There’s an unprecedented chance to meet, learn from and engage with 75 Colorado authors – New York Times bestsellers, Pulitzer Prize winners, newspaper columnists and, not least, Colorado author-in-chief John Hickenlooper at the first Colorado Book Festival.
The writers will discuss their book adventures in true crime, sports, poetry, photography, fiction, history, getting published and more. Prize drawings, too.
September 10, 2016. 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. at the main Denver Public Library. Free.
Join me! I will be moderating a panel of four fabulous cookbook authors at 2:45 pm and the topic is: “Get Cooking! Writing, Publishing, and Marketing Cookbooks”. The schedule can be found on the Colorado Authors’ League website.
I used to love using spray-cans of cooking oils because they were so easy and convenient, and they spread the oil so evenly over the surface. In fact, during the years I was developing recipes for my cookbook I couldn’t have imagined cooking without an aerosol spray can of cooking oil with which to lubricate my cookware.
But then I discovered through the MRT results that my son is very sensitive to soy lecithin, an emulsifier made from the residue of soy sauce manufacturing. Particularly when that soy lecithin is applied through a cooking spray. Even the smallest bit of oil like the amount that rubs onto a rice krispie treat that has cooled in a pan sprayed with an aerosol can of cooking oil would be enough to make him dizzy and nauseated.
Soy lecithin makes things slippery and is added to compounds including rocket fuel and fracking liquid. Although lecithin occurs naturally in eggs and corn, the soy lecithin is an additive that is added to our foods. Many who are sensitive to soy lecithin don’t have a problem with natural sources of lecithins. Unfortunately, soy lecithin may not be the only additive in that cooking spray either.
So I stopped using an aerosol can of spray and tried using a refillable pump to spray oil into Dutch ovens for my Glorious One-Pot Meals. Alas, the pumps seem to clog and break frequently for me, and they do not create an even sheen of oil. I found the pumps so unsatisfying that I abandoned the idea of spraying oil altogether and resigned myself to simply wiping the oil into the pot before cooking.
Then today I learned that Chosen Foods has come out with a series of additive-free cooking sprays and I am so excited to share the news that I’m writing about them before I’ve even tried one! Let me know if you try it out!
Although the majority of industry-funded studies show that artificial sweeteners have no effect on the body, more than 90% of independent studies show that artificial sweeteners like sucralose (Splenda) and aspartame (Equal) affect the microbiome and lead to inflammatory bowel problems as well as double the risk of metabolic issues like diabetes.
And, contrary to their stated goal, using artificial sweeteners will not lead to weight loss. Just one diet soda has enough negative influence on the microbiome to cause inflammation! Since obesity is now categorized as “excessive inflammation”, we can understand why non-nutritive sweeteners will not help us lose weight.
Luckily, we can start to heal our gut microbiome as soon as we cut out all artificial sweeteners, so stay away from those diet sodas!
A new study out of Brigham and Woman’s hospital in Boston and published in the Journal of Nature Medicine, relays exciting news that validates much of what I’ve been seeing in patients enrolled in the Fight MS with Food Project and our approach to managing autoimmune disorders like MS.
Manage Multiple Sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases through what you eat and how you digest your food.
Here is the link to a more detailed article about the study linking diet with MS, but below are some of what I find to be the most exciting points:
…the team found evidence that dietary changes and intestinal flora can influence astrocyte cell, a type of cerebral and consequently neurodegeneration.
Francisco Quintana, Spanish researcher who led the work, told SINC: “we have demonstrated for the first time that diet and intestinal bacteria collaborate to produce metabolites that travel through the circulation to the central nervous system to regulate inflammation and neurodegeneration.”
Or put another way, the food has some sort of role in the central nervous system through inflammation. “What we eat influences the ability of intestinal bacteria to produce small molecules, some of which are able to travel to the brain. This opens an unknown area so far. How the intestine controls inflammation of the brain,” he added.
According to the authors, dietary supplements and probiotics may be useful to control processes that contribute to the pathology of neurological diseases. “Our studies were initially focused on multiple sclerosis, but also have implications for other diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s,” said Quintana.
If you’re interested in learning more about tailoring your diet and colonizing your own intestinal bacteria to best manage your autoimmune issues, please contact me for a free initial phone consultation to see if you would be a good candidate for this approach.
There’s an unprecedented chance to meet, learn from and engage with 75 Colorado authors – New York Times bestsellers, Pulitzer Prize winners, newspaper columnists and, not least, Colorado author-in-chief John Hickenlooper at the first Colorado Book Festival.
Reader question: Is the La Crueset the only dutch oven you recommend? ~Jean S., Seattle, WA
