on a more primal level they help us to stay alive. They manage the stress hormones involved in our reactions to a boss or a co-worker who may be particularly challenging, to loss of an important relationship, disease, or a move to a different area.
Primal man did not have the everyday stressors we now face. As mentioned earlier, the adrenals regulate hormones. Epinephrine/adrenaline is an emergency hormone. When we were faced with a life or death situation as primal man we had to fight for our life or to flee. The release of this emergency hormone would allow our body to temporarily pause other functions, such as digestion to give everything we have to fight off the animal or other life threat. The hormonal balance plays a large part in our overall health. If we are stressed to the point of emergency on a regular basis hormones like adrenaline (and another important one is cortisol) surge through our system much more than they were designed to. When this is the case it makes sense that our bodies get tired and sick.
Continual stress can often lead to blood sugar imbalance as the pancreas comes into play to secrete insulin based on the hormonal status of our adrenals. This could contribute to the rise in blood sugar imbalances/illnesses such as diabetes, hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia, and many addictions that involve sugar such as sweets and alcoholism. I believe they are inextricably interconnected. No wonder our medical professionals have been telling us for years, learning to manage stress is vital to health. And wouldn't you know it; our basic needs are so easily compromised. At the end of the day we need to be loved, we yearn to play and laugh, and we benefit from whole healthy food, sleep, hydration, fun, and exercise. Hopefully all of these can be integrated to form a great quality of life.
In terms of blood sugar regulation the key players are the pancreas, the liver, and the adrenal glands. These all need to be healthy and in harmony for us to sufficiently eliminate toxins, process and release the energy and life force we need, and to optimally absorb our food. When we utilize the nutrients found in food well we can live with our full vitality. It is particularly important that we utilize good fats and that we are able to convert fats into energy and to store it properly. This impacts how we feel, if we have enough energy, or if we feel real tired a lot of the time. This has been a great eye opener for me to see how my body systems are so intimately intertwined.
What we do matters!
If we are in constant stress we shut down important processes. When we are stressed we interrupt digestion (as we talked about before because the body thinks we are in a constant state of emergency, even if it has become normal and every day to us). When digestion is disturbed we can experience symptoms such as bloating, acid reflux, and other signs that our gastrointestinal tract (GI) is having trouble. This is not only caused by adrenal fatigue and yet one malfunction can aggravate another malfunction. We need to be relaxed at some point every day (hopefully more) so that our bodies can catch up, digest, and restore what has been used up. I was having such incredible bloating and discomfort in my digestion while in school, working full time, and trying to engage in loving relationships. I slowed down to eat my meals more enjoyably and put my attention on eating and chewing. Slowing down has changed the way I interact with my every day stress and when and how I eat.
Can you take a break and sit down to eat? Do you sit some where you like?
Blood sugar dysregulation, adrenal fatigue, and other related ailments can contribute to undesirable mood swings, irritability, anxiety, hypertension, exhaustion, and emotional distress (hopelessness and depression-a general feeling of being stuck). Sounds like stress doesn't it? It can also aggravate other imbalances such as food intolerances/extreme food allergies, seasonal allergies, emotional/physiological distress, and more. Really once we learn more about our adrenal function we can ask ourselves: does what I do everyday support a good quality of life? Am I happy, do I have time to relax, am I set up to have time to enjoy my life? This is a useful tool that I am taking away from this book. Wilson has reminded me to pay attention to making time for my deep breathing techniques, to chew my food, and to slow down and enjoy life.
Knowledge ~ It’s a beautiful gift, isn't it?
Sometimes it can be challenging for our loved ones and doctors to recognize adrenal fatigue. In the medical world most health care professionals are taught to think of the adrenal glands and the diseases associated with them in terms of the extremes: Addison's and Cushing’s disease. The cause of adrenal fatigue is not taught in many medical schools. Big businesses associated with medical funding may have something to do with this. You can imagine why. If the major things that aggravate our fatigue are work/emotional stress (being a successful worker bee to make money) or sugar (refined carbohydrates, alcohol) you can imagine the folks that make money from these products/labor want to keep making money. Stressors like processed food/sugar/alcohol are all highly addictive. It’s not our fault they are hard to give up! They are designed this way.
