Gluten-free? Avoid the “High Carb Switcheroo”

If you or a family member has a gluten intolerance, sensitivity or allergy, and you have chosen to cut out gluten, there is still a health issue that remains. Simply taking the gluten out of the diet and ignoring the reason that this issue exists will only lead to more food intolerances, sensitivities and allergies. (Remember, one can only be truly allergic to a protein, but other foods can trigger immune system reactions and symptoms, so they are called sensitivities or intolerances to those foods.) In fact, it will set up more imbalances that could lead to an autoimmune disorder in the long run, if ignored.

Many people who cut out gluten do what I call a “high carb switcheroo”–they  switch from processed wheat or gluten products to other processed gluten-free products. They are still eating the same Standard American Diet (“SAD”, and yes, it is) –eating muffins, “breads”, bagels, pasta, crackers, pizza and other baked goods, they are just not made of a grain that contains gluten. These bakeries are not doing the body any favors! Making the high carb switcheroo from gluten containing bakeries to those that are gluten-free will not solve the problem. Gluten-free bakeries are typically made of rice flour mixes or other combinations of potato starch or tapioca starch or beans of some sort…starch starch starch!  (By the way, all of the beans in bean flour products maintain their anti-nutrients and digestive system stressors because they have not been soaked, sprouted or fermented -for more on this, see my article here and my Soaking Beans and Grains Chart here). In fact, maintaining a diet which is high in processed carbohydrates may encourage other problems, such as continued and increased inflammation, gut dysbiosis and/or candida. Candida albicans and pathogenic bacteria LOVE all those carbohydrates you are eating instead of gluten. And all those gluten-free baked goods are high high high carb! Remember that carb means “carbohydrate”, and carbohydrate is just another name for SUGAR.

What to do if you desire to be more healthy? First, instead of feeding the pathogens, I encourage you to skip the “high carb switcheroo”. Resist the temptation (and the false promises) of all those gluten-free baked goods. They may be gluten-free, but they ARE NOT good for you.

Next, cut out the carbs that feed the pathogens–cut out the sugar in your diet. That means all forms of sugar: ALL sugars, ALL grains and ALL beans. What’s off limits? White sugar, cane sugar, turbinado sugar, maple sugar, coconut sugar, date sugar, ALL sugar. And all grains. Gluten containing grains like wheat, spelt, rye, and barley, and all those that do not contain gluten, such as buckwheat, oats, corn, rice and quinoa. (Yes, cut out oats! Yes, corn! Yes, quinoa!) Cut out ALL grains. And don’t forget the beans. ALL beans have got to go. Garbanzos (that sneak into baked goods), fava beans, lentils, black beans, pinto beans. Because beans are starch, and starch feeds pathogens.  Don’t forget the other starches: potato starch and tapioca starch, and every other starch, will continue to feed pathogens.  What’s the problem with pathogens? Pathogens can gain the upper hand, poison the intestinal tract and blood stream, damage the gut wall, and impair brain and nervous system function. Besides starving pathogens, we also cut out grains and beans because they continue to injure the gut wall that is already injured (the reason that you have the gluten intolerance or allergy in the first place.) An injured gut lining equals (draw a straight line here, folks) an increase in the number of food allergies, food sensitivities, a jacked up (highly reactive) immune system, (which may show up as a runny nose or sneezing, hives, rashes, eczema, fevers, headaches, dizziness, constipation, bloating, or many other symptoms), and eventually autoimmune disorders.

And finally, folks, I encourage you to HEAL your GUT. Heal the cause of the food sensitivity or allergy. If you heal it and seal it, and starve out the pathogenic bacteria, your “gluten-free-ness” will be over, and your food freedom will begin. (You never have to be GF or CF (casein-free) or DF (dairy-free)! Just heal your gut!)

The most important thing to do once you stop injuring the gut (by cutting out grains and beans and foods that injure) and starve the pathogens (by cutting out sugar) is to heal and seal the gut by eating Meat Stock. You can learn how to make meat stock in my book, Cooking Techniques for the Gut and Psychology Syndrome Diet, Part I: Meat Stock and Bone Broth, and by taking my online class: Meat Stock! The One Pot Meal that Heals­™.

