Listen Here:

In this episode, I discuss:

So many things have been having at Autoimmune Tribe! Listen to some quick updates and then get an inside peek into what I eat.

A tribe member asked me this question the other day, so I’m taking you through what I choose NOT to eat and what a typical day of food DOES look like for me in this episode.

You’re going to learn about OXALATES and why I choose a combination of intuitive eating paired with my lab test results to create an individualized diet that works for me.

Additional Resources:

Monk Fruit

• USDA Organic Monk Fruit : New Water Extraction Method (Purest Form)
• Sweeten Coffee Or Replace Sugar In Any Recipe (250x Sweeter Than Sugar)
• One Ingredient Sweetener / NO Sugar Alcohols / No Dextrose / NonGMO
• Zero Carb, 0g Sugar, Paleo, Keto, Sweetener Ideal For Any Diet
• Kids And Adults Love This Delicious Sweetener That Has 0g Sugar!

Cassava Chips from Siete

These should have been named tortilla chips: The Director’s Cut. Our sister, Vero, made tortilla chips without any grains that taste better than any regular tortilla chip you’ve ever eaten. We were skeptical at first, too, But they’re smooth and crispy and light and refreshing. Right when they pop out the oven, we make it rain with sea salt, so you can eat them straight out of the bag or with your favorite dip or salsa.

Episode Transcript:   

Welcome to the Healing Uncensored Podcast. My name is Sarah Small, and I’m a health and mindset coach for women with autoimmune disease, just like you. I absolutely love helping you tap into your self-healing power, uncover the energetic side of healing, and release limiting beliefs around your body and your life. Think of this podcast is everything you wouldn’t hear at your doctor’s office. It’s a place for empowered souls to move beyond food, and heal themselves on a soul level. I hope you enjoy today’s episode now. Let’s begin.

[musical interlude]

Hello tribe, it’s been a little while. I just wanted to jump on today and say hello. Say, I miss you. And, get you guys caught up on some of the things that have been happening behind the scenes here at Autoimmune Tribe, LLC. And also, talk about what I eat. Someone asked us yesterday, and the day before, and I was, Oh, I can totally talk about that. So, I want to hop on, talk to you guys a little bit about… It’s easier to talk about what I don’t eat, and a little bit of what my daily routine looks like as far as food goes. But, first, let’s talk about what’s been going on. So, we just moved into our first home this past week. And my goodness, it has been a whirlwind. I have respect for homeowners and all of the paperwork that it requires. But, beyond just the paperwork, and then the nitty-gritty of it. Signing your initials and your signature, a million times at closing. I want to talk a little bit for a second about the energetic side of this purchase. So, owning a home is something I’ve always dreamed of. I always wanted my own space and this place to create as my own sanctuary. Design it in my own flare, and like this boho, unicorn style. And, I had this really clear image in my head of what I desired, and that I would have it someday. There were definitely parts of me in the back of my head, who doubted that, and were Sarah, you are, my taxes are 1099. I’m an entrepreneur, I own my own business. And, that makes purchasing a home really difficult. I would love to hear if you guys are listening to live, or you play, put in the comments, #live or #replay. Let me know if you’re a homeowner or not. And also, let me know if you are a homeowner and an entrepreneur.

So, getting back to my story here, I didn’t know if it was going to be possible. As far as logistically, to have 1099 taxes and a business that’s under two years old, and purchase a home. And, on the other side of it, I had this super clear vision that this was the home I was going to buy. It was going to have a big ass back yard. I was going to be able to have chickens. Bella was going to love it (my dog), and she was going to sunbathe out there. And so, we started looking. And we weren’t planning to move, and actually purchase a home until next year. After I had my finances more in order and our taxes more in order.

