During the month of October, I am counting down the top 30 mindset and practical strategies that have made all the difference in my success for 30 years as a raw food plant-based enthusiast to help you on your path!
Day 1: When I got started on my raw food and plant-based journey 30 years ago, I was looking for an answer to the progressively increasing fatigue that I had been experiencing for the previous couple of years. At that time, it wasn’t unusual for me to sleep more than 10 or more hours per night and still wake up feeling like I needed more sleep to feel good. The healthcare providers that I saw didn’t have an answer, so I was going to have to find a solution myself if I wanted to get better.
I started reading and researching different healing systems, which led me to a whole food plant-based dietary approach, which helped improve my fatigue. But when I learned about and implemented a raw food diet my energy soared far beyond the impressive improvements that I experienced by eating a largely cooked whole food plant-based. Long story short, my fatigue vanished along with a variety of other symptoms I had for years and I had more energy than I knew what to do with. I could not remember a time when I felt better! I started to look healthier and slept better. I enjoyed exercising and my digestion improved.
The natural skepticism that I had about raw food and changing my diet to an approach that seemed “extreme” to me at the time started to melt away as my health improved. Making the switch to a plant-based diet was easy, but moving to raw food was much more of a paradigm shift for me.
But I made the change because I really wanted to see if my health would improve. I was motivated. I was committed. I had a strong enough “why”.
I’ve found from this experience and many more that commitment and having a strong “why” is one of the biggest factors for success with anything in life, including dietary change.
While living in my college dorm during the winter of my junior year, I alarmed my friends, family, co-workers, and dorm mates by fasting on exclusively water for 14 days. I absolutely, positively, do not recommend fasting in this context, but at that time I was young, adventurous, motivated, and admittedly a bit reckless. As it turns out, it was one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life. In addition to so many other incredible and some unexpected benefits, my seasonal allergies that burdened a great deal of my childhood and adolescence up until that point in my life diminished by about 90%, which was absolutely amazing to me in addition to being a great relief.
Ten years later, after completing my doctorate degree, I became a staff doctor at the True North Health Center, a medically supervised, multi-disciplinary, water-only fasting facility in Northern California. During my four years there I had the opportunity to be involved in the care of nearly 1,000 fasting patients. I saw so many extraordinary healing experiences, including many that made my personal fasting experience look rather unremarkable by comparison!
I love speaking and teaching about ketosis, gluconeogenesis, autophagy, and the many other scientific and academic facets of the fasting experience. The bottom line about how fasting really works though is actually quite simple. Our bodies do have the capacity to heal themselves. When we overburden our body systems with extra calories, especially when those calories are from processed foods and foods that otherwise do not support our health, we undermine our body’s ability to heal itself to its fullest extent. This is extremely common in modern societies, so it’s no surprise that obesity, brain fog, low energy, type II diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, strokes, cancer, autoimmune diseases, etc. are so very common. But when we stop eating and rest, that healing capacity is given the greatest opportunity to express itself most fully, hence all the remarkable experiences that fasting patients have recovering from so many of the aforementioned health challenges and others. Not just occasionally, but from my experience, consistently, routinely, and predictably.
As incredible as fasting is, I’ll state the obvious in that it can only be utilized for relatively short periods of time, and is safest and most effective when under the care of a qualified healthcare provider.
How then do we allow the greatest amount of healing ability when we are eating?
In the 1930’s, Dr. Clive McCay and his research team at Cornell University discovered that when rats were placed on diets with lower calorie intakes than typical diets but still supplied needed nutrients, the rats lived about 33% longer than their normally fed counterparts. Amazing! Fewer calories, extended lifespan! Not only did they live longer, but they were healthier throughout their lifespan as well. Since that time, this has been repeated on many different species, ranging from simple protozoans to monkeys. Every time, every species, the same result. Fewer but adequate calories with nutrient needs met, leads to longer healthier lives.
There is some pretty good evidence that this strategy works well with humans, when we look at the healthiest, long-lived populations on the planet. They all consume fewer calories than is common, from nutrient dense foods. Within the scientific community this strategy is known as “caloric restriction.” I am not a big fan of that term, as “restriction” when it comes to food does not sound the least bit enjoyable. I prefer instead to use the term caloric optimization.
One amazing attribute of fruits and vegetables is that they are super high in nutrient density, while simultaneously being low in calorie density. This means we can eat a generous amount of them to feel full and satisfied, while providing ourselves with an abundance of needed nutrients, and optimizing our calorie intake all at the same time. How cool is that! No feelings of restriction! In fact, in order to obtain the majority of one’s calories from fruits and vegetables, one actually has to increase their food intake. Sometimes eating enough to obtain even an optimal quantity of calories from fruits and vegetables can become a significant challenge. Adding just the right amount of still healthful but more dense foods can often help fill in the gaps.
Another strategy that has become popular in the last decade for decreasing excessive calorie intake, thereby reducing the burden on the body and increasing health, is known as intermittent fasting. This usually takes the form of one of two strategies. The first is eating “normally” for 5 days per week while eating a calorie-restricted diet for two days per week. The other strategy is extending one’s daily “fast” to 16 hours per day each day; in other words, eating all of one’s food within an 8-hour time frame each day.
In the context of people eating conventionally, I love these intermittent fasting strategies. They allow the body to get a break from the calorie-dense foods commonly consumed, to allow it to “clean up” from the excess and be able to do a bit of extra maintenance and healing at the same time. It gives the body a much-needed regular break from the usual burden of overeating, which is of great benefit in so many synergistic areas.
But what about when someone is already optimizing their calorie intake by eating very large quantities of fresh fruits and vegetables, like many fruit and vegetable based raw food enthusiasts do, and then they add one of the intermittent fasting strategies on top of that? This can create a further challenge / hurdle to obtaining an adequate / optimal quantity of calories. I have had several patients and students who have found themselves with this extra challenge in their commendable attempts to be as healthy as possible.
I would rather see someone eat within a 12-hour window and fast for 12 hours per day when their diet is based on fresh fruits and vegetables, as opposed to having them try to get all of their food in within an 8-hour window so they can fast for 16 hours per day. With the latter approach, people can get pretty stressed about eating enough fruits and vegetables to obtain all of their calories within this limited time frame, especially when real life schedules factor in. They may overeat during this eating window, which means they are overburdening their digestive system, thereby putting more stress on their body. Then they will need that 16 hours of fasting per day to recover from the stress of overeating. Without the extra stress, one doesn’t need as long of a recovery period.
Another strategy I’ve seen is adding too much dense food back into one’s diet in order to obtain enough calories within the 8-hour time frame. Again, I would rather see people extend their eating time / shorten their fasting time, to be able to eat lighter, healthier foods more consistently.
Another result I’ve seen is that people can become too lean and sometimes depleted from a lack of calories (and the nutrients that come along with those calories from healthy foods), when both strategies are employed together for extended periods of time. In this case they are not optimizing their calorie intake as they are restricting too much for too long.
Having said that, I have met some who do center their diet around fresh fruits and vegetables AND engage in one of the intermittent fasting strategies, and if that is working well for them on all levels, I do not want to be the one to discourage them. But if this strategy is causing more stress and harm than good, please know it can be quite a challenge for many of us to eat enough fruits and vegetables to get to an optimal calorie intake, and if one needs some extra time to do this, then it’s not a problem in this context. One will have less stress and be less likely to feel the need to overeat or eat foods that are too dense for them to experience their optimal level of health and vitality.
In my opinion, the majority of people who over consume conventional foods could benefit from either of the intermittent fasting strategies discussed earlier that get them closer to an optimum calorie intake and allow their bodies the much-needed periodic breaks. However, when one eats healthy foods that do not cause such undue stress on the body, the periodic breaks do not need to be as long as there is less to recover from in the first place. With these shorter breaks, one usually still comes out ahead with the strategy of giving oneself longer to eat larger amounts of fruits and vegetables, all things considered.
As with all complex, multifactorial processes for which we need to make good decisions, we must consider all factors and how they interact with and affect each other. Taking one consideration out of context can sometimes lead to an out-of-balance health equation which makes it harder to achieve the results one is seeking. When this occurs, one can feel defeated because they have put a lot of effort into something that hasn’t worked as well as anticipated. This discouragement often leads to giving up and going back to conventional eating, which now means one doesn’t experience the benefits they have worked so diligently toward. We don’t want this to happen to any of you! Sometimes a key modification, such as giving oneself a few extra hours per day to consume an optimum calorie intake from a diet based on fruits and vegetables, can help one stay on the healthiest path for one's particular set of life circumstances.
We hope you have enjoyed this perspective on the intermittent fasting and fruit and vegetable centered diet combination of considerations! For more details and information on this topic, feel free to watch the 33-minute video presentation from our June 2019 webinar on this topic as seen below this article. The section on intermittent fasting begins at the 17 minute, 30 second mark, and continues until about the 51-minute mark. For those of you who like what you see and hear and would like to find out how to learn a great deal more about plant-based and raw food nutrition and how all the considerations fit together into a cohesive whole, you can keep watching to hear about our Mastering Raw Food Nutrition online curriculum. Enjoy!
It’s certainly not news that there’s been a lot of conversation in the health community for some time about the importance of probiotics, prebiotics, and microbiome health. In fact, we have been teaching about these topics for more than a decade in our Science of Raw Food Nutrition series of classes and our Mastering Raw Food Nutrition online and interactive program. We also created a webinar (see below for the video replay of it) to share with you our latest findings on this topic.
So, what exactly are probiotics? Simply stated, they are microorganisms with studied health benefits that can live in our digestive tract and compose our intestinal microbiome.
The most well-known probiotics include the bacteria lactobacillus acidophilus, bifidobacterium bifidum, and many more that have been studied and have become popular recently. Probiotics start to populate our digestive tract upon birth and establish a mutually beneficial relationship with us.
It’s important to understand the health benefits of probiotics, but there is one piece of the microbiome puzzle that is often omitted from these health conversations, which has to do with how to keep these important organisms viable in our GI tract.
How do these probiotics stay alive?
One important consideration is food. But what type of food is consumed by probiotics?
Do probiotics prefer the same types of foods that humans do?
The answer to this question, is partially yes. Because the preferred food of probiotics is certain types of fiber, which we as humans don’t digest or use as a food source. But many of the plant foods we consume contain these certain types of fiber preferred by probiotics.
Fiber that can provide nourishment for probiotics is referred to as prebiotic fiber or prebiotics.
