Gut Pilot February 15, 2024

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“Every new idea is just a mashup or a remix of one or more previous ideas." Austin Kleon​​

Make small changes to start your gut health journey. Expand on what works. Make tweaks as necessary. Rinse. Repeat.

It's that simple.

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Merriam Webster describes stone cold as a figurative definition for "absolutely or utterly". I use this term a lot, and honestly, it's partly in tribute to a legendary WWE wrestler, Stone Cold Steve Austin.

True story alert- my Dad once took my little brother to a meet and greet when the wrestling circus (wrastling as my Dad called it) came to town. My brother was probably 10 or 11-yrs old.

The momento? A polaroid photo of Stone Cold with one arm around my brother and the other hand giving his "middle finger" to the camera. Stone Cold's middle finger, not my brother's. My Dad gave my little brother experiences us older kids never got.

If I've sad it once, I've said it a hundred times. So much of success is attributed to being able to use repetition to your advantage. When you find something that works, especially in your diet, there is absolutely no shame in "rinsing and repeating".

I don't consider this a sign of weakness, it's a superpower. Being able to rely on tried-and-true combinations of things to eat takes so much mystery out of fueling your gut.

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I can cook some stuff. And when I'm cooking meals, especially for others, I follow recipes and things generally go well. When I'm cooking or preparing for myself, it's nothing but mashups.

It's pure "purpose eating". What can I combine or throw together to that will get me closer to my goal of fueling my body with an intentional focus on my gut.

These might look like recipe cards, but they're not. I'm not giving exact amounts, obnoxious detail on macros, just a glossy photo of the end product. And I'll speak to why they work for me.

Do this with ingredients you like and make it work for you.

Afterall, they're mashups.

Let's get started with these few gems that I eat...a lot.

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The name of this dish has a little sentimental value to me. My first colonoscopy was as disastrous as you can have. My wife is piloting the family truckster home from the hospital with her loopy, cancer-ridden husband is riding shotgun.

She later told me she just wanted to get home to cry.

But life would have to wait.

I, on the other hand, was as hungry as I've ever been in my life. We tucked into a local restaurant, and I crushed a glorious "hangover bowl". This breakfast offering has everything but the kitchen sink in it.

My version of this delicacy focuses on a few specific areas.

First, the potatoes are cooked and cooled so they're chocked full of resistant starch. Next, the fiber shot is respectable from the resistant starch, the peppers, and the sauerkraut. The kraut beings fermented foods to the party and of course 3 eggs provide the protein punch.

Dial this one up however your palette sees fit but it's a homerun in so many ways. A breakfast meat might make it into the mix as well. I probably eat this mashup a few times a week.

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A salad is a salad is a salad. Not so fast. I keep a stash of spring mix greens on hand at all times. I've made a conscious effort to incorporate more leafy greens into my diet, outside of the typical salad with dinner.

Late breakfast or lunch is a perfect time for leafy greens. Afterall, I eat brussel sprouts, frozen out of the bag as a snack on most mornings at my desk.

This mashup combines leafy greens and the score of nutrients they contain, fermented garlic (so easy to make), fermented honey (see fermented garlic), olive oil for a shot of good fat, and a squeeze of lemon.

It was quite the "a-ha" moment the first time I made this "vinegarette". Combining the olive oil, honey and lemon was better than anything I've poured out of a bottle.

This concoction takes all of 2 minutes to throw together and it accomplishes the task of adding more leafy greens to my day.

The sleeper in this salad is the fermented garlic and honey. In addition to the leafy greens, garlic is something else that I wanted to increase.

People love to fight over different ways of eating and which way is best, but nearest I can tell, the benefits of garlic are universal to all camps. And a little bit of honey is a nice addition.

I usually have this spring mix daily. If you're keeping score at home, we're two for two on adding a fermented food to these mashups.

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Underwhelmed with my mashups so far? That's the point. This stuff is easy and so good for you. It doesn't take a massive effort to eat right and fuel your gut.

Case in point- Greek yogurt with wild blueberries.

I eat this nearly every day. Protein, fiber, fermented yogurt, and the incredible benefits from frozen, wild blueberries makes this a hall of fame mashup.

There probably isn't a more universally consumed fermented food than Greek yogurt. Plain is best in my book. I let the blueberries do the heavy lifting on the flavor and nutrient front.

If you aren't a Greek yogurt fan, become one. If you need to flavor it initially to get it in your system, reach for the fermented honey for a dash of sweetness.

And yes, 3 for 3 on fermented food offerings in my mashups. Is it a little easier to see how the average mortal can increase fermented food servings each day?

And if you mash them up properly, you're getting fermented AND fiber at the same time.

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If you don't like black beans, we might not be able to remain friends. They are the near perfect combination of protein and fiber, and yes, a decent number of carbs.

I don't care. I eat carbs. I stay away from garbage carbs, but carbs packed with nutrients like black beans? All. Day. Long.

I've included this black bean, corn salsa which is normally relegated to "dip" status. But for me, it's a staple. A spoon is all I need. Hold the chips for another day.

Feel free to add tomato, onion, jalapenos, you name it. But it's a mashup for me, not a production. If I go into it thinking about 7 or 8 steps to creating this mashup, is it really a mashup?

That's a recipe where I come from. Do I make the recipe frequently then kill it during the week? Sure. But I can throw together my mashup version quickly and walk out the door.

Black beans are a nutritional powerhouse in my book. They have resistant starch for the gut lining, protein and fiber together, and provide an incredible level of satiety. It's really tough to overeat black beans before becoming full.

Close me out with 75% of my mashups having a fermented food attached or incorporated into the ingredient list.

Add kefir, fermented pickles, a gut shot of brine, a glass of water kefir, or maybe a glass of beet kvass and you too can reside in the 4-6 servings of fermented foods daily.

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I have other go-to food varieties that I eat regularly, these just made nice examples.

I now eat avocado, straight. Well maybe a splash of hot sauce and garlic powder, but you get the point. I crush sardines, eat a nut mix, and scores of raw fruits and vegetables to add to the mashup list.

What can you take from this? Find a few go-to's that you like. Try to think about fiber, fermented foods, and protein as main ingredients. And keep it simple. Save the elaborate ingredient and preparation instructions for a meal.

Time is a barrier. A ton of ingredients are barriers. Get organized and get this stuff into your system on a consistent basis and you too will be stacking wins in no time.

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Next Week- What I've learned in the last year about gut health on Twitter and what I've learned and gained from 1100 ish new friends all around the world.

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Thanks for reading!

Jeff