Wilson provides a questionnaire that is helpful in determining one’s level of adrenal fatigue or if this is something you may be suffering from. It is by no means a diagnosis. The information gathered from the questionnaire provides self-knowledge and help towards understanding health. How are you right now? How do you want to be? Wilson also has a place on his website where you can look up the area you live in to see if there are health care practitioners who have experience with adrenal fatigue near you. Wilson’s Adrenal fatigue website provides more information about adrenal fatigue and what the reader can do to be empowered.
Wilson recommends certain foods to stay away from as well as ones to enjoy. In general, as we discussed, blood sugar regulation is thrown off by stress and processed foods with sugar. These stressors put a strain on our current nutritional storage (foods such as refined carbs take the nutrients from the body that they are devoid of providing) as does alcohol. Sugar aggravates our fatigue. Wilson recommends limiting our intake of sugars of all kinds and especially in place of refined carbs he recommends eating whole grains of high quality. Ezekiel bread is great.
A few aspects of Wilson’s food recommendations differ from my method/approach. I picked up my style of eating and prepping food from the NTA (Nutritional Therapy Association). This is where I received my certification as a Nutritional Therapist Practitioner. Wilson doesn't go into a lot of detail about properly preparing grains. I feel it is helpful to understand how to prepare our foods. This can make all the difference when restoring optimal health. Whole grains should be properly soaked and sprouted; the best is to get from organic, local, and high quality sources if possible. The more we know about where our food comes from, how it has been handled, processed, and stored the better. It takes more work to get the nutrients we need from foods such as grains, legumes (beans, etc.), and dairy.
This being the case I have learned the joys of eating vegetables such as watermelon radishes, turnips, carrots, greens, green beans, and occasionally potatoes instead. They are satisfying and hearty. Root vegetables are easier to prepare and are even more delicious as it turns out! I steer towards the less starchy root veggies like radishes and eat them with good quality protein and fat to help regulate blood sugar. Yes it takes preparation and diligence. It is entirely worth it!!
We should also be aware that even though fruit can offer us many wonderful vitamins, minerals, and fiber at the end of the day it is still sugar. If you are beginning to cultivate an individual awareness around sugar in take and adrenal function and you still want to eat fruit maybe try cutting it in half. Half an apple or a pear is a good place to start. Kiwis, apples, pears, and berries are some of the fruits that have the least stressful sugar response on the body most of the time. Blueberries are my favorite! It really depends on the person if fruit will be beneficial or not in the process of healing the adrenal glands. Fruit eaten with a handful of nuts or coconut, or a small portion of nut butter is better. The good quality fat helps the sugar of the fruit not to spike blood sugar as drastically.
In terms of practice, whether or not to eat fruit depends on the practitioner and the client. Sometimes it is not useful for the person who is suffering from blood sugar dysregulation and/or adrenal fatigue to eat sugar, grains, or fruit at all. This decision is ultimately up to the client. The best option for an individual depends on what the NTP (Nutritional Therapist Practitioner) recommends based on the information that has been gathered from the client.
If one has determined through their own introspection and the help of a health care professional that they are suffering from some level of adrenal fatigue there are foods and supplements, life style changes, and behavioral adjustments that can support the road to recovery. Another important point Wilson makes is that we CAN recover and we have the power with us right now to do it! We can determine the people, things, food, and personal habits that are draining us. We can reevaluate how we incorporate these puzzle pieces into our lives.
Foods that can help are more protein, good fats, and less starchy nutrient rich high quality vegetables. The quality of the food is very important because when we are deficient and fatigued we need the highest dose of healthy vitamins and minerals possible. If you eat meat and animal products, seafood, liver, eggs, organic grass fed beef with access to pasture, bone broths, fresh and fermented vegetables, kefir, kombucha, and properly prepared nuts and seeds can be a big help (organic and local when possible is best). I have recipes on the blog that can help you. No worries!
Staying away from fast food, processed food, and sugars will lift the spirits and improve vitality. This doesn't happen overnight. With sufficient rest (Wilson recommends at least 8 hours and sleeping in between 7-9 am whenever possible), restorative exercise, and love and happiness we can feel better. In terms of sleep this is hugely important to adrenal recovery. It may seem obvious and yet things can change for the better when we put our attention on specific aspect of our lives. Wilson recommends being in bed by 10-10:30 pm (of course this is based on what the schedule allows), eating regular meals (with good fats, protein, and vegetables at every meal), and eating dinner earlier at 5 or 6 pm of possible. Also, for some a light fatty snack like a handful nuts, avocado, or nut butter before bed can be helpful.