 

Read more about gut healing in the Gut and Psychology Syndrome, by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride.

 

Fall Sniffles? Garlic Lemonade to the Rescue!

It’s autumn…or soon to be! The Fall Equinox is this week, Saturday, September 22, at 9:54pm ET/7:54pm MT. Can you believe it? I keep asking myself, “where did the summer go?”

Ready or not, we are transitioning again. Transitioning from summer to autumn…every transition means there is a possibility for chaos and stress in the change, and also an opportunity to set ourselves up for success during it–to “manage ourselves” during the change. To “self-regulate”. A dear friend of mine, Brigit Viksnins, a Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapist and trauma relief expert (my term) encourages me, her family, friends, and clients to develop a long “cope rope” to help during times of stress, so that we may “ride them out” with more ease. (The term “ride them out” always reminds this East Coast girl of riding the waves. We used to practice body surfing from the time we were little children…riding the waves into the shore. When we were prepared for a wave, we could ride it straight in to the shore with ease and delight. When we were not prepared, we could get pummeled–ending up tossed about under the water, gasping for air, sand everywhere. The wave would get the best of us. Waves kept coming and coming, especially at high tide. Not ready? Down again. Until we found a place where we could see the patterns of the waves and anticipate their arrival…)

The movement of a season from one into the next means a lot of things on every plane-physical, mental, and emotional. Each season has its own gifts and challenges-and Autumn has its own. The “fall”. The “falling of leaves”. The leaves fall off the trees and die. A time of “letting go”. Once you learn the patterns of a season, you can prepare for the movement so you can move with it instead of being dashed by it…like those waves.

Many people find themselves “catching a cold” this month…being congested this month, feeling sad…others may feel stuck or contracted or judgmental…

There are many things we can do to help us “ride out” this season, and ride it well. If you are one that finds yourself challenged in your respiratory system during this time, Garlic Lemonade is one of my favorite remedies from the kitchen that will help. Start drinking it at the first sign of a sniffle, and it will help you get back to balance.

Garlic Lemonade

makes 1 quart

one lemon, organic, cut in half

6-8 cloves garlic, organic

raw honey to taste

cayenne pepper, optional

 

Bring pure water to the boil. Place a dinner knife into a quart size ball jar. Pour the boiling water down the knife into the ball jar. (This will keep the jar from cracking from the temperature of the water.)

Smash the garlic cloves on a cutting board with the side of a large knife or cleaver, to release the oils. Peel the garlic cloves and discard the skins.

Chop or mince the garlic, and place in the jar of water.

Cap the jar and steep for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, squeeze the lemon into the jar. (By waiting a bit of time, the water will cool some so you will not lose the enzymes in the lemon because of the heat. If you want to be sure of the temperature, use a digital thermometer and add lemon juice at 118°F or lower to retain the enzymes.) Stir.

(At this point, I will often pour my garlic lemon water into a thermos to hold it at this temperature.)

Pour into your favorite mug. Stir in raw honey to taste. Viola’! Garlic Lemonade. (And for you folks wanting a bit more heat, stir in a pinch or two of cayenne pepper right before you drink it.)

Enjoy!  Feel better!

 

For those of you who would like to learn more about the energetics of the season of Autumn, and other modalities you may utilize to “ride it out” with ease, I am offering an online class–three, 1.5 hour sessions called Being Well through the Seasons: Focus on Fall. Class is Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, September 18, 19 and 21, 6:30pm -8:00pm MT. All sessions will be recorded. More information http://bit.ly/2vomQpG

The Juggling Act that is GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome™) or, “Keep these three balls in the air”

As many of you know, I have been teaching how to cook nourishing, traditional foods a la Weston A. Price and Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions Cookbook for more than 11 years now, since 2006. I started teaching how to cook for the Gut and Psychology Syndrome™ (GAPS) Diet in 2010, and have so far published two of my four part series on Cooking Techniques for the GAPS Diet–Meat Stock and Bone Broth, and Culturing Dairy. (Lacto-fermentation is due out by the end of this year…to be followed by Nuts and Seeds). I wrote the books with the aim to help clear up confusion about the diet and make the cooking “GAPS-style” easy. I took the training to become a Certified GAPS Practitioner in 2015, and have been working with people to heal their guts for years–young, old, and in between.

