My Green Diet

Hello dear friends.  Happy start of summer (which doesn’t officially start until June 21, but school is out and it’s 100 degrees here so I’m going with it). 

It feels so goog to sit here and take a break from packing up my life… again. We have moved every year for the past several years and as much fun as it is, I’m so ready to not move. But, I’m looking forward to living in beautiful Palo Alto, California. I think it is going to be a fantastic adventure for my family. Before that happens, though, I will be living out of a suitcase will we visit family all over Utah for 2 months. It’s a bit tricky to pack the house for the move and pack us up for a 2 month road trip at the same time. I will do my best to share with you the madness!

We are really downsizing this fall. I hesitate to even say it… 800 sq. ft! You might not believe it, but I am actually looking forward to it. I love small spaces and am thrilled to only have to manage keeping a shoebox sized townhouse clean – a feat I have a chance for success at. I have gone through every drawer and closet purging out anything we don’t need or love. It was hard work, but feels so good. It is unbelievably freeing. 

It was a bit sad, however, to edit all my lovely cookbooks. I do so much online now that I find I don’t use cookbooks as much as I used to. I still love them and had to force myself to keep only the best and most beautiful. Here are 5 that I am loving right now:

1. Gwyneth Paltow’s My Father’s Daughter is awesome. I love the layout and brightness. The photos are incredible. I have made several recipes from this cookbook that were delicious, which is rare. Paltrow also has a new even healthier cookbook out, It’s All Good, that I haven’t tried, yet, but can’t wait to get my hands on.

2. Nourishing Traditions. This is more of a textbook than a cookbook, not something I would normal recommend. However, I have learned so much from this classic. It really gets you back to your roots and the old fashioned way of eating. It has some of the most interesting recipes such as making your own cheese curd and fermenting your own veggies. She also explains the why of eating the “old-school” way, which I appreciate. Nothing quite like this one. A great reference.

3.At the Farmers’ Market with Kids. My mom got me this one a while back and although it’s small, it’s a gem. Lots of healthy simple fresh recipes for the whole family. 

4. The Art of Baking with Natural Yeast. I have been learning about the health benefits of natural starters and want to really get good at this. You know what makes San Francisco sourdough so famous? It’s the natural yeast in the air over the bay. Each area will have a little different flavored starter because the air is difference. I’m a huge nerd, I know. But, I am excited to make my own Palo Alto sourdough. 

5. “Mary’s homemade cookbook”. I have a large 3 ring binder that I constantly add to and edit. It is by far my most used “cookbook”. When I find recipes I want to try or make up on my own, they go into the binder. If you don’t have your own “binder”, you need one. It keeps me organized and trying new fun things. I make sure to go through it periodically to get rid of recipes that didn’t turn out or ones I will never make. It is fun to see the evolution of the binder, it is certainly a healthier cookbook now that it was a few years ago. 

What are your favorite cookbooks?

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I am going through a “I hate going to the grocery store” phase. Which isn’t like me because I usually love walking around perusing the produce. That relaxing stroll through the market is a long lost memory for me most days. I am now accompanied by a 2 year old with lungs and an attitude. Forget the child seat in the cart- he does an acrobat move and flings himself out head first. We walk through those automatic doors and the race is on; he grabs as many snacks for the bulk bins as he can while I pretend I didn’t see and grab as much food from the shelves as I can. Forget reading labels, I just trying to remember everything on my list.

So, for the sake of my sanity and the sanctity of dinner, I have reached out to online grocers and been pleasantly surprised by the quality and quantity. Here are some of my favorites:

1.  Green Polka Dot Box. I know, the name isn’t great, but it is kinda fun to get an enormous green polka dot box filled with all natural groceries. I have been shopping here since they opened about a year ago. The prices are good, the selection keeps growing, and the shipping is FREE. Yippee. Only thing is you do have to sign up to get a membership, but it has been worth it for me. 

2. Tropical Traditions. I love love their Gold Label Coconut Oil, but they sell lots of good stuff, including grass fed organic meats. I get their emails and watch for free shipping and other promotions, which are often.

3. Amazon PRIME. How can I not mention Amazon? I have the prime membership, which I love because you get 2 day free shipping on most items. The membership is $80 a year, but you can share with 5 people so for me it’s worth it just for the last minute birthday gifts. I do include it on my list because sometimes they have good pricing on some great staples. I came home one day to find a large box from Amazon. It was full of my husband’s favorite cereal. Poor guys had to take matter’s into his own hands. 

4. Backyard Farmer. This is a shout out to the people living in the Greater Phoenix Area, but I include it in this list because it is amazing. Best farm delivery I’ve seen, yet. You go on to the website by Sunday night, pick out your items, and on Wednesday morning, a very nice farmer delivers them to your door- FREE! Amazing, and the produce is fantastic. I love that it is all local and organic. They have chicken run eggs and meat, too. Going to miss this one.

5. Local Harvest. This is a great website to see all the local organic food online and offline in your area. It has great info and is a good source for things like CSA’s and farmer’s markets. 

I would love to know if you have an online source for organic groceries that you love. And if not, put your feet up, sip some herbal tea, and enjoy browsing my favorite “aisles”.

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Two research studies came out a couple weeks ago both implicating TMAO (trimethylamine-N-oxide) as a biomarker of cardiovascular risk. One study was in the New England Journal of Medicine and the other in Nature Medicine; they can also be seen at Medscape. 

Now, that may sound boring, but interestingly, both studies show the major dietary source being RED MEAT. What happens is the choline and carnitine in the red meat is converted by the intestinal bacteria to TMAO. Note that carnitine is also a common additive to energy drink and diet supplements.

The important point is our gut microbes are the biggest endocrine organ in our body. They can make biologically active compounds (in this instance, TMAO), and they contribute to disease processes. 

Millions of healthy bacteria colonize our guts from the moment we are born. Changes in the composition and abundance of these bacteria affect the entire immune system and can predispose us to a variety of diseases.

It seems that the type of gut bacteria that converts carnitine to troublesome TMAO, flourishes with the more red meat you typically eat. So, remarkably, vegans and vegetarians, even after consuming a large amount of carnitine, did not produce significant levels of TMAO, whereas omnivores consuming the same amount of carnitine did. This leads us to conclude, the bacteria living in our digestive tracts are dictated by our long-term dietary patterns. 

Healthy guts are so important! We decide what we put in out mouth and it has such a huge impact on our health. 

I am not telling you to never have another hamburger again, course if you don’t, good for you. But, for the rest of us, I hope this is a good reminder to eat red meat sparingly. It matters far more what you eat on a daily basis than what you have once in a while. 

with love for your guts, Mary

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