Probiotics prefer certain types of fiber, but not all types. The one of the most plentiful types of fiber we find in whole plant food is called cellulose. Cellulose is composed of glucose molecules hooked together by bonds that cannot be broken down by our digestive system. In other words, the glucose in this fiber is not digestible or usable by us as humans because it is bound in the fiber complex, so it passes through our digestive tract largely undigested.
Here’s what cellulose looks like:
As you can see, cellulose is composed of a series of glucose molecules hooked together by bonds that are not digestible by humans.
By contrast, the fiber preferred by probiotic bacteria is composed of fructose molecules instead of glucose. We can’t digest this type of fiber either, but probiotic bacteria can digest it and it is their preferred food.
Here is an example of a fructose-based type of fiber:
Instead of glucose molecules hooked together by bonds, prebiotic fiber is composed of fructose molecules hooked together by bonds.
This type of fructose-based fiber would include both fructooligosaccharide (FOS) and inulin. There are others too, but we’ll focus on FOS and inulin in this article. These are two of the main types of prebiotic fiber found in plant foods.
Now, what exactly are FOS and inulin? They are each composed of fructose molecules and the difference between them is in the number of fructose molecules they each contain. FOS are composed of 2 to 10 fructose molecules. Some sources say 2 to 9. If we look at the term ‘fructooligosaccharide’ we see the fructo- which means ‘fructose’, oligo- which means ‘few’, and saccharide- which means ‘sugar’. So essentially, FOS are a type of fiber or undigestible sugar composed of few fructose molecules hooked together by bonds.
By contrast, inulin is composed of over 9 or 10 fructose molecules linked together by bonds.
Probiotics break down FOS and inulin into fructose and free fatty acids. The probiotics can then use the fructose as a food source. Because these prebiotics are probiotics’ favorite food, this creates a microbiome profile in favor of the probiotics. Additionally, the abundance of probiotics helps to keep the less desirable organisms in check.
What happens to the free fatty acids the probiotics produce?
They form into short chain fatty acids (SCFAs).
There are 3 short chain fatty acids, butyrate, propionate, and acetate, each of which has beneficial properties.
Butyrate, also referred to as butyric acid, is used by the cells of our large intestine (colon cells). Propionate or propionic acid can be used by the cells in our liver. Acetate or acetic acid can go to fuel peripheral tissues, such as our muscles.
Now that we’ve laid the foundation, here is the big question: where do we get the prebiotics FOS and inulin?
The good news is that FOS and inulin are found in more than 36,000 plant species.
Some examples of rich sources of FOS and inulin include: artichokes, leeks, shallots, jicama, dandelion greens, bananas, and many more. Even popular raw plant foods such as carrots, lettuce, raspberries, watermelon, and oranges as well as many others also contain prebiotics in smaller amounts as we’ll see shortly.
Is there an official recommended amount of prebiotics to consume daily? Because this is such a newly emerging field of study, there are no set US DRIs (Dietary Reference Intakes) for prebiotics. Researchers have been studying varying amounts for general health and therapeutic benefits. The research on prebiotics is an exciting work in progress and I’m looking forward to more in the coming years contributing to and clarifying what is currently known.
Even though we do not have a daily value for prebiotic fiber, we do have established DRIs (specifically Adequate Intakes – AIs) for total fiber:
25 g for women (21 g over 50 years of age)
38 g for men (30 g over 50 years of age)
To put these numbers in perspective, most Americans get around 15 g of total fiber per day. Standard western diets tend to be lower in fruits, vegetables, and whole plant foods in general so this number is not surprising. People on ketogenic and other types of low carbohydrate diets, which usually end up being low fiber diets, are likely not consuming this level of prebiotics either. Self-evaluation of one’s dietary approach would help determine where one stands on prebiotic intake.
Getting back to our conversation about prebiotics specifically, here are some foods that are especially rich in prebiotics: bananas, dandelion greens, and Jerusalem artichokes (also known as sunchokes).
Jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes) from our garden
Here is the FOS content of certain foods. There are a number of foods that have been measured for prebiotic content, but many more that have yet to be measured. Hopefully more will be known in years to come.
It’s interesting to see the FOS and inulin content of individual foods, but what does the prebiotic content look like on a raw or plant-based meal plan. Here is an example of a couple of meals (not everything) that I ate on one particular day a couple of summers ago. On this particular day, I went for a long run, so that’s why I had a large fruit smoothie:
3 oranges ¼ cup blackberries ¼ cup raspberries 1 cup mango slices 3 cups kale 2 bananas
And here is the salad I had on that day. On many days it can be even larger than this:
2 cups dandelion greens 10 cups lettuce 1 cup carrots 1 cup cucumber 1 green onion 3 tomatoes 1 date 1 tablespoon chia seeds 1 tablespoon tahini Juice of one lemon
The prebiotic content of these foods is at least 4.6 grams. The reason I say at least is because many of these foods have yet to be measured for prebiotic content, so given what has been measured, we can expect to find at least 4.6 grams of FOS and inulin in these foods and most likely more. However, the 2 cups of dandelion greens and 2 bananas were not included in the original calculation of the 4.6 grams, so when we add in the bananas and dandelion greens we actually see a total of at least 21.1 g of FOS and inulin! That’s amazing! This shows us that plant foods can provide a notable amount of prebiotic fiber and that certain plant foods like dandelion greens and bananas are extra-rich sources of these prebiotics.
As we can see, whole natural plant foods provide these and other beneficial types of fiber, which is just one of the many health benefits derived from eating whole natural plant foods.
What about the total fiber content of these foods?
Total fiber content is 61.1 g from these foods alone!! This is much higher than the average American intake of 15 grams of total fiber per day and the DRIs for total fiber.
For some added perspective, I usually eat more than this in a day so my total fiber intake is even higher than this.
And the information in this article is just the tip of the iceberg on probiotics, prebiotics, and raw food and plant-based nutrition!
The video of our webinar on this topic has additional information and explanations (see below). The information on prebiotics starts at around 16 minutes and 35 seconds and ends around the 30 minute mark. You can also learn more about us and our class Mastering Raw Food Nutrition by watching before and after these points.:
References and Research:
Brownawell AM, Caers W, Gibson GR, et al. Prebiotics and the health benefits of fiber: current regulatory status, future research, and goals. J Nutr. 2012;142(5):962-974.
Campbell J, Bauer L, Fahey G, Hogarth A, Wolf B, Hunter D. Selected Fructooligosaccharide (1-Kestose, Nystose, and 1F-β-Fructofuranosylnystose) Composition of Foods and Feeds. J. Agric. Food Chem. 1997;45(8):3076–3082.
Davani-Davari D, Negahdaripour M, Karimzadeh I, et al. Prebiotics: Definition, Types, Sources, Mechanisms, and Clinical Applications. Foods. 2019;8(3):92.
Kelly G. Inulin-type prebiotics--a review: part 1. Altern Med Rev. 2008 Dec;13(4):315-29.
Lloyd-Price J, Abu-Ali G, Huttenhower C. The healthy human microbiome. Genome Med. 2016;8(1):51.
Markowiak-Kopeć P, Śliżewska K. The Effect of Probiotics on the Production of Short-Chain Fatty Acids by Human Intestinal Microbiome. Nutrients. 2020;12(4):1107.
Moshfegh AJ, Friday JE, Goldman JP, Ahuja JK. Presence of inulin and oligofructose in the diets of Americans. J Nutr. 1999;129(7 Suppl):1407S-11S.
Niness K. Inulin and oligofructose: what are they? J Nutr 1999; 129 (7 Suppl): 1402S – 1406S.
Slavin J. Fiber and prebiotics: mechanisms and health benefits. Nutrients. 2013;5(4):1417-1435.
Van Loo J, Coussement P, de Leenheer L, Hoebregs H, Smits G. On the presence of inulin and oligofructose as natural ingredients in the western diet. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 1995;35(6):525-52.
Vyas U, Ranganathan N. Probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics: gut and beyond. Gastroenterol Res Pract. 2012; 2012: 872716.
We get a lot of questions about what we eat, given that we have been on this raw food focused plant-based path for decades each, which is one of the many reasons why we share some of our raw creations here on our blog, on Instagram, in our free recipe eBooks, and elsewhere.
In fact, this week is my 30 year raw-anniversary, so in celebration I made one of my favorite recipes: raw tacos with salsa. Interestingly enough, we rarely create complicated recipes since after 30 years on this path each, we tend to enjoy simpler combinations of whole natural plant foods.
But finding some heirloom tomatoes in late January, which for us is a rare find at this time of year, inspired us to create heirloom tomato salsa.
Here are the ingredients in our Heirloom Tomato Salsa recipe:
Equal amounts of Cherokee purple and a non-specified variety of red heirloom tomatoes (about 2 of each)
Several chopped sprigs of cilantro (amount added to taste)
1 – 2 chopped green onions (optional)
Fresh squeezed lime juice added to taste
Avocado chunks added to taste
Our raw tacos are made with lettuce for the wraps, zucchini, sun dried tomatoes, walnuts, medjool dates, and paprika to taste. Sometimes we add some chickpea miso to taste as well.
Given how busy we are, it’s easy to make salads, dressings, smoothies, soups, etc. But once in a while, it’s fun to make more celebratory recipes like these tacos. If you sign up for our email list, you can receive our free Holiday (and everyday) Raw Recipe eBook for more recipe inspiration from us.
We love this time of year for so many reasons! The air is
cool and crisp, the leaves on trees are starting to change to beautiful golden
yellow and orange hues, the autumn light casts longer shadows as the days grow
shorter, and our garden is in full harvest mode.
In celebration of autumn, here is a fall harvest salad for
you!
This one has:
3 cups of dandelion greens grown in our backyard
¼ cup of basil grown in our garden (so aromatic!)
3 cups of heirloom tomatoes also grown in our garden
3 figs grown in our yard
2 cups of carrots
3 cups of cucumber
8 cups of Romaine lettuce.
Enjoy with the whole food raw plant-based dressing of your
choice!
