Trim Healthy Mama Plan (19 page)

But some people with hormonal conditions such as
PCOS can be overly sensitive to
lectins. They may be more affected by certain lectins that bind to insulin receptors in fat cells and send them the same message that insulin gives, which is to make more fat. Due to a lack of feedback control from other hormonal and biological pathways associated with regular insulin messaging, these lectin signals don't know how to shut off. The humble okra pod comes to the rescue once again. This mucilaginous wonder-fiber has the ability to bind to lectins in a way that renders them harmless. Lectins become good guys again instead of troublemakers.

Okay…you're sold on the fact that you need to feature okra in your diet, but how? What if the very thought of chewing it up in your mouth is making you want to hurl? Then you'll want to make plenty of our “okra in disguise” recipes in the companion cookbook. Believe us when we say Secret Silk Pie and ice cream are beyond delicious when made with this secret agent.

Rohnda Monroy is a Trim Healthy Mama who has been such a trouper helping with our cookbook project. As soon as we finish a recipe, we pass it to her. She makes it, offers us any feedback, and takes the beautiful photographs you see in the companion cookbook. She was very skeptical about okra at first but has come to love it in so many of the recipes. She was overcome with joy when she made our okra-filled Choco Secret Big Boy Smoothie (in the “Shakes, Smoothies, Frappas, and Thin Thicks” chapter of the
Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook
) and tried it on her son Jonah, who has autism. Jonah is extremely wary of any new food and has issues with any strange tastes or textures but he slurped up the whole thing with a huge smile!

By enjoying our basic meals, you will lower and balance your blood-sugar levels, but with the addition of
fermented foods, you can actually heal the havoc of overgrown yeast that years of sugar consumption may have caused. Cultured foods contain beneficial bacteria and provide a natural antibiotic and anticarcinogenic effect to the body. They contain abundant amounts of living enzymes, so we think of them as raw foods on steroids! A salad is great and contains enough living enzymes to help you digest that meal efficiently,
but the addition of a little lacto-fermented
sauerkraut or a few sips of
kefir have more living enzymes than even a salad can offer. These lacto-fermented foods make sure you will not only preserve but replenish the enzyme count in your body. Serene's two most popular cultured recipes, Artisan Sourdough Bread and Double Fermented Kefir, which she has tweaked to make even easier for you, are featured in our companion cookbook.

Many of our purist Mamas may already be making lacto-fermented kimchi and sauerkraut. Cabbage is a very inexpensive veggie, so sauerkraut will offer you wonderful health benefits but won't break your budget. But hey, some of us are never going to get around to that. Regular pickles, if unsweetened, can be enjoyed on plan, but they should not be confused with the lacto-fermented superfoods we are talking about here. They are usually prepared in a canning process in which they are exposed to high heat, which means there will be no living enzymes. True living sauerkraut must be refrigerated. Bubbies brand, which contains these healing living enzymes, can be purchased in some grocery stores.

Greek yogurt has twice the amount of protein of regular yogurt, has far fewer carbs, and is wonderfully healthy for your inner digestive ecology. Yogurt and kefir made from raw milk are optimum, but even if made from pasteurized milk, they are beneficial. They basically rise from the dead and start living again after culturing.

Don't buy sweetened yogurt (unless you find a brand sweetened with on-plan sweeteners); you can easily sweeten up your Greek yogurt at home with a doonk of stevia or a teaspoon or two of Gentle Sweet or all-fruit jelly. We consider plain 0% Greek yogurt a Fuel Pull food. You can have a full cup of it if it is the main protein component of your meal, but if it is used as a tag-on such as a dessert, it's best to stick to a half cup. Or try our Jigglegurt recipe in the “Sweet Bowls” chapter of the
Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook
. It slashes the carbs of yogurt in half and is a sheer delight to eat. It is a budgeting Mama's friend, as it stretches two cups of yogurt into four cups. Our purist Mamas will want to make their own Greek yogurt. There are hundreds of recipes available on the Internet that explain how to make yogurt and then strain it. Regular nonfat yogurt should be considered an E since it still contains the whey water.

We debated putting this info about flaxseeds into the next chapter along with the other specialty ingredients, but nope, flaxseeds are very budget-friendly and thankfully flaxseed
flour can now be found at almost any grocery store (often next to chia seeds, which also pack a powerful health punch and are in some of our recipes). A full pound of ground golden flax should cost you less than five bucks and will probably last you a good length of time. We like to think we have a little something to do with ground flax meal becoming so readily available. We encouraged it for baking in our previous book and our Mamas create a high demand. You can use brown flaxseeds if that is all you can find, but we think baked goods are much prettier with golden flax and we find it has a milder taste.