Portioning is also important because over eating can spike the blood sugar in a detrimental way. Most importantly, try to enjoy your food and relax! This is not a stressful diet that triggers perfectionist patterns of feeling bad about our bodies or ourselves. This is about loving this life we are so blessed to have received and empowering ourselves again. We can do this, we can support ourselves and each other, and now we have more information on how to do that.
There are also helpful supplements out there. If you are so inspired please feel free to talk to your health care professionals or doctors about your options.
To sum it all up friends, my experience has confirmed that slowing down helps with adrenal recovery. There is some much we can do: chew our food, sit down while we eat, enjoy who we are with, eat alone in a peaceful place, lie down when we are tired, take breaks, walk and smell the flowers, kiss and hug the people we love, embrace our creative sides and the hobbies that bring us joy, honor our spirits and our bodies with yoga, breathe deep, find our happy places on the stressful commute, and/or take a bath to relax-whatever it is that brings us zestfulness. We can practice our bliss and ask ourselves to keep track of what supports our health and of what takes it away.
Here’s to more in our lives that fuels our fires and brings us love and light!
Your,
Amelia
Blue In Green, Sucre, and Family of the Year
Photo credit to Rebecca Caridad Facteau of Manzanita Photo
“...I am convinced that in a large percentage of cases, depression is the result of a neurotransmitter deficiency which is most often due to low stomach acid. In over 50 percent of cases, depression is treatable by supplying (relatively) large quantities of the essential amino acids.”
―
In this post I will share my gut healing road and a book that taught me about the way digestion works and how to take care of my gut specifically. After reading more about gut health I could see the real ways that others had healed various conditions with food and lifestyle. The book: Why Stomach Acid is Good for You by Jonathan V. Wright, M.D. addresses stomach acid and why we need it, how digestions helps us to absorb and use the nutrients in our food, the truth about antacids and NSAIDs (such as aleve for example), the immune system’s connection to gut health, and the connection between mental/emotional balance and gut health.
I recently sustained an injury that has not allowed me to do a lot of cardio, yoga, or chopping of food that I love to do. I had to learn to ask for help - man was that embarrassing to realize how hard that is for me! I felt the judge rise up inside me and say, what’s wrong with you? The reality: nothing. A real woman knows how to ask for help ;-) I figured out what I COULD do in the kitchen and with exercise and I chose to move forward. I walk 4-7 miles and am now up to 30-45 minutes of yoga a day so don’t loose hope if you are in a similar boat! I am paying attention to portions of fat and yet I have lost weight eating mainly veggies, protein, and quality fat.
When I first was injured my doctor explained I could take aleve as it is a muscle relaxer and I sustained a muscle injury and more. I followed because I was in a lot of pain. And secretly, I thought I was above the negative affects of NSAIDs because I have been very active and healthy in my life. And I'm just soo coo as an alternative lady, raised by hippies on the sea, lived in Colorado and Northern CA ~ I'm untouchable right? ;-) You know that kind of new age high? I thought: they won’t be that bad. I was cocky. I was WRONG. Two aleve twice a day for three months destroyed the inner lining of my stomach and that was over a year ago. Still healing! I am getting a lot better and yet my alternative route has not been simple or easy. And I have made peace with that. Ultimately I can’t deny that I am starting to feel stronger and like I have a capacity for more emotionally despite the rough patches I go through. And I know the physical strength will come. I do feel the return of more movement and strength every day. I still have the fire in my belly and the curiosity of heart! That basic goodness and inherent capability is always there even when the clouds devour temporarily.
I experienced a lot of bloating, gassiness, and pain after eating. Sometimes I would look pregnant! Not that I don’t love pregnant bellies and yet it was scary. My doctor told me you’re young, you’ll heal. And I just wasn’t. So I decided to do a Whole30 program (which I have extended to 60 days) with my best friend for support. I stopped eating grains, sugar, legumes, dairy, and processed foods with trans fats/hydrogenated oils in them. I have also not been drinking alcohol. It’s extreme and yet I am feeling better slowly :)
Feeling knocked down by an injury and not being able to digest well as a nutritionist feels bad to say the least ;-) I felt I should be better, I should know better, and I was harsh. I have found meditation to also be a great friend to these experiences of self-deprication and hopelessness. Pema Chodron is my favorite teacher.