And for those of you who love to know the nutrient breakdown (like I do!):
Salad
Adult DRIs
B1
0.72
1.1 – 1.2 mg
B2
0.73
1.1 – 1.3 mg
B3
5.26
14 – 16 mg
B5
2.40
5 mg
B6
1.10
1.3 – 1.7 mg
Folate
492
400 mcg
B12
0
2.4 mcg
C
137
75 – 90 mg
D
0
5 – 15 mcg
E
5.50
15 mg
K1
1041
90 – 120 mcg
Beta-carotene (mcg)
36,603
Vitamin A - RAE
3363
700 mcg
Lutein and zeaxanthin (mcg)
18,564
Not established
Calcium
439
1,000 – 1,200 mg
Iron
7.9
8 – 18 mg
Magnesium
180
310 – 420 mg
Potassium
2816
4,700 mg
Zinc
2.6
8 – 11 mg
One might say that this salad is nutrient dense, given its nutrient content per calorie. Vitamins B1, B2, B5, B6, folate, C, E, and K1 are very plentiful, as is beta carotene, and lutein + zeaxanthin. This salad provides 43% of the DRI for calcium, almost 100% of the iron DRI for men and postmenopausal women, 44% of the iron DRI for premenopausal women, 58% of the magnesium DRI for women and 42% for men, 60% of the potassium DRI, and 32% of the zinc DRI for women and 24% for men.
Impressive numbers considering that this salad contains only 351 calories! For those of you who are curious, without the figs, this salad contains 240 calories.
It’s no secret that fruits and vegetables can play an instrumental role in the proliferation of beneficial bacterial species living in our intestinal microbiome. Our microbiome is the community of bacteria and other microbes living within our bodies.
A large percentage of the bacteria living in our gut microbiome are from
two major classifications known as Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes
(Jandhyala et al., Henning et al.).
Does diet have an effect on the
balance of these two types of bacteria?
The general
trend in the scientific literature shows that Firmicutes prevalence in our
microbiome is associated with a standard western diet (Henning et al.,
Glick-Bauer et al.), while Bacteroidetes has been linked to a more whole food-focused
diet.
So, what about plant-based or vegan
diets?
A member of
the Bacteroidetes classification known as Prevotella was found to be linked to
a whole plant food-containing diet (Losasso et al., Hollister et al.) such as a
whole food vegan diet (Franco-de-Morales et al.). An increase in beneficial
bacterial species in the microbiomes of plant-based diet enthusiasts has been
observed (Kumar et al.) and high fiber diets tend to increase the abundance of
Bacteroidetes and decrease the abundance of Firmicutes.
To
summarize, one can expect to find a prevalence of Firmicutes in the microbiomes
of standard western diet eaters, while one tends to find a prevalence of
Bacteroidetes in the microbiomes of people who eat more whole foods, including those
who eat plant-based or vegan diets.
How does the prevalence of certain bacterial
types in our microbiome relate to our health?
Prevalence
of Bacteroides and Prevotella are “associated with human health” and “may serve
as key indicators of GI microbiome wellness” (Hollister et al.).
But what about fruit and vegetable juices?
Since whole plant
foods and the fiber they contain tend to be associated with an increase in
Bacteroidetes, specifically Prevotella, and a decrease in Firmicutes, then what
would happen to the bacterial composition of one’s microbiome if they drank
fruit or vegetable juice? And what
would the bacterial species in their microbiome look like after a few days on
juice?
A group of
researchers (Henning et al.) enrolled 20 adults to consume fresh vegetable and
fruit juices only for 4 days. On day 4 of the juicing plan, the abundance of
Firmicutes was significantly decreased, while Bacteroidetes was significantly
increased in comparison to baseline. Bacteroides, a type of bacteria that is a
member of the Bacteroidetes classification, is known to degrade plant fibers
from fruits and vegetables. In this study, 8 Bacteroides species were
significantly increased after 4 days on the juice-only diet.
It would be
very interesting to have a side by side comparison between the effects of consuming
juice only versus a whole food plant-based diet on our microbiome. But as we
can see here, even a short-term fruit and vegetable juicing program, despite
being lower in fiber than whole food, can have a beneficial effect on the
bacterial composition of our microbiome!
People often
think of fruit and vegetable juices as being completely devoid of fiber, but
anyone who has made their own fresh juice knows that some of the fiber from the
ingredients makes it into the juice. After a little while of sitting, you can
easily see that the fiber has separated from the liquid. The fiber that we can
see is known as insoluble fiber. Another type of fiber that can be found in
fruit and vegetable juices is known as soluble fiber.
Of course,
there are other nutrient considerations with juicing versus eating whole foods.
Nonetheless it was really interesting to see the beneficial shift in microbiome
composition from fruit and vegetable juices in such a short period of time!
Franco-de-Moraes AC, de Almeida-Pititto
B, da Rocha Fernandes G, Gomes EP, da Costa Pereira A, Ferreira SRG. Worse
inflammatory profile in omnivores than in vegetarians associates with the gut
microbiota composition. Diabetol Metab Syndr. 2017;9:62.
Glick-Bauer M, Yeh M. The health
advantage of a vegan diet: exploring the gut microbiota connection. Nutrients.
2014 Oct 31;6(11):4822-38.
Henning
SM, Yang J, Shao P, et al. Health benefit of vegetable/fruit juice-based diet:
Role of microbiome. Sci Rep. 2017;7(1):2167.
Hollister EB, Gao
C, Versalovic J. Compositional and functional features of the gastrointestinal
microbiome and their effects on human health. Gastroenterology. 2014 May;
146(6):1449-58.
Jandhyala
SM, Talukdar R, Subramanyam C, Vuyyuru H, Sasikala M, Nageshwar Reddy D. Role
of the normal gut microbiota. World J Gastroenterol. 2015 Aug
7;21(29):8787-803.
Kumar M, Babaei P, Ji B, Nielsen J. Human gut microbiota and healthy
aging: Recent developments and future prospective. Nutr Healthy Aging. 2016 Oct
27;4(1):3-16.
Losasso C, Eckert EM, Mastrorilli E, et al. Assessing the
Influence of Vegan, Vegetarian and Omnivore Oriented Westernized Dietary Styles
on Human Gut Microbiota: A Cross Sectional Study. Front Microbiol.
2018;9:317.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational and
educational purposes only. It is not
intended to be used as medical advice and should not be used to diagnose or
treat any medical condition or as a substitute for individual health care. This
information is given with the understanding that the presenters and authors are
not liable for misconception, misuse, or adverse effects resulting from its
use. Any type of dietary change, juicing program, or nutritional therapy should
always be undertaken with the supervision of a qualified health care
practitioner.
Spring is around the corner and citrus season is in full swing here in northern California! Our lemons are out in full force along with the many other varieties of citrus grown by neighbors throughout our neighborhood. Last night Rick brought home some blood oranges, which if you have not had the opportunity to experience yet, have a red to orange outer rind and pink to red flesh on the inside.
Their flavor is much different than your standard Valencia or
navel orange. Blood oranges to me taste like a cross between pink grapefruit
and raspberries – both of which I love! Even though I enjoy eating sweet-tasting
fruits, I have a special place in my heart for savory/astringent/tart/bitter
flavors, so as of last night, these blood oranges have become one of my
favorite fruits next to pomegranates. Speaking of which, the juice I made with these
blood oranges had a very similar deep red color to my homemade pomegranate
juice.
That deep red coloring of blood oranges gives us a clue as
to what important nutrient we can find in them. Generally, when fruit has a
blue, purple, or deep red coloring, the antioxidant anthocyanin is present.
This is the case with blood oranges along with blueberries, blackberries,
raspberries, and other fruits of similar color.
Not surprisingly, blood oranges have important nutrients
that one finds in other citrus fruits like vitamin C and calcium. What is
surprising is the similarity in carbohydrate content between blood oranges and
their more popular counterpart, navel oranges.
Here’s a comparison of carbohydrates and other nutrients per
100 g of blood and navel oranges:
Blood oranges
Navel oranges
Calories
50
49
Total carbohydrate
11.4 g
12.5 g
Sugars (non-specified)
8.6 g
8.5 g
Vitamin C
51 mg
59 mg
Calcium
43 mg
43 mg
So, even though blood oranges have a flavor that is more on
the tart than sweet side, the carbohydrate content is similar to the sweeter navel
orange. I would be interested to see how the simple carbohydrate content of each
compares, such as the amount of fructose, glucose, and sucrose in each variety
and look forward to a time when this information is available.
On another note, I found a recent interesting study done on the effect of orange juice consumption on gut microbiota. This study was not done using blood oranges, but with more common sweeter varieties. It was a small study with 10 women, who consumed orange juice for 2 months. The researchers found after those two months that consumption of the orange juice was associated with an increase in the population of Bifidobacterium species and Lactobacillus species, both probiotics, in their respective microbiomes, along with a reduction in ammonia production by gut flora and an increase in gut flora production of short chain fatty acids. All of these changes are positive indicators of microbiome health improvement. The study also found positive changes in blood biochemical parameters including increased insulin sensitivity!
You can read more about this study by searching for the study information shown below. It’s important to note that this study was done using pasteurized orange juice, so naturally I would love to see what the results would look like using fresh squeezed unpasteurized orange juice! Nonetheless, I thought you might find this information to be interesting as I did. I’ve seen many studies that show improvement in microbiome health with the addition of fruits and vegetables, so the outcome of this study is not surprising. It’s just another testament to the many health benefits of whole natural plant foods!
Lima ACD, Cecatti C, Fidélix MP, Adorno MAT, Sakamoto IK,
Cesar TB, Sivieri K. Effect of Daily Consumption of Orange Juice on the Levels
of Blood Glucose, Lipids, and Gut Microbiota Metabolites: Controlled Clinical
Trials. J Med Food. 2019 Feb;22(2):202-210.
Nutrition information on navel and blood oranges: nutritiondata.self.com
The first two articles in this series on blood sugar regulation were regarding a lab measurement in the human body known as A1c and a food measurement known as the glycemic index, respectively. In this third article we discuss insulin sensitivity vs. insulin resistance. In order to get the most from this article please read the first two articles in previous blog posts below, which we will refer back to here.
Influences over Blood Sugar
There are many components of human physiology that affect our blood sugar level. This includes several interrelated hormones, the state of our autonomic nervous system, our emotions, our physical activity level, the amount of body fat and lean (muscle) tissue, amount of dietary fat consumed, type of dietary fat consumed, dietary fiber consumption, the physical structure of our cell membranes, certain nutrients, etc.
One of the key hormones involved in regulating blood sugar is known as insulin. One of the main jobs of insulin is to escort glucose, aka blood sugar, out of the blood and into the cells, where glucose can then be used to fuel cellular processes. When our cells are responsive, or sensitive to insulin, this process works properly, and glucose remains at appropriate levels in the bloodstream because it is being efficiently escorted into the cells to use for energy.
