Gut Health – Chef V's Blog

Avoiding the Side Effects of Cleansing

December 20, 2023 Chef V

a green drink a day can support your mood

You’ve been eating like crap, drinking too much wine/champagne/Prosecco, not exercising enough and your pants are getting too tight. It’s time for an intervention. But if you’re considering doing a cleanse/detox, is the cure worse than the intervention? Before you splurge on a week’s worth of fancy juice or other detox product, take the time to learn about cleanse side effects.

Chef V in kitchen with citrus logo

If you’ve come to this article because you’re researching “cleanse side effects,” allow me to introduce myself and help you steer clear of negative symptoms many people experience while trying to reboot their metabolism and give their detoxification system some TLC.

My name is Veronica Wheat.

I’m a certified nutritional therapist and founder of ChefV.com. I grew up in Palm Desert, CA and started my nutrition career in the San Diego area as a private chef.

One thing I offered to my clients was a veggie juice with these 7 leafy green veggies: black kale, green kale, collard greens, green leaf lettuce, curly parsley, green chard, and dandelion, all sweetened with a tiny bit of organic green apple and apple juice. (You have to have a tiny bit of sweetness otherwise it tastes too much like grass clippings.)

Anyways, demand for this healthy juice steadily increased, not only with my clients but with their friends and their friends’ friends, and so on. Eventually (this was in 2012), there was enough demand for the juice that my husband, Brandon, convinced me to launch a business delivering this ORGANIC GREEN DRINK to people’s homes. Brandon quit his job to help me with my new business, ChefV.com.

Because of the soaring popularity of juice cleanses, I created my own cleanse and detox protocols. The reason I entered the highly competitive, overly-saturated juice cleanse market was because I saw a pressing need (pun definitely not intended, as my Green Drink is cold-blended not pressed to preserve the fiber). I realized that practically every fancy juice cleanse on the market was the same. The leading juice cleanses on the market all have the same flaws that cause side effects in many people.

a green drink a day can support your mood

Why Juice Cleanses Lead to Side Effects

The problem with most juice cleanse or detox products:

Lacking in Protein
Contain too much fructose
Have no fiber
Made mostly with high-sugar tropical fruits, with very little veggies
High-heat pasteurized, which destroys the nutrients

Why are juice cleanses made this way? Because it’s cheaper to include sugary fruits than high-nutrient-dense green, leafy veggies. Also if someone isn’t trained in reading food labels and sees that the juice is green, they will automatically think it’s healthy. In other words, most juice companies place one green veggie in the bottle but the rest of the ingredients are tropical fruits. So the juice looks healthy but is actually loaded with blood-sugar-spiking fructose (fruit sugar).

Many juice cleanse companies load their products with 30-50 grams of sugar per bottle! (Organic Green Drink contains just 3 grams of sugar per 8 oz serving.) How can they get away with this? Well, if their customers think it’s healthy because it’s green and get hooked on the taste because they’re already addicted to sugar, then let the buyer beware.

woman sitting on bed holding stomach in pain

The Most Common Juice Cleanse Side Effects

So what do most people feel when they do a commercial juice cleanse? Without a doubt, they can lose weight pretty quickly. And isn’t that the point of doing a cleanse? If you’re invited to a wedding in Cabo in a few short weeks and you have to lose weight fast to fit in that new dress, isn’t the devil in the details?

I’m here to tell you that there’s no point in losing weight quickly if it will make you feel miserable. There’s also no point in wasting your money if you’re quickly going to put the weight back on. The fact is that you can lose weight safely and steadily and keep it off without experiencing side effects. I’ll tell you how in just a moment. But first, here’s what consuming only (mostly) fruit juice for 3, 5, 7, 10 or more days will do to you:

Constipation
Blood sugar swings
Irritability/moodiness
Cravings
Energy crashes
Muscle wasting
Brittle nails
Thinning hair
Brain fog

And that’s just by day 3 usually. The longer you do one of those crazy juice cleanse or detox diets, the more likely it is you’ll experience more severe juice cleanse side effects such as heart arrhythmia (a rapid heart beat from a lack of electrolytes and trace minerals from solid, whole-food).

woman with hair in towel, worried expression

How To Avoid Cleanse Side Effects

Whether doing a juice cleanse, a colon cleanse or taking detox supplements, here’s the best way to support your health and avoid side effects.

Pre-Cleanse

Before starting any cleanse/detox protocol, it’s critical that you do a pre-cleanse. That means no immediate transition from eating mostly fast food and processed food to doing the cleanse. It also means no subsisting on caffeine and energy drinks and then quitting cold turkey. You need to gradually change your habits for a minimum of 3 days. Ideally, 7 days would be great but I realize many people want immediate results. However, I refuse to compromise about doing a minimum of a 3-day pre-cleanse to avoid any detoxification side effects.

Now the question becomes what’s a pre-cleanse and how do you go about it? The answer is so simple yet I’ve never seen any other juice cleanse business educate customers about the pre-cleanse. That’s why I designed the ChefV.com 1-DAY, 3-DAY and 5-DAY cleanse with pre-cleanse (and post-cleanse) instructions. Basically, ChefV.com provides you with several practical resources such as an EAT THIS/NOT THAT guide, a HEALTHY PORTIONS guide and an e-cookbook I wrote with dozens of recipes, including healthy mocktails and smoothies.

Avoid Juice Cleanse Side Effects By Having More than Juice

Most juice cleanses are just that, a menu that consists only of juice (to reiterate: mostly fruit juice with a tiny bit of green veg to trick ya into thinking it’s healthy). But to avoid the side effects I listed above, you have to consume more than just juice. Now I know what you may be thinking. How can I detox my liver and digestive system if I’m eating?

Who said anything about eating? With the ChefV.com CLEANSE, I provide you with not only 4 Green Drinks per day but also 2 vegan Protein Shakes and 1 DETOX SOUP.

The protein shakes provide ultra-absorbable pea protein to maintain your lean muscle mass and prevent brittle nails and hair.

The Detox Soup accelerates the purging of toxins from the body and contains a tiny bit of healthy dietary fat to prevent cravings.

Now ask yourself this: Have you ever seen a cleanse that offers protein shakes and detox soup? If you have, there’s a good chance they’re copying us, but hey, as they say, imitation is the best form of flattery.

Another thing to look for in a cleanse is to learn what to do immediately after the cleanse is over. That’s why I provide all my cleanse customers with instructions on how to keep the results going.

Other Ways To Avoid Cleanse Side Effects

In addition to doing a ChefV.com cleanse, here are other things I recommend:

Stay super hydrated! – Yes, you’ll be peeing a lot. But drink lots of pure/RO water, herbal teas and other non-sugary drinks.
Eliminate toxins from your home – Stop using plug-in air fresheners, cosmetics with synthetic fragrances and soaps and hair-care products with petroleum-based products. Spend the extra money on organic household cleaners and personal care products. Your health is worth the extra money!
Get More Sleep – Obvious but worth mentioning. When your body releases trapped toxins, you’ll need the extra repair and restoration that comes with deep sleep.
Take prebiotics – You’ve heard of probiotics, but prebiotics? Prebiotics are like fertilizer for probiotics. The fiber you get from veggies, including the 7 leafy greens in Organic Green Drink contain indigestible plant fibers that your beneficial bacteria gobble up. And when the good bacteria eat this fiber in your gut, they release a healthy compound called short-chain fatty acids. Your body will be better able to detox as a result.

Experience The Chef V Cleanse Difference

Thousands of satisfied ChefV.com customers can’t be wrong. If I staked my reputation entirely just on the number of pounds my customers lost, well, I’d be like McDonald’s (over 1 billion served). It’s not about the number on the scale. It’s about how the Chef V community feels. Awesome, rock-steady energy, no caffeine needed, healthy-looking skin, stable mood, high vibrations and yes, looser-fitting jeans.

Got any questions about my cleanse and 21 Day Detox program? Feel free to email me at chefv@chefv.com.