And, then we found this home. It was about two weeks into searching. And we put an offer on it and they accepted it. And, now we are here. We live in this home. My hair matches the walls. And, by the way, I think I am going to put this on the podcast. So, I’d love for you guys to interact with me. And you’re going to be on the podcast if you do. So, unfortunately, if you’re listening to the podcast, you can’t see that my hair matches my wall, but it does. And, it just felt like it was meant to be. Walked into the home, right in the entrance if you turn to the left in the entryway, there is a picture of a unicorn. It was this watercolor painting of a unicorn. And, I was, Oh my god, I found my people. I found my tribe. This is amazing. And, we wrote that in our offer letter, Sarah loves the unicorn on your wall, pick us, choose me. And, they didn’t choose us. And, they stopped by the other day. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to meet them, but at our doorstep, they left me a painting from the same artist, of another unicorn. I should have brought it upstairs to show you guys. But yeah, the previous owners gave me a unicorn painting. So, I’m pretty sure it’s going to go up in this room, in my office. And, we’re just, we’re really excited. But the reason I’m telling you all these details because the power of belief is so strong. When you believe you could have something, you can freaking have it. It’s going to manifest. You’re going to keep planting that seed over, and over, again. It’s going to come to you, in your life. And, that’s part of what this home purchasing buying process has been for me and my partner.

A lot has been going on behind the scenes in general, here at Autoimmune Tribe. So, we just ended Intuitive Soul School, my first round of Intuitive Soul School. So, soulful, so amazing, so many breakthroughs, transformations, women just waking up., and seeing how freaking powerful they are. Oh my god, to be a witness to that was an honor, but also so much fun. I also have a shitload of amazing podcast interview guests lined up. So, those are all going to happen in the next few weeks. And, you guys are going to be excited about some of the topics of these conversations. And some of the people I’m bringing on, cannot wait. And, then I also, in the past week or two have offered and launched my one-on-one business coaching. And, this is for soulful, spiritual, entrepreneurs who want to build a health or wellness coaching business. And, I’ve been chatting with some entrepreneurs, and it’s been lighting me up inside. I love helping other women start to build abundance and freedom in their schedule and their bank account. And really make it easy for them. So, that’s been going on. And I’m also working on some local workshops. So, excited if you guys are in Colorado, stay tuned. I would love to meet you in person. Some local workshops coming up soon. And then, next week I’m launching a free mini-course. I’ll give you guys a little teaser. It’s on crystals because I have so many people reaching out to me in the last month or so, about how they want to learn more about crystals. And, I had no idea that people even wanted this.

So, thank you for telling me. Now that I know, you guys want to learn more about how to use crystals, the meaning behind crystals, more specifically, how do I actually implement this? What does this have to do with autoimmune disease? I’m going to break that down next week in a free mini-course. It’ll be in the Facebook group. So, if you’re listening to the podcast or somewhere else to this audio, come join the Autoimmune Tribe Facebook group.

But let’s get to what the point of this conversation is today. So, I’m going to talk about what I eat. Again. Someone asked this the other day and, I’m excited to share it. So, here’s my little disclaimer, before I jumped into sharing what I eat, and do not eat. I am not giving anyone advice today on the way you should eat. Okay, I’m going to repeat that. I’m not giving you advice on how you should eat. Instead, I’m simply giving you a little sneak peek into my life, into my meals, letting you get to know me a little bit better. And, some of the why around why I do choose to eat what I do eat. And why I choose not to eat some of the other things and food groups.

So, let’s start with what I don’t eat. Yea. And, I want to hear from you guys too, again, live or replay. What is your diet look like? What are the things that you exclude, and what are the things that you can use stock up on at Costco? One of the things I stock up on in Costco is organic coconut milk. That is a lifesaver for me. And, even if you’re not a Costco shopper, what are the things that you love to have in your pantry, or in your refrigerator-that are there all the time. Coconut milk is there. Avocados are a must for me, they’re always in our home. We always have a ton of avocado oil too, and olive oil. And our veggie basket’s always full as well. Always having produce in our home.

So, what I don’t eat is number one, gluten, for obvious reasons. If you haven’t heard my story, I have celiac disease. So, gluten is a ‘no’ in this household. I also don’t eat any other grains. So, I was for a while, and I was tolerating some rice and some corn. If you didn’t know, corn is a grain. And they really just have not been working well for me. So, all grains, I don’t eat rice, I don’t eat quinoa, I don’t eat corn, I don’t eat wheat, obviously. So, no grains in general. And then, I also do not eat dairy. Dairy, sometimes makes my stomach upset, but mostly makes my skin freak out.