So by mixing together softening and letting go of many of the things in life I want to change, making time to take care of myself and be creative, seeing a physical therapist, a masseuse, and an acupuncturist, meditating and doing yoga as strengthening, eating specifically to manage inflammation and create the easiest environment for healing in my body, I am starting to notice that these all go together well for me :) Once I started cleaning up one area of my life (food and eating) the other areas that need attention seem to arise right when I am up to my next challenge. I don’t particularly believe in a g~d and yet I am down with the idea of life force. I think we are built to thrive and not to just survive. I figure we wouldn’t be here if our particular make up of gifts weren’t needed or on-point. Regardless of belief, I like the idea that what we need shed/let go of next comes up when we have the capacity to address it. If we are brave, we can heal. This whole processed has truly shown me the importance of slowing down, listening to my body, and sticking with myself as opposed to giving up. It’s been a teacher I’ve wanted to throw out the window and yet I am starting to see the good. Pain sucks I get it and yet it really is the juicy stuff.
To read more about my journey making friends with my gut and learning to take care of her check out: Into Injury ~ Softness Where I Expected Strength
The book: Why Stomach Acid is Good for You by Jonathan V. Wright, M.D. helped me to understand how digestion is supposed to work. Most of us are NOT taught about the importance of stomach acid and its job. I feel it is a basic human right to be trained to take care of ourselves! When our world falls short of imparting this knowledge, I read books like this. This book and the study digestion have changed the way I approach healing. Everything is interconnected. I thought I knew and practiced this. I see now that I used to target one part of my body or health that was out of whack on its own first. For example, if I drank a little too much wine on any given trip to Napa Valley I’d say, gotta give the liver some love. I’d do a little more yoga/running/hiking that week, drink water, and possibly do a liver cleanse from Whole Foods.
One of my concerns is that we are taught to compartmentalize health when really everything needs to work together for us to feel good. Also, the order in which we heal our body matters.
In Jonathan V. Wright’s book, Why Stomach Acid is Good for You, he explains that given beneficial digestive conditions and the time to heal, most people can attain healthy digestion. This includes people who start off with chronic heartburn (and more specifically Wright refers to LES: lower esophageal sphincter valve imbalances). Wright challenges the agendas of big pharmaceutical companies and FDA's (Federal Drug Administration) rules. Companies with power put up roads blocks that make it difficult for smaller healthcare professionals or organizations to get alternative methods of healing approved that don't have big money behind them.
Wright questions the morals of these big companies that produce acid-suppressing drugs (especially those that are sold over the counter) such as Tums, Pepcid, and many others. Unfortunately, when these drugs are sold over the counter people can be taking them more often and for longer periods of time than is helpful. These drugs were originally created for temporary use. Many Americans are advised to take acid-suppressing drugs regularly by marketing/advertising (which is not concerned with their health) or their doctors who may not know about the detriments these drugs can have over a long period of time. Unfortunately, they are now used not only for too long but additionally with NSAIDs (Advil/ibuprofen, aspirin, Tylenol for some examples) which all have the potential to destroy the inner lining of the stomach, making it very hard to digest. It is a tricky situation because the symptoms of heartburn created from this overuse make acid-suppressing drugs look very attractive to the unknowing eye. Who would want to believe the drug that is supposed to help is ACTUALLY aggravating the condition? That sounds so consciously harmful.
The truth is antacids suppress the acid in the stomach. This is harmful because most of the time digestive dysfunction comes from not having enough acid! If this surprises you, you are not alone. The companies in power of these drugs need people to be ignorant of this so that profits do not decline. The American people (and now people all over the world) keep buying acid-suppressing products thinking it will help indigestion when in it is provoking the destruction of the stomach lining.
Low stomach acid causes many problems. If the body does not have the proper acid function it will not create healthy fluid bile (as opposed to stagnant gooey bile). Bile is important as it supports the creation of good chyme. Chyme is the mixture of food and stomach acid which travels through the duodenum (the beginning of the small intestines) to further breakdown and properly assimilate nutrients in the small intestines. If bile is vicious and sticky, our food is in big chunks and is not broken down properly. This means the cells do not get their food. When this is the case, many other imbalances and health conditions can arise. Our food becomes another assault on the immune system.
Wright describes his patient who was losing her sight.
Wright tested her stomach acid and it was indeed low. He proceeded to give her supplements to help to heal her digestion (always heal first before helping to introduce small acid supplements to aid digestion). After treatment the patient’s eye sight returned almost entirely to normal! What could have so easily been written off as old age and degeneration was helped by improving stomach acid function. Stomach acid is suppressed as we age. Wright starts with digestion with most of his patients. Of course there is always the exception, stomach acid is not always low.