To your health and happiness,

Veronica “V” Wheat
ChefV.com founder

a green drink a day can support your mood

Chef V’s Green Drink Plan

December 14, 2023 Jean Yates

At Chef V, we love Green Drink, in case you couldn’t tell.

But, as crazy as it might sound, some people are scared of the delicious green stuff. They mainly associated it with long-term juice cleanses.

However, you don’t have to be a detox juice cleanse master to enjoy fresh juice, regardless of what’s in it. There are plenty of ways to work some of that green drink into your everyday routine. You might even want to give a Chef V detox a try!

Go Veg: Thicker Hair, Healthy Gut, Smooth Skin, and Strong Nails

December 1, 2023 Chef V

Veronica hair loss improvement

The study Chef V commissioned from an independent laboratory concluded that when study participants completed the Chef V detox and continued to use the Chef V Green Drink plan, they experienced a 39.8% improvement in hair loss.

The best veggies for a healthy gut, skin, hair, and nails are the same as the ones in Chef V’s mega-popular Green Drink. And it’s no coincidence that these same veggies are also the best for helping you cleanse and detox. Chef V covers how each of the veggies benefits your beauty.

I created the recipe for Organic Green Drink several years ago back when I was a private chef. Over time, demand grew for my Green Drink and that’s really the catalyst for launching Chef V.

I did a ton of research for the Green Drink recipe. I wanted to select the best veggies that would not only taste amazing cold-blended, but that would also be the best for a 3 day cleanse or 21-day detox. And as it turns out, the seven veggies in Green Drink not only happen to be the best for cleansing and detoxing, they also happen to be the best veggies for skin, hair, and nails.

Now I admit, it would be a pain in the behind to have to chop green kale, black kale, collard greens, dandelion greens, green chard, curly parsley, and green leaf lettuce every day. And then have to juice it. Then clean up.

The main reason why I transitioned from being a private chef to launching Chef V: making healthier easier for people just like you. And it doesn’t get any easier than having a bottle of our certified organic Green Drink delivered to your home.

Not only can you lose weight, gain energy and sleep more soundly by having Green Drink every day, but there’s also a very good chance your skin, hair, and nails will look better.

So let’s take a look at how the ingredients in Green Drink are the healthiest veggies for skin, hair, and nails.

meditate

Best Veggies for Skin, Hair & Nails: Kale

Sure, there’s some excessive kale craziness these days. But for good reason. Kale is rich in vitamin K. And it’s really hard for most people who eat the average American diet to get enough K. Vitamin K actually helps minimize dark circles in your eyes. That’s why it’s one of the best veggies for skin.

In fact, kale can even help tighten your skin. How? Well, one of the reasons why your skin isn’t as tight when you get older is that the aging process weakens your collagen. Collagen is the body’s main structural protein. In fact, over one-third of the thousands and thousands of proteins in the body are collagen proteins. Collagen provides strength to your tendons, ligaments, teeth, nails, hair, bones, gut lining, and much more….

The vitamin C in kale along with the antioxidant, lutein, promotes collagen regrowth and production. In addition, the vitamin A in kale helps prevent damage to the skin. It also repairs and damage to the epidermis.

There’s a good reason why kale has been added to several beauty products. Because it’s such an efficient detoxifying nutrient, kale can help clean your pores. It’s even beneficial for your hair pores. Moreover, kale contains fatty acids such as omega-3s. These fatty acids provide moisture to your hair and skin.

There’s even a nail polish with kale extract. Supposedly, it can help stimulate keratin production. Keratin is the other main protein that’s in your nails.

These facts about kale make it one of the best veggies for skin, hair and nails. So drink your Green Drink and schedule that kale facial!

kale

Best Veggies for Skin, Hair & Nails: Dandelion

Another incredible detoxifying green veggie in our Green Drink is dandelion. Dandelion widens your pores. That’s how it helps your body get rid of toxins. And according to this article, dandelion shrinks wrinkles. It may also help whiten dark spots and reduce fine lines.

Like kale, dandelion also contains lots of beta carotene and vitamin C. It’s also rich in the B vitamins and vitamin E, which is a standard ingredient in many skin care products. Moreover, the minerals and trace minerals in dandelion may actually help regrow hair.

dandelion

Lettuce

One of the main reasons why lettuce is good for your skin is it contains the following three minerals: silica, sulfur and phosphorous. You don’t need a large quantity of these minerals from the foods you eat. That’s why they are called trace minerals. But these three trace minerals are vital for maintaining healthy skin, hair and nails. Without doubt, you’re not going to get many benefits by eating iceberg lettuce, which is devoid of nutrition. But green leafy lettuce can also protect your skin against harmful UV rays.

So now do you see why I selected these six veggies (7 really; Green Drink includes two different types of kale)? Not only are they the best-tasting and most detoxifying, they’re also the best for your skin, hair and nails.

Veronica in kitchen with blenders

Lettuce

How I Tamed my Gut – Gut Disruptors to Avoid

October 30, 2023 jean@oregon-wine.com

Certified nutritional therapist and founder of ChefV.com, Veronica Wheat has a warning if you’re trying to improve digestion and overall wellness: Avoid gut health disruptors! Veronica has avoided them for years with great success and now she’s dedicated to shielding her newborn from them. You’ll be surprised what’s on this gut-microbiome-wrecking list!

Antibiotics. Junk food. Stress. Nearly everybody knows they are major gut health disruptors. Gut disruptors destroy friendly bacteria and encourage the growth of harmful bacteria.

Before my son was born, I decided to inventory my family’s diet and remove the gut disruptors from our lives. I never suspected that some of the things I found can make a mess of your gut!

Here’s what I discovered…

Why Are Gut Disruptors Bad?

These gut health destroyers don’t just lead to chronic digestive problems. They negatively impact your well-being in every way. Here’s what can happen when gut disruptors significantly alter the ecosystem in your gut microbiome:

Weak immunity (infections and illnesses)
Chronic inflammation (allergies, autoimmune disorders)
Mood disorders (anxiety and depression caused by poor neurotransmitter activity)
Poor metabolism and weight gain (insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes)
Skin problems (Inflammatory skin breakouts like acne, eczema, psoriasis)
Cardiovascular stress (high blood pressure, hardening of arteries)
Sleep quality (lower melatonin production)
Hormonal imbalances (worsening of PMS or menopausal symptoms)

When you have too many harmful bacteria and not enough friendly ones in your gut, the medical term for this is gut dysbiosis. Think of your gut health like a house party. Everyone’s having a great time because all the guests are mellow, funny and enjoying stimulating conversation. This is the equivalent of great gut health.

But then a group of rowdy party crashers shows up and spoils the fun for everybody. This is what gut dysbiosis is like. Except with party crashers, the problem is resolved when the party crashers finally leave. But in your gut, harmful bacteria can stick around for a long time. And that can cause all the problems above.

Common Gut Disruptors

Skip ahead to the next section if you already know about the leading gut disruptors. Because not everybody knows about the connection between gut health and overall wellness and the things that can easily destroy gut health, here’s a recap:

Antibiotics

Antibiotics are necessary—and potentially life-saving—if you have a bacterial infection. But if you have a history of popping them like they’re Pez candy whenever you had the sniffles, your gut microbiome has likely taken a beating.

“Antibiotic use can have several negative effects on the gut microbiota, including reduced species diversity, altered metabolic activity, and the selection of antibiotic-resistant organisms, which in turn can lead to antibiotic-associated diarrhea and recurrent C. difficile infections.” —Environment International

If you have recently taken antibiotics, I recommend taking a high-quality probiotic supplement to repopulate the good bacteria in your gut.

Highly-processed, low-nutrient-density food (Junk Food)

“Foods and beverages provide nutrients and alter the gut microbiota, resulting in eubiosis or dysbiosis,” says the study I reference below. In other words, every bite and sip you take impacts your gut health. What you eat at your next meal will drive you further into a state of eubiosis (a healthier gut microbiome) or dysbiosis (you’ll have more unfriendly bacteria crashing the party in your gut).