(I would like to say one thing clearly here, before I continue with this article on juggling: The GAPS diet is about the FOOD, folks. The food. Before you try all sorts of supplements and vitamins and healing modalities for your or your child’s symptoms, try the diet first. Give it time to work. Hang in there. Ask for help if you need it. It took time to get this far out of balance in your body, it is going to take time to bring it back on line. And we have seen tremendous healing happen by following the diet, by the food alone.)

Okay, back to the Juggling Act that is GAPS!

While implementing the GAPS diet, I have found that there are 3 things that you must juggle at once as you go through it—it is a balancing act, and all three parts must be maintained (kept in the air, if you will), if you are going to succeed. I am writing this article to bring this to your attention…because I know it will help in implementing the nutritional protocol, and ultimately, bring relief and speed healing.

First, Stop Injury. That means to remove all of the foods and ingredients and toxins that could further damage the lining of the small intestine. These are gluten, casein, and complex carbohydrates (aka starches), fibrous vegetables, as well as dyes, preservatives, soy, GMOs, and other food fractions that could be problematic. (For a full list, see Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride’s book.)

Second, Heal and Seal. Healing and sealing is the role of Meat Stock, that delicious, nutritious “one pot meal that heals™”. Put very simply, the amino acids provide the building blocks for healing, and the gelatin does the sealing. (In my classes, I have often used the loose analogy of a brick wall: the amino acids are the bricks and the gelatin is the mortar. You get the idea. If there are holes in the mortar, things are going to get through–in this case, into the bloodstream. Need to Heal it and Seal it!) For more information about the role of meat stock, how to make it, and why it is the only stock used during the Intro of the GAPS Diet, see my article here. (Heck, it’s so important that I wrote a whole book about it!) In order to work its healing magic, it is a good idea to drink what I call ” a therapeutic dose” of meat stock every day–at least three, but better 4-6 eight ounce cups per day. (You will drink less when you have Healed and Sealed…that is, once you graduate to the Full GAPS diet.)

Thirdly, Repopulate the Gut with Healthy Microbes. One must turn the tide of dysbiosis, a situation where pathogenic bacteria reign supreme in the intestine.  In the GAPS diet, one repopulates the gut with beneficial bacteria with FOOD. It is the role of lacto-ferments (beet kvass, cabbage tonic, sauerkraut, fruit kvass) and cultured dairy in all of its forms (yogurt, cultured cream, sour(ed) cream-raw only- and kefir). People also use probiotic supplements, to increase the number of microbes in the system quickly. (It is very easy to add another 10, 20, or even hundreds of billion lacto-bacilli when taking a pill or a powder. There is only so much kraut one can eat in a day!)

I have no problem with probiotic supplements, in fact, often the addition of a good quality probiotic can help to clear tenacious symptoms when used in concert with the food. There are even a few that I recommend (see below), specifically because they are “clean” (contain no fillers and are “GAPS compliant”). Remember that when on GAPS, a probiotic may not contain FOS, inulin, or other prebiotics. They are starches or fiber, and will either “feed the bad guys” (pathogenic bacteria or opportunistic bacteria) or they will damage the gut. (See step one above: Stop Injury. Fiber can be like sandpaper to the gut wall. Since food travels down our alimentary canal, it will hit the damaged area first–the duodenum of the small intestine–before it gets to where it can be used, the colon.) So once you have found a probiotic without prebiotics in it, be sure that it has multiple strains (more than 12 is a good place to start).

