Best Recipe Websites for Inspo!
If you are seeking me out to hand over endless customised meal plans, you have come to the wrong person. A few years back I dabbled with starting a recipe blog. At the time there weren’t as many options as there are now. But it all ended very quickly when I started feeding the chickens too many times with my failed recipe attempts. I just couldn’t handle throwing my creations into the chook pen anymore (coconut flour is a real pain in the arse to work with).
I LOVE cooking and I also enjoy eating too! But with so many recipe websites available now, it can get a little overwhelming to know what is right for you and what also tastes good too.
Over the years I have noticed that I generally recommend the same websites over and over. So now is the time to share these websites with you!
If you are anything like me, I often go to a recipe and adjusted it if I don’t have the ingredients or I would rather choose a different ingredient.
The list you have been waiting for!
The Healthy Chef- Teresa Cutter
You might notice that many are Australian and a few that live in Perth, Western Australia…
If I have forgotten any, I will update this again (or if I discover new ones!)
Enjoy!
Are you inflamed?
Inflammation is your bodies natural response to repair itself and to protect yourself from nasties!
It's also your body to say 'Hey! Stop! Slow down and take some rest!'
An inflammatory response involves a raise in body temperature (fever), fluid to the area (swelling), vasodilation (so you don't bleed to death) and unfortunately, sometimes pain. These processes are pretty standard and are needed to help you repair and heal. The down side of inflammation is that it can make you feel uncomfortable for the short term. When you have constant pain and inflammation, that's when it gets serious!
So what are some of the signs and symptoms of an inflammatory response?
- Headache is very common. This can happen for SO many reasons.....cold and flu, allergies, sinus, hay fever, food intolerance, environment, eye strain or hormones.
- Skin conditions- eczema, dermatitis, acne and rosacea are all inflamed conditions.
- Allergies- seasonal hay fever, sinusitis and even food allergies are caused by an over active immune system that causes an inflammatory response.
- Auto immune- Think celiac, Hashimoto's, Rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia, are all based on an overactive immune response. Most of the time it is genetic, but can be stimulated by environment and stress.
- Digestive system- stomach pain, food intolerances, diarrhoea and reflux would be coming causes of high inflammation.
- Pain- All of the above conditions can have pain associated with it. This can lead to depression, immobility, discomfort and decreased joy in life if left long term.
What can be done?
Knowing the cause of your inflammatory response is a big part of the healing process. Sometimes the source can't be fixed or eliminated, but reducing inflammation can happen by diet, movement and anti-inflammatory sources (will get to this later on).
- When did it start?
- What makes it worse?
- What makes it better?
- What are the symptoms?
These are simple questions that you can ask yourself to narrow down on what the cause could be.
Diagnostic Testing
When you get your bloods taken from your doctor, there are some key markers that inflammation is present.
- White Cell Count - these guys are your defence system. If they are up, that means they are busy fighting something.
- ESR- An acute inflammatory response marker. If raised=inflammation
- CRP- more of a chronic inflammatory marker. If raised, your body ain't happy.
- GGT- This is from your liver profile. If raised, it is busy detoxing you.
- Secretory IgA- This protects your gut lining against pathogens! Stress can decrease secretory IgA.
- Antibodies- These are tested mostly for auto immune markers.
- Immunoglobulins- IgG, IgE are common ones to get tested for allergies. IgG is used a lot with food intolerance panels.
- Anion Gap- This is a calculation found in your General chemistry section of your bloods. It should be between 10-12. the calculation is as follows: Sodium + Potassium - Chloride - Bicarbonate = ?
- Cortisol- This is done by request only and should be taken between 7am - 9am in the morning for accuracy.
What you can do to reduce inflammation!
- Eat a more alkaline diet. Acidic foods create inflammation. Grab your alkaline food list acid-base-foods-pral
- Glutamine is great for reducing inflammation in the gut.
- N- Acetyl Glucosamine is also fabulous for gut repair and anti-inflammation
- Zinc- Wound healer and used for over 200 enzymatic reactions within the body (also immune booster), great for skin too!