“Chronic consumption of a diet that is high in saturated or trans fats, meat proteins, sugars, and salt and low in fiber induces dysbiosis.”

—Annual Review of Food Science and Technology

—-> Want the easiest way to get more green leafy veggies in your life? Drink them fresh and unpasteurized, which is great for your gut microbiome! Get on the Chef V Organic Green Drink Plan.

Stress

Got stress? Of course you do. Everybody does. Chronic stress can lead to junk food binging, which obviously disrupts your gut health. But never mind the consequences of negative behavior from dealing with stress like eating unhealthy or giving in to addictive behaviors. The inflammation caused by mental stress is itself a gut disruptor. In a study of frontline health workers during the pandemic, the researchers concluded:

“Stressful events … disrupted the gut microbiome; gut dysbiosis persisted for at least half a year.”

—Journal of Affective Disorders

I’ll also add insomnia here because chronic stress severely impacts sleep quality.

“Accumulating evidence suggests that gut microbiota dysbiosis is associated with sleep-deprivation-induced human diseases.”

—International Journal of Molecular Sciences

So learn to manage your stress by meditating, doing yoga, gardening, journaling, breathing, or taking a big whiff of Rescue Remedy.

Lack of Exercise—And Too Much Exercise

Studies show that exercise has a beneficial impact on your gut microbiome, which is the trillions of bacteria, viruses and fungi in your GI tract. That’s why it’s important to move your body every day. (One reason why I love pickleball and yoga.)

But you don’t have to do crazy CrossFit workouts to support gut eubiosis. In fact, working out too hard can lead to gut dysbiosis.

“Exercise is associated with increased biodiversity and a beneficial metabolic function, while exhaustive exercise training might be associated with dysbiosis of the gut microbiota, promoting negative metabolic effects and inflammation.”

—World Journal of Gastroenterology

12 Uncommon Gut Disruptors Chef V Avoids (And Baby Kaden, Too)

So now that we’ve covered these obvious gut disruptors let’s now take a look at some that you may least expect. I’ve avoided these for most of my adult life and plan to keep baby Kaden away from them. Hey, call me a helicopter parent, I don’t care. When it comes to my baby’s health, I’ll go all grizzly mama. After all, as the study I reference above about antibiotics says, “Early childhood exposure to antibiotics can lead to several gastrointestinal, immunologic, and neurocognitive conditions.”

And I bet the same goes for early exposure to junk food.

OK, so here we go. Ready to have your mind blown by these gut disruptors?

Chewing Gum

You’re not only what you eat, you’re what you chew. Pretty much the only time I’ll chew gum is when I’m on an airplane to prevent my ears from popping. Other than that, here’s why I avoid it:

For starters, sugarless gum is made with artificial sweeteners. Research (like this study) shows that artificial sweeteners such as xylitol, sorbitol, and sucralose are major gut disruptors.

In addition, chewing gum not only disrupts your gut microbiome, it negatively impacts your oral microbiome. Your mouth, of course, is also a breeding ground for bacteria, both good and bad. Chewing gum is an oral disruptor. It prevents the growth of bacteria in your saliva.

That may seem like a good thing if you have bad breath. But you need enough good bacteria to prevent infections of the mouth—and dank breath. Also, your oral microbiome (and the “feminine microbiome”) directly impacts the health of your gut microbiome. (And vice versa.)

Now let’s move on to the next uncommon gut disruptor…

Mouthwash

Just like chewing gum, gargling with conventional mouthwash brands can be a huge oral health disruptor.

One common ingredient in major brands of mouthwash is chlorhexidine or CHX. CHX, says this study in Scientific Reports is “associated with a major shift in the salivary microbiome, leading to more acidic conditions and lower nitrite availability in healthy individuals.”

Now here’s why “nitrate availability” is important. Your mouth has bacteria that convert nitrate into beneficial compounds like nitric oxide (NO), which helps to open up your blood vessels, allowing for better circulation.

So what do I do after I eat healthy garlic bread (with cassava flour) and my breath is kicking? I use organic or natural mouthwash. It may cost a few bucks extra. But the health of my oral and gut microbiomes is worth it.

Next up seems like a random list:

Non-Stick Cookware
Microwave Popcorn Bags
Fast-food and Take-Out Wrappers
Stain-Resistant Carpet and Fabrics
Waterproofing Sprays

Why am I lumping these uncommon gut disruptors together?

They all contain “per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances” or PFAS for short. PFAS substances are known as “forever chemicals” because, if not literally forever, they take a really long time to decompose. Like hundreds or thousands of years. Not only are PFAS chemicals terrible for the environment, they are deadly for your gut microbiome and health.

PFAS chemicals are added to products to make them fireproof, and resistant to grease. However, studies show that PFAS chemicals are major gut disruptors. I found one study from 2023 that especially hits home for me. It researches the effects of PFAS on a group of moms and their babies. PFAS compounds were shown to increase a specific type of unfriendly bacteria in the mommy’s stool and to a lesser extent (thank goodness), the babies’ poop.

Preservatives & Additives

I’m gonna revisit junk food. Besides the loads of sugar and salt, another reason highly processed food is horrible for the gut microbiome is that it contains preservatives and additives. One example of an additive is polysorbate 80. It’s an emulsifier. Emulsifiers mix ingredients together that don’t normally blend well. Like oil and water for instance.

Studies suggest polysorbate 80 causes low-grade inflammation in the colon (large intestine). It’s in the colon where the majority of your gut bacteria colonize. They live here rent-free in exchange for helping you digest your food and produce byproducts that contribute to health like short-chain fatty acids.

If you buy organic food, you don’t have to worry about ingredients like polysorbate 80. No need to panic if it’s not organic. But you should really start reading nutrition labels.

So what are some examples of foods that include gut disruptors like polysorbate 80?

Salad dressings
Processed cheese
Ice cream
Sauces
Baked goods
Non-dairy milk
Candy

Want to learn to make your own healthy version of these foods? Then check out my recipe archives!

Over-The-Counter Pain Relievers

Got a minor headache? Does your tummy feel a bit off? Is your boo-boo throbbing? When those things happen to me, I try to toughen it out instead of taking OTC pain-relief medicines. That’s because non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can destroy your gut lining when taken in excess. And when your gut lining erodes, harmful bacteria can move into your colon, acting like gut party crashers.

So take it easy on the ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), aspirin (Bayer) and naproxen (Aleve). Instead, use herbs, homeopathic remedies or essential oils to manage pain and swelling. Don’t worry, baby Kaden, I’ve got Rescue Remedy with me at all times.

Tap Water

If your home doesn’t have a whole house water filtration system, consider installing filters on your shower head and kitchen tap. That’s because chlorine is added to tap water as a disinfectant. You wouldn’t drink water from a swimming pool. So why drink water from the tap or let your skin be exposed to chlorine in the shower?

“Given the importance of the microbiome in health, persistent exposure to low levels of chlorine may be a hitherto unrecognized risk factor for gut dysbiosis, which has now been linked to virtually every chronic non-communicable disease of the modern era.”

—Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Household Cleaners and Personal Care Products

If you’re still using mainstream brands of hair care products, skincare products, laundry detergent, dryer sheets and household cleaners, I beg you to stop. And so does your gut microbiome.

Personal care and laundry products are severely unregulated and contain synthetic chemicals that can cause cancer and disrupt hormonal balance.

Take, for example, formaldehyde in hair relaxers, which are used primarily by African-American women. Formaldehyde was classified as a carcinogen in 2004 but because of a lack of regulations for cosmetic products, it’s one of the main chemicals in hair straighteners.

Thankfully, the FDA is considering banning dangerous gut-disrupting, cancer-causing chemicals like formaldehyde. And not a moment too soon after thousands of women, most of them African-American, have developed or are in danger of developing ovarian cancer and other reproductive cancers.

