Welcome back to the inspired
living with autoimmunity show.
I'm your host, Julie Michelson.
And today we are joined by Shawn Borup,
founder of show me healthy living.
And we're talking about food is fuel and
the healing power of single ingredient.
Whole foods from what to
avoid, to what to include.
Sean guides us on how to make the dietary
changes that will allow us to all feel our
best and share our gifts with the world.
Sean welcome to the podcast.
Thank you so much, Julie.
I'm I'm just so pleased to be here.
So excited for our conversation today.
I didn't share with you
that, that I grew up.
My stepfather had a restaurant.
It was really three restaurants and one.
So I didn't realize that
created a passion for food.
Back then, I, I can
connect those dots now.
So I love just the passion, the
wisdom, the expertise that you're
bringing for the audience today.
And we, we we're chatting
before I hit record.
I will do my best to stay on task.
Cuz I have so many areas
I wanna talk to you about.
But first I wanna know, how did
you get passionate about this?
How did you get so involved
in helping people eat healthy?
Yeah, I, I grew up a really sickly child.
I had severe asthma and I just was, I,
I felt like I was sick all the time.
And then when I started having my own
children and then they had issues starting
to show up I, I remember you know, going
to a birthday party with my daughter and.
Because she had asthma so bad too.
You know, every time she ate all of
the things that everyone else was
eating, then her symptoms would get
worse and we would pay the price.
So once I learned how to get refined
sugar out, I remember making her her
very special cupcake and we would
go to parties and, and I took it
out of my bag when it was, you know,
time to celebrate the birthday.
And the mom sitting next to me
said, you know, what is that?
And I said, this is a cupcake
that my daughter can eat.
That doesn't make her sick.
And, and so that, you know, that reminds
me of when she was a few years before
that I was sitting in the rocking
chair one night about 3:00 AM, giving
her another breathing treatment.
And just thinking to myself, I
wonder if there's a better way and.
Then that thought just kept reoccurring.
And until it was, I know there's,
there's gotta be a better way
and I'm, I'm going to find it.
I was so scared, you know, watching her
little face and her lips turned blue.
And because that took me back because
I remember as a child not being
able to breathe and I was in the
hospital, I was in an oxygen 10.
And the, there was a zipper on the
side where my parents could put
their hand in and hold my hand.
And I remember looking up into
the side and alls I could see was
plastic and I just wanted to go home.
And it was, it was really, really hard as
a child, not understanding why I was sick.
And my earliest recollection is
when I was about 18 months old.
That was back in the day when parents
could not stay overnight with your child.
And I remember standing in the
crib screaming, mommy, mommy,
and watching my mom walk away.
And.
Then the door closed.
And so when people ask me why I do what
I do that's just a little background
of the, the things that, you know,
the journey that I've had and, and
with my own kids and the miracle.
Of it all.
Julie is when we started focusing
on the food, which was like a
foreign concept to me because,
you know, my mom bless her heart.
She did the best she could,
but, but she just did not know.
I was just raised on the
standard American diet.
We had a.
Small little garden.
I grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada.
So we had a small little garden in the
backyard and, you know, we, we grew
carrots and some lettuce, but I mean, it
was very minimal in when I was growing up.
I mean, it was all about canned food.
Frozen foods were, you know,
big, like the, the TV dinners
were just, yeah, coming.
They were just popular.
You know, all of that.
And so we, as, you know, as a
family and we just ate this standard
American diet and so had, had
never considered that, that food.
And then as a sick child, I
went on so many antibiotics that
my, my entire immune system.
Was so compromised all the time,
because it was a chronic, you know,
round the it was a, a cycle, right.
That you get on and you, you
feel like you're in this hamster
wheel and you can't get out.
And so it was, so it was such a
miracle to see that shift when
we changed our food, when we got.
You know, things out of our diet
that need, that were making us sick.
And we put things in that our body
really needed that like the right
kind of fuel the way I teach kids is
would you ever go to the gas station
and fill up your tank with gasoline?
You know, and you know, it.
It's an, you know, obvious answer, but
it helps them to understand that there
is certain fuel for certain things.
And when we don't use the right fuel, it's
just like, I remember one time our, one
of our boys put diesel in fuel in his car.
Right.
And then he's calling dad, Hey,
you know the car won't start,
you know, same kind of concept.
Like when we understand as
humans, what food is really.
Truly fuel it's it's like a whole new
world opens up and, you know, in working
with, you know, with chronic health
conditions, why food is, you know, there's
so many other parts of the puzzle, but
food is such a big piece because we do
it multiple times, every single day.
Absolutely.
And I love the, the food as fuel is
one of the biggest mindset shifts
that I help people, you know,
step into because that that's not
usually how they show up at my door.
You know, food is soothing food,
you know, food is everything.
Fuel.
And, and we, you know, we
definitely, we need that fuel.
Which leads me to my,
my, where I wanna start.
So often talk about hamster wheels.
You know what you, you mentioned standard
American diet, which is a, just a, you
know, full of high carbs, processed
grains, sugars, bad fats, all of it.