When our cells are not responsive, or resistant to insulin, the process of escorting glucose from the blood into the cells does not work as well. As a result, the glucose level in the blood remains higher than is desirable as it cannot get out of the blood and into the cells as readily. In our first article in this series on A1c we discussed some of the significant consequences of elevated blood sugar levels.
Insulin Sensitivity vs. Insulin Resistance
In our second article in this series on the glycemic index, we saw different blood sugar response curves for 4 sample people consuming straight glucose, then the same quantity of carbohydrate from bananas. We noted that the response curves varied quite a bit between individuals. How could there be such a variation in the glucose response curves when each subject was given the same quantity of food with the same glycemic index?
The answer is that some people’s cells are sensitive to insulin, while other people’s cells are resistant to insulin. Those experiencing insulin resistance have higher glucose response curves than those experiencing insulin sensitivity, no matter what they eat, even low glycemic foods! In our glucose vs. banana comparison to determine the glycemic index of bananas as described in the previous article, you may have noted that subject A had the lowest glucose curve for both glucose and banana consumption, while subject D had the highest glucose curve for both glucose and banana consumption. Subject A’s cells are sensitive to insulin, while subject D’s cells are resistant to insulin. Subjects B and C are in between on the insulin resistance vs. insulin sensitivity spectrum.
The glycemic index is a rating of the blood sugar response curve in a sample of humans RELATIVE TO THEIR GLUCOSE RESPONSE CURVE. It is not a rating of what will happen when that food is consumed by a particular individual. The state of insulin sensitivity vs. insulin resistance exerts a much greater influence. In insulin resistant individuals, every food consumed will cause a greater increase in blood sugar levels compared to someone else eating the same food who is insulin sensitive.
IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY, THIS WOULD BE A GREAT TIME TO REVIEW THOSE GLUCOSE RESPONSE CURVE CHARTS IN THE GLYCEMIC INDEX ARTICLE BELOW.
Insulin resistance is the hallmark of type II diabetes, pre-diabetes, and slightly elevated blood sugar. People with type II diabetes make plenty of insulin, in fact often times extra insulin, but their cells are resistant to it. That is why people with diabetes have higher glucose levels than people without diabetes, even when they eat the exact same food. This is because when insulin attempts to escort glucose out of the blood and into the cells, the cells are resistant to that process occurring as efficiently as it does under optimal conditions of insulin sensitivity.
Conventional Advice
It’s very important to note that carbohydrates are not the cause of insulin resistance. The body not being able to regulate carbohydrates well is the effect of insulin resistance. However, the usual advice when this occurs is to limit the quantity of carbohydrates in the diet. Unfortunately, this process does very little, if anything, to correct insulin resistance, the underlying cause of the problem in the first place.
In fact, many low carbohydrate, low glycemic foods actually promote insulin resistance! Most doctors however advocate the consumption of these foods to their diabetic patients. No wonder these same doctors tell these patients that there is no cure, and that they will be on medication for the rest of their lives!
A Better Solution
In order to recover from type II diabetes, pre-diabetes, or slightly elevated blood sugar, the root causes of insulin resistance need to be addressed. When you stop causing insulin resistance, your cells become more sensitive to insulin, and blood sugar levels start to come down as a result.
In the next article in this series we will look at the major causes of insulin resistance and how to reverse the process and therefore allow elevated blood sugar levels to come back down to a more healthful range.
When one thinks of good raw plant sources of minerals such as calcium and iron, certain leafy greens, nuts, and seeds generally come to mind. It’s rare that one would think of fruit as being a good source of minerals. In fact, often in conversations, people ask questions like “but isn’t fruit deficient in minerals?” or “isn’t fruit high in carbs but not much else besides antioxidants?” After repeatedly hearing questions like this, I put together some tables with the calcium and iron content of a variety of fruits along with a video and a talk I presented at the Woodstock Fruit Festival a few years ago.
Seeing the actual numbers can help us make more informed food choices and increase confidence in our dietary approach:
Food
Amount
Calcium content
Figs
5 fresh
100 mg
Valencia Oranges
2 medium
97 mg
Deglet noor dates
1 cup
57 mg
Mulberries
1 cup fresh
55 mg
Kiwifruit
2 peeled
52 mg
Blackberries
1 cup fresh
42 mg
Mamey sapote
1 cup
32 mg
Raspberries
1 cup
31 mg
Medjool dates
2 pitted
31 mg
Papaya
1 cup pieces
29 mg
Strawberries
1 cup sliced
27 mg
Apricots
1 cup fresh
21 mg
As we can see, some fruits can actually be considered good sources of calcium, especially figs.
For comparison, the adult daily values for calcium are 1000 mg up to 50 years and 1200 mg for 51+ years.
Regarding iron, certain types of berries are quite rich in this important mineral, especially when compared to the adult RDAs for iron of 8 mg for men and post-menopausal women and 18 mg for premenopausal women:
Food
Amount
Iron content
Mulberries
1 cup
2.59 mg
Dates, deglet noor
1 cup
1.50 mg
Durian
1 cup, diced
1.04 mg
Blackberries
1 cup
0.89 mg
Raspberries
1 cup
0.85 mg
Persimmons
1 fruit
0.62 mg
Strawberries
1 cup halves
0.62 mg
Apricots
1 cup halves
0.60 mg
Bananas
1 cup, sliced
0.58 mg
Grapes
1 cup
0.54 mg
Now, I know that not everyone is going to eat these amounts of fruit, however some raw food enthusiasts will eat even more fruit than this, so one would need to adjust the iron content based on the serving size they choose to estimate how much of each mineral is in their food. These numbers are helpful to know, however, it’s important to consider that certain leafy greens are much better sources of these minerals. So, for comparison, let’s take a look at the calcium and iron content of certain leafy greens:
Leafy Green
Calcium content
Iron content
Romaine lettuce, one head (626 g)
207 mg
6.0 mg
Dandelion greens, 4 cups (220 g)
411 mg
7.0 mg
Kale, 4 cups (268 g)
362 mg
4.6 mg
Arugula, 4 cups (80 g)
128 mg
1.2 mg
Frisée greens, 4 cups (200 g)
104 mg
1.7 mg
Escarole, 4 cups (200 g)
104 mg
1.7 mg
‘Spring mix’ (200 g)
190 mg
1.2 mg
There are lots of other leafy greens that are also good sources of these important minerals. But it’s also important to know that certain leafy greens are not good sources of these minerals because they contain significant amounts of oxalic acid (oxalate content). Those would include: spinach, Swiss chard, beet greens, parsley, purslane, and others. Oxalate binds to iron and calcium in these foods making these minerals less usable by the human body. These foods are not ‘bad’ foods, they are just not great sources of these minerals, especially when they are raw. If you would like to learn more about oxalate, we encourage you to watch our recent webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUGt9_Xx4rU
In our last newsletter we posted an article about a very useful blood sugar measurement called A1c. In this issue we look at another measurement that is often referred to when considering how to keep our blood sugar in an optimum range, known as the glycemic index. We have all heard about the glycemic index, but how is it determined, and how much relevance does it really have to the big picture of blood sugar regulation?
What is Blood Sugar?
“Blood sugar” is the concentration of a simple carbohydrate known as glucose in our blood. Glucose is the primary source of fuel for most cells in our body, so it is found in the bloodstream as it is being transported and distributed to those cells. The same characteristics that make glucose a good source of fuel also cause it to react with other molecules it comes in contact with. These “glycation” reactions lead to stiffness, inflammation, wrinkles, and a host of other problems. When this continues over time, circulation and nerve function becomes impaired, leading to numbness, tingling, amputations, vision problems, kidney problems, hypertension, heart disease, strokes, etc. It is therefore highly desirable to keep our blood sugar aka glucose levels in a healthfully low range.
The Glycemic Index
The glycemic index of a food is the degree to which that food raises blood sugar after being consumed. How though, is the glycemic index of a particular food determined? It starts by taking at least 8-10 people, feeding them a specified quantity of glucose, usually 50, 75, or 100 grams, and then measuring the blood sugar level of each participant at periodic intervals over the next two hours. In the figures below, only 4 sample subjects are shown for simplicity purposes.
Figure 1: Glucose response curves in 4 sample study subjects
As you can see, the resulting glucose response curve can vary widely depending upon the individual. Because of this, an average is taken of all of the study subjects. The “area under the curve” of the average curve is assigned a value of 100, to be used a reference point for the comparison food.
Figure 2: Average glucose response curve of study subjects
Then, under the same conditions as when given the glucose, the same study subjects consume the test food in a quantity that equals the same amount of carbohydrate as the glucose that was consumed initially. If the subjects consumed 100 grams of glucose for example, they will subsequently consume 100 grams of carbohydrate from the test food, in whole food form. Then just like with glucose, periodic blood sugar measurements are taken over the next two hours to determine the glucose response curves of the subjects for the test food, in this case bananas.
Figure 3: Bananas response curves in (the same) 4 sample study subjects
As we saw with glucose, the response curves vary among individuals. The curves are once again averaged out and an average banana response curve is obtained.
Figure 4: Average banana response curve of study subjects
Then the area under the average banana curve is compared to the area under the average glucose curve.
Figure 5: Average glucose curve vs. average banana curve
The area under the average banana curve is 52% of the area under the average glucose curve for the same individuals under the same set of circumstances. This means bananas raise blood sugar 52% as much as the same quantity of glucose consumed directly. As the average glucose response curve was assigned a glycemic index reference value of 100, bananas are assigned a glycemic index value of 52.
Figure 6: Average glucose curve vs. average banana curve determines the glycemic index of bananas.
Foods that have a glycemic index below 55 are considered low glycemic foods. From 56-69 is considered medium glycemic, while foods that rate at 70 or above are considered high glycemic foods.
Conclusion
Now is where the plot thickens. Brace yourself. As it turns out, the glycemic index is one of the least important factors in blood sugar regulation!!! In fact, it leads to a great deal of confusion and often leads people into a false sense of confidence while they continue to sow the seeds of unhealthy blood sugar regulation.
Stay tuned for upcoming newsletter articles to continue this discussion and find out what is most important in blood sugar regulation.
Copyright 2018 Drs. Rick and Karin Dina, D.C. All Rights Reserved
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The primary measurement doctors use for testing blood sugar regulation is known as fasting glucose. Fasting in this case means the patient has not consumed any food or drink for the past 12 hours so we have a baseline, in between meals reading. Glucose, the simple carbohydrate that is the preferred source of fuel for nearly all cells in our body, is transported through the bloodstream in order to be distributed to all of those cells. A concentration of glucose between 65 and 99 mg per deciliter of blood is generally considered good and healthy, although I personally don’t like to see it rise above 90.