We can support healthy digestion with supplementation. I always recommend doing this with the support of a doctor and a nutritionist if your life permits. Some of the helpful supplements Wright focuses on are, HCl (hydrochloric acid), pepsin, enzymes, and DGL(Deglycyrrhizinated licorice). HCl is produced naturally in a healthy and functional GI (Gastrointestinal system). This supports natural acid production in the stomach. He recommends that people who need to heal their digestion (when referred by a person’s health care professionals or doctor) should take pepsin and betaine hydrochloride at meal time to help the stomach to secret acid and pancreatic enzymes. Much of the time acid production is suppressed. There are tests that can be done to check this. Wright recommends DGL on an empty stomach thoroughly chewed with as little water as possible so that it can have the most targeted contact with the cells of the gastrointestinal lining for healing as well.
Low stomach acid can also be assessed by testing ones mineral content. If stomach acid is low, a person may not be fully absorbing the nutrients (vitamins and minerals) found in food.
Low stomach acid may play a significant role in the worsening of many imbalances and diseases such as asthma, anemia, stomach cancer, osteoporosis, GERD (gastroesopageal reflux disease), auto-immune deficiency diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and other forms of arthritis, gastric hypochlorhydria, and achlorhydria to just mention a small list. Wright does not claim that low stomach acid causes cancer of the stomach and yet he posits that with more research and scientific/financial backing he would not be surprised if there was a direct connection. He reminds the not-so-ignorant reader that it is important to never forget the drug companies in power have a lot to lose if the greater public were to realize their antacid products were in fact harmful and were to stop using them.
Wright draws the reader’s attention to the fact that there is NOT a lot of money to be made in quality supplementation. When I speak of supplements here I mean the high quality ones from sources such as Biotics Research and not the money making schemes we can buy from Cosco or GNC. Remember, supplements are not regulated/kept in check by a trust worthy source (as the FDA was intended to be) so many companies can take advantage of the desire to be healthy. I go with a quality company so that I know how they regulate their products. I have another blog post on this topic coming soon!
Supplements are meant to be taken temporarily to addresses the root of a nutritional deficiency such as low stomach acid. THIS is why they are not a long term money maker. I do recognize they can be expensive upfront. I see any step such as taking supplements as an investment in health (and as health insurance)! Supplements can support a person into innate health. HCl (hydrochloric acid) works to remind the stomach to produce acid at a good rate for that person and is not intended to create client dependency. People do not need to be on acid supporting supplements for life. Because healing is not based on making profit, a lot of money, resources, and time have not been poured into the study of low stomach acid as the large drug companies do not stand to make oodles of cash off the backs of the sick and dependent. Strong, healthy, capable Americans do not represent a good clientele. Acid suppressing drugs depend on people staying sick.
Via pill pushing we see yet again human health and the human body being made into a commodity that feeds greed and corruption. Capitalism supports this paradigm. The change needed lays in the hearts of those that would address head on the addictions that are holding us back. Talk about starting great change with YOU. I know it’s challenging and yet as Melissa Hartwig say in her book: It Starts with Food:
“It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Quitting heroin is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard.” - See more at: WHOLE30.
I know this could rub some folks the wrong way. Eating disorders and emotional attachment with food IS REAL. I don’t deny that. I have compassion as I am going through my own difficult journey of healthy and recovery from injury every day too. I get it. And yet there is always a reason to wait. Is the only body we will get really not a priority?
The necessary changes require education, changing habits, the relationship to the body, and a desire to thrive in the organic abilities that our amazing, bio- individual selves are naturally built to utilize! No more just surviving.
I learned three major truths from this wonderfully rebellious and eye opening book. First, it is important to take our health into our own hands with the help of health professionals (if we so choose). We are best supported if the professionals we choose recognize that it is important to contradict the modern diet of commerce and to utilize alternative methods of healing. If you can find a doctor who understands that many medical schools and institutions are dependent on corporate drug sponsors, build a relationship with them! I am still searching. I know it's time consuming. Never fear! We can heal a lot of nutritional deficiencies with a nutrient dense whole food diet and with supplemental support that begins with healing the GI.