I encourage you to keep these three things in mind–in balance, actually–as you travel along the road of healing your leaky gut with the GAPS nutritional protocol. One more time with feeling, here are those three things: 1. Stop Injury. 2. Heal and Seal. 3. Repopulate the Gut with Beneficial Microbes. These three things are all equally important. For example, if you are taking hundreds of billions of probiotics every day (which I don’t recommend–more on that later), but not drinking a therapeutic dose of meat stock EVERY day, you may be winning the battle of dysbiosis, but you won’t be Healing and Sealing. If you drink your meat stock every day, but don’t cut out all the foods that are damaging, (potatoes, or grains, or sugar, for example), you are continuing to blow holes in the small intestine, and continuing to feed pathogens. The gut will never seal, (like a wound that keeps getting the band-aid ripped off) and the bad guys-pathogens-will win. Makes sense? So GAPS is a juggling act, my friends. Keep all three balls in the air, and you win. It has been my experience, as I work with all sorts of individuals wanting to heal all sorts of symptoms with this diet, that if you can keep all the balls in the air, mindful of all the pieces at once, you will have a much better chance at moving through the protocol with ease and with better returns, faster.

Until next time, keep those balls in the air, folks!

 

Probiotics that are “GAPS legal”:

Biokult

Gut Pro

Gut Pro Infant

Custom Probiotics

My Books:

Cooking Techniques for the Gut and Psychology Syndrome™ (GAPS) Diet, Part I: Meat Stock and Bone Broth

Cooking Techniques for the Gut and Psychology Syndrome™ (GAPS) Diet, Part II: Culturing Dairy

Recipe for Fruit Kvass

More information on the GAPS Diet: www.gaps.me

To work with me on implementing the GAPS Diet, schedule a free consultation here:  http://simplybeingwell.com/Consultations.html

Weston A. Price Foundation

Note: Some of the above are affiliate links. Thank you for supporting my writing.

FOOD is the Foundation!

FOOD is the Foundation!

Food is the foundation of well-being, in body, mind, and spirit. I believe it, I live it, I teach it. Nowhere is this fact more apparent than with the brain function dis-eases and im-balances that we are experiencing today.  In our children and in our elders, and everyone in between.

I was blessed to be able to attend the annual Autism One Conference in Colorado Springs over Memorial Day weekend, the first year it was not held in Chicago. As many of you know, my work in recent years (well, really I started about 7 years ago), has revolved around the brain-gut connection, and the impact a leaky gut can have on all sorts of disorders, but especially brain disorders: inability to focus, ADD, ADHD, Autism Spectrum, depression, dyslexia, schizophrenia…and so many others. I have been trained and certified in the GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) nutritional protocol, and use my knowledge of cooking to help people to implement the diet with ease.

 

With friend, colleague, and fellow GAPS practitioner, Amy Mihaly, at Autism One Conference in Colorado Springs last month.

We were walking billboards!

START with the FOOD!

While there were so many good people doing so many good things to help children on the Autism Spectrum and with ADD and ADHD, I was struck by the amount of modalities, remedies, supplements, and technologies that have been developed for this population. I was also struck with the lack of emphasis on the food. People! People! The food is the foundation…and if you can get the food right–take out everything that is NOT food, remove dyes and excitotoxins and glutamic acid, and GMOs and pesticides and herbicides and glyphosate–and add in real, healing food, many of the symptoms and problems that these children have…and adults in our country…would resolve. Start with the food, folks! Start with the food!

And so, I carry on, waving the flag of Real Food, Nourishing, Traditional Food…prepared and cooked to maximize nutrients and digestibility. Often, I have the sensation that I am a “voice crying in the desert”–but I’ll keep on crying out while people continue to look everywhere for answers to their health dilemmas and “random” symptoms but their own kitchen. I will continue to teach cooking, and continue writing and speaking…so people can take back their health by going back into the kitchen.

If you would like to join me in the kitchen, I am offering my four-day intensive, Learn to Cook! in October of this year. It is the only session that is currently scheduled. If you would like more information about the course, go here. I welcome all ages and levels of knowledge and experience, and you can learn to cook for yourself and your family, or for the purpose of later teaching others. I am also putting many of my classes online, so that you may take them at your leisure, in the comfort of your own home. Stay tuned for more information on those classes! The first one, The Ketchup Revolution: Making Condiments that are Good for You is available now!

