Full Day, Full Log, Full Plant-Based Living: She-Ra, Cramps, Dr. Angie Sadeghi & Gut Health
5.16.2020
Knowing I’d be out of the house by 6:30 and wouldn’t want to waste later hours on the computer, I paired back yesterday’s documenting so I’d still have time to dedicate to my health-hero Dr. Angie Sadeghi, and her brain-blowing info on the microbiome.
Dr. Angie Sadeghi is a brilliant gastroenterologist who specializes in microbiome research and healing the gut with plant-based whole-foods. She is an absolute font of well- explained mechanistic processes, and she does it all in an engaging, enthusiastic, down-to-earth manner.
I first heard her on the Switch4Good podcast and it rattled my brain to the point of tears because she touches upon a lot of the diseases that have affected me and my kin, and —like us— she had no idea how food was affecting her body until she got into the research and made necessary dietary changes. It bettered her whole life, and now she’s out saving lives and the planet. I’ve listened to her interviews multiple times over, and both Ian and I absorb something new each time.
Have (or love someone who has) Depression, Anxiety, “Leaky Gut”, SIBO, GI Issues, Eczema, Colitis, Crohn’s, C-Diff, Psoriasis, or Eosinophilic Esophagitis? Want to have a luminary gastroenterologist explain how what you eat is causing all of the above? Make yourself a little time today to listen to one of these podcasts, and have your mind opened and your life propelled forward.
Continue reading for: lessons learned through She-Ra Princesses of Power, how fiber alleviates menstrual cramps, interviews with the luminary/inspiring/super-intelligent gastroenterologist Dr. Angie Sadeghi explaining gut-health/mental-health, and a day’s worth of plant-based family feasting.
Q’s Morning Chalkboard Drawing was inspired by the release of Season 5 of She-Ra, something Q was so excited for that he finally figured out the correct order of the day’s-of-the-week so he could do his own vocal countdown. The promise was that if he had a good day of schoolwork and home-helping, he’d get She-Ra and Friday Night popcorn.
She-Ra is one of those shows he’s only allowed to watch with me over lunch-breaks. It aligns with his love of all things sci-fi, it has strong female characters, but it involves a lot of unpacking.
What have we been able to learn/unpack through She-Ra?
Catra has spawned many discussions about how to properly treat friends and folks you love. I’ve tied this in with stories of how many times lady friends have dropped me out of their lives (<— have had my heart broken by “bestfriends” more than it’s been broken by men I Ioved), or stories of souls who have stayed but have been poisonous to the point where I eventually had to back-off for my own mental health, and these tales have been helpful for him. He brings up this topic often, and knows that loved ones should push you forward and never down.
How to work together as a team because everyone has different strengths and insights to offer.
How you should and should not speak to people (looking at you Mermista)
Why lying always comes back to haunt you
There will always be destruction and harm in the world, the important part is how you stand firm and keep amplifying light.
Who does he emulate and always pretend to be? Perfuma: “a peace-loving pacifist. Possessed of a strong core, Perfuma believes that the universe will reward those who do good and punish those who are evil. Despite being a pacifist, she is more than willing to help the universe out with this if it takes too long.” <3
Plant-Based Kiddo Breakfast: blueberry oatmeal, a drizzle of PB, and flax seeds.
Mama Bear Fiber-Filled Breakfast: blueberry oatmeal, flax seeds, PB, and peanuts.
Did you know that fiber binds with estrogen, flushes it from the body, and alleviates menstrual cramps?
Yeah, I had no idea until a few months ago (when I listened to this brilliant interview with Dr. Neal Barnard), and it finally explained to me why switching to plant-based whole-foods also meant that my periods were now somehow pain-killer free.
I used to be one of those souls who would break into sweats and vomit from the pain of cramps. I couldn’t speak above a whisper, I’d look pale and clammy, and I’d confine myself to a couch with an icepack and ride out the day in misery.
Now, all of the above is gone, I don’t have to take a single pain-killer; and (thankfully/gratefully) that plant-based-bettered-mindset means I don’t sit around weeping that another month has confirmed no future Cappellos.