Flaxseeds carry one of the biggest nutrient payloads on the planet so they truly fit the budget super-star title. To obtain these nutrients from flax, it has to be ground. Your body cannot absorb them in its whole seed form. Ground golden flax is one of the flours mixed into our Baking Blend, found on our website, but it can be used as frugal stand-alone baking flour, too. Check out our Frosted Cinnamon Muffin (found on our website) or Chocolate Chai-Glazed Cinnamon Muffins (in the “Family Muffins” chapter in the
Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook
) if you want to try inexpensive flax flour for baking. Toss ground flax in your salad, sprinkle a teaspoonful in your oatmeal or in a smoothie, and get started baking yummy treats with it.

Flax is not a grain, but its vitamin and mineral profile is more similar to that of a grain than of a seed. Like grains, flax is high in most of the B vitamins, and for you that means better mood and ENERGY! It is rich in
omega-3 fatty acids, which fight inflammation in your body.

Flax is full of fiber and disease-fighting
lignans. It is this fiber in flax that is responsible for its ability to help lower harmful
cholesterol. The lignans are known for their ability
to balance female hormone issues, decrease premenstrual symptoms, and possibly help prevent breast and colon
cancer.

Some people are fearful of flax because they have read that it has
estrogen-like qualities. Studies show that it is these very qualities that offer protection against cancers of the reproductive organs. The estrogen-like lignans in flax attach to hormone receptors and help to block more harmful estrogens in the body while allowing less aggressive estrogens to flourish. A healthier estrogen ratio is thus supported.

Raw apple cider vinegar, or ACV for short, is one of the key throat-tingling players in our refreshing Good Girl Moonshine (watch our YouTube video on how to make this drink or look up the recipe in the
Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook
). That wild drink has made many an ACV convert—or maybe we should say addict. But there are many other ways that we enjoy ACV, so it is a regular necessity in our grocery carts. A little drizzle in homemade salad dressing, soups, chilis, meat loaves, and stews gives the perfect tang to round out the flavors and satisfy the taste buds.

ACV is the quickest, cheapest, and easiest of all superfoods to add a no-fuss health boost to your meals. The gourmet flare with which it brightens up the palate is only one reason to include raw ACV. It is a lively and robust health-promoter and can definitely boost the healthiness of your own Trim Healthy Mama journey.

For ultimate taste and health promotion, your ACV needs to be raw and contain the “mother,” which is a cloudy spiderweb-like growth that usually sits at the bottom of the bottle or, when the bottle is jostled, floats in the vinegar. ACV with the mother is raw, so it contains many more vitamins and minerals than regular vinegar. Most grocery store chains stock this form of ACV now. Even the famous Heinz brand has a raw version at an affordable cost.

Raw ACV contains a number of beneficial acids, such as acetic and malic acid, that are revolutionary to waning health. It is a potent liquid filled with vitamins A, E, C, and B
₆
, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, as well as other goodies like beta-carotene, lycopene, mineral salts, amino acids, and pectin. It is also rich in minerals such as phosphorus, potassium, sodium, calcium, iron, and magnesium.

Here are just some of the perks Apple Cider Vinegar can offer you:

L
et's get this out in the open in case you are worried. You don't NEED to purchase any specialty foods from us to make this plan work. The vast majority of your meals will be made with regular foods from any grocery store. You will see some of our recipes in the companion cookbook calling for items like whey protein, collagen, and glucomannan (Gluccie). Yes, they are awesome superfoods; but hey, if you can't afford them or can't access them, don't stress it. Keep it simple! You can take the meals you are eating right now and apply the THM principles to them rather than trying those particular recipes at first. Don't fear, we have oodles of easy recipes that use everyday foods, too.

We shudder at the thought of diets that make their own brand of products mandatory. We never thought we'd end up carrying products, but demand happened. Sometimes we just have to shake our heads and laugh at the direction our lives have taken. This accidental Food Freedom movement threw us neck-deep into the food business—not something we ever conceived we'd be doing. But other companies do not have our Mamas' needs in mind. They often change product formulas on a whim and we have no control over that. We promoted other brands and, over and over again, this problem arose. Our readers begged us for products they could come to rely on, so we started the Trim Healthy Mama food line.

But the truth is, you can find success on a very tight budget and never buy even one of our food items. Or, you can save your pennies and order our fun items only when you are ready. You can make Trim Healthy Mama work within your budget no matter how tight. We understand what it feels like to struggle financially, so don't feel any pressure from us to fill your cupboards with specialty foods. For years we struggled to make ends meet and our husbands had to work two jobs to keep our families barely afloat. We shopped
at saver stores like Aldi (and still do). If we could make it work, anyone can. Our ultimate desire is for you to flourish and succeed without having to break the bank to do it! But if you do have a little leeway in your budget, boy oh boy, do we have some goodies for you!

