Liver
Paleo Naan Bread-Linseeds and Coconut Flour
Ingredients;
- 2.5 Tablespoons of ground linseeds (flaxseeds)
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt or thick coconut milk
- 1.5 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1/2 cup arrowroot powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- Coconut oil or ghee for cooking
Directions;
- Mix all ingredients in a food processor until combined well. It won’t be quite a dough consistency but it’s also not going to be quite as runny as pancake batter.
- Melt 1 tablespoon or so, of ghee or coconut oil in a frypan over medium high heat.
- Drop about two to three large tablespoons of batter into the hot pan.
- Wet your finger with water and tap down the batter to help spread it into a circle shape.
- Cook about 2 minutes per side or until golden
Notes;
This makes about 4 fairly large Naan Breads.
Master Elixir Recipe
Ingredients;
- turmeric root
- chopped garlic
- diced onion
- chopped hot chillies (wear gloves and be prepared to have your sinuses cleared!)
- grated or sliced ginger
- grated horseradish
- chopped carrot
- chopped apple
- diced celery
- orange and lemon pieces
Optional;
- mustard seeds
- parsley
- oregano
- thyme
- juniper berries
- Himalayan salt
Apple Cider Vinegar (make sure it’s organic with the “Mother”)
Instructions;
- Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, except for the vinegar.
- Fill 2/3 of a large jar with the mixture. Make sure the jar seals well.
- Pour in the apple cider vinegar on top of the mixture until it fills up to the top.
- Close tightly.
- Shake well.
- Store the jar in a cool, dark place for up to 2 weeks. Shake well as often as possible, at least once a day.
- After 14 days, strain it through a muslin cloth, into a bowl, to pour into a jar.
- Squeeze well to make sure all the juice comes out.
This elixir will be VERY HOT, so start with small amounts, maybe use it as a salad dressing first and then build up the amount as your taste buds get used to it. It’s best not to dilute it with water.
This elixir may help with;
- stimulating the immune system
- feeding beneficial gut bacteria as a pre-biotic
- killing harmful gut bacteria and yeasts (including candida)
- stimulating metabolism
- weight loss by increasing satiety (a feeling of fullness) and reducing appetite
- reducing blood triglycerides, cholesterol and blood pressure
- regulating blood sugar levels
- alkalising the system by regulating the pH level
- preventing and reducing indigestion and reflux
- detoxification of the liver
- cleansing lymph nodes of toxic waste
- soothing and healing mucous membranes such as throat, gut lining, urinary tract
- inhibiting and reducing muscle cramps
- reducing post exercise muscle fatigue
As this is a fermented drink, it may cause issues for those suffering from high levels of histamines. Come and see me to reduce histamine levels naturally.
Beetroot Dip Paleo and GAPS friendly
Beetroot Dip
- 2 medium to large beetroots, scrubbed and cut into chunks
- 1 small onion
- cloves garlic, peeled and quartered
- 1/4 lemon, juiced
- 1/2 tsp Garam masala powder* (optional)
- 1 tsp paprika
- Salt & Pepper
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- Olive oil
- (1/2 hot chilli, halved long ways)
- Foil
(* If you don’t have garam masala, you can replace it with 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/8 teaspoon ground coriander, 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon & 1/8 teaspoon paprika)
Instructions:
- Pre-heat oven to 180C
- Place a piece of foil (long enough to wrap your ingredients in, so probably a bit longer than a roasting dish) on the table ready for your beetroot.
- Cut the stems off and scrub the beets carefully to remove dirt and most of the skin. Cut beetroot into chunks and place on the piece of foil.
- Peel onion and garlic, cut into chunks and place on the beetroot. (If you want your dip to have a bit of heat to it, cut a hot chilli in half long ways and add in.)
- Season with salt & pepper, drizzle with olive oil and squeeze on a bit of lemon juice.
- Wrap the foil carefully into a long parcel, place parcel in a roasting dish and roast until done (roughly 90 mins, check with a fork).
- When the beetroot is roasted soft, blend the ingredients until smooth. (I used a wand mixer, but blender would work just as well.)
- Add in olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garam masala, paprika and blend together.
- Season with salt & pepper and adjust spices until right.
- Refrigerate overnight and serve cold!
Image courtesy of Simon Howden at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Vegetarian and Vegan “Bone Broth”
Ingredients:
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, smashed
1 cup shiitake mushrooms, sliced (or regular if shiitake unavailable)
½ chilli, sliced (use more or less depending on how spicy you like it)
1 tablespoon coconut or rice bran oil 1 Tblespn of dried wakame reconstituted in a bowl of water
1 carrot, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
5cm piece of ginger, peeled 5cm piece of turmeric root 1 bay leaf
2 1/2 litres water
1/2 cup loosely packed coriander leaves 1/4 cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped
1 cup spinach and/or kale
1 tspn sea salt
juice of ½ a lemon
Tamari to taste
1 Tblespn of organic light miso paste
1 tspn spirulina
- Heat the oil and sauté the onions, garlic, chilli and mushrooms together until soft.