But I wanna start with just this most,
to me, the simplest to understand,
to just carry the, the fuel theme.
Is this sugar addicted?
Piece of the standard American diet.
And, and that cycle of, you know,
well, in theory, glucose is fuel.
It's a fuel our body can use.
And, and I'm not, it's, I'm not
talking about, you know, when we
produce glucose, cuz we, we have a
stress response or so I try not to
do the whole, like all sugar is evil.
But we get into this
inflamed addicted cycle.
And as you know, when most people
find me, they're exhausted, fatigue
is such a big part of the autoimmune
experience, no matter the diagnosis.
So let's, let's start with sugar.
And, and why is that something
we decided we wanna talk about?
Yeah, I, you know, I started
a Facebook group years ago
called sweet life without sugar.
Because I, I knew from my own experience
and what I had gone through with my own
children and just talking with people and
how much they struggle with it is that
that is, and, and, and personally, that
was the first thing we did, you know, so
when I started this journey, the first
thing I did was I removed refined sugar.
And refined flour from my kitchen.
And it was just, we just
no longer brought it in.
If there was a treat to be, you
know eaten, it was out of the house
because if it's in your kitchen,
you're just, you know, you're
gonna go automatically to that.
Like the brain's gonna, the brain just
fires up when it sees a package of Oreos.
I don't know how else to explain it.
You know, that's why, you know the,
all of these types of whether it's
sugar or high fructose corn syrup or.
Corn syrup solids, or you know, all of
these different types of sugar, which by
the way, there's over 80 different names.
And there's so many of them used today
that people don't even know that are sugar
that it is, you know, that's maddening
because the way that food is marketed
today is they're very, very clever.
There's a lot of trickery out there.
And, and if we have time, maybe
we'll talk a little bit just about
tips for navigating through a
grocery store, because that is so.
Overwhelming.
I remember the first time going with my,
you know, my new shift to my new lifestyle
and reading labels for the first time.
I mean, actual ingredients
Yes.
The label on the back,
Yeah, everything was,
oh, gotta put that back.
Oh, gotta put that back.
I mean, that's what I felt like.
I, it, it was a high level of frustration,
but, but just to make it simple, the
first thing I did was I got rid of white
sugar and I got rid of white flour.
Why white flour people think
of white flour as well.
That's in breads and you know,
those type of things, unfortunately,
and even wheat flour and that
this is another trickery that.
Teacher listeners, if you don't see
the word whole in front of the word
wheat, then you are eating white
flour that has been colored with a
caramel coloring, which you know,
it just makes insult to injury.
Right?
That much worse.
So I removed those things from
my kitchen, which, you know,
you use this flower, right.
To make pancakes, you know,
biscuits, whatever you, you
use it for multiple things.
And so.
What, unfortunately what happens?
White flour or just regular wheat
flour, they have taken the brand and
the germ out of that grain out of
that product, because those are the
things that have a shorter shelf life.
And of course we know that for food
manufacturers, it's all about the money.
And so.
They can't have their product going bad.
It has to be able to, you know, be
transported, transported hundreds of
miles, if not thousands, and then sit
on the shelf and then it has to still
look good, taste, good, smell, good.
Everything.
When you bring it home and you
know, to be in your cupboard.
So.
That's, what's left in this
flower is just the starch.
And if you are, you know, if you've,
if you used white glue in school
grade schools, like I did the paste.
Okay.
That is basically flower and water.
Okay.
And that.
used to eat it.
Yeah, right, exactly.
But that's what it is.
It is a sticky glue.
And so what happens is we have to
remember that in our gut 80% of about 80%
of our immune system lives in our gut.
And we have 30 to 35 feet.
I mean, wrap your head around that
30 to 35 feet of intestines that
our food has to travel through.
So if we're eating a lot of white
flour or wheat flour that is all
this starch that it turns to glue.
It is sticking in our intestines.
It gets stuck.
And that is a creating a, an
environment for a swamp and in
swamps, that's where infections live.
Right.
And so there is it, it's just when
you get educated and just understand
just some basics of what is in some
of the basic foods that are used,
you know, so just overused in today.
Traditional diet.
Then you kind of can understand why
we're seeing so much illness and
so much, you know, obesity and type
two diabetes in young, young people,
which, you know, I mean, the list just
goes on and on you and I, we could
talk about this forever, but anyways,
that's the first thing that I did.
And so how, how do you do that?
I mean, this, it, that is
hard when you, that is what,
you know, we do what we know.
We, we have a comfort cycle.
Right of the way we do things in our life
for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks.
And, you know, we know that as
humans, we are creatures of habit.
And so changing habits is
it is a definite shift.
And if we don't see any benefit in
changing that habit, then we don't have
the motivation to keep that habit going.
And so that it, you know, it, but it,
it takes just a little bit of patience.
And that's why I always tell
people, don't beat yourself up.
You just go forward,
you do the best you can.
Every single.
And you try to do it's with
all in all areas of our life.
We try to be, you know,
I just say 1% better.
Like, you know, just let me
be 1% better today of a human
being, you know, in all areas.
Yep.
So, so anyways, what, what did I do?
How did I change that?