Second, we are not commodities. We do not have to believe everything we hear from the mainstream medical world. We are right to question why any given research, medical journal, or doctor (not necessarily from malicious intent) is saying/telling us about the drugs we need to take. Many people are prescribed even heavier versions of tums such as Prilosec and Zantac which have a higher concentration of active acid-suppressing ingredients. Prilosec, Zantac, and others are much more detrimental to the GI especially when taken over a long period of time! This can be particularly harmful when given to the elderly in hospitals to make the patient more comfortable when in actuality most of the time it destroys their ability to digest properly and to fight off simple and more serious illnesses which can then lead to fatality.
Low stomach acid can contribute to illness especially because 70-80% of the immune system is in the gut! Stomach acid fights off unwanted germs.
Another truth I gleaned from Wright: be patient with alternative healing. Don't give up. Low stomach acid can be harmful to the digestive system and yet natural cures exist! These remedies take diligence and attention. On the positive side, some alternative healing methods are inexpensive and specific supplements have the power to remind my body of its own capability. Vitality is the body’s inherent state. If we let ourselves we will drift there gracefully. I like to tell myself:
Last power truth: I did not realize low acid could be connected to vitamin B complex depletion, amino acids production and absorption, and the body’s ability to create healthy neurotransmitters which has an effect on emotional health! Protein particularly matters because they break down into amino acids who work with good fats as the precursors for neurotransmitters! Proteins are also major building blocks all over the body and we need these from quality sources.
Now I can. The body is interconnected. I have known this for years and yet I understand more about the the physiological functions of the body. I feel committed in a new way to my sweet gut knowing it can have everything to do with the health of my heart, mind, and spirit! Thank Dr. Jonathan V. Wright, M.D. I respect this man deeply for doing his work and for speaking these truths. It just goes to show all of our individual voices are of vital importance. Speak it.
Your,
Amelia
Photo credit to the splendid: Rebecca Caridad of Manzanita.
The majority of Americans eat a diet low in fat or high in rancid or hydrogenated fats. On a cellular level why is a poor or low fat diet detrimental to health?
For cellular and overall well-being the cell membranes must be healthy. The cellular/plasma membranes are made of lipids (fats) and proteins. We need good quality fats and nutrients in the diet to be absorbed and assimilated. Foods such as avocados, nuts, and/or animal fats such as bone broths, cold pressed olive oil that has been placed in dark bottles, duck fat, and beef tallow provide good quality fats needed to build the lipid bilayer of the cells. If a diet is low in fat (and vitamins and minerals) we will not have the pieces we need to create and maintain healthy cells.
The lipid bilayer is a vital part of the plasma membrane. This is how nutrients get into the cell and how the toxins get out to be detoxed. One layer of the lipid bilayer is right up against the other and they are made of the lipid molecules: phospholipids, cholesterol, and glycolipids. This aspect of the cell is very important because it regulates what content can move in and out of the membrane. The proteins and enzymes help to speed up chemical reactions and to manage getting harmful things out of the cells and the plasma membrane. We need to be able to detox what we don't need as well as to be able to absorb the nutrients we can use. If this process is interrupted due to a diet high in refined carbs, caffeine, and sugar we may have harmful chemicals or aspects of processed foods building our cells insufficiently. This can cause many of us to feel bad, to develop unhealthy imbalances/nutritional deficiencies, and general health problems.
Fats in our body are made up of the atoms hydrogen and carbon. These atoms create various compounds and molecules in our bodies. In order for our bodies to be healthy they need to have the correct parts from a whole food diet that is properly prepared. From nutrient rich foods we get usable products from them which the body uses to create healthy chemical bonds. Chemical bonds hold atoms together. This whole process is significant because it is what creates cells.
Cells are the tiny little creations/workers that keep out bodies going. If they are not healthy our bodies will start to show signs of malfunction, disease, or imbalance. These symptoms can appear in various ways due to what the cells are lacking. This is a concern because when cells are struggling this can affect various necessary functions in the body. For example if healthy fats are not present in the diet the necessary hydrogen and carbon cannot chemically bond together to make healthy molecules and cells that are needed. As we learned earlier, nutrients can’t get in and toxins can’t get out.