By now you know Trim Healthy Mama is based upon protein grounding all your meals. If you've only thought of gelatin as something that makes a red or yellow wiggly dessert—that's all about to change. Gelatin is a pure protein, rich in
glycine and
proline, two amino acids with incredible healing abilities. Just one tablespoon of gelatin gives you ten grams of this nourishing protein, and it is the perfect substitute for anyone allergic or sensitive to other forms of protein supplementation. Although gelatin is not technically a complete protein, it is a “muscle-sparing” protein; so when you consume it as a main protein source in your meals, your body will not break down its own muscle tissue. Also, since Trim Healthy Mama is rich in other forms of protein, changing up with gelatinous forms is a healthful balance.

The time-tested folklore remedy of home-simmered chicken soup to rescue a weary soul from nearly every ailment imaginable rests on this one treasured ingredient: gelatin. As the pot simmers away, releasing the nutrients from bones, the liquid transforms into a collagen-rich flavorful stock that is phenomenally good for your body. The benefits of gelatin-rich stock are not just folklore; gelatin is an imperative part of the diet not only for the health benefits it brings but also for the balance it maintains.

If homemade stock made from clean meat bones is regular fare at your home, then supplementing gelatin may not be as crucial to you as it is to others. All of us get busy, however, and sometimes even the most ardent scratch cook cannot find the time to make stock when life gets crazy. That's just the time when your body needs the benefits of gelatin the most, since gelatin supports your immune system! If you're not the type who wants to boil down bones too often, daily supplementation with gelatin is a very smart move. It is easy and practical to get the benefits of gelatin daily in a powdered form without having to always rely on
bone stock. (But we hope you'll still try your hand at making stock by
trying the stock recipes in our cookbook, Purist Bone Stock and the supereasy Bone Stock for Drive Thru Sues found in the “Condiments and Extras” chapter in the
Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook
or search for some online. There are heaps of stock recipes on Pinterest.)

The gelatin available in most grocery stores is usually derived from pork and is not considered a clean source. It may look a little more budget-friendly coming in such a tiny box, but ounce for ounce it is not. However, you can still use it on the plan. Gelatin derived from the bones of cows fed a clean diet primarily of grass is the optimum nutritional source. You can add this clean gelatin to your soups, chilis, smoothies, puddings, or even your morning coffee. Watch your skin, hair, gut, mood, immune system, and so many other bodily functions improve.

There are two forms of powdered gelatin we recommend: hydrolized
collagen (which dissolves in all liquid whether hot or cold and will not thicken anything) and basic gelatin (traditional gelling type of gelatin which needs to “bloom” before dissolving in cold liquid). This type of gelatin will thicken cold liquids. You can order Integral Collagen and
Just Gelatin from our website. They are 100% pure, pork-free, and processed with integrity from grass-fed cows. If you want to look for these items locally or elsewhere online be sure to seek out grass-fed beef-bone sources of both collagen and gelatin.

What's the difference between these two sources of gelatin? They are fundamentally the same thing but they shine in different ways. They both offer incredible healing capabilities and both contain significant amounts of
glycine and
proline, which are the two amino acids greatly responsible for their health benefits. As a pure protein both are the perfect substitute for anyone allergic or sensitive to other forms of protein supplementation.

Let's learn a little about their unique abilities.

This is the old-fashioned type of gelatin that sets up when cold and helps make delicious treats like the Lemon Pucker Gummies or Skinny Chocolate Truffles found in the “Candies and Bars” chapter of the
Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook.
This kind of gelatin takes longer to digest, which benefits your digestive system and is known as the gut healer. It is hydrophilic in nature, which means it attracts water and forms a soothing layer inside the mucosal lining of the digestive tract. If you have any gut problems, such as
irritable bowel syndrome, or if you suffer from food sensitivities, including Just Gelatin in your diet can be an incredible help.

As well as soothing the intestines and bowel, Just Gelatin aids in more efficient digestion and breakdown of nutrients. It is the most budget-friendly of the two supplements, so this is the one we add to our big pots of family soups, chilis, and stews to amp up the nourishment and balance their amino acid profiles. As long as it stays hot, it won't thicken your liquids, so don't imagine that you'll be eating a jellylike soup or chili.

This type of gelatin is in the form of collagen
peptides. This simply means gelatin's amino acids are broken down into smaller chains called peptides. This is accomplished by a natural enzyme found in pineapples, so there's no need to worry about the processing as it is accomplished very naturally. These collagen peptides are quickly absorbed into your bloodstream and are more efficiently utilized by your body for therapeutic uses. Collagen shines as a wonderful healer of joint pain and arthritis. It improves hair and nail growth and skin elasticity. It is known for its wrinkle-smoothing abilities.

The other factor that makes the peptides more desirable at times is that they do not set when chilled. Since they dissolve in liquid, they are perfect to swirl into Greek yogurt or pour into your hot tea for a nutritional overhaul.
Integral Collagen is the more potent “let's-get-serious” approach to collagen supplementation.

