The GAPS, Wahls and Paleo Diets are powerful healing templates, but they often work best when personalized to our needs. Through patience, perseverance, and customizing her diet, Katy has reversed both Crohn’s disease and Inflammatory Arthritis. She shares the details of her healing journey with us in this interview.
Soup for breakfast may sound funny, but for millions of people around the world, this is traditional. And how smart they are! It is far more nurturing, nourishing, healing, and satiating than any typical breakfast in the U.S. It’s now my favorite way to start the day.
If you think the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol is restrictive, check out this list of all the foods you CAN eat! When we eat a wide variety of foods, not only does it make the AIP more enjoyable to follow, it’s also a key to nutrient density. That’s because every food has a unique nutrient profile. So, use this list to break free of any food ruts!
Part of my AIP series, this post answers frequently asked questions & gives tips for success. How long do I have to stay on the protocol? Why can’t I just take an allergy test? Should I go off my medication when I start the AIP? Why is the reaction to a food stronger after an elimination diet? If I fall off the AIP wagon, do I have to start over on Day 1? How can I help myself succeed on the AIP? I provide answers to these questions and more!
The Paleo Autoimmune Protocol includes 2 phases: elimination and reintroduction. We aren’t meant to stay in the elimination phase forever. The reintroduction process is how we learn to communicate with our bodies and personalize our diets. It’s a process that requires patience, and it can be a little confusing and intimidating. Here’s a quick overview of the process.
This recipe is for my fellow rhubarb lovers! It’s one of my favorite Spring vegetables, and while it’s most often featured in desserts like pie, this savory recipe is my favorite. Strict AIP isn’t meant to last forever. Once you’ve seen clear improvement in your autoimmune symptoms, it’s time to start reintroductions, and seed-based spices like those included in this recipe are one of the first foods to try reintroducing. A totally new way to eat pork chops, this recipe is simple enough to prepare on a weeknight and packs a flavor punch! Added bonus: it makes a big batch of chutney, so you’ll be blessed with leftovers. Try it as a topping on any of your favorite grilled meats.
It’s a fact of human nature that we tend to notice what’s wrong, more than we notice what’s right. This blog post is about the power of writing things down, and how that can affect our awareness, our choices, and our mindset. I share tips for keeping 3 kinds of journals: a symptom journal, a gratitude journal, and a let-it-out journal.
Have past efforts at homemade sauerkraut failed? Have you been afraid to try to make it yourself, because you’ve heard stories of funky smells or strange tastes, or how the conditions need to be just right? Well, I discovered an easy no-fail method to make this superfood at home, and I’m sharing it with you today!
Finding a healthcare team that understands “food is medicine” can be as hard as finding Waldo in the famous children’s book series. Thankfully, there are a growing number of directories to help, and I’ve linked to them in this blog post. If you aren’t getting better independently on a healing diet and lifestyle, troubleshooting with an expert can make a world of difference! Many of these practitioners work with patients around the world, so you aren’t limited to local offices. And if you’re interested in becoming a healthcare practitioner yourself, I share my favorite training programs in this article as well.
What other food brings you back to childhood as quickly as Jello? It’s wacky, wild and wiggly! And if you make it yourself, it’s also good for you – a far cry from the store-bought version. Check out the difference: (1) Store-bought Jello Ingredients: Sugar, Gelatin, Adipic Acid, Disodium Phosphate, Sodium Citrate, Fumaric Acid, Tannic Acid, Red 40, Blue 2. (2) Homemade Jello Ingredients: Organic Juice, Grass-fed Gelatin. Click through for the full recipe.
Did you think that NSAIDs weren’t allowed on the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol? Here’s my opinion on this controversial issue. It’s time to bring some balance to the discussion of pain in the alternative and real food communities.
When you’re on a restricted diet, traveling can seem out of reach, but the world is too big and beautiful for us to stay house-bound. Over the years, I’ve mastered this skill for both road trips and plane travel. I’ve also scoured the internet for other people’s experiences. We can learn so much from each other! In this link love roundup, you’ll find advice for long flights, road trips, camping, cruises, traveling with children, business trips, eating in restaurants, and more.