Learn to Cook! at Fields of Athenry Farm, Purcellville, Virginia, June 2015

For more information about Learn to Cook! Cooking for Well-Being Teacher Training in October, 2017 

For more information about The Ketchup Revolution online class on fermented condiments

Sign up to be on the mailing list to be notified about our new classes on healing autism with food here: Feeding Your Autistic Child

 

Edema? Eczema? A-fib? The One Pot Meal that Heals™

This is a story based on personal experience. It is not peer reviewed and has no footnotes for you. It is not academic (though I have plenty of stories of clients and students that have healed through food…). This is just a story of how a tremendously healing meal…one that is SO easy to make…so deeply nourishing…worked its magic in my own home. On symptoms we had NO IDEA it would clear.

The Gut and Psychology Syndrome™, aka, “GAPS” diet, is known mostly for its ability to heal symptoms of brain function that are connected to the relative health or damage of the gut. ADD, ADHD, Autism Spectrum, brain fog, dyslexia, dyspraxia, schizophrenia to name a few. I teach how to cook for the GAPS diet, and most of the people who attend or wish to work with me have those symptoms. I am used to the idea of eating to heal the gut, and subsequently, brain function. Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, author of the GAPS diet, has been saying for years (and I believe her) that all physical symptoms can be traced to the gut, a leaky gut, that is. She is currently writing the “Gut and Physiology Syndrome”…which says just that. But now, I got to see and experience first-hand, how the GAPS diet heals so many other things.

High blood sugar? Check.

High blood pressure? Check.

Atrial fibrillation? Check.

Arrhythmia? Check.

Severe Edema? Check.

Weight loss? Check.

Yep. All of the above symptoms back into normal range…or no longer symptoms, within just two months. These were chronic, entrenched symptoms, present for decades. And I didn’t even TRY to heal them.  No special diet, no “intake” done. It was merely the result of eating the way we eat in my home…organic whenever possible, no processed foods, no soda or soft drinks. And one other thing. We eat Meat Stock two or three times a week in my home. Yep. That’s it. Meat Stock.

 

What IS “Meat Stock”? Meat Stock is what I call the “One Pot Meal that Heals™”… because that’s what it does. It heals. Meat Stock is the foundation of the GAPS diet, it is the food that provides the nutrients that heal a leaky gut…and then the symptoms of that leaky gut. Meat Stock is NOT just broth. It is NOT bone broth. It is faster to make, and more nutrient-dense than bone broth. Meat Stock is an entire MEAL…you eat the meat, you drink the stock that is made from the meat, and you eat the vegetables, (with liberal amounts of healthy traditional fats, like pastured butter, tallow, duck fat…and good, high mineral sea salt.) Meat Stock is made with any meat with a joint and connective tissue–chicken, turkey, duck, quail, beef, bison, lamb, pork, fish…It’s a one pot meal. Did I mention that it heals?

So what can Meat Stock heal?

Leaky gut and the symptoms that stem from it…everything mentioned above, including:

• brain function  and nervous system disorders: ADD, ADHD, Autism Spectrum, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, SPD, OCD, depression, dyslexia, dyspraxia, brain fog…
• digestive system disorders: IBS, Colitis, food allergies, constipation, diarrhea, bloating, SIBO, high blood sugar–hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia
• skin disorders, most notably eczema…
• autoimmune disorders (of which there are between 80-100 or more, depending on who you ask)
• heart function disorders: arrhythmia, atrial fibrillation…
• edema
• asthma

If it could be as easy as changing your diet and eating a One Pot Meal that Heals™…aka, Meat Stock, wouldn’t you be interested? Even if it didn’t clear everything within two months, wouldn’t it be worth it? Imagine if you worked with someone to implement the GAPS diet over a period of six months –  two years, how much could be healed?!

For more information, including recipes…I wrote a book, Cooking Techniques for the Gut and Psychology Syndrome Diet, Part I: Meat Stock and Bone Broth 

For more information about leaky gut-what it is and why you should heal it, see “What is a Leaky Gut, Anyway?”

If you would like some guidance as you cook to heal your leaky gut and the symptoms that come from it, contact me.

Celtic Sea Salt

Gut and Psychology Syndrome

SPRING into Wellness!

Believe it or not, Spring is just 8 days away!!! Yep! Clocks just “sprang” ahead last night, and the Spring Equinox is Monday, March 20!

