Catching up! Posts from Food As Medicine Facebook Page - Part 1

I have been meaning to post simultaneously on my Facebook page and here, but it hasn't worked out that way at all! Here are a collection of posts from the Food As Medicine FB page:

MICROBIOME
One of my favourite subjects at present is the human microbiome; the ecosystem of micro-organisms that live in and on our bodies. Exciting new discoveries have been made in this area recently with profound implications for health and nutrition. I look forward to sharing them with you. Like this one... Did you know that almost 60% of your faecal matter is bacteria, not food/fibre? I dare you to have a good look in the loo and reflect on that.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7359576

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LACTOSE INTOLERANCE
Lactose intolerance! On my tea break from study I read something very interesting about humans and lactose that I hadn't heard before... "Some people get diagnosed as lactose intolerant...after infancy we are all 'lactose intolerant' because the human gut does not produce an enzyme to digest lactose, called lactase. So how do many of us manage to digest milk? Because we have particular species of probiotic bacteria in the gut which do this work for us. Some of the most well studied lactose-digesting species are physiological strains of E.coli. People who cannot digest lactose have abnormal gut flora; they are lacking those probiotic bacteria." (From Campbell-McBride's 2007 book 'Put Your Heart In Your Mouth'). She then suggests that rather than substitute highly process lactose free dairy products or soy, focus on restoring your gut flora by eating fermented food and taking good quality, multi-strain probiotics. *eyes my lost lover, cheese*

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SOY- HEALTHFUL OR NOT?
So what's the deal with soy? Is it healthy or not? This is Dr Campbell-McBride's view (from her heart health book 'Put Your Heart In Your Mouth'). From reading similar from a number of sources it's become my view also; avoid soy unless in well fermented forms like tempeh, miso, tamari, natto and eat in moderate amounts. 

The last paragraph that runs over the page is very interesting also, it reads: " Western producers of soy would like you to believe that the health of Japanese people depends on their consumption of soy. The truth is very different. Many of the health benefits of traditional Japanese cooking can be attributed to seaweed, which is consumed daily in good amounts. Fresh and dried seaweed is full of nutrients..."

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WHICH POO ARE YOU?
Which poo are you?* Had a brief introduction to poo in class yesterday with lots more to come! Apparently we should aiming for types 4-5. Types 1-3 are signs of constipation and 5-7 are diarrhoea. Enjoy your dinner. 

* You don't have to answer that question.

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DANGERS OF EXCESSIVE SITTING
Is sitting too much sending you to an early grave? I hope not! I'm spending a LOT of time sitting studying these days so am grateful for this reminder! I'm now considering getting a desk I can use while standing. Or at least one of those funky chairs like in the animation. At college I walk up and down the stairs and stretch every chance I get. The other students have asked if there's something wrong with my back. Lol! No, I'm just used to having an active job not sitting at a desk! Right now I am standing using my laptop  Yay for standing! http://vimeo.com/71441709

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GRAINS, GLUTEN AND BRAIN HEALTH 
Thought to share what I'm reading lately, outside of anatomy and physiology and chemistry textbooks. Dr David Perlmutter's latest book Grain Brain is excellent! I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to preserve their health. In a nutshell Dr Perlmutter is a neurologist and a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition. In his practice he treats many people with Alzheimer's along with other neurological disorders. In Grain Brain he explains the strong links between gluten/starchy carbohydrates/sugar, and chronic degenerative diseases such as autoimmune diseases which include neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's.

This is the 5th book I've read in the past year that says everybody should avoid gluten, celiac or not. Two of those book were written by practising neurologists. who are also nutritionists. I trust them. I stopped eating gluten about 6 months ago. I stopped eating wheat about a year before that. It made a HUGE difference to how I felt.

Here's some links if you're interested:
http://www.drperlmutter.com/
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/09/29/dr-perlmutter-gluten.aspx

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LIQUID SALAD
What is it and why?

Blended vegetables with apple cider vinegar. I call it 'liquid salad'. This mix is kale, parsley, alfalfa and mung bean sprouts, and carrot.