Here’s a nutrient-dense recipe for those of you feeling adventurous! It’s one of my favorites and tastes surprisingly like steak, but with much higher nutrition. In addition to many important minerals, heart is filled with the B vitamins that support brain, adrenal, and immune health.
Do you feel angry with your body? Hatred toward your body? Betrayed by your body? At war with your body? How do these feelings affect our ability to heal?
Broccoli is considered a detox superfood. It contains a dynamic trio of phytonutrients that support all phases of our body’s detoxification. In addition, this salad is delicious! Note: Mustard is considered a Stage 1 Reintroduction, and most people do reintroduce it successfully, but if you’re still in the elimination phase of the AIP, just substitute your favorite AIP-friendly herb.
Dr. Terry Wahls has multiple sclerosis and went from a wheelchair to a bicycle with the help of a nutrient-dense paleo diet. She recommends we each eat 6-9 cups vegetables daily. Why are veggies so important? Do we eat them cooked or raw? Are some vegetables more nutritious than others? What if our appetite is smaller than that? Find the answers to these questions and more in this informative post.
Did you know that once a week, I turn off my computer and hide my iphone in the garage? For 24 hours, I don’t have access to social media, email, or the internet. It may sound crazy to you, but it’s the most peaceful day of my week. I’ve been doing this for years, and I highly recommend it! If life seems stressful and busy, this is an amazing technique for slowing time down again.
This is one of my favorite home ferments. I always have a batch brewing, and I have a glass with dinner every night. Not only does it help me digest my meal, it’s delicious! This week, my fridge is stocked with the following flavors: Lemon Lavender, Raspberry Ginger, and Orange Turmeric. Your flavor options are almost endless.
Learn everything you need to know, to brew a beautiful, beneficial batch of kombucha. Where’s the best spot to brew it? What is the best brewing temperature? What’s a SCOBY hotel? My SCOBY looks funny – what does it mean? Answers to these questions and many more!
Kombucha is a fermented beverage that people love in the paleo community, but as people pass SCOBYs from one friend to the next, they also pass along myths about what is and isn’t true about this probiotic beverage. How much sugar do you think remains at the end of fermentation? How about caffeine? How about alcohol? Do you think it’s rich in B vitamins? Diverse in probiotics? Is it healthy or not? In this article, I separate the myths from the truths.
Butternut squash and golden beets cooked in garlic-ginger infused coconut milk. It’s a bowl of warmth in the winter time, with veggies the color of the rising sun. Comfort food at its finest.
Coconut is the darling of the paleo community, offering flour to bake with, oil to cook with, milk as a dairy alternative, and the meat itself as a recommended snack. So, what makes it so special? Find out in this in-depth post, along with a recipe for homemade coconut milk.
This gravy tastes better than any gravy I’ve had in my life, and it’s 100% flour-free. As an added bonus, the pot roast recipe is easy-peasy, because the slow cooker does the cooking for you. (If you don’t have a slow cooker, no worries. I included an oven variation.) This has become a favorite dinner for my family, and I hope it does for yours as well. It truly is healthy comfort food at its finest.
When you start eating for your health, you begin to watch labels closely. But what happens when the labels aren’t telling the truth? Olive oil fraud has become so rampant that an entire book has been written about it. In this article, I share which brands passed and failed authenticity testing, dispel some commonly believed myths about olive oil, and teach you how to find the real thing.
Heartmath is a biofeedback technique where we can see our heart rhythm in real time, and track how it changes based on stress vs. relaxation. In this blog post, I share my first experience with it, including the graphs of my own changing heart rhythm. I also tested out various visualizations. Are you curious which was the most effective?
Learn how HeartMath taps the power of emotion to support our healing, instead of detracting from it.
Of all the recipes on my blog, this is the one I make most often. It’s fast, nutrient-dense, and delicious! And in the introduction to this recipe, I share the amazing nutrient profile that makes Dr. Terry Wahls say, “When in doubt, choose kale.”