While we eat these cells produce enzymes and thus our body turns our food into energy or ATP (adenosine triphosphate). Our body uses ATP to keep up its necessary metabolic functions. Fat is particularly important because if it is used properly in the system in can be a long burning energy which means we need less of it to sustain ourselves for longer periods of time. Fat burns longer in the body than complex (veggie) carbohydrates or proteins. Of course carbohydrates and proteins are still vital forms of nutrition, they just have different uses. If we do not have healthy cells, this affects healthy chemical reactions. We need chemical reactions to run smoothly to create and maintain tissue health (and this is hugely important as tissues make up organs), organ function, and system function. On a systematic level the body will struggle if one or more organs are not functioning properly. The end result of organ dysfunction is an organism, or a person who feels sick, out of balance, and is showing signs of a specific disease or symptoms that may be pointing to the potential development of an imbalance.
The gallbladder is an important example as it is a vital organ that is a part of the digestive system. If it does not have healthy fats it will hold on to the food/nutrients that we have eaten until the alkalinity and acidity is at the healthy balance that the gallbladder is supposed to regulate. When we eat hydrogenated oils for examples this throws off our alkalinity and acidity balance and thus harmful aspect of those chemical are released and maybe unhealthy stored in our colon. If the gallbladder struggles the whole digestive system may have difficulty feeling good and functioning.
The more hydrogen atoms there are present the more acidic the fluids are in the body. And the more hydroxide, the more alkaline. Certain fluids in our body are meant to be more alkaline and some more acidic. It is natural for the human body to have a balance. Hydrogenated oils are destructive and unhealthy fats for our body’s metabolic functions. It would be like having a spoon made of putty when you really need a good wooden spoon for stirring. Hydrogenated oils/fats make it incredibly hard for us to turn this fat into energy that would support healthy cellular function.
These fats do not have the original make up of oil such as olive oil in its properly prepared cold pressed state. They have been overly heated, processed, and treated and thus have been chemically altered. They fill the space where healthy hydrogen atoms might go and they do not nourish the cells to produce usable energy. They can cause problems all over the body and yet especially in the gut and in the gallbladder which really depend on healthy fats to function properly. If our organs cannot properly function, diseases/imbalances occur as a result. If the cells continue to be weak the tissues and organs will also have a hard time repairing or rebuilding from various diseases. It can be a rough cycle. The weak organs end up malfunctioning and have a hard time detoxing the chemicals that caused the imbalance or disease in the first place as they lacked indispensable nutrients.
I feel so empowered when I learn about the anatomy and physiology of the body. If we know how it works we can support ourselves to be vital. We can put foods, cooking and preparation practices, supportive community members, and environments in place to give us what we need to nourish ourselves with whole foods. I love this work and I hope you feel free to ask any questions or to start any discussions that would lead to more education on all of our parts!
Your,
Amelia
Photo credit to Rebecca Caridad Facteau of Manzanita Photo & Thank you sweet cows <3
I used a beef stock recipe from the Weston A. Price Foundation website. Check it out, all real food, all day ;-) I also used Sally Fallon’s beef stock recipe for how-to information from her grand cookbook: Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats.
Photo credit to Rebecca Caridad Facteau of Manzanita Photo
(other bone recipes below)
About 4 pounds beef marrow and knuckle bones (from organic, free range cows who have access to pasture, who have eaten a diet that most resembles their natural diet, were 100% grass fed from start to finish, and who have had a good quality of life).
1 calves foot, cut into pieces (optional)
3 pounds meaty rib or neck bones
4 or more quarts cold filtered water
1/2 cup vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar)
3 onions, coarsely chopped
3 carrots, coarsely chopped
3 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
Several sprigs of fresh thyme, tied together
1 teaspoon dried green peppercorns, crushed
1 bunch parsley
I bake the bones and the onions for 45 minutes on 350 degrees Fahrenheit before simmering them in water. I then put the ingredients below in a large stainless steel pot. I bring it to a boil. If you are cooking other things or hanging out in your kitchen you can then periodically check the pot and when you see it, remove the scum from the top. Once it simmers for 12-72 hours, remove the bones (recycle them with a farmer if you can) and you can strain the sock with a cheese cloth over a large glass bowl and yet you don’t have to if you just put it in the fridge and take the tallow off the top once it’s cooled. It may look like big brown soup slop. Sally gets it right when she says in her cookbook:
You will now have a pot of rather repulsive-looking brown liquid containing globs of gelatinous and fatty material. It doesn’t even smell particularly good. But don’t despair. After straining you will have a delicious and nourishing clear broth that forms the basis for many other recipes in this book.
Yes, it has all the nutrition in it I promise! I put the stock back in the pot and I put the entire pot in the fridge. Once it cools by the next morning I harvest the beautiful fat layer of beef tallow from the top and put it in the freezer for future cooking use. I break the broth up into small mason jars. I put what I am going to use in the next few days in the fridge and then the ones I wanted for later in the freezer. Mmm. Wonderful.