The word “spring” brings to mind not only the season, but also “spring” as in “launch”, “spring in your step”, things “springing up all over”, such as flowers and plants, and finally, “Spring cleaning”. Not only is it time to clear out the dust bunnies that may have gathered in your home over the winter months, but it is also time to clear out your liver and jump start your health in preparation for the faster paced fun-in-the sun Summer months.

Eating for SPRING, eating with SPRING

Mother Nature provides us with the perfect foods to help us “Spring clean” our bodies. The flavors of Spring are those meant to encourage movement and detoxifying, and make way for new life. The flavors are termed “bitter” , “pungent”, and “astringent” in Chinese medicine and the Indian healing system of Ayurveda. The color is bright, spring green. Two seasonal favorites which are champions at Spring cleaning are asparagus and dandelion greens. Asparagus is a wonderful blood cleanser and dandelion greens not only strengthen the liver, but also aid in kidney function. Dandelion greens act as a very mild diuretic and are rich in calcium, folic acid, potassium, vitamin A, iron, choline, and vitamins B1 and B2, as well as trace minerals. These vegetables, as all vegetables, are best when they are organic, fresh, and locally grown. (If you are interested in why this is so, contact me for further information.) Asparagus should be cooked until just done, or still firm, and lightly steamed, to retain maximum vitamins and minerals. When cooked correctly, the color of asparagus brightens. Dandelion greens are best raw, tossed in with your other salad greens to retain their vitamins and vitality.  You may also wish to gently steam or sauté them with other greens, such as chard and/or spinach.

Another aid in our Spring journey toward wellness is the lemon. We know it is astringent because of the way we “pucker up” when we taste it. Squeezing fresh lemon over salad or your favorite vegetables is a wonderful way to promote digestion and cleansing, and it tastes great, too. Drinking a fresh lemon juice beverage in the morning will help to wake up your liver, readying it for its workday of cleansing and detoxifying.

‘Tis the season to go RAW more than cooked!

Look for foods full of life force and vitality–Spring energy. Look for anything green, Spring green. And include any of the following veggies in your diet, in abundance: asparagus, arugula, dandelion greens, radishes, daikon root, kale, Chinese cabbage, lemon, parsley, spinach, okra, green onions, snap peas, spring greens, micro greens, baby greens of all sorts. Be sure to “spice things up” during this season, to clear out the stagnation that came from the hibernation of the Winter. Some spices that will help “fire things up” and get things moving? Yep, you guessed it: garlic, ginger, black pepper, cayenne pepper, chili peppers…

Along with eating to cleanse and clear out old, stagnant energy, consider including the young, bright energy of Spring in your diet. An easy way to do this is to add raw SPROUTS to your salads or steam or sauté them in lemon and ghee or olive oil. Growing your own sprouts is a wonderful way to experience the bursting energy of Spring right on your windowsill or counter top. You will be surprised to discover how easy it is to do, and how quickly they sprout! “Spring” into Spring!

 

I invite you to join me online for a Spring Cleanse! Refresh and renew your liver and yourself with a cleanse! We’ll start on the Spring Equinox, Monday, March 20. You can find more information here: http://bit.ly/2nty87A

May your journey to wellness this Spring be delightful and delicious!

 

 

Beans at High Altitudes!

A long time ago…more than six years now, I published a chart that summarized how to soak beans…which “neutralizers” for which beans, how long to soak them, at what temperature water, and how to cook them. I gleaned the information from Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. When I asked Sally to review my chart for accuracy, she said that I had missed the baking soda. “Baking soda”?! There was no mention of baking soda in her chapters on beans! Yikes! Sally provided me with a report to read through on how to make beans more easily digested  that had been published in Wise Traditions, the journal of the Weston A. Price Foundation. In order to make my soaking chart accurate, I needed to include baking soda as one of the neutralizers for specific types of beans. So I updated the chart, got her “thumbs up”, and had it printed. My chart is called “Preparing Whole Grains and Legumes for Ease of Digestion and  Nutrient Availability“. It has been available on my website since 2010. It is hand-illustrated and hand-lettered, and it has well served many people around the world since then.

