Heather HS.png

Heather is an Immunology researcher and teacher

As Hippocrates said, food is medicine.
While that hasn’t changed, the food available to us has.
Our food is now in bags, boxes, and cans, making it more
difficult to find nutrient dense, healthy food.

This site is about
the beneficial science Nature has put in your food

Articles

Articles
Plant-full vs. Carnivore Diet
Plant-full vs. Carnivore Diet
Preservatives & Microbial Diversity
Preservatives & Microbial Diversity
Food Hypersensitivity Testing
Food Hypersensitivity Testing
Three Stages of Autoimmune Disease
Three Stages of Autoimmune Disease
Men and women have different anti-viral responses
Men and women have different anti-viral responses
Dance Your Way To A Younger Brain
Dance Your Way To A Younger Brain

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Inflammation happens regularly, not just when we get an infection or are injured. Much of life can influence the balance of cytokines and our biome to push us to an unhealthy state. I wanted to capture some of the ways life and nutrition feed inflammatory pathways to show how everything can be connected 🔄
In the past couple of years, we've seen a few low carb or very low carb diets become popular. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Often when people are cutting carbs, they cut all plant based foods. I'm often asked whether the elimination of plant-based foods is harmful.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ For example, the carnivore diet is a meat-only diet. When people embark on this diet, they give up all plant-based foods. Do people feel better? Absolutely. Many people feel much better. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ That doesn't surprise me. If people are starting from a standard American diet, they will absolutely feel better. By giving up sugar and carbs, they have started stabilizing blood sugar. And that alone can help them feel better. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Also, eating only meat often means that people often eat less - and we know that caloric restriction is good for our longevity and our microbiota. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ But no vegetables? What does lack of plants, plant fiber, plant polyphenols, and plant sterols do to y
When we shop at a grocery store, the vast majority of what is up and down the aisles is food that has been preserved. The food is preserved so that it doesn't go bad while it's waiting to be purchased. Seems logical.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ But what is a preservative? A preservative is something that we do to the food to kill off microbes - like those that may cause mold. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ We've used preservatives for centuries. We used to dehydrate foods so they were available later in the year.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Currently, one of the more common ways to preserve food is chemical. Compounds like sorbic acid, benzoic acid and propionic acid are used. While these preservatives may not directly have an effect on human cells, it turns out that they probably do have an effect on our gut microbiome. They are designed to kill microbes after all. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Let's use E. coli as an example. E. coli is a normal bacteria in the gut. We call it a commensual, meaning it lives with us in nor
#repost @feastingathome⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I love risotto. It's a special meal for me because I rarely take time to make risotto. So when I DO make time for risotto, I also create time to enjoy eating it.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Butternut squash risotto with leeks is not only delicious, it's also healthy. You probably already know butternut squash is healthy - heck, it's orange! Anytime there's color in a plant, it's likely healthy.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ But let's talk about those leeks. Leeks are not something we tend to eat often in the US. They're like an onion, but their shape means that we aren't going to deep-fry them and dip them in sauce. They're bigger than garlic cloves, but they're in the same family of veggies as onions and garlic.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Leeks were historically considered superior to garlic and onions in ancient Rome. Rather than get into any competition between vegetables, let me say why I like leeks. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Leeks are a microbiome food. The fibers in leeks act as p

Nature & Nutrition