- Bioflavonoids- found in the white part of citrus fruit and other fruit and vegetables (Quercetin, Rutin, Hesperidin and Bromelains).
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin E
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin D (especially with auto immune conditions)
- Probiotics- Vivomixx VSL#3, Saccharomyces Boulardi, Lactobacillus rhamnosus (LGG) and Lactobacillus Fermentum VRI-003
- Omega 3- fish oil
- Coconut oil- contains caprylic acid which is anti inflammatory
- Reishi mushrooms
- Turmeric- need I say more?
- Chamomile
- Calendula
- Ginger
Histamine Intolerance
1% of the world's population has histamine intolerance according to an article in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, with 80% of them being middle aged. Personally I see many of my GAPS clients with a histamine intolerance with no restrictions on age.
You would be familiar with the term 'anti-histamines', which are typically used when someone suffers from hay fever, sinusitis or experience an acute skin reaction. Histamines are released from your mast cells due to an inflammatory response. Masts cells are part of your immune system and are regularly called upon to out the flames out of a fire that may be occurring in your body.
When histamine is released it dilates your capillaries, resulting in lowering blood pressure, it contracts smooth muscles (including your lungs), increases gastric secretions, raises heart rate and is a neurotransmitter in your brain (McAuliffe, G. 2015).
Typical symptoms of histamine intolerance:
- rhinitis
- sinusitis
- asthma
- headaches/migraines
- nausea
- flatulence
- abdominal cramps
- diarrhoea
- hives
- flushing
- insomnia
- arrhythmia
- stuttering
- nasal congestion
- sneezing
- abnormal menstrual cycle/dysmenorrhea
- mental disorders such as depression and schizophrenia
Histamine is also found in foods that we eat and fermented beverages (red wine and beer . So when someone has a histamine intolerance, they have an impaired ability to break histamine down in their digestive system and the histamine accumulates, and the person will experience symptoms similar to a hay fever sufferer. There are also foods that may not contain high histamine levels, but may influence a histamine RESPONSE. For a full list of high histamine containing foods and high histamine releasing foods click -histamine-food-list
Are you born histamine intolerant?
Yes and no. There are two enzymes that break down histamine in your digestive system. Diamine Oxidase (DAO) is the most common enzyme that people are insufficient of. To boost the productivity of this enzyme vitamin C and vitamin B6 are needed. The other enzyme that is needed to break down histamine is N-methyltransferase (HNMT). HNMT is needed mostly in the lungs to break down histamine (asthma link?), but is expressed in the kidneys and liver also. To increase HNMT activity the enzyme SAMe ( S- adenosyl-methyl-methionine) is required. You can lack either of these enzymes genetically or they can be blocked by various pharmaceutical drugs (or acquired from health ailments such as leaky gut, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, candida overgrowth or Epstein Barr virus). Any one can experience symptoms of histamine intolerance, just by ingesting too many high histamine foods. This is referred to mostly as 'histamine excess'.
Testing for histamine intolerance
- Histamine blood serum
- Genetic testing (DNA)
- Methylation profile
- Food allergy test
Management of histamine intolerance
- Keep a food diary for any reactions to histamine foods
- Check if on any medication that could block histamine enzymes or are pro-histamine releasing
- Do you have any symptoms of histamine intolerance?
- Eliminate histamine foods from diet, heal your gut and reintroduce slowly
If you feel that you may have a histamine intolerance, book an appointment to discuss your needs today![bookly-form]
REFERENCES
Maintz, Laura and Novak, Natalija. 'Histamine and histamine intolerance', American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2007, 85:1185-96McAuliffe, George. "Histamine', Journal of the Council on Nutrition of the American Chiropractic Association, 2015, Vol.38, No.3 30-33Smolinska, S. Jutel, M. Crameri, R. O'Mahony, L. 'Histamine and gut mucosal immune regulation', 2014, 69:273-281Vickerstaff-Joneja, Janice. & Carmona-Silva, Cabrini. 'Outcome of a histamine restricted diet based on chart audit', Journal of Nutritional & Environmental Medicine, 2001: 11, 249-262