As some of you know, I moved to Colorado in 2011. I now live at almost 5,000 feet, after living at sea level for all of my life until then. Living at high altitude demands some changes in the kitchen. One of those changes has been in cooking beans. Now, while we are not big bean eaters in my house, I do soak beans for chili, and lentils for soup, etc. I have found the easiest way to make the perfect beans at high altitude. I shared that information in my latest post on Selene River Press, in “Perfect Beans at 5,000 Feet“. You can find that article here. I hope you enjoy it!

 

Order your own Bean and Grain Chart!

Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon Morell

 

Bone Broth does not heal a leaky gut!

Nope. It does not–at least, according to the GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) Diet. In fact, bone broth is not even mentioned in the diet! Can you believe it?  A little background here.

I came across the book Gut and Psychology Syndrome in 2007, in my search for healing diets specifically for children with autism spectrum and ADD or ADHD. I had read many others, parts of which included many things that I could see would work. But somehow, they never felt complete to me. That same year, nearly a decade ago, I was blessed to meet Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, author of the book and creator of the healing protocol for which the book is named at the 2007 annual conference of the Weston A. Price Foundation in Chantilly, Virginia. I remember that I drove out from my home in Silver Spring, Maryland specifically to hear Dr. Natasha’s talk on the Gut and Psychology Syndrome. That day, she talked for a mere hour and fifteen minutes, one of many other “track” speakers. (At nearly every conference since then, Dr. Natasha has presented an entire day on GAPS. This was the introduction of her work to “WAPers” and others who sought alternative healing based on traditional foods.)  As I sat and listened to her talk, tears welled up and I cried. I cried the tears of knowing that I had finally found someone with answers to why people were so sick. Why the children were so sick, and what could be done about it. The program she explained felt complete. It had the missing pieces. And it started with THE FOOD.

For those of you who know me, you know that I believe and have built my life’s work on the understanding that “food is the foundation”. Good food. Real food. Food that is raised in a sustainable way. Food that nourishes the land as it is grown, and the people that eat it. Food that is cooked in a way that preserves and maximizes nutrient value and digestibility. Food provides the building blocks, macro and micro-nutrients that the human body needs to thrive. It has come to be known as “nourishing, traditional food”, based on the principles of Dr. Weston A. Price, and the cookbook that Sally Fallon (Morell) published in 1998, Nourishing Traditions. To hear that day a medical doctor talk about how AUTISM could be healed through FOOD…how it worked and why it worked, was at the same time mind-blowing to me, and obviously simple. Of course it could. Of course it would. So, after that day, I set myself the task of learning the diet, inside and out, the nuances, the cooking techniques so that I could share them with anyone who would listen…and I do that to this day.

I developed cooking classes specific to the GAPS diet in 2010. When I was introduced to Dr. Joseph Mercola in 2011 by Dr. Natasha and her husband at the Wise Traditions Conference in Dallas, and they told him I had developed cooking classes for the GAPS diet, he used the term “ground breaking”. Yes, they were–and yes, they are, for I am still working to teach those techniques that are specific to GAPS, to clear up misunderstandings about cooking for the diet and how it works. I write, I blog, I speak, I teach. Wherever and whenever I can. When I realized the misunderstanding about bone broth that was going around the forums and list serves at that time–that moms all over the country were trying to implement the diet with bone broth–long cooked bone broth, full of glutamic acid (read “MSG”), which could trigger neurological symptoms in those that had them (read “autistic children”) had to be corrected. There is no bone broth in GAPS, folks. The stock that Dr. Natasha writes about is clearly Meat Stock. Short cooked stock, made from meaty bones with joints and connective tissue. Yes, you can throw in marrow bones for their added goodness, but they are not the main ingredients.

In order to get the word out and clear up the confusion between bone broth and meat stock, I started writing a series of books called Cooking Techniques for the Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) Diet. Eventually, there will be four parts to the series, explaining the very important nuances of cooking for this healing protocol. This is not the “well” diet, folks. It is a therapeutic diet, that is designed to produced therapeutic results. Part I of my series of books (available as ebooks to get the word out, pdfs and print editions), the most important part, is called “Meat Stock and Bone Broth“. My publisher, Selene River Press (a fabulous publisher that carries select books on nutrition and health based on the works of Dr. Royal Lee) puts it like this: “Bringing new clarity to the GAPS diet in non-clinical language all readers can understand, expert chef, author, and teacher Monica Corrado shores up a critical but often misunderstood aspect of the GAPS healing protocol—meat stock and bone broth. When you make them. How you make them. Why you make them. And, crucially, why you shouldn’t mix them up.”