What if your glucose level is always within the normal range, but one time you were really stressed or scared while your blood was being drawn? Given that our glucose level tends to increase when we are stressed, your blood sugar would very likely be higher than normal. Maybe it would even be in the diabetic range, in other words 125 mg/dl or greater. Does that mean you should start medical treatment for diabetes? Probably not. But how can you know for sure if your glucose was just high at the time your blood was drawn, or if there really is a problem overall? This is one situation where a test known as A1c comes in handy.
(Hemoglobin) A1c is a measurement of the average blood sugar level over the past few months. While being stressed at the time of a blood draw can exert a major influence over your immediate glucose level, those 10 or 20 minutes of elevated glucose will not affect the average measurement over the past few months. If A1c was measured in the same blood draw and was in the appropriately low range, that would confirm that your unusually high glucose reading was indeed unusual, and therefore nothing to worry about. Without the A1c measurement, you are still left wondering.
I have seen this type of benefit by measuring A1c in my clinical practice. I have also seen it occur the other way around, where a patient had an appropriately low glucose reading, but elevated A1c. In that case we knew there was a problem, even though the glucose measurement did not indicate it. From there we began a discussion about which dietary changes are most favorable for blood sugar to be regulated most effectively in the body. That discussion centers around insulin resistance vs. insulin sensitivity, and how the fats we do and don’t consume affect that, in addition to exercise, sleep, stress, etc. It does NOT center around avoiding carbohydrates, although making the distinction between healthy sources of carbohydrates and unhealthy ones does come into play. One of my favorite parts of going over lab results with patients is looking at the usually excellent blood sugar numbers such as glucose and A1c in high fruit eaters, but that is another story…
The bottom line for this article is that A1c can often be a very useful test when analyzed by a clinician who knows how to utilize it appropriately. Fasting glucose is very useful as well, and in certain circumstances can take the lead over A1c. In our Mastering Raw Food Nutrition curriculum, we go into a great deal of depth about the ins and outs of glucose, A1c and how it can tell the average blood sugar level, insulin, insulin resistance vs. insulin sensitivity, insulin receptor function in the cell membrane, how the fats we eat affect this and which ones to include more of in your diet and which ones to include less of, fruit, vegetables, fiber, etc. Even though it is less important than many other factors, we even discuss the glycemic index within the appropriate perspective of plant based and raw food diets and all the other variables listed above.
We hope you have enjoyed this tidbit about the usefulness of the hemoglobin A1c test!
One of the best ways to keep in touch with us is to join our email list. You’ll receive a free copy of Our Top 12 Strategies for Long Term Success on A Raw Plant-Based Diet eBook along with regular information about raw food and plant-based diets and periodic promotions for our classes, events, and other offerings!
I have to say that I absolutely LOVE pomegranates. I always look forward to the month of November in anticipation of making and enjoying fresh pomegranate juice, which has a flavor unlike any other fruit I’ve tried before, along with its deep red color calling attention to its rich antioxidant content.
I wasn’t always this enthusiastic about pomegranates; it wasn’t until years into my raw food journey that I came to truly appreciate them. After all, pomegranates cannot be easily peeled and eaten or bitten into like so many of the more common fruits we enjoy. Some of you may know this from experience. The good news is that there are many ways to enjoy pomegranates, the first being juice.
Before we get started, let’s take a closer look at what a pomegranate actually is.
When you open a pomegranate, you will see tough fiber interspersed with pockets of individual seeds each surrounded by a dark red fluid-filled pouch. These are called arils. When one juices a pomegranate, they are releasing the dark red fluid from these arils. Please know that using a nice bamboo cutting board for pomegranate preparation may lead to stains. I learned this the hard way, and now I use a cutting surface that doesn’t stain.
There are many techniques and juicers that can be used to make pomegranate juice, with our favorite method being the use of our manual citrus press.
We find that using a press does not break down the white pomegranate seeds, but rather, separates the juice from the seeds and fiber, resulting in a dark red colored juice, which we love. We have found that the use of some electrical juicers breaks down the white pomegranate seeds, yielding a lighter tasting pink juice which is a combination of red pomegranate juice and broken down white pomegranate seeds. Our taste preference is the dark red juice.
In order to get as much juice as possible out of our pomegranates, we cut the pomegranates into quarters. Cutting the pomegranates in half also works, but we have found that we get more juice if we cut the fruit in quarters. If you do not have a manual citrus press, a hand-held citrus juicer will work as well. Although, you may not get as much juice out of the pomegranates that you would with a citrus press. Before we got our citrus press, we used a hand-held citrus juicer and had good results. Be aware that juicing with either press method may lead to the red juice spraying onto surrounding counter tops, walls, and clothing. I wish I had known this the first time I juiced pomegranates.
We have found that juicing ripe pomegranates produces juice with notably less astringency than ripe pomegranates. How can you tell when a pomegranate is ripe? When the skin is cracked. We’ve rarely seen pomegranates with cracked skin for sale in stores; we’ve mostly seen them growing on trees in yards or at farmers markets. Does this deter us from purchasing pomegranates without cracked skins? No. We just realize that such pomegranates may have some astringency to their taste.
The flavor of pomegranates can be strong regardless if fully ripe or not, so we often enjoy the combination of pomegranate juice with fresh squeezed orange juice. The orange juice counters the astringency of the pomegranate juice with some sweetness and makes for a nice base juice for our smoothies.
Here is a basic recipe for orange pomegranate juice:
Three medium Valencia oranges
One medium pomegranate
We like to make smoothies with this juice recipe. Here is one of our favorites:
1 cup orange-pomegranate juice
2 cups chopped dandelion greens
1 cups dark cherries
3 bananas
½ cup mangoes
I personally really enjoy this recipe with orange pomegranate juice, but I like straight pomegranate juice even more, especially in my morning smoothies. One of my favorite smoothies is my Ultra-Antioxidant Supercharged Energy smoothie that I enjoy a couple hours before I go on a run at this time of year. I even recently achieved two personal running records after eating this smoothie:
½ cup pomegranate juice
2 cups chopped dandelion greens
½ cup blackberries
½ cup blueberries
3 bananas
Here are some nutrient highlights of the ingredients used to create this smoothie:
Menu
Adult DRI
Vitamin B1
0.55
1.1 – 1.2 mg
Vitamin B2
0.74
1.1 – 1.3 mg
Vitamin B3
4.84
14 – 16 mg
Folate
230
400 mcg
Vitamin C
120
75 – 90 mg
Vitamin E
7
15 mg
Calcium
277
1000 – 1200 mg
Iron
6
8 – 18 mg
Magnesium
188
310 – 420 mg
Potassium
2543
4700 mg
Zinc
2.5
8 – 11 mg
Given that the number of calories in this smoothie is 672, this nutrient profile is impressive!
In addition to pomegranate juice, there are so many additional ways to enjoy pomegranates around the holidays. I was recently asked how to remove the seeds from pomegranates to use in recipes. So, here are the steps I use:
First, I change into clothing that I am not concerned with if I get stained, then I score the middle of the pomegranate:
Then, I separate the two halves of the pomegranate by essentially tearing the two halves apart over a bowl to catch any juice that comes out in the process. Inserting a spoon into the score can assist with separating the two halves.
To get the fluid-filled seeds (arils) out of the halves, I turn the halves inside out.
And then I remove the arils by hand over a bowl filled with water. The arils will sink to the bottom of the bowl and the pith will float.
I then remove the floating pith pieces and drain off the water from the arils. Here is a photo of the drained arils:
Now, what do we do with these pomegranate arils? We love them in salads.
Many people ask us how much salad we eat regularly and are surprised when they see the actual amount. Over my almost 28 years of being on this raw food path, my salads seem to get bigger every year. When I first started, I thought for sure that I would be hungry on raw food because my vegetable intake reference point was a small dinner-sized salad with about a cup or two of lettuce, half of a tomato, and a slice of onion drenched in some type of dressing. After shifting to a more raw plant-based diet, my salads obligatorily grew significantly in size. Now my salads look more like this:
Here are the ingredients in the salad:
5 cups shredded cucumber
3 cups shredded carrots
10 cups chopped or torn romaine lettuce
3 cups chopped or torn dandelion greens
½ cup pomegranate arils (when available)
I love dandelion greens, but I know their taste is not for everyone. Nutrient-wise they are a powerhouse, but there certainly are other leafy green choices that do not have as much of an ‘acquired’ taste, such as frisée greens, escarole, kale, and others.
Here is the nutrient content of the ingredients of the salad:
Menu
Adult DRI
Vitamin B1
1.2
1.1 – 1.2 mg
Vitamin B2
1.3
1.1 – 1.3 mg
Vitamin B3
7.4
14 – 16 mg
Folate
890
400 mcg
Vitamin C
233
75 – 90 mg
Vitamin E
10
15 mg
Calcium
684
1000 – 1200 mg
Iron
13
8 – 18 mg
Magnesium
266
310 – 420 mg
Potassium
4302
4700 mg
Zinc
5
8 – 11 mg
Given that this salad has 602 calories, this nutrient profile is impressive with the DRI being achieved or exceeded for a number of the nutrients!
There are many types of dressings you can add to this salad; we’ve found sweet dressings to balance out the bitterness of the dandelion greens. One of our favorites is tomato, sundried tomato, chia seeds, and dates. Here is a link to a dressing that we enjoy on this salad.
Nutrient-wise, pomegranates are rich in folate, potassium, and are appreciated for their notable anthocyanin content and the polyphenol ellagic acid, which has been studied for its antioxidant and antiproliferative properties.
How do you enjoy pomegranates? Please post in the comment section below.
We wish you all a joy-filled and healthy holiday season!
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It’s a cold December night here in Connecticut (just outside of New York City) with rain and ice particles tapping against my window. I’m warm inside with the heat on which is certainly a stark contrast to the temperature outside. Even where Rick and I live in northern California, winter weather can be cold at times, especially at night. We’ve even had a couple of frosts there in recent years, but we know that many of you live in much colder places, so….