I’m not in the habit of calling out brands that use harmful chemicals. But stroll through any supermarket aisle and pretty much every single brand of shampoo, conditioner, hair straightener, cosmetics and laundry contains deadly gut disruptors!

And that’s not an exaggeration.

Bisphenols, phthalates, volatile organic compounds (fragrance), and not to mention heavy metals and pesticides literally kill your friendly bacteria.

Again, it may cost more to buy an organic or natural brand. But your gut health—which is your overall health—is worth it. Slash unnecessary spending so you can afford healthy brands. Research the toxicity levels of the cosmetics you use on the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep database.

The Benefits of Avoiding Gut Disruptors

It’s pretty easy to avoid most of these gut disruptors by:

Eating real food at least 90% of the time. (Organic, non-GMO preferably.)
Drinking and using purified water. (That includes cooking.)
Using organic or natural oral health, household and beauty products.
Managing your stress.
Doing a periodic CLEANSE to reboot your digestive system.
Try Pickleball! (I love pickleball.) Or other regular exercise.

When you avoid gut disruptors and do other things to support your gut microbiome like having a GREEN DRINK every morning, good things happen. Here are the health benefits I’ve been enjoying for years.

Strong immune function (Knock on wood.)
Iron stomach digestion (Even when I’m on vacation in another country. Again, knock on wood haha.)
Balanced mood (Hubby, Brandon, may disagree with me on that one!)
Weight management and metabolism (Great gut health is way more than having a flat tummy, although that doesn’t hurt.)
Looking Great and Feeling Great (‘nuff said.)

These benefits, I hope, will be passed on to baby Kaden. I’m breastfeeding him and gave birth to him vaginally. So he’s got a great gut microbiome head start. Let’s hope he doesn’t turn into a rebellious teenager and use these gut disruptors…

To great gut health.

Love,

Veronica Wheat
ChefV.com Founder

Do You Have a Parasite in Your Gut? How to Kill it

October 28, 2023 Chef V

gut parasites

How To Kill Parasites In Your Gut The Natural Way

Got a freeloader living in your gut? If you have been diagnosed with parasites, is it possible to kill them off with natural ingredients? Keep reading to find out…

It’s got to be one of the most embarrassing and self-deflating situations: You’re shopping in the supermarket when all of a sudden a stranger asks, “How far along are you?”

The problem is that you’re not pregnant. But your belly looks like you could be two or three months along in the prenatal journey.

For some of the 60 million people(!) in the U.S. that, according to the CDC, are living with toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection, a chronically-bloated belly isn’t the only concern.

gut parasite

Top Signs You May Have a Parasite

Parasites can also cause brain fog, skin problems, constant fatigue, muscle pain, an itchy anus, frequent hunger and a long laundry list of digestive issues.

Another nearly 4 million people, says the CDC, have a sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by another parasitic infection called trichomoniasis, or trich for short. And here’s another scary stat from the CDC: More than 14 percent of people in the U.S. are exposed to the roundworm parasite that lives in the intestines of dogs that causes toxocariasis.

Sorry, Coconut (my 4-year old four-legged furry pet child): I just don’t know if I can look at you the same way for the next couple days after learning that. But thank God for heartworm pills!

gut health - Coconut and roundworm

Parasites: Not Just A Problem in Poorer Countries

I admit that I thought parasites were mostly something people picked up by visiting a developing nation in the tropics, where hot, damp and humid conditions are rife for all kinds of creepy microorganisms.

But clearly, there are many among us right here in the good ol’ USA who are walking buffets for parasites. Now, I’m not intentionally trying to scare you; lord knows we have enough things right now to worry about. The good news is that if you have a healthy immune system, your body will be able to prevent parasites from taking up residence in your intestines and stealing your vital nutrients.

However, thousands of people each year succumb to parasites, mainly by eating or drinking contaminated food and beverages.

And if that’s you, natural ingredients may help…

natural remedies dried herbs

Treat Parasites Without Medication?

Unfortunately, many symptoms of parasitic infection mirror those of digestive disorders. The only way to know for sure if you have a parasite is by getting your stool tested. Another bummer when it comes to parasitic infections is that stool samples don’t always detect parasites, even when there is one. Far and away, the best stool sample analysis for detecting parasites, says the CDC is the ‘Wheatley method trichrome staining technique.’

If you have a parasitic infection confirmed, your doctor will likely recommend taking a prescription medication for the specific parasite.

Taking medication probably is the quickest way to eradicate the infection. But they don’t always work. Parasites are notoriously difficult to completely wipe out. And if your immune system is compromised and your gut microbiome doesn’t have enough friendly bacteria, there’s a good chance the parasite could re-emerge bigger and badder than before.

Some people would rather go about treating parasites (and candida, which is an overgrowth of a yeast fungus; technically it’s not a parasite) with natural remedies. If that’s you, the best ingredients that are backed by at least some decent research include:

Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE)
Aged garlic extract
Oregano oil
Black walnut
Clove oil

gut parasites remedies- grapefruit and garlic oils

There’s one more natural antiparasitic ingredient I’d like to mention. And that’s Pau D’Arco, which is the Portugese name for ‘lapacho,’ the bark from a tree found in South America, including the Amazonian rainforest. Pau D’Arco is actually a natural anti-bacterial.

If you have a parasite, your doctor may want you to also take an antibiotic just in case you also have a bacterial infection. But antibiotic medications wipe out all the good bugs in your gut. This weakens your immune system, making conditions more likely for the parasite to grow.

Pau D' Arco tree

Eat This, Not That … For Parasites

So what are the best foods to eat for killing parasites? Well, let’s start with the worst thing to consume if you have a parasitic infection: sugar. And I’m not just talking about the added grams that come from soda, snacks and the like. You also should avoid starchy foods that easily convert into sugar like white rice, white flour, wheat flour and high starch carbs like mashed potatoes.

According to Mount Sinai of New York, raw garlic, pumpkin seeds, pomegranates, beets, carrots and a mixture of honey and papaya seeds may be beneficial for killing parasites. And don’t forget to use herbal remedies such as wormwood, barberry, goldenseal, oregon grape, anise and garlic. Mount Sinai adds that homeopathic remedies may also help.

Make sure you also support your liver’s detoxification pathways. One great way to do that is with Chef V’s Cleanse or 21 Day Detox.

Conclusion

Well, I hope a parasite isn’t to blame for what’s bugging you. But if a lab test reveals that you indeed have one, don’t despair. You can kill it and come out the other side stronger than ever.

No B.S. If You have IBS: Try A Chef V Cleanse To Repair Your Gut

October 25, 2023 Chef V

leaky gut

Having Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) means experiencing frequent bloating, cramping, diarrhea or constipation and other digestive disturbances. Thankfully, Chef V has one effective recommendation for improving your IBS, courtesy of a Facebook post testimonial.

Unless you have IBS, it’s hard to empathize with someone who has it. It’s such a challenging condition not to mention a frustrating one.

On one hand, it’s one of the most commonly-diagnosed gastrointestinal disorders, affecting up to 50 million people in the U.S. alone. At the very least, roughly 15% of adults in the U.S. have IBS, but only 5% of people have been officially diagnosed.

Despite how pervasive IBS is, there is no single cure, root cause, or effective treatment.

If you don’t have IBS, consider yourself lucky and imagine how harrowing it must be to be totally in the dark when IBS symptoms strike! What if you’re out in public and can’t get to a bathroom in time?

IBS can severely impact your quality of life.

So let’s get to know this baffling condition…

irritable bowel

What Is Irritable Bowel Syndrome?

As mentioned, IBS is one of the most common albeit underdiagnosed gastrointestinal disorders. Unlike Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD), which is caused by a functional and structural problem of the bowels, with IBS there’s nothing going on under the hood, so to speak, that explains the symptoms.

If there’s no noticeable abnormality in the gut, then what explains the frequent or chronic bloating, abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, gas and belching?

What Causes IBS?