So I started using local, raw honey.
And why local, raw honey.
Because when we eat honey, that is
local and raw raw means it's been unpro.
It's been unheated because typical
honey, like in the bare little
plastic bottle, that's really thin.
And in this really light color,
Unfortunately that honey's been heated.
And so all of the enzymes
that are naturally in that
honey have been destroyed.
And why are those enzymes important?
Well, is those enzymes that
help to in the digestion of
every cooked food that we eat.
So just think about what
you ate yesterday, how much
cooked food did you eat?
Did you eat any raw food at.
The average American doesn't eat any
vegetables and the vegetables that
they eat are potatoes and ketchup.
So you know, it's pretty, it's
pretty sad, but because our bodies
need these enzymes, they are very,
very important in our bodies.
Production of amino acids.
Again, we create we, we make amino acids.
Those are the building blocks of protein.
And, you know, there's just so
many, so many reasons why we
need to eat live food, right.
One ingredient food.
And so I switch to local raw honey,
and also the, because it's local.
You can.
Get a lot of benefit to seasonal
allergies, pollens that come, you
know, your body in other words,
gets the nourishment that it needs
so that you don't go into you
know, have these overreactions,
you know, as the seasons change.
So eating local honey, and, you
know, I teach the kids, I at the
Y M C a and I will hold up this
container of honey and, and ask them
to read where this honey is from.
And they will say Montana.
And I said, is Montana
close to where we live?
And they'll all kind of start laughing.
Yes, we live in Montana, but I want
them to appreciate, you know, the
if, if everyone was sourcing their
food, you know, close to where they.
We would be so much healthier.
We would feel so much better on
a day to day basis, but so going
back to sugar so local raw honey
was a sweetener that I used.
But I also started noticing that
there were foods like bananas.
Butternut squash, beets and
carrots, like all these real
foods that are naturally sweet.
And do you know that you can make a
wonderful brownie with butternut squash
as you know, as most of the sweetener?
I mean there anyways, I, I just started
a little bit, you know, again slowly at a
time we got rid of our pancake mix, right.
That was already done for us.
And.
We, I started using oats and I
would put the oats in the blender
and make a, a coarse flour.
And we started making oatmeal pancakes.
And instead of buying Mrs.
Butterworths and Jemima maple syrup that
we had grown up on, which by the way
not maple syrup.
2%.
Yeah.
2% local
we were a log cabin, family,
and boy was I sad when I found
out that that wasn't maple syrup
I know.
Right.
And so the other 98%, just for listeners
that, that is made up of two things, sugar
and chemicals, that's what's in there
And corn say were even worse.
I would say even worse.
Corn syrup and chemicals.
is exactly.
And you know I'm not sure when high
fructose corn syrup or corn, corn
syrup first was, was the craze.
And then they figured out that high
fructose OSE current syrup was, Hey,
A whole bunch sweeter and cheaper and
faster to make than regular corn syrup.
So they switch to that, which, you know,
we have seen a rise in children's ability
to pay attention their, you know just
all of this stuff shows up irritability.
Illness, autoimmunity, all of it.
It all, it all connects.
And so, and I've noticed go ahead.
probably laughing right now, cuz
they're like, you know, is she
telling us to eat whole wheat flour?
Julie's always saying gluten free gluten.
In free, you have autoimmunity different
thing right now we're focusing on real
food and why the whole food is so much
different than, than the processed parts.
And I want that butternut squash.
Brownie recipe from you because for
the first I, we have, I can't even
believe the abundance of butternut
squash we have growing right now.
Oh,
I've never, we never planted it
before and it has literally taken
over my yard and I'm so excited,
And here's another thing I do that I love
to do with butter and squash is I actually
make a sauce, a cheese sauce for you know,
either and, and most of the time going
back to, you know, gluten free most of
the time, I just naturally eat that way.
And and, but I make a cheese sauce that
is the main ingredient is butternut
squash and to go on either you know,
zucchini noodles or some brown rice
noodles, and it tastes amazing.
It, it's an amazing, like macaroni
and cheese sauce, if you will,
but I I'm glad you brought up
the, you know, the, the wheat and
the, you know, not eating gluten.
Because I just wanna touch on
that for a minute, just to give
everyone a little bit of education.
So once upon a time, the way that wheat
was grown was they would hand cut it.
Right?
And so when, when they hand cut it,
then it would lay on the field overnight
and it would begin to sprout and
before it was taken in and processed.
And so then you.
So there was already a lot of
nutrients already in that food.
And, and you know, this is a
whole nother topic that I'd great.
Be grateful to come back and talk about
was what, what is the point of sprouting
and soaking and all of these things
that used to happen back in the day.
And all of a sudden today we
have all of these stomach issues.
And so it's like, I can't have beans.
I can't have gluten, you
know, the list goes on and on.
And a lot of it is in how we prepare.
That food first.
It is, it goes back to the soil and what's
happened to our soil, how food is grown,
but then it's that whole process thing.
So just focusing on wheat here,
today's wheat is they have added in
more gluten on purpose for years.
And the reason why is because
it makes it easier to use
In this, in this country.