It’s not surprising that one of the many questions Rick and I are asked is how to stay raw or mostly raw in the winter time, especially in a cold or very cold climate. This question is especially pertinent and the answer is one I know from my own personal experience. I started my raw food journey in February of 1990 here in the northeastern United States. Snow was on the ground, temperatures were below freezing on most days, and good quality produce was scarce. I found out rather quickly that I would need to be creative in my raw food approach, given that many of the available raw food books at the time extolled the virtues of beautiful tropical fruits that I had never heard of and the benefits of moving to a warm climate. Neither was my reality at the time, so here are some tips that made that winter of 1990 a success with raw food along with some other strategies and thoughts I have learned since then:
Keep it simple – My first winter on raw, I focused on produce that was available in my local grocery store. There weren’t any “health food” stores that sold produce in the area where I lived so I made the best with what was available to me. Availability of raw fruits and vegetables that winter back in 1990 was much more limited than today. Fruit choices included bananas, oranges, apples, pears, grapes, dried papaya, raisins, and some others. Leafy green choices included three different types of lettuce, spinach, and other greens that I had never tried, like kale. I was so excited with how good I felt on raw that the limited variety of produce in my area did not really phase me much at all. Instead I enjoyed my adventure exploring foods that were new to me and along with different raw food preparation methods.
Make warm dressings for salad – Back in 1990, I made dressings in my low powered blender and found that they would get somewhat warm during the process. Years later, when Rick and I purchased a high-power blender, we found that our dressings and sauces could get quite warm.
Use of warming spices can be an option – Back in 1990, I did not use warming spices mostly because I was not yet familiar with them. Now, many of our students speak about their use of ginger, cumin, curry, turmeric, and others in their recipes.
Warm soups in the dehydrator – I did not have a dehydrator back in 1990, but in recent years I have used our dehydrator to warm various raw soups.
Exercise! – I think this is one of the most underutilized strategies for people trying to stay warm in cold climates. I can understand why, especially if one has to go outside to exercise in cold or extremely cold temperatures. Since I have been running regularly for several years now, winter temperatures do not seem as cold to me. I find that my hands and feet are warm throughout the winter, which makes sense, given that one of the many benefits of exercise is increased peripheral circulation.
Check on the availability of seasonal fruits and vegetables – Seasonal fruits for late fall and early winter include some of my favorites including persimmons and pomegranates. Many varieties of leafy greens grow in California during the winter and can be found at many markets throughout the winter here in the US. Back in the winter of 1990, I had much more slim pickings in the produce department, but with growing demand for quality produce in recent decades, it is likely much easier to find better-stocked produce departments in cold climates.
Freeze fruits gathered in summer for winter – Another strategy for having a wider variety of produce available in the winter would be gathering and freezing seasonal berries in the summer. If gathering is impractical for you or if you live in an urban area, stores like Costco and Trader Joe’s have some varieties of organic frozen fruit available year ‘round. I know that freezing may not be optimal, but this may be better than the alternatives if there is little produce availability. These frozen fruits can then be used to make smoothies or defrosted to for use in fruit salads or other recipes. In the winter, when I make a smoothie with frozen ingredients, I find myself allowing the smoothie to warm for several minutes at room temperature so it won’t be as cold when I eat it.
Raw food does not have to be cold – When I take vegetables out of the fridge to make salad for Rick and I, by the time the salad is finished the vegetables are close to room temperature. Adding a warm blended dressing on top of the salad makes for an even warmer meal.
At what temperature do we comfortably eat cooked food, anyway? How many times have you experienced a burning sensation on the inside of your mouth eating food that was too hot? Before I became interested in raw food, I found myself blowing on hot food in an attempt to cool it to a temperature that was comfortable to eat. Through many searches of the scientific literature over the years I’ve found that certain vitamins, phytonutrients, and enzymes start to degrade at around 104°F (40°C) and find that food warmed in a dehydrator to 104°F is comfortably warm for me. When I haven’t had access to a dehydrator, I have warmed food on the stove to 104°F on a couple of occasions. My point here is that we often find it uncomfortable to consume hot foods, so does food really have to be cooked first in order to be warming to our body? Just some food for thought 🙂 …..
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In recent years, vitamin D has become one of the most discussed nutrients in the health community. It is also one of the most complicated and controversial of the nutrients, especially when it comes to supplementation and plant-based diets.
There are two supplemental forms of vitamin D: vitamin D2 and vitamin D3. Vitamin D2, also known as ergocalciferol, has historically been thought of as the vegan form of vitamin D. On the other hand, vitamin D3, also known as cholecalciferol, has historically been considered a non-vegan form of vitamin D. Vitamin D2 supplements have traditionally been made from mushrooms. Exposure of ergosterol in these fungi to UVB light rays (ultraviolet B spectrum rays of the sun) leads to the production of vitamin D2. Conversely, vitamin D3 supplements have been made from lanolin found in sheep’s wool. Exposure of 7-dehydrocholesterol in lanolin to UVB rays leads to the formation of vitamin D3, similar to how vitamin D3 is produced in our skin.
Research is mixed on which supplement is more reliably effective at raising our vitamin D levels. Much of this research has indicated that the D3 form of vitamin D is more effective at raising blood levels of vitamin D than D2, however some indicates the two can be equivalent. Many vegans have expressed concern to us about this, since they have found their vitamin D2 supplements are not giving them the results they are seeking. Consequently, some have considered using a D3 supplement to raise their vitamin D to desired levels. Where does this leave someone who wants to stay true to their vegan lifestyle and ethics? Fortunately in recent years, several supplement companies have formulated supplements with vitamin D3 sourced from lichen. What is lichen? It is an organism composed of some type of fungus and algae, or cyanobacteria in some cases, living together symbiotically. Lichen is often found growing on tree branches and rocks and can have a pale green to gray or mushroom color, as well as others. Does this mean that we should eat lichen to get our vitamin D? No, many species of lichen are not edible, so it would be best to stick with a supplement. But the good news is that a vegan vitamin D3 supplement does now exist and various supplement companies are offering it as an alternative to lanolin-sourced D3!
Interested in taking your knowledge to the next level? We cover this topic and so much more in our online Mastering Raw Food Nutrition and Educator Course. For more class details, click here.
One of the best ways to keep in touch with us is to join our email list. You’ll receive a free copy of Our Top 12 Strategies for Long Term Success on A Raw Plant-Based Diet eBook along with regular information about raw food and plant-based diets and periodic promotions for our classes, events, and other offerings!
We hope your summer has been going well! We’ve been doing quite a bit of research lately on a variety of raw food nutrition related topics in preparation for our Mastering Raw Food Nutrition and Educator Course beginning in early September.
One thing we really enjoy doing in our classes is dispelling nutritional myths. Here’s a great example. You’ve probably heard that cold water fish and fish oil contain an omega 3 fat called DHA. Numerous educators, authors, and doctors have said that fish, or fish oil, are the sole sources of DHA.
What many people don’t realize is that DHA is produced much lower on the cold water aquatic food chain by certain types of algae. Fish and other marine animals obtain their DHA when they eat this DHA containing algae. This is how DHA progresses up the aquatic food chain.
DHA plays many important roles in the human body, including brain function. It is a super-unsaturated fat that contains 6 double bonds. These double bonds on the one hand allow DHA to conduct the electrical activity needed for brain function, while on the other hand these same 6 double bonds make DHA very susceptible to oxidation. Oxidation is another name for free radical damage.
DHA therefore is generally only made by organisms when they need it, or when metabolic conditions are favorable. The 6 double bonds in DHA make it very fluid and flexible and confers to it protection from freezing. This is why we see DHA in cold water aquatic organisms, such as salmon, krill, and certain types of cold water algae, but not in warm water aquatic organisms who do not need protection from freezing.
The human body makes DHA rather easily when nutritional and metabolic conditions are favorable. We know omega 3 conversion is a controversial topic, yet is one of our favorites. We love discussing our research and clinical experience with vegans and raw vegans regarding DHA, and so much else.
If you're interested in taking your knowledge to the next level.........
We cover this topic and so much more in our online Mastering Raw Food Nutrition and Educator Course. For more class details, click here.
One of the best ways to keep in touch with us is to join our email list. You’ll receive a free copy of Our Top 12 Strategies for Long Term Success on A Raw Plant-Based Diet eBook along with regular information about raw food and plant-based diets and periodic promotions for our classes, events, and other offerings!
Over the years, people have asked me about the differences between the available supplemental forms of vitamin B12. What are they? Do they occur in nature or are they made in a laboratory? Do some forms work “better” than others?
The scientific name for vitamin B12, cobalamin, is derived from the element cobalt found at the center of the vitamin B12 molecule. There are several different forms of vitamin B12, each named for the chemical group attached to cobalt, including hydroxocobalamin, methylcobalamin, cyanocobalamin, and adenosylcobalamin. I have seen these forms of B12 available as individual supplements or in multivitamin formulas.
Hydroxocobalamin
Hydroxocobalamin is a naturally-occurring form of vitamin B12, as it is made by certain bacteria including some strains that live in soil. Not all types of bacteria make vitamin B12 and not all soil contains B12 producing bacteria. Yeast, mushrooms and other types of fungus do not produce vitamin B12, neither do animals nor plants.
Hydroxocobalamin is NOT active in the human body; it requires conversion to a human bioactive form. Hydroxocobalamin has an –OH (hydroxy) group attached to cobalt in the center of the vitamin B12 molecule. To activate this form of B12, the human body removes the –OH group and replaces it with, for example, a methyl (–CH3) group to create the human bioactive form of vitamin B12, methylcobalamin.
Methylcobalamin
Methylcobalamin is a form of vitamin B12 that is involved in methylation reactions in the human body. Another of my videos covers the importance of methylation and the role played by this form of vitamin B12, so I would encourage you to view it for further explanation. Dr. Rick and I have used methylcobalamin for many years and find it to be a reliable form of B12 for our needs. We especially like this form of vitamin B12 because it is a human bioactive form and does not require conversion.
Cyanocobalamin
Cyanocobalamin is a synthetic form of B12 made exclusively in a laboratory. It is not a human bioactive form of vitamin B12 and is not made by bacteria in nature. Cyanocobalamin has a –CN (cyano) group attached to cobalt in the center of the vitamin B12 molecule. Many people have expressed concern about this cyano group as being problematic or toxic, but I have yet to see research or clinical data indicating the use of cyanocobalamin as being associated with these types of issues. When one expresses concern to me, I suggest the use of another supplemental form. As mentioned earlier, I have been using methylcobalamin for many years with good results. If someone is not getting the results they want from their vitamin B12 supplement, clinically or otherwise, I suggest that they contact a qualified healthcare provider to help them find the solution that works best for them.
