June 28, 2025
| Valerie Hayes
| Health & Wellness, My Story, Thoughts & Ideas, Valerie Hayes, View All Articles & Photos
There are many advantages to creating your own multigrain hot cereal. You can carefully select the ingredients, and avoid what you do not like, or tolerate, while adding high quality extras like chia and hemp seeds.
If you buy from the bulk food section, you will get a nutritious blend of grains at a fraction of the cost. The central idea is to go for the grains with the least amount of processing.
Some of the pre-mixed multigrain blends include whole wheat farina, which is a more processed form of the wheat kernel. Cracked wheat has all of the wheat kernel, without removing the bran, and is slightly more crunchy.
Steel cut oats are more nutrient dense, and less processed than fast cooking oats. In fact steel cut oats look very different than regular oatmeal, or Quaker oats as we are probably most accustomed to.
Therefore if you start with a 50/50 mixture of steel cut oats and cracked wheat, you can add some millet, and red quinoa. All of these grains take about the same time to cook, whereas barley and brown rice take much longer to cook. I put a quarter cup of these mixed grains in a small bowl and pour boiling water over them to reduce cooking time to ten minutes.
Once added to the pot, I put in a cup of water, a bit of salt, and then add another quarter cup blend of chia seeds, hemp seeds, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, ground flax, and whole flax seeds. I keep this container in the fridge because they stay fresh longer.
I also add a handful of sunflower and pumpkin seeds, and a few raisins. Although I haven’t tried it yet, I think I will try adding some brewer’s yeast. I did try adding some ground milk thistle, but find that even when ground, the kernels are too tough.
There are many options such as adding ground almonds, walnuts, corn meal or soy. You can base the blend on how much protein you want to add, without sacrificing fibre, and on what sensitivities or preferences you might have.
Many people have chosen to go gluten free, which is mostly due to the mass marketing against gluten a few years ago. There is also a realization that white bread, white flour, white pasta, and white rice, have been stripped of their nutrients.
Overall, wheat has been a dietary staple since the beginning of time. Celiac disease is a genetic autoimmune condition leading to a complete intolerance of the protein found in wheat, barley and rye. Many people carry the HLA-DQ2 and HLA-DQ8 genes without ever developing Celiac. In recent years, these genes can be identified, and a definitive diagnosis can be made. Only about 1% of the population have true Celiac disease.
The problem for those with Celiac disease, is their body reacts to even tiny amounts of the proteins, often homeopathic levels, they picked up without knowing it. They have to be very vigilant, and cannot use bulk food bins, or eat at buffets where cross contamination of grains is high. Even the spatula or utensils used from one pan to another, can cause cross contamination of grains, the same as it can for transferring food allergens like peanuts or shell fish.
In Celiac disease, the autoimmune system reacts by attacking the lining of the gut. Due to the excessive cross contamination of grains, they end up having frequent bouts of gut problems, diarrhea, headaches, bloating, fatigue, and other health problems.
For those with sensitivities to certain grains, the breakfast cereal can be adjusted to remove the offending grain. In the case of sensitivities or allergies, it is best to avoid the bulk food bins, and buy the grains in packages, carefully reading the labels.
We tend to think of high fibre foods as being whole fruits and vegetables. Although fruits and vegetables do have fibre, especially if the peel is left on potatoes, zucchini, carrots etc. the amount of fibre is much less than what you find in whole grains.
For optimal gut health, we need a mix of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in our diet. We need a mix of both soluble and insoluble fibre.
Soluble fibre dissolves in water. It slows digestions and lowers cholesterol. Examples are oats, peas, beans, barley, apples, and citrus fruits.
Insoluble fibre does not dissolve in water, and promotes regularity. It is also thought to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer. Examples are whole wheat, bran, nuts, beans, and certain vegetables like cauliflower, green beans, leafy greens, and broccoli.
Whatever our choices or sensitivities might be, it becomes pretty clear that we are best to choose a wide variety of whole foods and grains in our diet. The gut feeds off trillions of different kinds of bacteria, therefore the variety increases the amount of healthy gut bacteria.
Although most of us know how much antibiotics kill healthy gut bacteria, we should be wary of many medications to include over the counter medications like NSAID’s, antihistamines, and certain supplements. Recent research has pointed out that probiotic supplements are not good for restoring gut health. Fibre, whole foods, and fermented foods will restore or maintain gut health.
The old adage to let food by thy medicine seems to ring true. The back on the farm principles of eating whole foods, home baked bread, fresh eggs, free range beef and chicken, home made pickles – and plenty of fresh air, sets a better pace for our health in general. We do not need oats that cook in less than a minute. If so, we are far too busy for our own good.
May 14, 2025
| Valerie Hayes
| Health & Wellness, Thoughts & Ideas, View All Articles & Photos
The health of the gut biome has become mainstream knowledge in recent years. Finding ways to achieve this mysterious level of fermented probiotics is another story, with some conflicting information.