They've done it.
They've done it in this,
in the United States.
And, and that's the
important, how do we know?
Because I, people travel elsewhere
that have quote unquote gluten
sensitivity and even celiac, and
they can enjoy wheat in other
can enjoy weight.
Exactly.
So I, you know, I myself have experienced
some, you know, bloating and just from
Just really uncomfortable stomach things
when I have just eat regular wheat.
And so I stopped it completely, you
know, just to stop the bleeding.
Right.
And, and then as I, and then I
experimented, I got some en corn wheat
Encor is an ancient wheat that was grown,
you know, Like wheat should be grown.
And, but it is, you have to,
you have to look for it today.
It's not gonna be at your grocery
store on your grocery store shelf,
but Encor wheat is, is the type of
wheat that always used to be around.
In other words, it has lower gluten.
It has lower starch.
It's easier to.
All of these things.
And then I soak and sprout it and I make
sourdough and I, I am happy to say that I,
I am able to consume that type of wheat,
but yeah, as far as any other wheat out
there I have a picture of a hamburger
bun that came from a fast food re.
And this man put it in one of
those cases that, you know, you put
professionally signed basketballs
or footballs to protect it.
He put this hamburger bun in
this case and he left it there
and he looked at it every year.
Well guess what?
Nine years later, it still looked exactly
the same as it did the day he bought it.
And that my friends is not.
Real food that, and, and that is the
type of wheat that is so chemically
Laden with with, you know, not real food.
And so that's why that
bun can look that way.
That is the why we have so much gluten
sensitivity today and, you know, just
issues with it because they have gone.
Hybridized are all of our, we
and changed it to the point
and then put it in everything.
Right.
It's like in so many things
that we eat on a daily basis.
And so we have our, our bodies
have just get to a point where
they're like, Hey, we, we can't.
Filter all this, all the toxins
in this food out because it's,
we're constantly taking it in.
And so I'm glad you brought that
up because yeah, so many people,
especially if you have an autoimmunity,
that's one of the first things you're
gonna stop eating to feel better,
Well, and to heal even,
even if you don't notice.
I mean, that's the, for me, the, I joke,
you know, every diet should be individual.
But the, the one thing to avoid, if
you have auto immunity would, would
be gluten because, because of the
impact it has on the gut and, and
leaky gut I wanna highlight two things.
One thing that you said when talking
about this experiment, if you will,
with the hamburger bun you said.
So important for listeners to
hear like a hundred times the
body doesn't recognize it as food.
And it's not just gluten, it's all of this
processed food that we're talking about
is we're creating an immune response when
we're eating things that aren't recognized
as food it's, it's a foreign intruder
and your body is supposed to fight.
And so this is why you
mentioned eating live food.
You mentioned eating single
ingredient food, which is
what I would call real food.
Because the a, we, you know, it's
loaded with nutrients and enzymes
and things that we need and can use.
And B it, it's not sending off alarm be.
All the time.
And I can't, I wanna, I don't wanna dive
too deep because there's so many other
things I wanna talk about, but since we
opened the, the wheat and gluten door you
know, and you, you alluded to it as well.
The, the GMO issue with the wheat
that we get in this country is huge.
And, and I don't know the answer,
is it really because we have higher
gluten content in our wheat, or is
it because it's loaded with glypho.
And, and is, you know, we're adding in
just exorbitant amounts of other toxins,
which again is illegal in other countries.
And so it's hard to you.
Can't separate it out at
No, you can't Julie.
And I really think it
is what you just said.
Is it one or the other?
I, or both.
And I really believe it's both.
I think it is, you know, we already,
they were already changing our wheat.
And then now all of a sudden
they're dumping glyphosate.
You know, the reason why they use
glyphosate so much, is it dries the
grain out faster so they can get
their product to the shell faster
because it's all about the money.
Again, they care nothing about our health.
And so the glyphosate is.
When bugs consume that literally
it splits their stomach open.
And if that tells you what
it does to them, what is it
doing to the human microbiome?
And you know, you and I were
talking about this earlier about,
we have to create the environment.
Where our immune system
can STR be strengthened.
And, and then after we create that
environment, like you said, from
removing these things that are causing
us symptoms like for, you know, gluten,
for instance, you know, we remove
these foods first and then we're, we're
trying to create this environment where
we can strengthen our immune system.
And then we have to replenish a,
constantly this to keep this environ.
In, you know, where it is so that
when the bad guys, you know, in
Vegas us, I always teach people.
We have two teams that live in our gut.
We got the bad guys and the good guys
and which, which team are you feeding?
You know, you can just go down all.
If you're eating a lot of acidic
food, you know, if you go from.
Coffee to gluten-free donut to you know
if you're eating, gluten-free processed
food, you're probably still experiencing
a lot of symptoms and it's because
they've figured out a way to make it
gluten-free, but to still fill it full of.
Additives and fillers and, and
preservatives that your body,
again, going back to that, it
can't recognize it as food.
So your body's like, what
am I gonna do with this?
It will store it for a period of
time until then something happens
where it's gonna try to push it out.
And then that's when symptoms show up.