Despite this controversy, cyanocobalamin is one of the most popular supplemental forms of vitamin B12 because of its stability and shelf-life. For example, cyanocobalamin has a longer shelf-life than methylcobalamin, so supplement manufacturers like to produce and sell it. Since cyanocobalamin is not human bioactive, our body must convert it to one of the human bioactive forms. In which case, the body must remove the –CN group and replace it with either a methyl group or an adenosyl group.
Adenosylcobalamin
Like methylcobalamin, adenosylcobalamin is one of the human bioactive forms of vitamin B12. This is the form of vitamin B12 that can be stored by our body, specifically in our liver. All previously discussed forms of B12 can be converted into adenosylcabalamin for storage, when our body has more vitamin B12 than is needed for body function.
Adenosylcobalamin is also very important for energy-producing reactions in the human body, as are various other B vitamins. Additionally, adenosylcobalamin is responsible for keeping methylmalonic acid levels appropriately low in the human body. I have a recent video and article describing the significance of methylmalonic acid and its conversion by adenosylcobalamin in the human body, and would encourage you to view it for more information.
Interested in taking your vitamin B12 and nutrition knowledge to the next level? We cover this topic and so much more in our online Mastering Raw Food Nutrition and Educator Course. For more class details, click here.
Additionally, our book The Raw Food Nutrition Handbook: An Essential Guide to Understanding Raw Food Diets addresses many hot topics in raw food nutrition such as vitamin D, essential fats, protein, nutrient content of raw food diets, food combining, enzymes, hydration, vitamins, minerals, and many more. We value education on these important topics and are happy to finally bring this book to you. The book is available on Amazon and other online booksellers.
One of the best ways to keep in touch with us is to join our email list. You’ll receive a free copy of Our Top 12 Strategies for Long Term Success on A Raw Plant-Based Diet eBook along with regular information about raw food and plant-based diets and periodic promotions for our classes, events, and other offerings!
Many people over the years have asked me about why vitamin B12 is so important for our health and what vitamin B12 actually does in the human body. Vitamin B12 is involved in numerous methylation reactions throughout the body and in a vitamin B12 deficiency, these reactions can become compromised.
Vitamin B12 is involved in the production of our genetic code (DNA and RNA), activation of folate, production of red blood cells, keeping homocysteine appropriately low in our body, the production of certain cell membrane components, the production of certain neurotransmitters (including serotonin, melatonin, epinephrine, and dopamine), important reactions involving energy production, and nervous system function. The bottom line is that vitamin B12 is vitally important for a number of life-sustaining activities in our body and should not be overlooked when considering one’s overall health.
Check out this video for more details:
The information in this video builds on a video I did several months ago on the vitamin B12 – folate connection. If you're interested in taking your knowledge to the next level.........
We cover this topic and so much more in our online Mastering Raw Food Nutrition and Educator Course. For more class details, click here.
Additionally, our book The Raw Food Nutrition Handbook: An Essential Guide to Understanding Raw Food Diets addresses many hot topics in raw food nutrition such as essential fats, protein, nutrient content of raw food diets, food combining, enzymes, hydration, vitamins, minerals, and many more. We value education on these important topics and are happy to finally bring this book to you. The book is available on Amazon and other online booksellers.
One of the best ways to keep in touch with us is to join our email list. You’ll receive a free copy of Our Top 12 Strategies for Long Term Success on A Raw Plant-Based Diet eBook along with regular information about raw food and plant-based diets and periodic promotions for our classes, events, and other offerings!
A sampling of my early health book collection circa 1988 to 1990.
2015 is my 25 year raw food anniversary. Back in 1990, when I first learned of raw food, I could not have imagined the impact that it would have on my future life. In the beginning, I was naturally skeptical and thought that eating this way was a little extreme. Nonetheless, out of curiosity, I gave raw food a try and was surprised with the results. As my energy increased and my general health and well-being improved, my skepticism began to melt away. Looking back, I remember how I imagined the potential of raw plant food making a difference in people’s lives. I envisioned a time and place where raw food consciousness was more mainstream and that I would one day teach this valuable information to enthusiastic groups of students. Well, with a lot of work and dedication those dreams did come true and I am just as excited about raw food today as back then, with that early enthusiasm positively tempered by experience, research, and education.
The raw food world was a much smaller place back in 1990 as there weren’t nearly as many raw food resources as there are today. Back then there were a small number of raw food books and teachers, and I only knew a handful of raw food enthusiasts. This term is well-chosen since those that I knew were definitely enthused. The internet was not as we know it today and there was no social media. Finding information on raw food and plant-based diets was a bit of an adventure, and I was always happy to find books on the subject that most people would now consider classics. Given the few resources available, a lot of what I learned in those early days was through experience, and I ‘experienced’ many bumps and potholes along the way. There are so many things that I wish that someone had told me when I started with raw food back then. So here I will share with you the top five pieces of information that had I known, would have made my raw food journey smoother. I am hoping they can be of use to you:
#1: Move at your own pace. When I became interested in raw food, most of the literature I read and my social influences suggested that I had to be 100% raw right away. Transitioning was not really discussed, so I did not really see it as an option at first. Raw food seemed like an all or nothing proposition. But, I was honest with myself about what was achievable at that time. I found that I needed some time to become familiar with foods that were available in my area and how to prepare them. At the time, I was living in New England and it was winter. The fruits available were bananas, oranges, apples, pears, grapes, dried papaya spears, raisins, and a few other choices. Available leafy greens included three different types of lettuce, spinach, and other greens that I had never tried, like kale. I had a low-power blender that I used to make “smoothies” that were more lumpy than smooth. A super-enthused raw friend of mine used to call my smoothies “chunkies”.
These and other day to day considerations that one needs to address when getting started with raw food became part of my own self-stylized transition that progressed as I became more educated. Another fellow raw food enthusiast from those days went 100% raw overnight, saying that she would never eat anything cooked ever again. This lasted three months, and shortly thereafter she lost interest in healthy eating because maintaining 100% raw was too restrictive for her. All too often I see people leave raw food discouraged for this same reason.
Where am I now? Currently, I am somewhere between 90 and 100% raw and this percentage has varied over the years, depending on my situation. Percentages differ per person and I encourage you to find the percentage that works best for you. The most successful long-term raw food enthusiasts understand this idea and tend to be flexible with their approach depending on their personal needs and situation. What dietary approach gives you the results you are looking for and is sustainable right now? What approach will be sustainable long term? I have found that research, experience, and education combined were the best training, and the approach that worked best for me revealed itself in time.
#2: Gather much information from multiple points of view and sources. It is important to consider information from other points of view than your own because you may learn information not acquired if you were only looking for information supporting your current paradigm. Searching for information that supports your current point of view is referred to as confirmation bias. I have been using this term and discussing this idea in our Science of Raw Food Nutrition series of classes for years, because I think that awareness of this tendency is so important. Countless times I have learned valuable information from people with a differing point of view, and that information has made a difference in my health, my thinking, and other aspects of my life.
While we are on the subject of information, when I began my raw food journey 25 years ago, I had so many questions, most of which were not answered in the raw food literature available at the time. I was looking for more concrete answers than these books provided, so I decided that I would one day write a book that answered these questions to make the raw food journey easier for people who came after me. This book is the Raw Food Nutrition Handbook: An Essential Guide to Understanding Raw Food Diets. In this book, Dr. Rick and I cover the “where do you get your” questions, like where do you get your protein, B12, vitamin D, omega 3 fats and more. We provide updated research-based information on classic raw food topics like enzymes, food combining, and raw plant sources of important vitamins and minerals. We also discuss the different approaches to raw food and how raw food diets compare nutritionally to other dietary approaches, and much more.
#3: Know your source. Some raw food enthusiasts tend to follow one particular person’s point of view. I encourage you to educate yourself on a variety of points of view. One of the reasons why is because we all have different experiences and no one person can know everything about a subject. Very often, I have seen raw food educators change their approach as they learn more. The theme here is that we are all learning, even those of us who have been on this path for many years. The more that I learn about nutrition and how the body works, the more I realize how much I have yet to learn. Even after 25 years, I find myself asking questions and seeking answers. When the need arises, I encourage people to consult with a knowledgeable licensed healthcare provider to help with making important health-related decisions.
#4: Use critical thinking, be selectively open-minded, and enjoy the process. Critical thinking involves gathering as much information as possible about a subject, and making a decision based on that information while remaining open-minded to other information that may be learned in the future. As stated earlier, countless times I have discovered information that changed my point of view for the better. I think of researching as an ongoing and enjoyable opportunity to improve the quality of life for people in my life.
#5: Make changes if or when necessary. Here is my classic example: My introduction to raw food in 1990 was the natural hygiene approach. Nowadays, people commonly refer to this approach as various versions of LFRV, HCRV, etc. This approach worked very well for me for a while but as time went on, I refined my approach. The information I learned and the refinements and changes I made ultimately gave me the health results I was seeking.
Bonus #6: Surround yourself with a supportive community. As a long term raw food enthusiast, author, clinician, and educator, I have learned much on this path and sincerely hope this information can be of use to you. There is still much more that I have to share with you, which is why I have this blog, our YouTube channels, our book, and our classes, so I encourage you to check out these resources.
And if you are wondering, the super-enthused raw friend that used to call my smoothies “chunkies” is now my husband, Dr. Rick Dina. Back when we got started with healthy eating, our support system was our group of friends which made all the difference in that we helped each other to stay on track, shared our experiences and research, discussed changes and refinements, challenged raw food dogma, and had a lot of fun! We wish you the best in your journey and invite you to share in ours.
One of the best ways to keep in touch with us is to join our email list. You’ll receive a free copy of Our Top 12 Strategies for Long Term Success on A Raw Plant-Based Diet eBook along with regular information about raw food and plant-based diets and periodic promotions for our classes, events, and other offerings!
One answer is very simple: antioxidants. Xanthophylls and carotenoids are two types of antioxidants found in fruits, vegetables, and fall foliage.
Regarding fruits and vegetables, xanthophylls are yellow plant pigments found in these foods and leafy greens. Well-known xanthophylls include lutein and zeaxanthin which have been studied for potential benefits in human vision. Carotenoids are orange plant pigments found in some leafy greens and orange fruits and vegetables. Well-known carotenoids include beta carotene and alpha carotene.