Here’s a list of things that may cause IBS symptoms:

Gut dysbiosis (This means not having enough friendly bacteria in the large intestine and too many unfriendly bacteria.)
Poor gut-brain communication (The gut and brain should always be communicating effectively, just like in a healthy relationship.)
Poor motility (This means having abnormal muscle contractions in the bowels.)
Stress (Research studies like this one suggest a strong link between psychological stress and IBS. Stress is definitely a trigger.)
Food intolerances (Dairy and gluten are major triggers of IBS symptoms.)
Unresolved gut infections. (Did you travel to a developing country in the tropics? Maybe you picked up a parasite?)

Out of the 6 factors above, I think stress is the most prevalent because it can cause or exacerbate the other triggers.

For example, stress negatively impacts gut-brain communication (the Gut-Brain Axis); causes gut dysbiosis; can lead to poor motility and leaky gut; and can worsen inflammation-associated food sensitivity.

leaky gut

How To Manage IBS

In light of the fact that psychological stress is one of the biggest triggers of IBS symptoms, it helps to have a daily stress-management practice.

Yoga.
Meditation.
Visualization exercises.
Journaling.
Immersing yourself in nature.

Do at least one of these practices every single day.

For IBS sufferers, the condition is frustrating and challenging because there is no one-size-fits-all approach to treatment like there is for let’s say high cholesterol. (Not that I’m endorsing statin drugs for everybody!)

For a dietary intervention, a low FODMAP diet may help. I won’t go too deep here but FODMAPS are basically different types of sugars that are difficult for people with IBS to digest.

I previously touched on FODMAPS here.

Basically, you’ll want to avoid foods that give most people gas. That means no:

Broccoli and other cruciferous veggies (especially raw!)
Beans and lentils
Asparagus
Apples
Garlic
Onions
Dairy
Cereal, bread, wheat products and other high-gluten foods

Drink Low FODMAP Leafy Greens

A lot of veggies, even though they are considered healthy, can trigger IBS symptoms. Cauliflower and cabbage: I’m talking about you!

What’s even more frustrating is that there are at least 3 subtypes of IBS: IBS-C, IBS-D, IBS-M. IBS-C is constipation-dominant; D is diarrhea-dominant and M is mixed.

What may trigger IBS symptoms in a person with IBS-D may not trigger symptoms in a person who is IBS-C dominant.

So wanna know the best way to get your daily dose of antioxidants—without freaking out your digestive system?

Try drinking them.

With Chef V Organic Green Drink, you’re getting the cleanest (no pesticides) low FODMAP leafy green veggies.

In a way, they’re pre-digested for you through the processing method of cold-blending.

As mentioned, IBS is caused in part by gut dysbiosis, meaning there’s not enough friendly bacteria in the gut.

The Chef V Green Drink advantage over conventional juice brands is that it’s never high-heat pasteurized.

That means that all the friendly bacteria is alive in the Green Drink.

And when you drink Green Drink every morning, you will supply your gut with the friendly bacteria it needs to manage IBS symptoms.

Manage IBS Symptoms With A Chef V 5 DAY Cleanse

If you want to take your IBS management to the next level, check out Tina’s recommendation below.

Tina has IBS and says that doing a 5 Day Cleanse (Chef V offers a 21 Day Detox which includes a cleanse period) has helped her get rid of gas and bloating.

With the 5 Day Cleanse you get everything you need to reduce IBS symptoms—without feeling deprived:

4 Green Drinks per day
2 vegan, low FODMAP protein shakes per day
1 DETOX SOUP for dinner per day
Health resources to keep the results going and unlimited email support.

Learn more about CHEF V CLEANSE options here.

To your success in kicking IBS’ butt!

Love,

Veronica “V” Kress

Founder, ChefV.com

Take the Chef V Challenge – A Proven Winner!

October 24, 2023 Jean Yates

Order a 21 Day Detox Challenge – followup with a Green Drink subscription.

Over a 28-day period, the Chef V 21 Day Detox + Green Drink Program resulted in positive health improvements:

weight loss – an average of eight pounds.

– ‘bad’ cholesterol decreased – (LDL cholesterol) and the ratio of total cholesterol to LDL cholesterol improved. This is really promising for overall cardiovascular wellness.

– inflammation – went down 33% (based on c-reactive protein levels).

– A1C levels improved, crucial for maintaining healthy blood sugar levels and avoiding diabetes.

– bloating decreased – relieving the traffic jam inside your stomach.

It’s truly rewarding to see these positive changes happening in just under a month, making a difference in people’s lives.

You can carry out your own Chef V program and experience the proven results! Order your 21 day detox today!

Chef V’s Favorite Supplements For Improving Gut Health

October 22, 2023 Chef V

Did you know there’s a non-stop party in your gut? It’s true. In your microbiome—the home of your trillions of bacteria, both the friendly and unfriendly kind—your gut bacteria are constantly eating our leftovers. If only we could claim them as tax dependents! So how can you make sure you’re feeding the good guys in your gut and not the bad? Chef V has one simple solution and offers her 3 favorite gut-supporting supplements…

It sounds like something out of a science fiction movie and it’s kind of creepy if you think about it…

In your gut, there’s a constant war going on. It’s a 365/24/7 battle between your good gut bacteria and your harmful bacteria. Your good bacteria craves things like green leafy veggies to your diet—whether you eat or drink them. That’s how they grow and multiply and crowd out the unfriendly bacteria.

When we eat and drink unhealthy food, it’s the potentially-harmful bacteria that thrives in the gut. But never ever blame yourself for indulging. You see, it’s not you, it’s your unfriendly microbes—they have a huge impact on what you decide to eat.

Besides sipping on Organic Green Drinks every morning instead of eating a big, typical breakfast, I have a few other ways for you to support your gut microbiome. I’m not usually one to be a big promoter of supplements. But having a healthy gut microbiome is so important. Because after all, health starts in the gut!

So here are my top 3 gut health supporting supplements.

collagen

Collagen Protein

Who hasn’t heard of collagen by now? But I’m not talking about collagen implants for your gut. Nope, your lips are beautiful enough. And I’m not talking about collagen cream for wrinkles. The collagen I’m talking about for gut health comes in powder form that you can add to smoothies or even your morning Green Drink.

But there’s something all collagen products have in common. They are formulated to help your own body make more collagen. And what is collagen? It’s the most abundant type of human protein in the body. What makes you, you is tens of thousands of proteins. There are different types of collagen but just know that collagen is king when it comes to your body.

And here’s what collagen does. It’s basically the glue that holds all of your skin, muscles, organs and tissues together. Gut lining included.

The problem is that after age 40, your levels of collagen start declining. And the collagen you do have gets weaker. So by taking collagen powder, we can support our gut health by strengthening the protective barrier of the gut so nothing leaks out of it that’s not supposed to.

leafy greens

L-Glutamine

If you have frequent bloating, constipation or other digestive issues, L-glutamine is another powder that can help support your gut. While collagen is a protein, glutamine is a building block of protein (an amino acid).

So you already know that collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body. Well, glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in the protective barrier of your gut. Roughly one-third of your body’s glutamine goes to your gut.

And if you have a lot of stress going on, that stress could gobble up a good amount of glutamine. In light of this, it might help to take an L-glutamine supplement. (L-glutamine is just glutamine in supplement form.)

Marshmallow Root

Another supplement that can be great for your gut microbiome is not the same kind of marshmallows you roast by a campfire. Back in the day, before modern food processing methods were invented, marshmallows were actually made with the root from the plant.

Marshmallow root has been used for thousands of years as a natural remedy for all kinds of things. And the cool thing is research studies support it for gut health. And here’s how it works.

Marshmallow root soothes inflammation in the gut lining. Beyond that, it might help to build back up the sticky layer of mucus that surrounds the gut barrier.

So if you want to improve your gut and, by extension, your overall health, try marshmallow—just not the candied kind.

These are by no means all the supplements that may help support your gut microbiome. And you don’t have to take all three at once. I just love giving you a few options so you can achieve your health goals.