I have had some grass-fed butter lately. I’ll admit that. And, occasionally, I’ll have a little bit of goat cheese without the lactose. I tend to digest better if I ever do. I always take digestive enzymes, because it helps my body breaks it down. So, grains, dairy, I do not eat soy. All through college, I drank soy lattes. Way too many soy lattes, and it was not organic soy. And, I do attribute a little bit of that much soy consumption, to some of my hormonal imbalances. So, everything I’m telling you today, and some of the reasons behind not eating gluten, and having celiac disease. Some of these other foods that I do omit, because of lab testing. So, I highly recommend that you get lab testing done, to try to figure out, do I have a hormone imbalance? Should I avoid soy, for example? It’s much more detailed, and complicated than that, but we’re just sticking on the surface today. And, again, I’m also not a nutritionist or a functional diagnostic nutritionist, but those people are amazing to work with. If you need a recommendation, I have one. I would be happy to refer you to somebody. I also don’t consume caffeine. Caffeine, I again, was having, soy lattes every single day. And then, I switched to having either seed milk, or nut milk for a while, or coconut milk with my typically local coffee shop here. That my boyfriend and I would go to. And, Oh my god, they brew amazing coffee. But, when I started reducing the caffeine in my life, I realized how much better I was feeling.

And, even though it was a sad day, to say goodbye to coffee. I talk about this in Intuitive Soul School actually. Caffeine lowers your vibration. And, as an empath, which I know a lot of you are, empaths. And, a lot of you listening, the podcast is resonating with this term, ‘empath’ and the characteristics behind it. Caffeine lowers your vibration. And, so it makes you more susceptible to feeling fatigued, having a shit ton of anxiety. And, that’s exactly what I experienced. So, I tried to do the whole decaf thing. But, decaf does not mean caffeine-free. Decaf means like 95% caffeine-free. So, I was still getting super tired, when I was drinking decaf. It was like my body shut down when I had caffeine. It was like, Whoa, we can’t process this, go to sleep. And so, I would get really tired. And then, also, my anxiety would really peak, with even a decaf. So, I’ve had to just cut caffeine out of my life. Unfortunately, that also means caffeine and some foods, and not just coffee. Coffee’s not the only caffeine source. Chocolate is a caffeine source. So, I’d be very careful with my chocolate intake, for also, other reasons that I’ll go into in a second. But matcha green tea was another alternative I tried out with coconut milk, super delicious. My body couldn’t handle it. So, I do not do any caffeine. And, the caffeine concentration in green tea is extremely high.

Nightshade. So, again, many of you probably have tried, or follow the autoimmune paleo protocol. I also did that at one point, in my healing process. I do not follow that strictly by any means anymore. I’ve tailored my diet to intuitively eating, and also my lab tests. But nightshades are one of the things that the AIP diet did surface and bring awareness to the surface for me about nightshades. What are nightshades? Peppers, white potato, eggplant, et cetera. And, this category of foods, when I started eliminating that, again, felt really good. Tried to reintroduce, because I’m fully on board with trying to reintroduce foods as quickly as possible so that you do not lose your oral tolerance. And, I really didn’t do well with white potato, green peppers on my gosh, couldn’t stand. And, but I did do okay with cayenne, interesting and jalapeño. So, I don’t have a specific reason why, but I tolerate it. Again, a lot of this is me listening to my body, my intuition, along with lab tests. I will still eat, or now I eat jalapeño and cayenne, as a seasoning, or jalapeño on a cassava taco, or something like that. Because, again, no grains. But [inaudible 14:41] makes a really good cassava tortilla. So, we eat tacos a fair amount in this household actually. Because you can feed everyone with tacos. And I will put jalapeños on there sometimes. So, I’m not completely nightshade anymore, but I was for a while. And, it really was because they made me feel inflamed. So, again, this is just me listening to my body, and we’re all gonna react differently. All that bio-individuality that every single one of our bodies is so unique, so beautiful, so different. And ourselves are unique and different, so, our bodies are gonna react differently. But I hope this is helpful. So, eggs are another one. Sorry our doorbell just, rang. Eggs are another one. I eliminated eggs after muscle testing. So, muscle testing is using your subconscious, tapping into your subconscious, in order to get answers, ask questions.