Regarding leaves on trees, xanthophylls and carotenoids are present in leaves for the entire life cycle and are only revealed when chlorophyll production ceases toward the end of this cycle, which happens on a large scale in the fall. Chlorophyll is a green pigment that plays a role in creating energy for green plants from sunlight through a process called photosynthesis. Chlorophyll breaks down with exposure to sunlight throughout the life cycle of leaves and therefore constantly has to be replaced. As autumn approaches and a leaf approaches the end of its life, chlorophyll is no longer replaced by the plant, revealing the xanthophylls and/or carotenoids underneath.
In addition to yellow and orange pigments, we see red pigments called anthocyanins in some fall foliage. Other anthocyanins are purple and blue in color and are found in blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. In contrast to xanthophylls and carotenoids, anthocyanins are not present throughout the life of the leaf, but instead are made at the end of the life cycle when chlorophyll production ceases. Not all leaves contain anthocyanins.
To summarize, xanthophylls, carotenoids, and anthocyanins are groups of antioxidants found in both fall foliage and fruits and vegetables. All three types of phytonutrients help protect the leaves of trees from stresses such as constant sun exposure which can generate free radicals. This is especially true for xanthophylls and carotenoids as they are present for the entire life cycle of the leaf. Similarly, the xanthophylls, carotenoids, and anthocyanins we eat from fruits and vegetables are thought to help protect our internal tissues from the free radicals to which they are exposed.
What about the brown pigment seen in some fall foliage? This pigment is called tannin and is revealed when chlorophyll, xanthophylls, carotenoids, and anthocyanins break down near the end of the leaf life cycle.
Interested in taking your nutrition knowledge to the next level?
We cover this topic and so much more in our online Mastering Raw Food Nutrition and Educator Course. For more class details, click here.
Additionally, our book The Raw Food Nutrition Handbook: An Essential Guide to Understanding Raw Food Diets addresses many hot topics in raw food nutrition such as essential fats, protein, nutrient content of raw food diets, food combining, enzymes, hydration, vitamins, minerals, and many more. We value education on these important topics and are happy to finally bring this book to you. The book is available on Amazon and other online booksellers.
One of the best ways to keep in touch with us is to join our email list. You’ll receive a free copy of Our Top 12 Strategies for Long Term Success on A Raw Plant-Based Diet eBook along with regular information about raw food and plant-based diets and periodic promotions for our classes, events, and other offerings!
Gluten is a popular and controversial topic for a number of reasons, with very strong voices on all sides of the conversation. Being a clinician, I always have the interest of the individual in mind given that the achievement of personal health is the ultimate goal. To this end, I am constantly looking for reliable information grounded in reliable biochemistry, physiology, research, and clinical experience to help people reach their health goals, especially since much of the most compelling information is not common knowledge. There are many simple facts that are well understood about gluten which are often perpetuated in the media, but there are some important pieces of the gluten puzzle not popularly known or well understood. For the past couple of years, I have been hearing from students and other people with gluten-related health challenges that their gluten free diet was not getting them the results they were expecting. On closer inspection and with some recent research, I learned some fascinating information that I will cover in this article. But for now, let’s start with:
The basics
Foods that contain gluten are found in one plant family, the grain family, also known as the grass family. The scientific name for this family is the Poaceae. Often people may think that grains and grasses are in separate plant families, when in fact they are in the same plant family.
Although gluten is found only in grains, not all members of the grain family contain gluten. Currently, wheat, rye, barley, triticale, spelt, and kamut are the grain family members considered to contain true gluten. These foods, or foods that contain these foods as ingredients, such as certain processed or prepared foods, contain true gluten. Processed foods can often hide gluten-containing ingredients in them, so it’s important to read labels. Despite these grains being identified as containing gluten, there has been some concern about the gluten-free status of other members of the grain family. A 2009 study showed that a percentage of compliant people with celiac disease (gluten intolerance) on a gluten free diet still did not get the results they were seeking in terms of symptom reversal and lab test results. One of the possibilities considered by the researchers was cross contamination of their diet with gluten containing grains. Another concern raised was the consumption of other members of the grain family that contain proteins which resemble gluten.
The controversy
There are several perceived gluten free grains that are currently under investigation and information on them is growing, but for our purposes, we will focus on oats and corn, two of the most popularly consumed gluten free grains. Oats are a popular breakfast food and corn is commonly found in many forms in processed and prepared foods.
Many sources consider oats to be gluten free, but there are some challenges with them. Oats can sometimes be processed in facilities that may also process gluten containing grains, so there may be some cross contamination between these other grains and oats. Another consideration is avenin, a protein found in oats that is biochemically similar to gluten. Some people who are sensitive to gluten may have a similar experience with oats for this reason. Recent research indicates there is a wide range of variation in potential effects that different cultivated varieties of oats can have on gluten intolerant individuals. This means that some varieties of oats may have notable effects while others may have less of an effect.
Corn is also a member of the grain family, and like oats, is considered to be gluten free by many sources. However, corn contains zein; a protein that is biochemically similar to gluten and is often referred to as “corn gluten.” A study published in 2013 indicated that some gluten intolerant individuals may have symptoms and lab test results consistent with the ingestion of gluten containing grains despite adherence to a gluten free diet. Corn consumption by these individuals was cited as being a possible reason for this outcome. The researchers also noted that even though a gluten intolerant individual may not experience overt symptoms from eating corn, there may still be small intestine effects that can be identified through laboratory testing.
At this time, more research is needed to fully understand the gluten status of oats, corn, and other members of the grain family. In the meantime, there are plenty of foods that do not contain gluten or gluten-like proteins. For example, foods commonly consumed on a raw plant based diet such as fruits, vegetables, sea vegetables, nuts, and seeds are not members of the grain family and therefore do not contain gluten. Although anything that can germinate (including grains) is botanically considered a “seed,” commonly understood seeds such as chia, sesame, pumpkin, sunflower, hemp, flax, and poppy seeds do not contain gluten.
Quinoa and amaranth are often mistaken for grains, but they are not members of the grain family. They are members of the amaranth plant family (Amaranthaceae), and do not contain gluten. Amaranth and quinoa are often referred to as pseudograins or pseudocereals, because of their resemblance to true grains.
The Bottom Line
The good news is that if one is eating a whole food plant based diet that does not contain members of the grain family (Poaceae), they are consuming a diet free of gluten. Gluten is an area of nutrition with ongoing investigation. Sometimes it takes a while for this research to reach the general population, so my goal here is to provide tools of exploration for people who are seeking their greatest health potential. In our Science of Raw Food Nutrition series of classes that we teach at Living Light, we cover gluten and other popular cutting edge raw food and nutrition related topics to assist you in achieving your health goals.
If you're interested in taking your knowledge to the next level.........
We cover this topic and so much more in our online Mastering Raw Food Nutrition and Educator Course. For more class details, click here.
Additionally, our book The Raw Food Nutrition Handbook: An Essential Guide to Understanding Raw Food Diets addresses many hot topics in raw food nutrition such as essential fats, protein, nutrient content of raw food diets, food combining, enzymes, hydration, vitamins, minerals, and many more. We value education on these important topics and are happy to finally bring this book to you. The book is available on Amazon and other online booksellers.
One of the best ways to keep in touch with us is to join our email list. You’ll receive a free copy of Our Top 12 Strategies for Long Term Success on A Raw Plant-Based Diet eBook along with regular information about raw food and plant-based diets and periodic promotions for our classes, events, and other offerings!
References:
Fric P, Gabrovska D, Nevoral J. Celiac disease, gluten-free diet, and oats. Nutr Rev. 2011 Feb;69(2):107-15.
Lanzini A, Lanzarotto F, Villanacci V, Mora A, Bertolazzi S, Turini D, Carella G, Malagoli A, Ferrante G, Cesana BM, Ricci C. Complete recovery of intestinal mucosa occurs very rarely in adult coeliac patients despite adherence to gluten-free diet. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2009 Jun 15;29(12):1299-308.
Maglio M, Mazzarella G, Barone MV, Gianfrani C, Pogna N, Gazza L, Stefanile R, Camarca A, Colicchio B, Nanayakkara M, Miele E, Iaquinto G, Giardullo N, Maurano F, Santoro P, Troncone R, Auricchio S. Immunogenicity of two oat varieties, in relation to their safety for celiac patients. Scand J Gastroenterol. 2011 Oct;46(10):1194-205.
Ortiz-Sánchez JP, Cabrera-Chávez F, de la Barca AM. Maize prolamins could induce a gluten-like cellular immune response in some celiac disease patients. Nutrients. 2013 Oct 21;5(10):4174-83.
Silano M, Pozo EP, Uberti F, Manferdelli S, Del Pinto T, Felli C, Budelli A, Vincentini O, Restani P. Diversity of oat varieties in eliciting the early inflammatory events in celiac disease. Eur J Nutr. 2014 Aug;53(5):1177-86.
Real A, Comino I, de Lorenzo L, Merchán F, Gil-Humanes J, Giménez MJ, López-Casado MÁ, Torres MI, Cebolla Á, Sousa C, Barro F, Pistón F. Molecular and immunological characterization of gluten proteins isolated from oat cultivars that differ in toxicity for celiac disease. PLoS One. 2012;7(12):e48365.
The primary measurement doctors use for testing blood sugar regulation is known as fasting glucose. Fasting in this case means the patient has not consumed any food or drink for the past 12 hours so we have a baseline, in between meals reading. Glucose, the simple carbohydrate that is the preferred source of fuel for nearly all cells in our body, is transported through the bloodstream in order to be distributed to all of those cells. A concentration of glucose between 65 and 99 mg per deciliter of blood is generally considered good and healthy, although I personally don’t like to see it rise above 90.
Research is mixed on which supplement is more reliably effective at raising our vitamin D levels. Much of this research has indicated that the D3 form of vitamin D is more effective at raising blood levels of vitamin D than D2, however some indicates the two can be equivalent. Many vegans have expressed concern to us about this, since they have found their vitamin D2 supplements are not giving them the results they are seeking. Consequently, some have considered using a D3 supplement to raise their vitamin D to desired levels. Where does this leave someone who wants to stay true to their vegan lifestyle and ethics? Fortunately in recent years, several supplement companies have formulated supplements with vitamin D3 sourced from lichen. What is lichen? It is an organism composed of some type of fungus and algae, or cyanobacteria in some cases, living together symbiotically. Lichen is often found growing on tree branches and rocks and can have a pale green to gray or mushroom color, as well as others. Does this mean that we should eat lichen to get our vitamin D? No, many species of lichen are not edible, so it would be best to stick with a supplement. But the good news is that a vegan vitamin D3 supplement does now exist and various supplement companies are offering it as an alternative to lanolin-sourced D3!