If you want to use the bones after baking a chicken that's a great idea because not only do you get the protein and fat from the meat and skin for many meals you also now have the bones to heal further. I also sauté the liver and heart up with rosemary, leeks, and sea salt :) If there are other organs I sometimes out them in the stock if I don't want to eat them. I used the turkey bones from our wild thanksgiving bird and those have been the gift that keeps on giving! I am just on my last batch now in January because I alternate with beef bones. You can use any animal bones you can find especially from local farmers. Those are the best. Sometimes they have so much if you create a good relationship they'll give them away!
Photo credit: Organics Park
1 whole pastured, organic chicken/duck/turkey or 3-4 pounds of poultry parts (any cartilage, feet, neck, gizzards, or any left pieces of the animal can be used, it improves the stock)!
1 gallon cold filtered water (if you have less bones, use less water)
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (this does give it an acid taste. It is beneficial because it brings out the minerals from the bones)
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
3 sticks of celery, chopped
If you roasted your whole animal and are not in the mood to make stock right away, put all the bones and left overs in a zip lock bag and freeze them for later. When you are ready take them out and throw them in the water! It's truly that easy. No big deal.
This will yield about two quarts or more of stock depending on how long and the intensity you cook the bones with. Bring to boil. Set to low heat or use a crock pot on the low setting. A bigger crock pot with more bones is better to make more of this at once. Both are perfect. Cook 24-48 hours. Skim the cream-ish colored film off the top every once in a while. Throw away bones once finished. I store the broth in the fridge for up to three days or freeze it in individual mason jars for other soups or to drink on it's own in the morning with breakfast. It is great to use in many recipes to add nutritional value and flavor.
Roasting a whole duck recently was one of the best experiences of my life! Recipe coming soon. SSWWOOOONN!
Serving my loves
I know I am repeating myself, it is of vital importance that the beef and bones are from organic, free range cows that have access to pasture, were 100% grass fed from start to finish, who have eaten a diet that most resembles their natural diet, and who have had a good quality of life.
I served a group of friends who I had not seen in a long while that I went to college with at Naropa. I also served a second group of folks with one batch (because stock is the gift that keeps on giving ;-) I served my niece, my father, and a dear old family friend who loves all that is food. It was great to all be together (in both instances) and to serve beef stock as a warming amuse bouche with pieces of tender grass fed beef, onions, carrots, celery, and mushrooms. I blended it together with my immersion blender and it was a creamy, rich, and delectable mini soup.
They loved it! They said it was nourishing, warming, and had a good flavor. They inquired why beef and not chicken. For me it is about the feeling I get when I drink/use beef stock. My fiend described to me that in Chinese Medicine beef is considered to be cooling while chicken stock can be warming. I find I like that cooling, centering, grounding feeling that beef stock brings me.
I have found beef broth to be particularly healing. I have been restoring my gut lately. I am starting with the foundations of my own foundation! I believe it is most powerful to practice what you preach. I drink beef broth as an appetizer before meals much like I eat miso soup at a Japanese restaurant here in the states. It brings warmth and blood to my digestion which helps get things going. It is helping me with gut inflammation, bloating, and digestive discomfort.
Absolutely. If you look in Sally Fallon’s splendid cookbook: Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats, you will find many dishes that use beef stock in the beautiful art of reduction glazes and gravies, an art I very much look forward to exploring. Stay tuned for more recipes that use yummy reduction glazes!
I loved the flavor of the beef broth and the warming digestive support. I would change the process in which I processed the fat off the top. I find chicken stock was much easier in this regard. I did as Sally suggested and put the stock in the fridge once it was done simmering for about 24 hours. This did create a layer of fat (beef tallow) after it cooled that came right off easily. I saved it and have been using the beef tallow for other cooking needs. The next time I would heat it and drain it once more through a cheese cloth to get a bit more of the fat out. Don’t get me wrong-that fat is precious. I love the fat for the purpose of reduction glazes and soups and yet for my purpose of a gut warmer it was a bit much. I llooovve the healing powers of it though! I am so thankful to those cows and to all the hands that went into getting the beef stock to my kitchen. They have made accessible such a wonderful remedy for any digestive and mineral concerns/imbalances. Happy rejuvenation friends!
Your,
Amelia