One of the questions that I asked my subconscious, through muscle testing was if I was having inflammation, acne, and if I had a sensitivity to eggs. Well, it came off very strongly that I did. And, so about two years ago, I cut eggs out of my diet. And, it was a sad day, because I was eating eggs almost every day for breakfast. And, once I cut the eggs out, I was having this jawline breakouts and acne, and it cleared up really quickly after I eliminated eggs. And, so that was a clear understanding for me that, even if eggs don’t make me feel like I’m going to throw up, or I’m going to have to use the bathroom. They are still not being completely digested properly by my body. Now, in the past few months, the foods that I’ve been eating has been pretty limited. And, so I have tried reintroducing eggs more recently. I’m still trying to figure out if they’re really gonna be reintroduced or not. But I have my fingers crossed it, that, maybe that’s a food I can have some, good, high quality, grass-fed eggs. My aunt and uncle have a farm, and when I eat their eggs, I tend to do okay. So, I think it does have something to do with the processing as well. Even though we always buy organic eggs. So, no eggs for now. Trying it out, and then processed foods.

Processed foods. I wanted to add in here just as this general category, because we really don’t buy anything in a box. I mean we buy some flours, and bags of cassava flour, coconut flour, but in general, we’re not purchasing in this home, any sort of processed foods. Sometimes I get Simply Melt, sprouted seed crackers, but for the most part, we’re eating whole foods.

Whole foods. Foods that look the color, and the shape, and the form, that they were when they came out of the earth, or off of a tree, et cetera.

Sugar. Sugar is a recent one in the past year. So, about last June, I cut sugar out of my diet. And it started with a little bit of a slow roll because I definitely had a sugar addiction. I think most humans, these days have a sugar addiction, whether they realize it or not. But I can’t remember the name of this documentary, but this documentary on sugar, that’s on Netflix, that is really eye-opening as well. And how our brains can literally become addicted to sugar, just like drugs. And, I saw that habit in myself, I saw that I had a lot of sugar cravings. Part of that, again, going back to lab testing is because of candida, and both bacterial, fungal, and yeast overgrowth in my gut.

But what really was the last line for me, was when sugar became something that triggered panic attacks. And when sugar triggered panic attacks, for me, it was just a no brainer. I want to live a long, healthy life. I don’t want to be debilitated by anxiety and panic. And, when I cut sugar out, my panic attacks reduced, I would say by 75%. I was getting way fewer panic attacks when I cut sugar out. And, so I’m going to be more specific about this. When I mean, I cut out sugar and we’re still trying to figure out exactly why, me, and my practitioner. Why I’m so sensitive to sugar. But, when I did cut it out, I was replacing gluten-free cupcakes with a date ball or something. Unfortunately, it helps because it’s a more natural form of sugar.

However, I was still getting those triggers. Dates have I believe 16 grams per date, of sugar. That’s crazy. You guys, 16 grams. And so, if you go and do some research on sugar, that’s how much sugar you should have in one day. So, it was a lot of sugar, in the dates that I was trying to replace. And, so I said, enough is enough, I’m not going to do this anymore. I’m strong, and I don’t have to replace sugar with another type of sugar. So, instead, I started to replace it with sugar alternatives, like Monk fruit. So, Monk fruit comes from a fruit and is sourced mostly from Asia. And, they take the fruit and they put it into a powder form. And, it can also be crystallized, like sugar you would buy, like a white sugar you buy. But, I buy it in a very fine powder form, from Julian’s Bakery, organic, pure monk fruits. And, I will add that to anything that I want to make sweet. I really don’t use it as much anymore, because I’ve lost the taste for sugar. But, for a long time, you have to wean yourself off it. It is an addiction. Your body starts to crave it. And, I was needing something to trick my brain into that sugar feeling, that sweet feeling. And, so Monk fruit was the answer for me, for a while. And, again, now, even the monk fruit, it’s also like Stevia, very, very, very sweet. So, you only need a tiny amount. And, now my body’s, we don’t really need this anymore. So, I really backed off that as well. But, it’s been a clutch in some situations. You can bake with it. They have like Monk fruit syrups, a lot of things you can do with Monk fruit.

Meat has been another one for me. So, I was actually a vegetarian for six years, borderline vegan. I would do some cheese, cheese, cheese, every once in a while, back in like my early twenties. And, this was before I was diagnosed celiac as well. And, so I cut meat out. And, I’m not a big label person in general, I guess I was more of a pescatarian because I had actually never cut out fish. But when I did re-introduce chicken, and other poultry, and beef and it was very challenging, after six years. Of number one, not having the stomach acid to then digest meat, because I had lost that. So, digestive enzymes were huge.