I invite you to take a read of my book on Meat Stock and Bone Broth. I also invite you to experience the most healing part of the GAPS diet, the “Intro” with me during what I am calling “Jump Start: GAPS”, an online program I am offering February 20 – 27. An easy, inexpensive way to access me, a Certified GAPS Practitioner and a Teaching Chef, and have your questions answered. More info about Jump Start: GAPS here.

 

More about the GAPS Diet

More about Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride

Cooking Techniques for the Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) Diet Part I: Meat Stock and Bone Broth

Part II: Culturing Dairy

Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon Morell

Weston A. Price Foundation

Dr. Royal Lee

 

Note: Some of the above are affiliate links. Thank you for supporting my writing.

 

 

 

Tools to Soothe and Stabilize!

Some of you may not know that my company, Simply Being Well, celebrated its 10 year anniversary last year. Ten years!

Simply Being Well began with the tagline: Herbs, Oils, Essences, and Whole Foods. I started with a desire to share my knowledge of alternative healing modalities with everyone–especially moms and those who wanted to be moms someday. I offered classes and workshops, and had a private practice. Simply Being Well evolved to focus on teaching cooking classes and training Traditional Food Cooks and Teachers based on Weston A. Price and the cookbook, Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon and Mary Enig. That’s where Cooking for Well-Being came from.

I taught my first cooking class on a six foot table at a local food co-op in Bethesda, Maryland, in September of 2006, after being asked to “teach Nourishing Traditions”. Who knew that first class would be the catalyst for 10 years of teaching cooking?! I loved it. I still do! And I believe, in my heart of hearts, that “food is the foundationTM” of well-being. That’s why I continue to teach Cooking for Well-Being, and help people to source clean, sustainable food, and guide people through their healing journeys with food–nourishing, traditional food and, specifically, the Gut and Psychology Syndrome–GAPS–Diet, since 2010.

All along, however, I have continued to work with clients, offering various vibrational remedies to support them on their way. That is still very much a part of Simply Being Well and my Wellness Consultations. Flower essences, therapeutic grade essential oils and other alternative modalities can be very powerful assistants on one’s way to heath. (For more information about the Vibrational Cause of Chronic Disease, see my article here). So, while “food is the foundation” of Well-Being, it’s not the only thing. Remedies from the plant kingdom can surely help ease the way, and I test for specific remedies to clear the cause of specific symptoms for clients.

In times of chronic stress, trial, or turbulence, we need all the tools we can get to help us maintain alignment and stability. It is this knowing that has led me to offer a series of videos on “Tools to Soothe and Stabilize”. There are very simple things we can do to help ourselves, our families, our children, our pets to weather storms with more ease. It is my hope that these short clips will help you on your way.

You may find them on my YouTube channel (subscribe!), and on my Simply Being Well: Cooking for Wellbeing Facebook Page.

Here’s the link to the first Tools to Soothe and Stabilize I hope it serves you well!

 

For Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and Mary Enig,

For the Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Natasha Campbell-McBride

Please note these are affiliate links.

What’s up with Bread in the US of A?

This is a beautiful, homemade, sprouted spelt sourdough bread, made for me by Min Kim.This is NOT typical American bread these days. However, it is an example of the true bread we are meant to eat. Read why in my article! 

Ever wonder why you can eat bread, rolls, bakeries, and pasta with ease when you travel to Europe or almost any other country in the world? Interested in some ideas? Check out my latest article, “Gluten-Free in America” on Selene River Press HERE.

 

If you would like to learn how to make your own delicious, nutritious, traditional sourdough bread with ease, check out Min’s ebook HERE

 

 

Min is a graduate of my Cooking for Well-Being Teacher Training program. She taught herself how to make sourdough bread after healing herself and her family with the GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) Diet. Min makes sourdough in SoCAL and teaches classes. If you would like to heal your gut and be able to eat bread again, schedule a Wellness Consultation.