I started making it when I was having trouble digesting salad and raw vegetables which happened after being predominantly (approx 75%) raw vegan for too long (about 4 months was too long for my body). I was getting significant stomach pain and bloating every time I ate something with salad! Which was almost every meal. I also lost muscle mass which was crappy because if you lose muscle mass your metabolism drops. I didn't realise that was what was happening. Lesson learnt!

Anyhoo. I noticed that despite having trouble with salad, I had no noticeable trouble digesting green smoothies (raw blended veg and fruit).

Initially to help heal my digestive system, because it was obviously distressed, I ate only cooked veg, soups, fermented foods and meat for a few weeks (GAPS protocol). After a while though, I found myself craving fresh raw vegetables but found my stomach still couldn't handle them in the kinds of amounts I tended to eat. So I tried blending them and had no problem at all! Yay!

I don't drink it like a smoothie, I spoon it on like a dressing or cook it a little and it becomes a bit like a sauce. I've made some tonight partly because it's a really quick and easy way of eating and digesting raw vegetables, and partly because I've gone a bit hard on the raw veg lately and I think maybe I've stressed out my tummy a bit. It could probably do with some mollycoddling and rather than have no raw foods at all, I'll cut down a bit and add liquid salad. The apple cider vinegar makes it yummy and helps it keep better in the fridge.

Dinner - what and why

Dinner  So, what and why:

Organic spinach, pumpkin, broccolini and onion - Why? Because organic vegetables are more nutrient dense ie have more vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients and don't (shouldn't) contain pesticide residue. Also different coloured vegetables contain different phytonutrients that all play different roles in the body. It's important to eat a variety of colours and types of vegetables to get a good mix of nutrients.

Lightly steamed - Why? So that heat sensitive nutrients (like vitamin C, folate and phytonutrients) are not completely destroyed as they would be if overcooked, and so minerals are not lost in cooking water if boiling. Here's a good table on vitamins and what their individual vulnerabilities are:http://www.beyondveg.com/tu-j-l/raw-cooked/raw-cooked-2e.shtml Also I still don't tolerate too much raw veg so eat my veg mostly lightly steamed these days.

Raw organic cucumber - Why? Because beneficial enzymes and some nutrients are going to be lost in steaming, and I can handle a bit of raw veg. Enzymes help to digest your food which takes some pressure off your digestive system they also help with numerous other bodily processes, more on that another time.

Organic sauerkraut - Why? Fermented foods contain probiotic (good) bacteria, SO important for EVERYTHING. I thought 60% of your immune system is located in your gut but my teacher said that it's up to 80%. Beneficial bacteria play a vital role in helping to maintain your immune system. Fermented foods also contain those beneficial enzymes.

'Grass-fed and finished' beef mince - Why? Because cows naturally eat grass, not grain. When they eat grain their meat becomes unusually high in omega 6 fatty acids that in high concentrations in the human body are inflammatory and inflammation leads to so many bad things! Heart disease, cancer, autoimmune diseases, diabetes etc. Most western diets provide very high omega 6 levels, we don't need more from beef. When grazing cattle are grass-fed and finished (meaning grass-fed all the way through, not grain-fed at the end for fattening up before slaughter like most are) their meat apparently has more omega 3 than fish! Omega 3 fatty acids counteract the inflammatory effects of omega 6. Good stuff.
Here's a whole lot of scholarly articles on omega 3 and 6 and inflammation for those that appreciate them:http://scholar.google.com.au/scholar?q=omega+6+inflammatory+response&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart&sa=X&ei=LW4hU7yZGZCEkgX9hoHICA&ved=0CCkQgQMwAA

At least a tablespoon of cold pressed, virgin coconut oil - Why? You'll notice there's no grains in this meal and no starchy veg either. That's common for me at present. My diet is currently very low in carbohydrate (as I was reacting to grains and high carb foods as a result of being vegan, my body didn't like it for more than a short period), and so my energy comes from fat. Good fats are so important for the brain. Most people don't get enough good fats. More about them another time.