Apple cider vinegar, Oh my god, apple cider vinegar. And, when I went from vegetarian to more of a paleo meat-eating diet, was transformational. Bowed down to ACV, apple cider vinegar. Lifesaver for me. But, red meat was really hard to reintroduce, because I had a really hard time digesting it, but I saw that, especially with the MTHFR genetic mutation, that I needed some red meat in my diet. And, so again, in the past couple of years, I’ve really tried to include more grass-fed beef. Again, it’s still hard for me to stomach a little bit. Especially, as a vegetarian who was, yes, I love puppies. But this is a controversial subject, I’m not going to go too deep into it. I have eaten all colors of the rainbow. I currently do eat red meat, but beef is still eh, for me.

And so, I tend to eat bison and lamb, for whatever reason are just way easier for me to stomach. So, I do eat that now, but that was something I took out for a long time. I don’t necessarily recommend it. I want to keep that stomach acid high so that you can digest, and get a lot of the bioavailable protein that is available in red meat.

Nuts are another one. So, I do not eat nuts. I totally rebelled against this. I was, I want to eat peanut butter, give me the peanut butter. But my body really, really does not like nuts. I don’t go into any sort of like anaphylactic or anything like that. And, I never did, when I was a little kid either. All of these are recent since my diagnosis of celiac. And that was, again, in my early twenties. And I’m 30 now. So nuts, I rebelled, I really love cashews. Oh my god, they’re so good. And, they’re an easy snack, but again, they were a trigger for panic attacks for me. I eat nuts, I feel shitty, just straight shitty when I eat nuts. So, I do not eat them anymore. Bye-bye peanut butter, sad, but I’d rather not have panic attacks. And, interesting though, because, I also cut seeds out during that time. Because I just figured that’s in seeds. But I’ve reintroduced seeds. I mentioned sometimes they get a sprouted seed cracker. And I actually tolerate seeds just fine. So, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, I will eat on occasion, and enjoy.

And, then lastly, I want to talk to you guys about oxalate. So, I do not eat a low oxalate diet. And of any of the things I talked about, this is probably like the one that you might not have heard of. And oxalates, I’m actually gonna read this from my FDN. Oxalates are naturally occurring substances found in plants, animals, and in humans. So, they’re in our bodies. The human body naturally generates oxalates. And, we also get oxalates by eating plant-based foods, which contain them. So, there are no oxalates in meat or anything. It’s only in plant-based foods, and they are anti-nutrients that can bind with minerals, such as calcium, magnesium, iron in your food, and prevent their absorption in the body. So, in a healthy individual, moderate quantities, as long as the only thing you’re not… this actually is interesting. So, if you’re only getting oxalates, then, that’s definitely a problem. But, in a healthy individual, moderate quantities of oxalate shouldn’t be a problem.

So, obviously, when there’s a chronic illness, that’s another story. But also, I first heard about oxalates about five years ago. And it was when I can’t remember her name right now. She’s a body ecology diet, Donna Gates. I was doing, I think one of those summits, where you just binge-watch everything. I can’t do those anymore. It’s just way too much. But, she was talking about oxalates. And I remember this talk was one that was actually pretty eyeopening to me because she talked about how there were these prisoners. And, I think it was specifically in Illinois, a prison that was serving really high soy foods to the prisoners. Because it’s a cheap protein, that’s just what they were fed. But it was the majority of what they were fed. And, so these prisoners ended up having these… basically, oxalates can crystallize in your tissue, in your body.

And, when they were researching the issues, the stomach issues that some of these people were having in a specific prison. They had like crystallization forms in their body, crazy stuff you guys. So, I remember that from five years ago, still. But here are some of the factors that can influence the ability of your body to handle oxalates. So, I fall into a lot of these categories, which is why I experience sensitivity to oxalates. And, I had naturally, our intuition is so powerful. My intuition had already told me to not eat some of these high oxalate foods, but I had not cut all of them out. Then, I did an organic acids test or oat test with my practitioner. And then it could be affirmed that I needed to be on a low oxalate diet. But it was again, very interesting that I was already eating pretty low oxalate because my body was just telling me, Hey girl, beets don’t make you feel good. So, again, here are the factors. So, antibiotic use, which I think a lot of us can relate to, and probably have been on antibiotics long-term. For me, I had a staph infection, I had cystic acne, and my dermatologist put me on antibiotics for a shit long time. And, I also was on a lot of antibiotics in high school. And, I was younger as well.

