Many of my clients cannot tolerate gluten or yeast, so it has been my quest for some time to find a simple homemade gluten-free, yeast-free bread alternative.  After doing a Google search, I came across this buckwheat bread recipe and made it myself.  It tasted fine, but was on the dry side.  Also, the bread was dense.  I did the math, and a very small slice was ~130 calories, which may be appropriate for someone with high-calorie needs like an athlete or growing child/teen, but I wanted an alternative that was more moist and not quite as calorie-dense, so I embarked on a recipe experiment.  Instead of adding 1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons) of olive oil that the original recipe called for, I cut back to 1 Tablespoon oil and replaced the other remaining 3 Tablespoons oil with canned pumpkin in one loaf and unsweetened applesauce in the other loaf.  I was pleasantly surprised, and am excited to share my concoction with you!

Sometimes it's difficult to get in enough vegetables, especially if you live a fast-paced lifestyle and always seem to be on the go.  There's no denying that most vegetables aren't portable-friendly, green veggies in particular. However, there is an easy way to "get your green on" without having to sit down with a fork and knife and eat a salad or a plate of kale!  

Whole food smoothies are an excellent way to meet your veggie quota so you can get in enough antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and water easily - no utensils required!  In honor of St. Patty's Day, I crafted a delicious green smoothie concoction just for you so you can drink and be merry without the alcohol (beer, wine, and spirits are detrimental to good gut health).  Each recipe provides 2 servings of veggies, but a bonus is that it doesn't taste like V8 juice.  It naturally has a pleasant sweet/tart flavor and is very refreshing!

​By now, you've probably read many articles on gut microflora and understand how important it is to your overall health - including immunity, digestion, mood, and even your ability to absorb key nutrients from the food you eat!  Before I delve into the "meat" of this blog post, I first want to explain a bit of background information, so you can better understand how your gut microflora impacts you on an everyday basis.
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In my last post, I talked about how eating too much protein can lead to GI issues.  Well, there's another reason why high-protein diets can cause stomach distress: insufficient carbohydrate and fiber intake.  Quite often, high-protein diets emphasize carbohydrate restriction, which naturally makes it difficult to meet fiber needs, since fiber is from carbohydrates.