Yes, it can be done!! Cranberry sauce that is all berry-goodness and no added sugar. I didn’t think that you could do it, and some of you may choose to
Get Yourself Tested.
May is Celiac Disease Awareness month. Celebrate by getting yourself tested for celiac. Although some people with celiac have no symptoms, you are at greater risk for celiac if you have:
- Fatigue
- Anemia
- Irregular menses
- Infertility
- Recurrent canker sores in your mouth
- Dental enamel defects, recurrent cavities
- Osteopenia or osteoporosis
- Abnormal liver chemistry
- Type 1 diabetes
- Autoimmune thyroid disease (hypothyroid or hyperthyroid)
- Autoimmune liver disease
- Lactose intolerance
- Dermatitis herpetiformis, an itchy rash
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Sjogren’s disease
- Schizophrenia
- Down Syndrome
- Depression, anxiety
- Peripheral neuropathy
- Tingling in hands and feet
- Gas
- Bloating
- Diarrhea
- Constipation
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- A first- or second-degree relative with celiac disease
That’s a long list of people who should be screened for celiac disease. You might be wondering, why hasn’t my doctor already tested me for celiac? Unfortunately many doctors inaccurately regard celiac disease as rare and characterized by diarrhea. The reality is that celiac disease is common, particularly in people who have the conditions listed above.
What is your risk?
Based on your health and genetics, your risk will vary.
- Infertility of unknown cause, 1 in 16 have celiac
- First-degree relative of person with celiac, 1 in 22 have celiac
- Type 1 diabetes, 1 in 23 have celiac
- Anemia, 1 in 24 have celiac
- Joint pain, 1 in 31 have celiac
- Osteoporosis, 1 in 39 have celiac
- No symptoms or associated conditions? 1 in 133 have celiac
Silent but significant
If you think there’s no way you could have this condition because you don’t feel terrible, consider this: a well-done large US trial found that 41% of people diagnosed with celiac disease through a mass screening were asymptomatic.
It’s true that celiac disease can be fairly silent in many people. A bit of gas and bloating may not be cause for alarm. You may simply accept your low energy level and low mood as “normal”. Gas, bloating, fatigue, or depression are not normal. If you have celiac disease, there is a guaranteed dietary solution to improve your overall well-being and quality of life, in addition to preventing other diseases, including cancer, and early death.
Those of you who feel that it’s not worth knowing if you have celiac or not, be aware that if you have undiagnosed (or untreated) celiac disease you are at greater risk for osteoporosis, infertility, autoimmune diseases, intestinal cancers and early death. Once celiac disease is managed with a strict, gluten-free diet, these risks normalize.
It’s genetic
Celiac disease is genetic and it is not uncommon for one family member to be diagnosed with celiac and others to follow.
Due to the genetic nature of celiac, all first- and second-degree relatives of individuals with celiac disease should be routinely screened for celiac disease regardless of symptoms.
The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness has a wealth of information this month regarding helping “our family members get diagnosed so they can restore their health and reclaim their lives”.
Do it for your family
There are three tests to screen for celiac disease:
- Total IgA
- tTg IgA
- EMA
Ask your doctor for these three tests. If you aren’t working with a knowledgable physician, work with me and I can help you get these tests done. If you get tested, be sure to work with a celiac expert to evaluate your risks and the test results. Sometimes further testing beyond the blood tests is warranted.
NOTE: you must be eating gluten (found in wheat, barley and rye) multiple times daily for these blood tests to be accurate.
More on celiac:
Banana Pecan Breakfast “Cupcakes”
Breakfast Cupcakes and watermelon, fast and easy breakfast
I like to keep a batch of these filling, hearty muffins in our freezer for a quick breakfast when we sleep in and don’t have time for making breakfast. Make a batch and two and then freeze.
Last weekend when I made these, my 4-year old insisted on making cupcakes. So that is what these muffins will now be known as!
Make these grain-free, sugar-free, dairy-free muffins your own by mixing up the nuts and dried fruit you use.
Ingredients with an asterisk must be gluten-free for those with celiac or gluten sensitivity.
Banana Pecan Breakfast Cupcakes
- 2 cups blanched almond flour*
- 1 cup organic raisins*
- 1 cup pecans*, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon iodized sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 eggs, preferably omega-3 enriched and/or organic
- 3 ripe bananas, optional
1/2 cup coconut oil or non-GMO canola oil
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix all ingredients together in a mixer.
- Lightly grease a muffin pan or use cupcake papers.
- Fill muffins to the brim with batter; these don’t rise much.
- Bake 20-25 minutes.