Another thing is the overconsumption of high oxalate foods. This goes back to that prison study. So, if you’re eating a shit ton of spinach, or Swiss chard, or chia, or nuts, that can become a problem for you. Again, I’m not diagnosing anybody’s bag. A micronutrient deficiency. So, if you’re deficient, and this is when I brought in the MTHFR mutation for me, specifically. So, when you have a vitamin B1 and B6 deficiency, both. This will make your body generate more oxalates. And calcium and magnesium are necessary to bind to oxalates, so they are excreted in the stool instead of being absorbed. So, you may have a micronutrient deficiency, because the body isn’t able to absorb the nutrients that you’re putting in. So, there’s a little bit of a malabsorption issue.

Same thing with fat. Fat malabsorption. So, extra fat binds to calcium, and then calcium, therefore, is not able to bind to the oxalates to help rid it and excrete it through your stool. So then, the oxalates instead, are free to get into your blood and your tissues. And, again, from those crystallizations.

Leaky gut is another one. So, again, highly used term. So, there’s this permeability of the lining of your gut. And, within that permeability oxalates then, cross that barrier of your gut lining, and get into your bloodstream.

Another factor here is not getting enough good bacteria.

in your gastrointestinal tract, (GI tract). And when there are not enough good bacteria, then we can’t break down the oxalates.

And then, lastly, genetic mutations, which I have already hinted onto. But some people have a genetic mutation or mutations that create the circumstances in an environment or epigenetics. That they have less of an ability to handle the oxalates, and break down the oxalates, and excrete them. So, I hope this has been a little eyeopening. This is something I’ve known about for a long time. And again, intuitively started to cut out, but it’s something now, that my lab tests confirmed that I really need to be proactive about. So, normally we absorb just one to 2% of oxalates, but when the gut is inflamed, we can absorb as much as 50%, 50% of oxalates. And so, again, this was something that I was seeing as a trigger. Beets triggered anxiety for me. Weird. But that’s just the way it was, which was also part of why we decided to do this test. And, the fact that I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia.

So, I actually really highly recommend anyone listening with fibromyalgia who has chronic pain, and has not done an organic acids test, go get an organic acids test. It’s so eye-opening. There’s more than just figuring out if you have excess oxalates in your body, or not. There’s much more information on the test. That’s one thing that absolutely, you’ll be able to determine with a skilled practitioner, is if you have excess oxalates and if a low oxalate diet may be good for you.

So, now I’m doing several things on the supplementation side, diet side, and I’m also taking a Cal-Mag D (calcium, magnesium) liquid, with food to help bind oxalates so that they aren’t starting to live in my body, create pain. Those, again, crystals are part of what can cause fibromyalgia pain.

Super, super, super interesting. Let’s just give you guys a breakdown of what, you’re like, okay, Sarah. You were talking about these things called oxalates. What are they, other than beats and soy? Let me just tell you some of the main high oxalates. So, it’s actually a scale here. And, there’s actually, and there are Facebook groups on it too, that talk, and there are people freaking oxalate obsessed, in an anti-oxalate way. But, some of the highest oxalate foods that I now avoid are sweet potatoes. Sad day, again.

Here’s the thing though, if I looked at all the things that I’m listing, right now to you, and was like, Oh my god, poor me. I can’t eat fucking anything. I will be living in this very lax, scarcity, mindset. And instead, what I’m about to tell you after I tell you these high oxalate foods, is what I do eat. And, that’s really what I focus on. I focus more on, Oh my god, these are the foods that are nourishing me, that are healing me, that are my food as medicine, and providing fuel for my body. That’s where to focus your mindset. And mindset’s my jam. So, I focus less on, what it is I can’t eat, and more on what are the foods I can eat? How can I get creative with them? All right, sorry. Tangent there. High oxalate foods are beets, field greens, including spinach. That was when I was eating a lot of spinach, before. That was one of the things I had not intuitively cut out. Swiss chard, kale, sweet potatoes. I mentioned that one. Celery, I know, sorry, goes totally against the medical medium. Medical medium’s all about celery juice, every single day. Maybe even more than once a day. And, again, this is bio-individuals. So, this, I do not consume celery, right now in my life, because I had access oxalates. If you only drank X celery juice, you probably have excess oxalates too. So, just be aware of that.

