Stomach healing bone broth

I have now been doing the Paleo diet since August of 2014; almost a year. At some point along the way I ate food with gluten in it, which is clearly not Paleo, I want to say around the 3 month mark. Within 5 minutes of finishing my bowl of wonderful baked ziti, my stomach cramped up so bad and hurt so much I can't even begin to describe it. It was worse than having contractions, I thought I was going to die. Lets just say after that I stayed clear of pasta.

Pasta, bread, cereal... gluten, gluten, gluten. How can you avoid it indefinitely? And why do you want to when it tastes so good?

Around the 6 month mark of my diet, I started to look into why my stomach cramped up so bad with pasta and sugars. I self diagnosed myself with there being an issue with my stomach lining; like having diverticulitis in my stomach. So I decided to find a way to heal it Paleo style and it couldnt hurt me even if I misdiagnosed myself.

Paleo diet has you eating 100% grass fed organic meat. To heal my stomach I made broth with the bones from the meat I was already eating. (Cooking directions at bottom) I am already taking dietary plant cholesterol pills to help to lower my insanely high hereditary cholesterol (total of 339). I also started taking probiotic pills from Vitamin World. To heal my stomach I drank the bone broth for breakfast, took a probiotic pill, and drank more bone broth for lunch. Then I would have a Paleo meal for dinner. I did this for 2 days. ONLY 2 days! The next day I ate a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast and waited. And waited. And waited. The stomach pain never came.

After that I cheated a lot and the pain started to come back after a month of eating tons of foods not on the paleo diet. I made a determination to store bone broth in the fridge and substitute that for recipes that call for water, like when cooking vegetables I use bone broth instead of oil or water. This also gets my family to ingest it as well.



Simple Bone Broth Recipe:

4 bones from 100% grass fed organic meat (should have at least 1 marrow bone)
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
salt to taste after cooked
pepper to taste after cooked

1. Set up your crock pot with 2 bones and fill with cold water. 
2. Add 1 Tbsp vinegar.
3. Set your crock pot on high for 1 hour after which time it should be on warm.
4. Let crock pot stay on warm for 24 hours.
5. Remove 3/4 of the liquid and use or store in fridge/freezer.
6. To the remaining 1/4 of liquid in the crock pot, add 1 more bone and 1/2 Tbsp vinegar and fill the pot up with water again.
7. Set your crock pot on high for 1 hour after which time it should be on warm.
8. Let crock pot stay on warm for another 24 hours.
9. Remove 3/4 of the liquid again and use or store in fridge/freezer.
10. To the remaining 1/4 of liquid in the crock pot, add the last bone and 1/2 Tbsp vinegar and fill the pot up with water again.
11. Set your crock pot on high for 1 hour after which time it should be on warm.
12. Let crock pot stay on warm for another 24 hours.
13. Throw out bones, remove all liquid and use/store.

I always make broth over 3 days to get the most out of the bones. Use your judgement on how many bones you use. A marrow bone can count for your first 2 bones since its so big. 

Sprouted Grains

I have noticed lately that I have been getting severe upper back pain. The first time I get it I actually thought I was having a heart attack; the pain was in the back of my neck, across my upper back and would shoot down my arms. When I get it, the pain lasts 2-3 days. I have yet to figure out what is causing it. It is definitely something I am eating that I don't normally have; possibilities include regular coffee, gluten, dairy.

You may wonder how I drink my coffee (especially those that have previously seen me add like 8 sugar packets and milk to be able to drink it) I use organic coconut milk, 100% pure dark amber Vermont maple syrup, and 2-3 drops of vanilla extract.

I have found a way to eat bread and cereal. If you buy sprouted grain bread and/or cereal, it is not only healthy but paleo approved and tolerated by my system without any pain.

I have tried to make my own sprouted rice from packages of Carolina rice but either am doing something wrong or the rice is not in the right stage to sprout.

I usually just buy the regular sprouted grain bread from Trader Joe's but if you can find it, it also comes in cinnamon raisin, sesame, flax and more.

I have also found an amazing cereal that even my kids love and choose to eat over the wonderful cheerios. Kashi makes a sprouted grain cereal but is very hard to find. I order it online from Walmart.com. This box lasted a day and a half in my house.

Eat the way God intended us to eat, its better for our bodies and keeps our systems working the way they should. (Also helped me lose ALL the weight I gained from having 2 kids.) It takes extreme willpower, which I have when I am home. When I go out my willpower is very low to avoid foods I should not eat. God and I are working on this.

Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal

So most of you know that I proclaim to be doing the paleo diet. Yesterday I came across an article that compared the paleo diet to the Weston A Price Foundation(WAPF) of a  healthy eating lifestyle.

 

Boy was I surprised that some of the things I've been doing do not match up with what a true Paleo diet is supposed to be. Paleo says absolutely no grains, carbs, sugar, dairy or legumes, very few nuts and all organic grass-fed meats and vegetables; fruit to a minimum since they are very high in natural sugar.

WAPF says that natural sugars like honey and pure dark amber maple syrup, as well as fruit, is absolutely fine and encouraged. WAPF also encourages a healthy grass fed full fat diet and to use even the bones to create broth.

With ought realizing it I had already adopted several ideas from WAPF like bone broth and real syrup. They also support preparation of grains, meaning, for example, when you have old fashioned rolled oats, instead of just making them, you are supposed to soak them in whey overnight to make them more digestible and remove the toxins that bother people who have a grain intolerance like myself.

Let me finally get to my point. For over a year, I have not been able to eat oatmeal without stomach pain. Last night I soaked some old fashioned rolled oats in whey and made it this morning and let me tell you I have never tasted anything so good, also with no stomach issue, which I usually get within 5 minutes of eating.

Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal
2 cups rolled oats
3 cups water, divided
2 Tbsp grass fed whey powder
1 apple, peeled and diced
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup maple syrup
Sprinkle of sea salt

Prep time 12-24 hours
Cook time up to 10 mins
Serves 4

Soak the rolled oats in 2 cups of water, add the whey powder. Cover and leave on counter overnight, at least 12 hrs. Do NOT drain.

In the morning, transfer the soaked mixture into a pot and add final cup of water. Peel and dice the apple. Add apple to pot. Sprinkle salt in pot. Bring to a boil.

Reduce to simmer and stir in cinnamon. Cook 3 minutes, stirring repeatedly. Slowly stir in maple syrup and cook an additional 2 minutes, and serve. Store any leftover in the fridge to be reheated. Enjoy.