Sound Integrative Health Blog

Before refrigeration how did we preserve vegetables? Fermentation. Fermentation adds lactobacilli and other helpful probiotic organisms to your food. . Helpful for preserving  food and  helpful for our gut When your digestion is stable and you want to keep it being stable, try adding fermented foods into your diet. Here are a few recipes to consider which  I  learned from Liz Lipski, PhD an expert in nutritional approaches to  address  the  microbiome. She recently spoke on Tap Integrative. Kefir : is fermented milk. What you will need: 1. Purchase a package of Milk Kefir grains (not dehydrated or powdered) at your local health food store.   These are re-usable. Or order from someone like www.culturesforhealth.com 2. 1 quart of pasteurized, raw, skim, 2%, or whole milk (cow goat, coconut, or other milk) How do  make it: 1. mix 1 tablespoon of Kefir "grains" with the one quart of your chosen milk. 2. cover the mixture  wit...

Many of my patients are on a low carb diet. Great for so many things. However it does put them at risk sometimes for constipation and also restless sleep. Likely due to overnight dips in blood sugar or due to reduced serotonin and  melatonin production that is derived from the food amino acid called Tryptophan. Healthy evening serotonin levels are also needed to reduce effects of elevated evening cortisol. There are some ways to help and my favorite way is this bedtime meal that I call "Sawing Oats" as in "Sawing Logs". I digress. Here is the simple recipe: 1/2 cup Oatmeal 3/4  cup Cashew Milk  (oat milk or almond milk is fine) 1 tablespoon of Almond Butter 1 teaspoon of cinnamon 1/8 tsp of poppy seeds Directions: Bring milk and oatmeal to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer  down for 5-10 minutes until mixture is soft , moist, and but not drippy. Remove from stove Add 1 tablespoon of Almond  butter and stir until it blends with the oatm...