Do intuitively what feels best for your body, and get lab tests done. Green beans are another one. Rhubarb, blackberries. Again, I was actually eating a lot of blackberries, because berries are low sugar fruits. And, so I could tolerate some of those berries, whereas, I can’t tolerate an apple, or a banana, or a mango, it’s way too high sugar for me. So, I was eating blackberries and blueberries. Well, blackberries are high oxalates. So, now I just stick to my blue, my blubes. Other high excellent fruits are guava, plantains, raspberries, kiwi, pomegranate starfruit, figs, and then, most nuts are also high oxalates. So, almonds, sesame seeds, chia seeds, peanuts, chocolate. Sad day, chocolate. I’m going to have you again. I know it. And then, some grains, and lentils, beans, that fall in the high oxalate diet. High oxalate range is quinoa, soy, as I mentioned, buckwheat, and again, most beans, most grains are high oxalate.

But, the good news is, you can eat all the meat you want. So, meat does not contain oxalates. Don’t eat only meat. Please don’t do that. But yeah, so this is what I do not eat. And, now you’re probably wondering like, what the hell do you eat then, Sarah. Put into the comments, what you guys are currently eating. What are you currently loving? What are you avoiding in your diet?

Here’s what I do eat. So, the basis of this, the structure, the recipe of my meals every single day. And, when I go to the grocery store, I stick to the outer aisles. I very, rarely, will go into any of the aisles of the grocery store. Because, the outer edge of the grocery store is where you find your protein, your seafood, your fruits, and your vegetables. So, other than coconut milk, and maybe some cassava flour, sometimes, I really don’t go into the aisles. And I’ll stick to the edges of the grocery store. And, again, the basis, the bulk of this, I eat whole foods. So, I eat vegetables that are low oxalate. I eat high quality, healthy fats, and I eat proteins. Proteins that are mostly chicken, bison, lamb, as I was mentioning before. And, then fish, shellfish. Fortunately, I don’t have shellfish allergies, so that’s good. And, I’m not trying to be keto or anything, with the no sugar. But, I call myself accidentally keto, sometimes. Because again, based on my intuition, which makes me feel good. What makes me feel shitty, and, my lab testing, I’ve basically fallen into like a keto diet. I’ve never tested to see if I’m in ketosis or not. But it’s possible.

So, here’s what a little bit of my day looks like. Breakfast is usually either a grain-free collagen added waffle or pancake. So, I’ll make that from scratch. Really simple coconut flour, cassava flour, baking powder, baking soda, just very easy ingredients. I always add collagen when I’m baking, when possible. Or I had collagen. And I get my collagen from Further Food. Okay, cut. Here’s an ad for you guys. Go to furtherfood.com, use the promo code, AUTOIMMUNE TRIBE10 and you get 10% off. There’s my love for you today. Go try it. You’ll love it.

Grain-Free waffles and I’ll do that like with a protein like turkey patties or something. But, I also often, for breakfast, we’ll eat leftovers from the night before. I’m a huge leftover fan. I know some people are just weird as hell about leftovers. I’m not gonna eat french fries the next day. But, other than that, I adore leftovers. I love having leftovers in the house, and I will always eat them. I also love soup for breakfast. So, I don’t know about you guys. I think it’s becoming pretty common within AIP, to be creative about breakfast. But, I really loved eating soup for breakfast, like a butternut squash soup, or now, asparagus is more of a medium oxalate food. But, I was doing like an asparagus soup, was super yummy, for breakfast.

And, then I snack. I snack on blueberries as I mentioned. I am a big blueberry fan. I use wild blueberries in a smoothie or a moose that I make because there’s actually a huge difference between the blubes that you get in the little carton and wild blueberries. And, you’ll see in the size, there’s a major difference as well. And, the antioxidant level in the wild blueberries is way higher. So, I’ll snack on some blueberries. I also love cassava-based snacks. Whether that’s their tortillas or their chips. Lifesaver, thank you for existing. So, glad you’re there to make a grain-free option that tis easy, and on the go. Because this can be challenging sometimes.