And you know, we have to remember, we
have five major organs of elimination
and, you know, inflammation is constantly.
Being built in our system when
our organs of elimination are
not working, you know, our colon.
So that's the first thing.
So when people come to me and they've
got skin eruptions and they wonder
what they're eating, that's making this
rash or this bump or whatever, then I
go back and I, my first question is.
Are you pooping, you know, and they
just kinda look at me like, you
know, are you pooping every day?
And because I've had some people say,
well, my doctor said I that pooping three
or four times a week is just my normal.
And I just wanna like fall over
because that is not normal.
That is common today.
And we are even, you know,
giving children laxatives and
medication to make them poop.
That is just wrong.
Because again, we've taken
out so much of the fiber.
Processed food is taken out the fiber,
because like I was explaining before
though German, the brand of any grain or
the skin, like we, we dig into a potato.
We don't eat the skin or the
apple, you know, we just buy
apple juice or apple sauce.
And the problem is, is the re and then we
wonder why our blood sugar still spikes.
Right.
For example, it's because the.
At least half of the fiber is in,
in the skin or right underneath the
skin of all fruits and vegetables.
And so where, where possible we need
to consume that skin so that we can
get the, the fiber that we need.
But we, as a, as Americans, we
are getting half or less of the
recommended amount of fiber.
And I believe that that is one of
the things that drives chronic.
Leads to autoimmunity is that
we have our bodies again, cannot
recognize all of this foreign food.
And so we're not our, our, or our
organs of elimination are not working.
So just to go back and finish
that your colon is your first one.
Like you should be eliminating
about two and a half pounds of
toxins every day through your colon.
And next would be your skin.
Your skin is your largest
organ of your body.
And so your skin is also, that's why
it's good to, you know, that's why
exercise is so important so that we
can sweat and, you know, get, it's not
just about getting your heart rate up.
Like you need to be sweating too, even if
it's for a short period of time, your and
your skin, if your skin's working right.
And, and when you when people tell
me they have a rash, I'm like, that's
terrific, because that means that your,
your other organs of elimination are
working well enough to kick it out.
That just means because after
your skin comes, your lungs, your
lungs are next, then your kidneys,
and then your lymphatic system.
So Julie, so many people that come
to you, their problems are all
the way in your lymphatic system.
So that tells.
Their kidneys, their lungs, their
skin, and their colon are overworked
and they are not keeping up.
And so that's one of the things
that is very helpful for us to
understand about how our body works.
Like when symptoms do show up, like
we need to take care of these organs
that, because they're all one big
family, they all work together.
So when one is affected, it's eventually
gonna affect another and then another.
And that's why, what Julie and I do.
We, you know, it's not.
It, it is about treating
symptoms, but it's really not.
The, the end goal is to create the right
environment where the body can heal
itself and do what it's supposed to do.
And in order to do that, we have to
look at what we're putting on our fork.
You know, every single
day, it really does matter.
And I don't mean you
have to be perfect at it.
I'm not, I don't wanna say that.
I'm just saying it does matter.
And so it's worth.
Putting the right kind
of fuel in our body.
Because when we do, then we sleep better.
We poop better, we feel better.
And then we get to, everyone
has a gift to share.
That's why I tell people you
have so much to give, to make
this world a better place.
And when you don't, when you feel like
crap, you, you can't give your best.
It's just, it just doesn't happen.
So well said and that's, that
is why we do what we do so that
everybody can share their gifts.
And, and.
We know, you know,
nothing happens in a void.
So when you were sharing the, your
journey about, you know, taking
sugar out, you were like, oh, but I
can use, you know, local, raw honey.
And not only am I getting the sweet, you
know, the, some of the sweet that I want.
But you're you found a way to do it.
That's full of enzymes, helping
boost your immune system.
All, all the good things.
And I, I want to, we don't have enough
time to dive deep, but I wanna touch on,
we're talking about removing and, and,
and sometimes what we remove, what someone
needs to remove at least temporarily
is a healthy, nutrient done vegetable.
It just depends on how far down
the road they are, how many
sensitivities they have which is.
That's a, that's a whole nother topic, but
most with auto immunity, by the time they
know they have auto immunity, they, they
have, we know they already have leaky gut.
And therefore if they've tried to
move away from the standard American
diet and are including a lot of
really good things, they may have some
sensitivities to those really good things.
But.
Not just what we're keeping out.
You mentioned, because you mentioned
that we've got, we all have the good
bugs, the bad bugs and that's okay.
That's good.
We don't, you're never gonna
get rid of all the bad bugs.
But just by creating
this void doesn't mean.
That you're gonna get that balance
of good bugs that you want.
And I know that that fermentation is a
specialty of yours and I, I want you to,
to, if there's a way to kind of briefly
introduce listeners to fermentation
and, and why this is so important for
our gut health and our overall health.
Yeah, I would love to.
So my the, how I got into
fermentation is that.
And gut crash.
And it was as a result
of some emotional trauma.
And so, you know, I don't
wanna dismiss like, Things
that are going on in our life.
Like, we all have stress.
If you're breathing, you have
stress and we have good stress.