Love,

Chef V

That’s So Cheesy! Nutritional Yeast

October 18, 2023 Chef V

'NOOCH' – The Plant-Based Superfood That Makes It Easy To Give Up Cheese

“There’s no way I can give up cheese!”

If I had a dollar for everytime I heard that one, I could buy a couple pounds of pule. Pule is the most expensive cheese in the world, fetching up to $1,000 per pound. And get this, it doesn’t come from sheep, cows or goats, it comes from … wait for it … donkeys!

But I digress. Point is, giving up cheese for many people is as difficult as going cold turkey for a 2-pack-a-day smoker.

If you can’t picture a life worth living without cheese, I’ve got some good news. Thanks to a flaky, yellowish powder that looks just like sprinkled, crumbly parmesan on pasta, you can experience cheesiness without the dairy. That’s good news for people like me who feel bloated and weighed down after eating anything with dairy.

I’m of course talking about nutritional yeast, the darling of the vegan culinary scene. I’m not 100% vegan, but I have been using nutritional yeast for several years now. (I can’t believe I haven’t blogged about it until now.)

In this post, I’ll discuss what nutritional yeast is and focus on its health benefits.

Why You Should Replace Regular Cheese With Nutritional Yeast

I don’t like being told what to do (ask my husband, Brandon) and I don’t like telling people what to do. So I’m not going to lecture about the evils of cheese and dairy and tell you that you should give up cheese. All I can say is that for many people, dairy tends to promote inflammation.

But wait! What about the French? How do they get away with eating all that cheese and not suffer from the same chronic diseases endemic in American society? Ah, that’s what they call the French Paradox.

While French eat plenty of cheese, they also eat a Mediterranean Diet and don’t snack all day like Americans. In traditional French society, people walk everyday and buy fresh, local, small-batch, artisanal foods. If you want to go ahead and eat some cheese here and there, fine. But if you’re not eating a Mediterranean Diet and living like the traditional French and other Mediterranean cultures do, then eating cheese is like pouring fuel on the inferno of metabolic disorders.

If you eat plenty of fresh, local, organic produce and avoid processed foods, go ahead and enjoy a portion of pule. But if you’re like the average American who has trouble with controlling portion sizes and leading a mostly sedentary life, reduce your cheese intake. Start replacing regular cheese with “NOOCH.”

What Is Nutritional Yeast?

Nooch (not to be confused with booch) is the most common yeast in food fermentation. Afraid of getting a yeast infection? Don’t freak out. You won’t get one by eating nooch. Nonetheless, it is a yeast. But it’s not the same as brewer’s yeast that makes beer bubbly (and bad for your gut). It’s also not the same yeast that makes bread and baked goods rise. (Nooch doesn’t rise and it’s not doughy.)

But the cheesy, nutty taste and mouthfeel will make your spirit soar because if you haven’t yet experienced it, you’ll be amazed by how much it tastes just like regular cheese. (I can’t say if it tastes specifically like donkey cheese because I’ve never tried pule.)

I want to reiterate that nutritional yeast won’t contribute to an overabundance of harmful yeast in your gut. Sprinkling some nooch on farro, couscous, or other grain, or making a velvety faux-cheese sauce isn’t a recipe for having to do a Candida cleanse. To be sure, nutritional yeast is the same species as brewer’s yeast. But it’s a radically different product. Brewer’s and baker’s yeasts are active yeasts; nooch is an inactive yeast.

Not only is nooch cheesy, it also has an umami profile. If you’re not sure what umami is, it’s one of the five food tastes. There’s sweet, salty, bitter, sour and savory. Umami describes a rich, savory flavor.

Health Benefits of Nutritional Yeast

I could regurgitate a bunch of nutrition facts like one tablespoon of nooch contains 17.6 micrograms of vitamin B-12. But you’ll probably forget these stats. What’s important to know is that nooch is one of the best sources of vitamin B-12 for vegans. B-12 is one of the hardest nutrients for the body to absorb. And if you don’t have good gut health, you’ll have a difficult time absorbing B-12, which is necessary for cellular energy.

But the good news is that, at least according to an exhaustive study in the journal Nutrients, nutritional yeast seems to be good for the gut. I’ll get into that in a sec.

Nooch also contains an impressive amount of protein, fiber, minerals and other B vitamins in just a small serving size. If you’re making, say, a big casserole, you’ll need more nutritional yeast, so you’ll get even more of the health benefits.

The Nutrients study says nooch increases the absorption of minerals and helps detoxify mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are pathogens that grow on mushrooms. Nooch also helps lower cholesterol levels in the blood, and acts as an antioxidant.

Nooch might be good for your gut because of its probiotic effects, says the study. It helps maintain the epithelial barrier integrity of the intestinal mucosa. What does that mean in plain English? It means like bone broth, it might be one of the best foods for preventing leaky gut.

Nutritional Yeast Probiotic

A while back, I wrote about traveling with kids. I revealed the best probiotic to take on your trip to prevent traveller’s diarrhea. It’s called saccharomyces boulardii. It’s actually not a bacteria like all other probiotics, rather it’s a yeast. S. boulardii is the only yeast that has been shown in research studies to benefit the good bacteria in your gut.

Why am I mentioning this? Because research has shown that S. boulardii is virtually identical to Saccharomyces cerevisiae, aka nutritional yeast.

So while regular cheese can make the belly’s of lactose-sensitive people squirm, nooch seems to actually offer protection against inflammatory gut reactions.

That’s the cherry on top for this cheesy topping that goes great on popcorn, sauces, soups, stews, and lots of other recipes.

The Best Natural Probiotic (Hint: It’s Not Yogurt)

October 14, 2023 admin

apple core

I recently talked about how important it is to have good gut health. Your gut plays such a huge role in your overall health. But in the article, what I didn’t really focus on was how to achieve a healthy gut. And we’re not talking about crunches so you can have chiseled, six-pack abs here. Rather, we’re talking about hosting a multitude of good bacteria and a diverse amount of different bacteria species inside your gastrointestinal tract (the microbiome).

So what’s the easiest and best way to do that? In the article on gut health, I mentioned taking a probiotic. If you eat a low-fiber diet rich in processed (junk) food, then you should definitely be taking a high-quality probiotic.

But there’s an even easier, and perhaps healthier way to achieve a healthier microbiome. It turns out that the best probiotic source is …. Wait for it … wait for it…..

Best natural source of probiotics

So, is the best way to get lots of friendly, diverse bacteria in your gut by eating lots of yogurt? How about kombucha? Or is the best source of probiotics some other fermented food like kimchi or sauerkraut or kvass?

Turns out it’s none of these.

An article in The Atlantic, which references a study in Frontiers of Microbiology, suggests that the single best natural source of probiotics is: an apple.

The average apple, the study says, contains about 100 million bacteria.

Now, after I read that fun fact, my first reaction, I’ll admit, was the following, “Big deal, my probiotic supplement contains 10 billion CFUs (colony forming units).” That’s right, my probiotic supplement, in just one tiny little capsule, contains almost 10,000% more bacteria than an apple.

But here’s the thing. It turns out that eating the apple might be better for you than popping a pill. The reason why? For the same reason eating unprocessed whole foods (especially fruits and veggies) is better for you than vitamin supplements.

Makes sense, right? After all, whole foods offer the whole puzzle of interlocking health pieces, from micronutrients, antioxidants, as well as fiber, which the good bacteria feed on. On the other hand, supplements, perhaps probiotic pills included, represent, only a few pieces of the total health puzzle.

In other words, just like in many other aspects of life, it’s quality that usually matters, not quantity. The 100 million or so bacteria in the typical apple are comprised of a myriad of different types of bacteria. Compare that to the average probiotic supplement, which contains maybe a few different friendly microbe species.

Work On Your Core – Apple that is

Now, before you rush out to your local supermarket and stock up on apples, there is a catch. Approximately 90% of the bacteria in the apple is contained, not in the skin, or the juicy main part of the flesh, but in the core.