For lunch. I often eat some chicken with veggies. It’s really simple, but I’m not depriving myself. I let myself eat as much as I want. And ladies, girl eats a lot. If I’m hungry, I’ll chow. I don’t worry about how much I’m eating. I just eat until I’m full. And yes, for lunch, chicken veggie, sometimes I’ll eat a salad. It’s been more challenging now, that I do not eat spinach. But other types of grains I can eat, and sometimes I’ll play with a salad and just, put as much on top, as I want to put on top. Now, [inaudible] seeds that I can tolerate, a protein, cucumber, carrot, all that good stuff. And, then I always get in good, healthy fats into my diet. I’m obsessed right now. I kind of go through phases in my meals, but right now, I’m obsessed with avocado mousse. I just made this recipe up, but I take, so there’s no measurement. This is why I am not a food blogger. I have a few recipes on my website, but I stopped. I’m sticking to my zone of genius, and not telling you guys how to cook, because I am like the girl who just, that looks good. Yep. Sprinkle some salt. Yep. Some cumin put it all in a bowl, shake, shake. Even when someone gives me a recipe, I’m, yeah, we’ll just use that as a guide. I’ll make it up on my own.

So, this is my sort of avocado mousse recipe. I take a little bit, I don’t know if that means, a little, this is what a little bit looks like, of wild blueberries. Again, wild blueberries, a whole avocado. Chop it up, or just half it. Because I put it in a blender. Wild blueberry, avocado, some coconut milk. Maybe like, I don’t know, half a cup. Some collagen and lately I’ve been doing Dr. Axe’s bone broth protein. I get the vanilla kind. It’s so good. It’s sweetened with monk fruit. Alleluia, Oh my god. There are so many protein powders out there that are shit. And, there’s a lot that are just full of sugar. So, this one has been really good for me. It has a blue label on it, and it is a vanilla flavor. And I’ll put that in there. So, that gives me the sweetness and the flavor. And, then three or four ice cubes. That’s it. I blend it up, and it’s like yummy dessert, high fat, healthy fat, no sugar, lots of antioxidants from those wild blubes. And, that’s it. I eat one of those almost every day. It’s my little sweet treat. But also, a really good snack., when I just need something to get me between lunch and dinner, for example.

Dinner, we always make a protein. So, whether that’s bison or salmon, or we’ve been loving on some barramundis, pretty sustainable fish. We get wild-caught fish, grass-fed meats, or we always get organic for our meat. Local when possible, which is pretty easy in Colorado. And, then we just literally pile our plates with vegetables. So, again, sticking to low oxalate vegetables, but we’ll eat broccoli. Broccoli’s is a tricky one, because broccoli if you were to bake it or something, is high oxalate. But if you steam it, it’s low oxalate. So, we’ll steam some broccoli or we’ll have some brussel sprouts or squash. Oh my gosh, we love squash. Acorn squash, summer squash, spaghetti squash, oh, give me all the squash. And then healthy fats. So, avocado oil, olive oil, and that’s dinner. It’s really simple. It may not sound super exciting. And, frankly, it’s not right now. When I have the energy, I do get creative, and we’ll add some flair. But, whole foods, plant-based, mostly veggies, lots of high-quality fats, grass-fed meat, and that’s it. And, I’ve just been loving on my body and listening to my intuition, as far as what to eat, and what does it make me feel good?

Listen to what your body does after you eat. Listen for the next 24 hours after you eat something, especially if it’s new. And, listen to that intuitive voice inside your head, and literally your gut. I like to mix that intuition with the lab tests, and that’s where I’ve come to all of these conclusions.

Well, I could talk to you in three months, and it might’ve completely changed, to be honest. But, again, it’s okay to change your diet as you heal your gut, or as you discover more food sensitivities. I’m actually doing right now, the MRT food sensitivity test with my practitioner, to find more answers. So, we’re both still a little stumped as to why I’m so sensitive to sugar. So, we’re hoping that might bring up some answers, in this MRT test. And, it’s you go to a lab, get a blood test done, and see if there are any other foods. Like, say I have a sensitivity to cassava or something. And cassava is flour and a chip that I will eat right now. It will be good to know that’s actually creating inflammation in my body. So, I’ll have more answers soon.

What I want to hear from you guys is what do you eat? Where do you find your nutritional information? Do you eat intuitively? Do you follow the AIP diet? Do you work with a practitioner? How do you determine what you eat every single day?

That’s a little insight into what I do and do not eat. And how I choose what I eat every day. I’d love to hear from you. Tag me in your comments, or screenshot this, put it on Instagram. And I’ll be excited to see.

Love you.

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