We have bad stress and we may not realize
that emotional trauma can physically
like really tear our health down.
And that's what happened to me.
And so like digestion just stopped.
Like everything stopped working in me.
I couldn't even hold down water and I
got real and this was several years ago.
And so of course.
You know, being the foodie that I was,
I was like, okay, I've gotta, I've gotta
figure out, figure this out and fix it.
And so I discovered fermented foods
and I slowly rebuilt back my my
gut, you know, I, my, the, my gut
bacteria was just not, not balanced.
And again, If you are experiencing
sugar, sugar, craving sugar, cravings
is a number one sign that you have an
unbalanced environment in your gut.
And hypocrites said, all
disease begins in the gut.
And so I add to his statement that that
means all healing begins in the gut.
And so fermented foods, the magic of them
is that this good team of guys that we
have, you know, I, you know, you picture.
The sword and the breast plate, right.
And the shield and everything.
That is our good guys.
And they are there to
fight off the bad guys.
And if like Julie said, we do
need a balance, but we just need
more good guys and less bad guys.
And unfortunately the standard American.
Diet creates exactly the opposite more
bad guys, you know, and fewer good guys.
So what fermented foods do is
they basically give our good guys
the fuel that they need to stay
to replenish because they need
replenishing like every 24 hours.
And so, and you'll hear the word
prebiotics, you know, that has kind
of Showed up in the past few years and
they're foods like onions and garlic and
apples, those all contain prebiotics and
the prebiotics are food for the, you know,
the probiotics and they all work together.
To CR so that these good guys are strong
enough so that when viruses do come by,
you know, we're all gonna catch viruses.
It's just a fact of life.
We are going to our, our bodies
have the need to cleanse and
to, you know, flush out toxins.
And so, but when that happens,
what's great about having.
A good environment that we've been
talking about in our gut and fermented
foods is one of those things that if
we're eating them on a daily basis,
we're constantly replenishing what
these good guys need to create to keep
this environment strong and stable.
Because again, we're all
exposed, whether it's through
the air and the water and our.
Food or, you know, just the environment
and we're all exposed to toxins
and the body is a miracle machine.
It knows exactly what to do with
those and how to get them out.
But when it is when so many of our major
organs are overloaded and they can't keep
up that toxic of that toxic load, that's
when symptoms manifest and we don't feel.
Whether it's a headache or it's something
really, really severe in, you know,
with, with auto, you know, autoimmune
disease where it affects our daily life.
And so things like yogurt and Keifer
and sauerkraut other fermented veggies.
What's so great about sauerkraut
is I will make like a half a gallon
jars at a time and I'll make several
of them and they will stay for.
Al, I would say almost a year
in my refrigerator, so I can
make a whole bunch at a time.
And then it's not that
it's done for months.
Right.
And it's just, you just need a fork
full, you know, I lo I know a lot
of people that pay a lot of money
every month to take a probiotic,
but a fork full of my sauerkraut,
which is literally pennies a day.
Talk about eating on a budget.
It has more probiotics.
In that forkful then this 70,
$80 a month probiotic pill.
And, but there's little things, you know,
that we need to understand about, you
know, fermentation and if you overeat
it, then it will cause symptoms as well.
So it's all about, you know,
just your body, your, your
gut just needs a little bit.
And, but, you know, making
homemade yogurt the first time
I made homemade yogurt, Julie.
I was kicking myself because it was
so simple and it took, so it took
so little hands on time because then
the yogurt did, you know, ferment
that's what's so beautiful about
fermentation is you do a little bit
of prep anywhere from 30 minutes to
an hour of, of putting this together.
And then it does all
of the work after that.
And you just wait and the same
thing with yogurt and Keefer.
And, but I was kicking myself
because it was such a simple process.
And I, I, I was thinking, why didn't
I start doing this 20 years ago?
It's intimidating and, and
I'll because I'm me and I can't
help it all throw out there.
You know, you can use alter,
you can make coconut yogurt.
It doesn't have to
And, and I,
have to be dairy based.
Yep.
You can make you can
make non-dairy yogurt.
You can make non-dairy cheese.
I once, and that's why I started my
company, Julie, which is show me healthy
living because you can go on and watch
a a video on how to do something.
But chances of you actually.
Carrying that through and taking action
are not very probable because we all have
good intentions and then life takes over.
So I'll just tell you one of my favorite
experiences was with a mom and her eight
year old daughter in Northern Ireland.
They were in their kitchen.
I was in mine in Montana and this
little girl could not have eggs
and she could not have dairy.
And of course you could not
have gluten well together.
The three of us made a
cauliflower pizza crust with
non-dairy cheese and a flax egg.
And to see this little girl's face,
light up was just, it was just magical.
It was a magical moment.
And that's why you do this,
That's why I do this.
Yep.
And this little girl
was able to have pizza.
And so there, there are ways around every
food sensitivity to still eat real food.
And so you can go from the sad diet, which
is what I call the standard American diet.
To the real American diet,
which is the rad diet.
And that is that's possible for
everyone, no matter what illness,
chronic illness you are doing, you know,
dealing with or food sensitivities.