- Drain the water off the wakame and combine with carrots, celery, ginger, turmeric and water in a pot, bring to a boil, and then simmer 45 minutes.
- Remove from heat and strain.
- Combine broth with sautéed mushroom mixture, coriander, spinach, kale, lemon juice, sea salt, tamari, miso and spirulina.
- Allow the heat of your broth to wilt the coriander, parsley, spinach and kale.
- Ladle into bowls or mugs and enjoy the spicy aroma of this fabulous gut-healing broth.
Fish Bone Broth
Prep Time: 15 minutes • Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 1-2 non-oily fish carcasses from cod, sole, haddock, hake, etc.
- 1 Tbs. ghee or butter (use coconut oil for dairy free option)
- Vegetables: 1 onion or leek, 1-2 carrots, 1-2 celery stalks diced finely
- 1 cup dry white wine, optional
- Herbs, optional – 3-4 sprigs thyme, 2 bay leaves, ½ -1 tsp. peppercorns
- Cold, filtered water, to cover
- 1-2 fish heads, gills removed
- Simmer veggies in Ghee, butter or oil over medium heat for about 5-10 minutes. Place fish carcasses, fish heads (if using), herbs and peppercorns over veggies, cover and simmer 5-10 more minutes. This will stimulate the fish to release their flavours before adding the water.
- Add wine (if using) and water to cover the carcasses and bring to a simmer and skim scum that forms on the surface. The scum won’t hurt you! It’s just some impurities that get released. This happens in all types of bone broths.
- Simmer gently 45-60 minutes.
- Strain broth from carcasses and veggies.
- Store in the fridge for up to 5 days. Freeze, whatever you won’t use in that time, and use within 3 months
Notes:
Non-oily fish is necessary because the fish oils in fatty fish such as salmon become rancid in cooking.
The cartilage in fish bones breaks down to gelatin very quickly, so it’s best to cook broth on the stove top.
Make sure you use the carcasses from non-oily whitefish such as cod, sole, snapper, haddock and hake. Any non-oily fish works fine. Avoid oily fish like salmon, tuna, herring and swordfish (though their flesh works great in chowders and other fish-based soups).
Also, if possible, try to get some fish heads in addition to the carcasses. Generally speaking, you probably won’t get much gelatin from just fish carcasses.
Finally, as opposed to other types of bone broths, be sure to dice the veggies finely. This allows them to release their flavours more efficiently with the shorter cooking time.
Image courtesy of olovedog at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Foods that HEAL the Liver, foods that HARM the liver!
Our liver is so important to our overall health. It is our main organ for detoxification (along with the kidneys, lungs and skin). This means it is constantly working to clear away toxins, wastes from the blood and cellular metabolism and excess hormones. It processes nutrients that have been broken down by the digestive system, separating toxins for waste (such as pesticides and herbicides) from the nutrient which go on to become building blocks of our body. It also stores sugar as glycogen, especially if there is too much glucose in the blood stream and not enough insulin to process it.
It can easily be damaged by too much visceral fat (fat that is stored around organs in the body), alcohol, excess sugar and particularly fructose (fruit sugar or high fructose corn syrup), toxic damage from chemicals added to food, certain medications (such as paracetamol) and toxins in the environment, viral infection, excess iron and copper, and tumours.
Foods that HEAL the Liver
- Beetroot
- Carrot
- Grapefruit (if not on medications, especially blood pressure meds)
- Dark Green leafy vegetables including; spinach, dandelion leaves, beetroot tops, rocket and kale
- Citrus fruits. Lemon juice in warm water is great first thing in the morning.
- Asparagus
- Artichoke Hearts
- Garlic
- Avocado’s
- Apples
- Salmon
- Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and Brussel sprouts. If you have an underactive thyroid, it’s better to cook these.
- Dandelion Root Tea
- Green Tea
- Walnuts
- Turmeric
- Olive Oil
- Liver supportive herbs
Foods, drinks, drugs and diseases that HARM the Liver
- Alcohol
- Sugar and Fructose
- Artificial Sweeteners
- Soda drinks especially Coca Cola etc
- Pesticides and herbicides
- Pollution
- Pharmaceutical drugs
- Trans fats (found in baked goods, pastries, pies, fast food)
- Excessive use of salt
- Fast Food
- Excessive synthetic vitamin A
- Smoking
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- Infections such as Hepatitis
- MSG
Eating a diet that is rich in fresh and predominantly raw food (especially those from the list above), and keeping the list of harmful foods, etc, to a minimum, is the best way to a healthy liver.
Doing a regular Detox, is a great way to take the burden off your liver. Call me if you think it’s time to give your liver a break!
The great news is that the liver is one of the few organs in the body that has the ability to heal itself (if the damage isn’t too extensive).
Group Detox EARLY BIRD Special ENDS This Friday
If you’ve been thinking about doing a Detox, but just don’t want to do it alone, join my Group Detox starting on February 5th.
Book and pay by Friday the 23rd and receive $15 off the price.
Don’t miss out, call me on 0409 506 477!