We have to filter so much information to drill down to the core, or in this case the gut. Recently I have seen numerous YouTube videos telling people how unhealthy it is to eat watermelon, bananas, and grapes. Really?
Those are whole foods with high nutritive value. Why not tell people to avoid sugar, fast foods, additives, meats high in salt and nitrites, potato chips, and donuts? Surely we should cut back on, or eliminate the high calorie harmful foods, before we tackle the grapes.
In some cases you will read that pickles are part of the probiotic fermented food group. However salt brine is not the same as fermented. Olives are more likely to be fermented than pickles. Certain olives like Frangiulia are not fermented, but preserved in a salt solution brine, like most pickles are.
Olives that are usually fermented include the Greek style black olives. They are harvested when ripe, then stored in brine and left to ferment for several months. Spanish style green olives are treated in an alkaline solution and then fermented in brine. Pitted Kalamata olives are naturally fermented.
Castelvetrano olives are in the same family as the Franguilia, and are not fermented in order to maintain the bright green colour, and mild smooth flavour.
The purpose of fermenting olives is to remove the bitter compound oleuropein. Lactic acid bacteria and yeasts break down the sugars in the olives, which contributes to the flavour. The pH is lowered, which inhibits microorganisms leading to spoilage.
Most grocery store pickles are pickled as opposed to being fermented. However, some pickles are fermented, which is a slower process. There are certain fermented brands that can be purchased on Amazon, or you could check with your local deli. Examples are Bubbies, Olive My Pickle, Oregon Brineworks, and Cleveland Kitchen.
One of the highest colonization of heathy gut organisms is found in Miso soup. A close second is in dairy based kefir, which is similar to cultured yogurt, except it is a liquid.
Kimchi and sauerkraut are also fermented and good sources of probiotics. Both have cabbage as the main ingredient. Kimchi is a Korean side dish and contains other vegetables in addition to the cabbage. It typically contains chile flakes (gochugaru), and may also contain fish flakes.
Whereas traditional sauerkraut is known to have come from Germany. It is believed to have its origins in China around 2000 years ago, where it is known as suan cai. Fermenting has been a method of preserving cabbage in many countries, and is a commonly served with Bratwurst sausage in Germany.
What I have learned in sourcing out high colony fermented food, is to carefully read the labels to reduce your intake of sulphites and additives. There are many brands of sauerkraut that contain just cabbage, white wine and brine, without adding sulphites.
Kombucha is a carbonated fermented drink with green and black tea, so it does contain caffeine, as well as a small amount of cane sugar. It is quite strong tasting in my opinion, and if you are sensitive to caffeine, it will keep you awake. It might be a good substitute for some of the athletic drinks, without the harmful effects.
Probably the most well known fermented probiotic is natural yogurt.
As far as what destroys, or creates an unhealthy gut biome, it is a fairly long list to include: sugar, alcohol, antibiotics, processed food, artificial sweeteners, additives, red meat, gluten, lack of sleep, and unmanageable stress levels, especially around meal times.
Although antibiotics are well known to alter the gut biome, and cause an overgrowth of yeast and fungi, all medications, prescription, over the counter, and supplements will have an effect on gut health. The autoimmune protocol diet, which is designed to heal the gut, specifically eliminates NSAIDs. Medications like Ibuprofen, Naproxen, ASA, Motrin, and several others have a negative impact on gut health.
NSAID’s are COX inhibitors, which is a digestive enzyme. They disrupt the intestinal barrier, and alter the gut microbes. This increased permeability is often referred to as “leaky gut” and will increase inflammation. I used to be a skeptic when it came to leaky gut syndrome, but now have a better understanding of how it comes about.
Anything we ingest must go through the process of digestion, and detoxification if it contains toxins, or harmful compounds. Many supplements are actually harmful. Too much protein can damage the kidneys. Certain spices, if taken in excess can be toxic.
Also if the diet is lacking in nutrients, fibre, whole foods, sufficient protein, healthy carbs, and variety, it will have an adverse effect on gut biome.
How long does it take to get a good balance of microbes in your gut? I suppose it depends on how much it is depleted, and for how long. Apparently dietary changes can begin to alter the gut biome within days, or weeks.
The gut healing autoimmune protocol diet recommends a six month period during which time you avoid dairy, gluten, all grains, legumes, seeds, nuts, and nightshade vegetables. This includes peppers, including spices from peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplant. You can eat sweet potatoes on this regime.
After three and a half months on the AIP diet, I decided to add steel cut oats, buckwheat, chia seeds, hemp, and flax, primarily because I wanted a normal hot breakfast as opposed to eating salmon and sauerkraut for breakfast.
In addition to adding some grains, I reintroduced eggs as well. Otherwise, without dairy, nuts or legumes, the only way to get protein was by eating meat.
The AIP diet does seem to help reduce inflammation.
We all have certain sensitivities, and things we choose to avoid.
Good digestion, and good sleep are real blessings. If they come naturally – we tend to take them for granted.
If not, we might be inclined to learn how to make Miso soup, and find some fermented pickles.