And that is the beauty about
you know, eating real food is
that we can experience that.
Like, we can feel that rush of
energy from real food rather than.
Drop of energy that happens when we
eat something that's processed and
then our blood sugar caves after,
you know, a, a short amount of time.
that's a great point for
something listeners can, can pay
attention to, you know, if you
eat lunch and then you want a nap,
Yeah.
the like there's a clue.
If you eat anything, fill in the BA blank.
I wanna.
Circle back to the, the yummy fermented
foods for people who aren't ready to
dive in and make yogurt or sauerkraut.
Do you have some tips for listeners?
If they're like, Ooh, you know that
that's not even part of my diet I'm
not ready to jump in and make it, what
can they be looking for to make sure
that they're actually getting what,
you know, the probiotics and the,
and the things that we're talking.
Great question.
So we'll start with sauerkraut.
So there's a lot of, you know,
I remember sauerkraut when I was
growing up and it was just in the
little plastic bag, you know, in the
store and it just looked gross to me.
I wouldn't even I wouldn't
even, you know, look at it.
Number one is when when cabbage and.
You know, which is the
base of your sauerkraut.
When that is put in plastic, whether
it's a plastic jar plastic bag
that actually damages a lot of the
probiotics, if not all of them.
So you wanna look for sauerkraut
that is in a glass jar.
So that's number one tip.
And then you wanna look for the word raw
because if it's not raw and unpasteurized,
Then the pasteurization process will
also damage if not kill off all of
the, the good probiotic bacteria, which
again, you know, we have over a hundred
trillion, you know, cells, you know, but
we have more bacteria than we do cells.
And so this back, that's why this
bacteria is so important in our gut.
And that's what fermented foods, any kind.
Probiotic food is what I call them.
Anything that's cultured that is
gonna go in and help balance out
all of the other foods that we
eat that cause so much acidity.
And it's, it's the acidity in our foods.
A lot of it that will that's what feeds
these bad guys and makes them stronger.
And so you know, you wanna look for
it's in a glass jar, it's raw and
pasteurized that that's when, and then.
My, my third thing was, is it
would be to try to find it at
your local farmer's market, where
it's made, right where you live.
And like, I even have some
stores here in Montana that I
can go to that are an hour away.
So it's an hour drive, but they
have local, raw unpasteurized
sauerkraut and kimchi.
Kimchi is like a spicy
version of, of sauerkraut.
You
the Korean sauerkraut
Right.
And you just have to be watch out
because sometimes they do add sugar,
but here's the thing in fermentation.
They eat all of the sugars out, which
is another thing that happens in Keifer.
So you may be, if you're a
lactose intolerant or you
can't, you know, eat dairy.
Keer may actually work
really well with you.
Again, it's something
that is very individual.
We are all individual.
And so you have to try that food
out on yourself, but that is
the beauty of of culturing food.
Fermentation is it goes in and it eats all
the sugars and it eats all the starches.
And remember starches, turn to sugar.
Right.
You know, that's why white flour or any
kind of flower, it's so important to get
out of your kitchen because it turns to
sugar in a very short minute, amount of
time and goes into the bloodstream, which,
so it gives you the same type of it.
It of reaction.
As your body does to sugar.
And so that's the beauty.
So for fer, for fermented
foods, those are my suggestion.
As far as cultured foods
like yogurt and Keifer.
Yes, they do make some
that are dairy free.
And the only thing you have to really
watch out is what are they, what
additives or fillers are going in there.
Today gums all kinds of
Z Anthem gum GU gums.
The list goes on lo
Or, and even worse care Jean, like yeah.
Yeah is a horrible, horrible
Yeah.
hormone disruptor.
It disrupts all of your good guys.
It, you know, it creates
an unbalanced gut.
So you really have to look at those
and remember on your ingredient list.
What is listed at the very top.
That is the most, if that's in that
food and then it goes down from there.
So if you're seeing something
at the very end, although that's
still not a good ingredient, at
least it's not towards the top.
So that is just another tip
for reading ingredient labels.
But for me, if I see it on there at all,
Kara genian or any of these fillers,
it's just going back on the shelf.
You guys, I make homemade almond
milk in eight minutes, eight minutes.
And that includes cleaning my blender.
Okay.
So eight minutes.
Hands on time.
It is like I just tell myself, you have
no excuse for buying almond milk at the
store that they have to put additives in,
or, you know, whether it's almond milk
or Oak milk or any of these milks, these
plant-based milks that are popular today.
I'm finding that a lot of people
are still having symptoms show up.
And it's because again, like we've talked
about earlier, Julie, your body cannot
recognize it if it's not a real food.
And so it says, what are we gonna do?
And so it will store it for a
time until there gets too much.
And then that is when chronic illness
and disease are gonna show up because
these symptoms show up and then we're
like wondering why we're sick and
it's because the body can only handle
so much over time before it kind
of, you know, says enough is enough.
And you know, that red light goes on.
That alarm goes on.
Right.
Critical level
Exactly.
So as far as if you do eat dairy, you
want to look for yogurt that is made
from a hundred percent grass fed cows.
You can also buy sheep yogurt.