Filling your body with pills to offset the pain of menstruation? Give that interview a listen, go by Your Body in Balance, or simply read that first link showing that Dr. Barnard did a clinical trial that confirmed everything I just relayed.
Best side effect? You’ll be healthier, pain-free, and sparing the earth more damage.
David Barber Drawing: page 2 of “The Beast”
While Q worked on art work and then 5 sheets of schoolwork, I wrapped up writing.
Post zero-waste peanut butter prep. :-)
I store that peanut butter in jars reused from store-bought purchases. (Getting enough bulk peanuts can sometimes be tricky right now, so we’re also getting organic just-peanuts-and-salt peanut butter.)
I need to re-write the recipe for our Peanut Sauce, because we’ve been making it without sweeteners and liquid aminos for months now.
You can actually make a delicious, super-simple peanut sauce with just: peanut butter, red curry paste, berbere seasoning (has the sweetness from that cinnamon as a substitute for the maple), and lemon juice.
Kiddo-driven lunch prep.
Plant-Based Lunch: forbidden rice noodles, peas, mushrooms, quick-pickled cabbage, apple, and peanut sauce.
Plant-Based Dessert: nice cream and black bean brownies.
It was supposed to storm all afternoon, but we had a spell of hot sunshine, so I broke my reluctance to mow and zipped out to level the yard before a week of rain.
Why? Because we have a bottom-rung electric mower that peters out when the grass gets too high. :-)
*silently mourning all the dandelions*
Unexpected bonus: the new joy of mowing being a good way to slip in purposeful armwork. I did our main yard, the side yard, and the whole outside perimeter. Attempted to do our neighbor’s road-trim but the battery finally died.
Making movement out of a rainy day: tackling laundry and cleaning together.
Kiddos can/should help out with chores too so they understand the importance of pitching in.
Plant-Based Family Feasting (not the prettiest/most-vibrant looking dinner, I admit): Beyond Burgers, brussel sprouts, roasted broccoli, braised carrots, marinated mushrooms, and caramelized shallots.
There’s no pics for the rest of a whirlwind night that ended in homemade zero-waste popcorn, so here’s one from the first time we made it. :-)
The above is another illuminating section from Undo It (by Dr. Dean Ornish and Anne Ornish).
We humans have a bizarre tendency to think about the calamities that befall our bodies as separate issues. The connection between what you’re feeding your system and how it correspondingly runs, is something I am sadly shocked to see given little thought.
If it tastes good going down, what’s the harm, eh?
That thinking is so ignorant and misguided it makes my brain flame. Aside from the fact that animal products are perpetuating environmental collapse (so if you’re eating them the harm is well documented on the global scale), they are also ruining your microbiome which drives the health of your whole body.
Think I’m just a earth-loving windbag? This information is something I’ve learned through and am amplifying from doctors, and the most illuminating gastroenterologist of them all is the amazing Dr. Angie Sadeghi.
If you want mind-opening podcast that is entertaining, illuminating, and inspiring: give this Switch4Good interview with Dr. Angie Sadeghi a listen.
What they discuss in this episode:
How dairy negatively affects the gut microbiome
How to diversify the gut microbiome with plant-based foods
The importance of fiber
Everything you want to know about your colon
How to start feeling better by gradually transitioning to high fiber foods
“Dairy Is Scary” video by Erin Janus
She goes into detail about her own health journey, discusses all the diseases I mentioned in the intro, and explains the mechanisms at work within your gut that either propel you forward with power, or fill your system with inflammation and disease.
If that one lights you up —and you have time for more— this additional one on the Nutrition Rounds podcast with Dr. Danielle Belardo interviewing Dr. Sadeghi is equally illuminating and covers:
what the gut microbiome is
how we feed our gut microbiome to optimize our health
why you should ditch buying probiotic supplements
What is SIBO? Does going vegan cause/exacerbate it? Dr Sadeghi clears up all the confusion around this disease, and explains why meat/fish/eggs do NOT help SIBO, and they only make Gut Microbiome health worse.
Why you should NOT do the FODMAP diet
How animal products create TMAO, and more
The above reminded me that TMAO is yet another reason we want no eggs in our system.
How are you going to grow forward today?