Nutrition Details:
Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian
Makes about 12 muffins/cupcakes; per muffin:
330 calories, 26 grams fat, 9 grams saturated fat, 120 mg sodium, 22 grams carbohydrate, 4 grams fiber, 11 grams natural sugar, 7 grams protein
Better Brand Name List
People always want to know: “what should I buy” or “what should I look for at the store”? You will find the answers here!
Better Brands
Here is your grocery list. These are foods and brand names to look for. I will add to this list with more and more recommendations for everything from food to books. I will also include personal care and household cleaning products because these products often contain chemicals that put stress on our bodies and/or contribute to endocrine (hormonal) disruption and/or have negative neurological affects.
Please bookmark this page and refer to it when you are thinking about buying healthy foods and products. http://nourishingresults.com/buy-better-brands/
Got Celiac? Choose “GFF”.
If you have celiac or gluten sensitivity, purchase food that comes from a dedicated gluten-free facility. I will identify products that to my knowledge are produced in a dedicated Gluten-Free Facility (GFF).
Gluten-free (GF) grains such as, quinoa, rice, oats, GF flours, and GF breads, crackers and pastas, along with dried fruit, nuts, and seeds are often processed on equipment with wheat or in facilities with wheat and this trace amount of gluten exposure will keep the digestive tract inflamed. For foods on this list, if you have celiac or gluten sensitivity, do not eat foods that are not from dedicated gluten free facilities.
Happy Shopping!
Keep this list handy and enjoy the ease of knowing exactly what to buy.
Dried Fruit
Choose dried fruit that is unsweetened, does not have food dye and preferably without sulfites. Also prioritize organic for fruit that is highly contaminated with pesticides, which includes: apples, blueberries, raisins, peaches, prunes and strawberries.
Made in Nature Organic raisins and other dried fruit (GFF)
Newman’s Own Organic raisins and other dried fruit (GFF)
Sunmaid plain raisins (organic is available) and Zante Currants (GFF)
Trader Joe’s Organic Raisins (GFF)
Trader Joe’s dried fruit, variety of options, including many organic and unsulfured
Nuts
I recommend that you eat at least 1 small handful of nuts or seeds every day. Choose raw or natural without added oil or sugar. A little salt is okay, but often the salt is “stuck” to the nut with unhealthy oils. Look for lightly roasted without oils if you don’t like raw.
Buy nuts and seeds in bulk and store in the freezer.
Mariani Almonds and Walnut Halves (GFF)
Blue Diamond Raw Almonds (GFF)
Green Valley Pecans (GFF)
www.Nuts.com (Certified GF is available)
Kirkland pistachios (GFF)
Kirkland walnuts, almonds, pecans and pine nuts
Trader Joe’s Roasted Slivered Almonds (GFF)
Trader Joe’s nuts, variety of organic and unsalted options, also in individually wrapped packets
Which is the best type of nut?
Seeds
Bob’s Red Mill Ground Flaxseed Meal (GFF), buy in small packages rather than large
Enjoy Life Seed and Fruit Mix (GFF)
Go Raw Organic Sprouted Sunflower Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds and Spicy Seed Mix (GFF)
Nut & Seed Butters
Read the ingredient list. Better natural nut butters are simply nuts or seeds and salt. That’s it.
Look for natural nut butters that do not contain added oils or sugar, particularly not high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils. Palm oil and evaporated cane juice are alternative types of fat and sugar that are added to nut butters, and should also be avoided.
Smucker’s Natural Peanut Butter
MaraNatha Almond Butter, Peanut Butter, Tahini (GFF)
Santa Cruz Organic Peanut Butter
Don’t see your favorite products? Wondering about their gluten free status or if they are good for you? Please post a comment!
Runner’s World provides a nice grocery guide too! Check it out: Runner’s World Grocery Run.
Thai Cilantro Burgers
We had these chicken burgers two weekends in a row because Dan demanded them! This weekend, Dan had a great idea to make extra and freeze them for lunches this week; these burgers will be an excellent back-up dinner or lunch.
Since we take dinner leftovers for lunch the next day, it’s a good idea for us to have a back-up lunch option so that if dinner is not necessarily his favorite, he’s not stuck eating it two days in a row. Of course, I’m such a fantastic cook, this rarely happens (wink). But, on occasion, when there are just a few too many bean, fish or leafy green veggie dishes in a row, Dan starts to rebel. And that’s where these Thai Cilantro Burgers will save the day!
Make these your own-I used ground chicken, but ground skinless turkey, white beans, edamame, black beans or grass-fed (or organic) ground beef would work too. I’ve never made burgers with tofu…have you? Let me know.