If you’re like most people, you probably throw the core away. And when you do that, it’s like throwing away the world’s best probiotic pill down the toilet.

So from now on, it’s all about the core. Eat the seeds, too. They actually contain a trace amount of the natural toxin, cyanide. But if you eat an apple or two a day, core included, it’ll still keep the doctor away.

Do you struggle to get enough vegetables in your diet? If so, don’t feel bad. You’re in good company. Approximately 9 out of 10 people don’t eat enough veggies, especially green leafy ones, which most nutritionists (like myself) consider the healthiest kind.

The good news is that if you’re not getting enough leafy greens in your diet or can’t stomach the thought of eating apple cores, I have an easy solution for you….

Organic Green Drinks (Core Included)

Chef V’s Organic Green Drink is the easiest way to get your full day supply–and then some–of dark, leafy greens veggies. Containing two kinds of kale; collard greens; green leaf lettuce; curly parsley; green chard, and dandelion greens, Organic Green Drink is raw and cold-blended. This means the fiber and micronutrients are preserved for optimal nutrition and, yes, gut health. Fresh produce, suggests The Atlantic article, might just be the best source of natural probiotics in general. (But that finding seems like a no-brainer in my opinion.)

And guess what else is in Chef V Organic Green Drink? That’s right … an apple! Core and all.

For every 16 oz of Green Drink you consume, you’re gut benefits from hundreds of millions of good bacteria. And remember, it’s not just the quantity of good bacteria that matters, it’s the diversity.

As Dr. James Hamblin, author of The Atlantic article on probiotics puts it, “Food is the main way that our gut biomes are populated throughout our lives, and microbe-rich foods [especially the 7 certified organic greens in my Green Drink] seem to be important to maintaining diversity.”

Best Source of Natural Good Bacteria: Conclusion

Remember, when it comes to eating apples, don’t think if you throw away the core that you’re still getting a decent amount of probiotics. In fact, it’s only by eating the core that you’ll get the same strains of bacteria that are sold in pricey probiotic pills.

Eating a plethora of fresh produce every day supports the intricate interconnectedness of the immune and digestive systems. By eating a wide variety of fresh produce, we feed our gut microbes the fiber and sugars they need to support our health. We scratch the bugs’ back, they scratch ours.

And whether you eat a huge fresh salad everyday or not, Chef V Organic Green Drink is the perfect way to gently wake up your digestive system in the morning, and gently cleanse your vital organs, and, of course, feed the friendly microbes in your gut.

Turmeric & Ginger: Twin Gut-Healing, Inflammation-Fighting Powerhouses

October 7, 2023 Chef V

“V” loves adding turmeric and ginger to her protein smoothies, which she always has about 30 minutes after breaking her fast with Organic Green Drink. Ginger and turmeric are powerful anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-inflammation fighters. But did you know that they’re also great for your gut microbiome? Here’s how…

If there’s one easy thing you can do to support your health starting now, it’s the simple act of sprinkling ginger and turmeric into your Green Drink or plant-based protein smoothie. But the catch is that unlike candy-tasting cinnamon, both ginger and turmeric have a very strong earthy and pungent taste.

One way to get both of these incredibly healthy spices is to follow my recipe for Golden Milk, a frothy, delicious blend of almond milk (or any plant-based milk), cinnamon (another healthy spice) and coconut sugar. Yum. You’re going to absolutely love it. And thanks to the cinnamon and coconut sugar, you won’t notice the sharp taste of ginger and turmeric.

Over time, you’ll probably learn to love the taste of ginger and turmeric without needing to sweeten it. And if you want to love your gut and have your gut love you back, there are several reasons why you should consume ginger and turmeric daily. In fact, they are 2 of the 6 spices that I frequently use not only to spice up my healthy meals but also to prevent belly bloating.

Ginger for Gut Health

Everybody knows that ginger helps with nausea. So it’s great to take some ginger chews with you before you go on an airplane, roller coaster, whale watching tour, or anything else that can make your stomach queasy. And if you’re a sushi lover like I am, you know how ginger pleasantly cleanses the palate between each roll.

But here’s why I use ginger practically every day to support my gut health. You see, not only does it prevent nausea, this study shows that it pretty much helps resolve every gastric discomfort like bloating, reflux, indigestion and constipation. It’s also been shown to help prevent gastric ulcers (although only in animal studies so far).

A little bit of ginger can also help prevent vomiting during pregnancy. Another way that ginger helps with gut health is by actually changing the composition of the gut microbiome, according to this study.

In other words, this spice has the power to introduce more friendly bacteria in the gut and reduce the number of potentially-harmful bacteria. So in a way, it’s like a food-based probiotic.

And wait, there’s more to ginger for gut health. If you’re someone who gets a bad case of gas every now and then, a study in Food Science & Nutrition says ginger can help as well as resolve belly cramping.

Want to boost your digestion? Then definitely start taking ginger on a regular basis. Research shows that it helps activate your body’s own digestive enzymes, making it easier for you to digest protein and fat.

I’ll leave you with one more possible ginger benefit for gut health. Many people who have taken lots of over-the-counter pain pills have really bad gut health. These OTC pills just destroy the gut microbiome. The good news is that spices like ginger have been shown to repair the damage to the gut lining. That’s sweet … even if ginger isn’t.

Turmeric For Digestion

Now let’s look at the power of turmeric to improve your gut. Turmeric’s gut-healing potential is mostly because of the compound curcumin.

OK, so like ginger, curcumin has been shown in research to act like a natural probiotic, helping the good guys in your gut flourish while killing off the bad dudes. In fact, in one study, turmeric/curcumin was shown to destroy 36 species of harmful bacteria in the gut.

Not only that, turmeric was shown to help with leaky gut by supporting the intestinal barrier. That barrier is everything because without a strong barrier, undigested food particles, viruses, toxins and bacteria will leak into your blood.

That’s bad news because then your own immune system will recognize those things and say, “Hey, that’s not supposed to be here,” and then it will tell chemicals in your body to activate so that it can mount a defense against them. This is what causes inflammation. And if you don’t repair your gut barrier, the inflammation will be chronic.

So turmeric is like an anti-inflammatory ingredient for your gut. Many people take curcumin supplements for the joints. But relatively few people realize just how powerful turmeric/curcumin can be for preventing inflammation in the gut and repairing the gut barrier.

Does Turmeric have Side Effects?

There is no concrete evidence of any side effects to eating or drinking turmeric.

Anecdotally speaking, some people new to turmeric have reported small amounts of indigestion after consuming large amounts of the ingredient. However, this is often a reported side effect of many new spices and ingredients and may just be a sign of your body getting used to it.

Perhaps the most preposterous myth about turmeric is that it causes pregnant women to go into labor early. There is zero evidence of this. In fact, pregnant women may very well benefit from including more turmeric in their diet.

Turmeric And Ginger Supplments

If you can’t stomach the taste of fresh turmeric or ginger, I encourage you to get them in supplement form. They are definitely among the two most healing natural ingredients I use every day.

But if you create some of my smoothie recipes that feature turmeric and ginger, there’s a great chance you’ll love the taste of these two amazing gut-healing spices.

What’s All The Buzz About Bee Pollen?

May 23, 2023 Chef V

Chef V and weight loss

Chef V explains why bee pollen is the ultimate boost for Green Drinks and low-sugar smoothies. (Hint: there’s more to this super topping than allergy prevention!)

I’m no history expert but was surprised to learn that bee pollen isn’t just a recent health fad. When I was geeking out on some bee pollen research, I discovered that both the Bible and ancient Egyptian texts tout bee pollen like it’s the bees' knees.

Most people first hear about bee pollen because it’s one of the best foods for seasonal allergy prevention. That’s one reason to add bee pollen to Organic Green Drinks, low-sugar tropical smoothies like my Tropitaya smoothie, or breakfast bowl smoothies.