You can buy goat, milk yogurt, but
again, cows, and this is a whole nother
conversation, but I'll just lightly say
cows are raised today in an environment
where they are given hormones to make
them produce more milk and faster.
Again, it's all about the.
These poor cows get sick.
They get infections in their ERs.
And so they pump 'em through antibiotics.
One of the things that has really
been hitting me hard lately is that
we take antibiotics when we are
really sick and our body needs help.
But 80% of all antibiotics today that
are consumed are given to livestock.
And so if you've gotta
re-listen to that, okay.
80% are given to livestock.
That means all the meat and
the dairy that we consume.
Much of that is full of
antibiotics and we are taking
all of that into our own bodies.
And then again, our bodies have
to figure out what to do with it.
And so you can kind of get a
picture of why we are so talk.
We live in such a toxic ridden society,
everything we're trying to navigate.
So you wanna make sure if you do, if
you're buying dairy yogurt or Keifer,
you always wanna buy plain, never buy
sweetened because they, I don't care if
own stuff in it.
Put
Right.
I don't care if it is honey,
or even if it's honey, it is
still way, way too much sugar.
And that's another thing is, you
know if you are vegan, of course
you are not going to eat, honey.
You wanna make sure you substitute
a hundred percent maple syrup.
It's still sugar you guys.
And so we wanna minimize that.
And maybe you sweet.
You can sweeten with real dates.
There are anyways, there are other
ways to do it, but you've gotta
look for you've gotta read on these
containers, how this food is processed.
Like what, how do they
care for their cows?
And that's another thing of, if you
have access to a local dairy, go to
the dairy, talk to them, you know, I, I
how the cows are living.
yep.
Get to know your local
do where, where I get meat that like,
I know, I know where it grew up.
Like, I, we, we check it out and, and
that's the whole, you know, you're,
you're eating whatever they ate as well.
We are way over time and I don't, I don't
wanna keep you longer than promised, but
I need to, as this is a trick question,
cuz you've already given listeners.
So much to take action on.
But if you had to pick either from
what you've already said or something
else, if they do one thing, what's one
step listeners can do starting today.
Starting today.
I would, you know, take this one step
is so important and I know that some
of you live with people that are really
adamant about the things that they want to
Attached
But most of you are, are the head of the
household, the mom, or the dad that is.
Listening to this, this conversation
get refined sugar and refined flour
out of your house and get more
real one ingredient foods, bring
in more fruits and vegetables.
Have them have a, a bowl of fruit sitting
on the counter, because again, yes,
there's sugar in that banana and that
apple, but this is sugar that it, your
body knows exactly what to do with.
and it will actually give you,
like, we were talking at the very
beginning, the body needs fuel.
We need glucose.
We need fuel for energy.
Let's get it from the right food.
So if, if that means taking it to your
local food pantry, if it's something
that's unopened, do that, if it means
pouring your, taking your five pound of
white sugar and powdered sugar and putting
it in the trash, do that, whatever it
takes, but just make a decision today.
That in your kitchen, you are going
to use real food, sugar, and get
away from this sugar that is going to
not only destroy your gut bacteria,
but it's going to exacerbate any
chronic condition in your body.
And so this is how you can,
and, and again, remember the
generations coming be after us.
They're learning from us.
They're watching what we do.
So if we want them to be healthier, if
we want them to have a it really doesn't
matter your, the length of your lifespan.
It is, it is how well you're living
in the time that you're here.
Let's give that next generation the best.
If we can give them by teaching them how
to eat real food and why that matters.
I love that.
Amazing.
I knew you couldn't just do one thing.
I love your one thing had
like five things in it.
It does it's cause it's, it's all
related, but thank you for your patience.
And again, Julie, and I said, you
know, we could talk about this for
All day.
I know.
I know.
And, and so, you know, guys just pick
any, any of the amazing info that, that
Sean gave you and make that one start
with one thing, like make that one up
level that will lead you to a whole
food, real food, single ingredient diet.
So for those that, listen on the go
and aren't gonna check the show notes.
Where's the best place to find.
So my website is show
me healthy living.com.
And I will tell you we're in
the middle of a rebranding.
And revamping.
So stay tuned for that, but you can go
on my website@showmehealthyliving.com
and just get on my email list so
that you can receive my emails.
I send out recipes and health
tips on a, on a regular basis.
And then also my Facebook group
is sweet life without sugar.
I am live every Thursday.
At 6:00 PM mountain time, and I show
you how I clean out my fridge and have
zero waste and great taste because the
average American family throws away
about $2,000 worth of food every year.
That is a nice vacation.
And so I show you how to do that.
And just to, to inspire you, we
share things in the group about
eating real food and what difference
it makes in how we feel every.
Amazing.
Sean, thank you so much for giving
listeners so many actionable
items and just a, a way to
totally reset their health.
You're sure.
Welcome Julie.
Thanks again.
It was, it was such an honor
to be here with you today.
For everyone listening.
Remember you can get the
show notes and transcripts by
visiting inspired living.show.
I hope you had a great time and
enjoyed this episode as much as I did.
I will see you next week.