Thai Cilantro Burgers with Avocado and Lime Slaw
- 2 handfuls cilantro
- 2 handfuls parsley
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger or 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 1/2 tablespoons green curry paste
- 1 tablespoon non-GMO or organic canola oil mayo
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce (gluten-free tamari sauce)
- 1/2 tablespoon fish sauce
- 4 green onions
- Juice of one 1 lime
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup bread crumbs (gluten-free panko)
- 1 pound skinless chicken breast
Place all ingredients except chicken into Cuisenart. Process for about 30 seconds.
Cut chicken breast into peices. Place chicken into Cuisenart. Pulse for 2 seconds 8-10 times until you have ground the chicken and mixed all the ingredients together.
Make burgers. Let the burgers sit for about 15 minutes.
Cook in a skillet. I did these on the stove and they held their shape. I didn’t grill them though; if you do, please let me know how they hold up. The onions and herbs make the burger a bit soft before it’s cooked, and super juicy once it’s cooked through.
Serve with canola mayo and avocado slices. Appreciate the color on your plate! Those are powerful antioxidants and anti-inflammatories in these burgers and salad. Fresh herbs, ginger and green onions are some of nature’s gifts to us-they make food taste amazing AND they help support optimal physical and mental function.
Avocado Lime Slaw
- 1/4 head green cabbage
- 1/2 bunch cilantro
- 2 green onions
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- Juice of one lime
- Salt, to season
- 1 avocado
Shred cabbage. Chop cilantro and onions. Season with sesame oil, lime juice and salt. Dice and mix in avocado.
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- Place all ingredients except chicken in food processor.
-
- Blend.
-
- Add chicken pieces.
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- Pulse 8-10 times.
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- Form patties. Let set and then cook.
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- Finish it off with a quick, simple slaw. This is even better the next day!
Nutrition Details
Gluten-free, dairy-free, can be made vegetarian if you’d like to experiment!
Makes 10 burgers; Per burger:
114 calories, 4.5 grams fat, 1.2 grams saturated fat, 242 mg sodium, 3.1 grams carbohydrate, 14.3 grams protein
How Food Politics Led to Nourishing Results
Please listen to my recent interview on Mrs. Greens World with Marion Nestle.
When I was in graduate school I read Marion Nestle’s book, Food Politics. Reading this book was a pivotal turning point in my nutrition career and her work has continued to inform my perspective on food and nutrition. Among many, many things, I have learned from Nestle’s work that:
- Food politics have a significant impact on the availability of healthy foods in grocery stores and on restaurant menus;
- Unconscious food choices are made based on intentional food marketing;
- Lobbing by the food industry significantly influences government health guidelines, and often changes public health nutrition messages.
After reading Food Politics I realized how much our food is controlled by the food industry; personal choice is actually only one small part of the health of our nation. Food politics has a much more significant role in our health. Without addressing the politics of food and fixing our broken food system, we as individuals are faced with a pretty steep hill to climb to find truly healthy foods to eat.
When Gina Murphy-Darling, Mrs. Green, of Mrs. Green’s World asked me to be on her show with Marion Nestle, I emphatically agreed! I am honored to share the podcast with you and encourage you to learn more about food politics and how it affects you.
Listen now! Click this link and then the green “Listen Now” bar on the left side of the screen.
During the interview Gina asked me what I believe the biggest threats to our health are. I believe that our broken food system, which subsidizes unhealthy foods and heavily promotes these foods to us, creates an unhealthy food environment. This food environment then collides with our current culture of stress, inadequate sleep and poor coping skills and complicated by our false belief that you must be thin to be happy and healthy, results in a great amount of confusion and difficulty maintaining healthy lifestyle changes.
My mission in life is to help you sort all this out! That’s what I do! Whether it’s talking to you one-on-one or doing a grocery tour or discussing meal planning strategies, I help you figure out how to eat in our current food environment to best meet your nutritional needs.
What am I doing to change our world of food? I let my voice be heard that we need a change. For example, I speak up in the Dietitian world against things like junk food sponsorship of Continuing Education for Dietitians. This blog is also one of the ways I feel like I can contribute to changing our food system.
And don’t forget that we ALL Vote With Our Forks!
Every food purchase you make sends a message regarding your food philosophy. Your choices speak volumes regarding your beliefs about food. You have a voice with every food choice you make. What messages do you send to the food industry with your food choices?
Check out the podcast of the interviews with Marion Nestle and myself. Nestle covers the first 30 minutes and I wrap up the second half hour.
Photo credits:
Nestle/Hana-Mrs. Green’s World
Vote with your Fork-Plenticulture