Both supplements, including good old-fashioned homemade stock (which we hope you will make), are packed full of the amino acids
glycine and
proline and harness the following abilities:

There are more, but we don't want to write a fat encyclopedia this time around.

Whey protein's health and weight-loss merits are extensive, but, putting those aside for a second, we love it best of all because it creams up our smoothies and shakes like nothing else can! Whey protein positively influences hormones and body signals to flush fat, decrease appetite, boost mood, rev the metabolism, and raise the thermogenic temperature. Whey's microfractions work synergistically to support muscle growth and recovery, tissue healing, immune function, and digestive health.

There is a lot of conflicting information about what to buy or what not to buy when it comes to a whey protein supplement. We spent a couple of years studying hard, trying to get to the bottom of it. Not every whey protein supplement provides these health benefits. Many are cheap concentrates that are either harshly processed or, even if prepared with integrity, retain fat, lactose, and cholesterol. In powdered form, cholesterol is extremely vulnerable to oxidation and it becomes injurious to our health. Some whey concentrate products try to separate themselves from the pack with extremely high price tags. They come with many misleading slogans. Some even try to claim that their whey is raw. The bottom line is that it is illegal and impossible to retail a whey supplement from raw dairy.

After a year or two of study in this subject and headache after headache due to promoting other brands that subsequently changed their formula, we settled on sourcing a cross-flow micro-filtered type of whey for ourselves and our Trim Healthy Mama community. This form of whey protein isolate is the most biologically preserved and beneficial form that successfully and healthfully removes any denatured particles. Cross-flow micro-filtered (or CFM) whey protein isolate is the most undenatured form of whey available.
Its native protein structures remain intact to a large degree by a cold-processed isolation method using ceramic micro-filters. During this micro-filtration process, undesired particles such as lactose, cholesterol, and even any denatured fractions are successfully removed. After filtration the whey is spray-dried using low temperatures. CFM whey isolate is the protein with the highest biological value of all proteins. It retains high percentages of immunoglobulins and minerals and is higher in calcium than other whey protein supplements.

CFM whey is rich in alpha-lactalbumin. This wonderful protein fraction, which is also found in abundance in immune-protecting mother's milk, has the highest bio-availability and has the greatest efficiency of any other protein fraction. Alpha-lactalbumin is nature's chief source of an essential and often missing amino acid called
tryptophan. Tryptophan is needed for the manufacture of our brain chemical
serotonin. Proper serotonin levels help keep our appetites in check, regulate our sleep patterns, and improve our mood—especially under stress. It is in this power-packed alpha-lactalbumin that we find the treasure
cysteine. This is the amino acid that is the direct precursor to
glutathione. It is glutathione that is our body's most effective immune-builder and antioxidant.

Trim Healthy Mama's
Pristine Whey Protein Powder is authentic CFM whey with nothing else added. No flavors, colors, or sweeteners are added. It is not enriched with artificial vitamins and minerals, or diluted by being mixed with cheaper forms of whey so that we can make an extra buck. You can purchase this from our website; but if you want to buy locally or elsewhere online, search for a whey protein with a CFM-certified stamp, then you know you are getting the real deal. Since it does not contain lactose, this form of whey can be used by most dairy-sensitive Mamas. Don't buy whey that is sweetened with any artificial sweeteners (sucralose is common), and similar to our warning with stevia sweeteners, look out for baddies like maltodextrin in the ingredient list. Your whey should have only one gram or less of carbs per serving. Avoid concentrate forms of whey or cheap-grade isolates. If you cannot afford a CFM whey isolate, the next best version of whey will be a micro-filtered whey isolate. Beware of ion-exchange whey protein, which is processed using electrical charge. This involves using the acidic chemicals hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide. Whey's pH levels are drastically changed and as a result most of the important native whey protein fractions like alpha-lactalbumin, glycomacro-peptides, immunoglobulins, and lactoferrin are destroyed. Beta-lactoglobulin, which can cause allergies in some, can survive the pH change and become the most abundant native protein structure in ion-exchanged whey.

We have nicknamed this incredible food “Gluccie.” Why? It is our kitchen buddy, and every buddy needs a nickname. Did you notice we said “food?” This powder might have a funny name but it is simply a root that has been used in Asian cultures for centuries that goes by the name of konjac. In this powdered form,
konjac root is an incredible calorie-free, carb-free, and fat-free thickener that allows us to eat yummy puddings, ice cream, and thick smoothies and “frappas.” Usually savory sauces and gravies are in the fattening category since they are thickened with cornstarch or flour—but Gluccie turns all that upside down and makes these foods slimming! It is a fantastic weight-loss tool. Studies show that it enhances the weight-loss effect of all diets but amazingly, even if used in the absence of a calorie-restricted diet, glucomannan stands alone as a weight-loss tool.