I’ll cover bee pollen and allergies below. But first, I want you to know that there’s a lot more to bee pollen than preventing an occasional sneeze when you stop to smell the springtime flowers. In fact, for thousands of years, people have been using pollen for all sorts of physical ailments.

“Since antiquity, people throughout the world used bee pollen to cure colds, flu, ulcers, premature aging, anemia, and colitis,” says a research review in an allergy and asthma journal.

So let’s get to know more about bee pollen.

What is Bee Pollen?

When honey bees construct a hive, they mix saliva and wax to create a sticky, resiny substance like super glue. This resin is known as propolis. Bee pollen is a mixture of this propolis, nectar, and plant pollen.

Bees don’t intentionally set out to pollinate plants. Instead, bees consider pollen a superfood, just like a Whole Foods shopper does! So bees collect pollen from flowering plants, place it in their shopping carts (true story: bees collect pollen in mini baskets), and eventually bring it home to their pantry (hive) to munch on with their honey as a healthy snack.

Beekeepers carefully collect the bee pollen by placing a mesh screen at the hive entrance, allowing the bees to enter but separating the pollen from their bodies. The collected bee pollen is then carefully dried to preserve its nutritional content.

Bee Pollen: A Gold Mine of Nutrition

After reading the research about bee pollen, I’m all abuzz about adding it to my daily morning Green Drink and smoothies. For instance, a 2021 study published in the journal, Nutrients says bee pollen “is a gold mine of nutrition due to its active components that have significant health and medicinal properties.”

And what are those components? Bee pollen contains bioactive compounds, including proteins, amino acids, lipids, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins, and polyphenols, which are potent antioxidants. Polyphenols are essential to include in your diet because they neutralize free radical damage caused by environmental pollution and other forms of stress.

“The vital components of bee pollen enhance different bodily functions and offer protection against many diseases,” the researchers writing in Nutrients conclude.

The Health Benefits Of Bee Pollen

Immunity

Does bee pollen support immunity and help prevent allergies? Let’s forget what health bloggers are saying and see what legit research has to say.

Remember I mentioned polyphenols, the powerful antioxidant? It turns out that bee pollen contains a type of polyphenol called flavonoids.

Researchers from that allergy and asthma journal I mentioned say, “Bee pollen flavonoids … have anti-allergic, anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, … and can be excellent candidates for future studies including phytotherapy, molecular pharmacology and substitutes for chemicals used in treating allergic and immunological disorders.”

In other words, bee pollen may help strengthen the immune system against seasonal allergy attacks.

Add Bee Pollen to
These Smoothie Recipes

Tropitaya Smoothie

Peaches & Cream Smoothie

Tropical Smoothie
Creamy Green Smoothie
Piña Kale’oda Smoothie

-> More Chef V Smoothie Recipes

Lowers Blood Sugar and Body Weight

Should Ozempic users consume a daily dose of bee pollen? According to research from the Nutrients study, bee pollen inhibits the production of a particular enzyme and, in doing so, helps to lower blood sugar levels. As for weight loss, in an animal study, obese rodents were fed bee pollen for eight weeks and lost nearly 20% of their body weight.

Protects The Heart

The same research study suggested that bee pollen’s anti-inflammatory effects may help prevent the lining of blood vessels from constricting.

Detox

In animal studies, bee pollen removed toxic fluoride.

Mood

Instead of drowning your sorrows in booze, boost your mood with bee pollen. According to a 2022 study in Neuroscience Letters, bee pollen reduced anxiety-like behavior and suppressed inflammation in the brain.

(It’s important to note that this finding was also from an animal study. Human clinical trials are super expensive; trust me, I know from experience.)

Skin Health

Again, let’s skip the health blog hoopla. Instead, what does the research say about bee pollen for skin health?

“Bee pollen is a potent antifungal, antimicrobial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, immunostimulating agent, and it also facilitates the granulation process of burn healing,” reads a 2020 study in the journal, Molecules.

You won’t find me rubbing bee pollen all over my face. (Hmmm, that gives me an idea: bee pollen facial masks.) But you better believe it when I say I boost my Green Drinks and healthy smoothies almost every day with it.

These are just some of the health benefits of bee pollen. I should also mention that it’s a great source of B vitamins, so if you need an energy boost in the morning, boost your Green Drinks and smoothies with bee pollen.

Results of Chef V's Clinical Research Study

A Research Study Worth “Weighting” For: CHEF V Clinically Proven For Weight Loss

Chef V Clinical Research Study: 21 DAY Detox + Green Drink Lowers Inflammation: C-Reactive Protein down 34.1%

Chef V’s 5 Easy Healthy Gut Makeover Tips

April 16, 2023 Jean Yates

Have you ever heard the saying, “a healthy mind lives in a healthy body?” The way Chef V founder Veronica “V” Wheat sees it, a healthy mind exists because of a healthy gut. But it’s not just mental health that’s linked to gut health. The immune system, cardiovascular health, skin appearance, and, of course, how you look in a swimsuit is all controlled by the health of your gut. So V is here to offer 5 easy tips to boost gut health.

Healthy Gut Makeover Tip #1: Take It Easy On The Kombucha

When it comes to improving gut health, some people think all it takes is drinking some kombucha.

But as I mentioned here, many brands of kombucha are just glorified sugar water. The major selling point of kombucha is that it’s loaded with probiotics. Probiotics just so you know are clinically-proven strains of bacteria that may offer health benefits. (Lactobacillus and bifidobacteria are two of the most common species of probiotics).

Forget the fact that the probiotic content in kombucha is hardly ever verified. So it’s hard to tell if you’re getting any of the friendly-bacteria boosting benefits of kombucha to begin with. Not to mention if you struggle with yeast infections, drinking kombucha is the last thing you want to do. That’s because chugging a whole bottle of it, as refreshingly bubbly as it may be, may cause harmful bacteria and yeast to grow in your gut.

So my first healthy gut makeover tip is don’t be fooled thinking that kombucha is a magical elixir. Instead, eat and drink other things that are fermented with beneficial bacteria that aren’t loaded with sugar like coconut yogurt, sauerkraut/kimchi, beet kvass, tempeh and miso.

#2: Probiotics

Popping probiotic pills might help improve gut health, then again it may not. Many brands of probiotics are low quality. So don’t buy the cheapest probiotic supplement you can find because you’ll just be throwing your money away.

The reason why is that in order to colonize in your large intestine (also called the colon), the friendly microorganisms have to travel through some dangerous territory: the stomach.

You can think of your stomach as a swimming pool filled with acid. Containing the lowest pH level in the digestive system, the stomach and its highly acidic juices help break the big bites of food you swallow into partially-digested morsels called chyme.

Chyme then passes into the small intestine where enzymes further break it down into amino acids and nutrients.

So the cards are stacked against probiotics surviving this harsh acidic environment. Only high-quality probiotics that are formulated to break down once they reach the relative safety of the intestines are worth paying for. But even if you splurge on a pricey probiotic, it doesn’t mean that you’re going to have the best gut makeover…

#3: No Added Sugar Diet

Taking a probiotic supplement and eating and drinking things with added sugars is like not flossing and expecting your dentist to tell you that your gums look great.

(By the way, you should be flossing every day because if you don’t, the unhealthy bacteria will take over in your mouth and possibly other organs—including your gut!)

Sure, taking a really good probiotic is better than not taking one and consuming lots of sugar. The problem is, you might think you’re not consuming that much added sugars because you don’t eat candy, drink soda or other typical junk foods. But food manufacturers are sneaky. They put added sugars into all kinds of things, from salad dressing to coffee creamer to salsa, pasta sauce, bread … you name it.

So start paying attention to food labels on every single item you purchase from a supermarket. This is especially true of anything that comes in a package or can.

Consuming sugar from natural sources like vegetables and fruit is fine. But added sugars are to your bad gut bacteria what gasoline is to a car. Excess sugar fuels the pathogenic, disease-causing invisible critters in your gut.

I’m a purist when it comes to this rule. If I even see that a product contains just one gram of added sugar, I won’t buy it.

#4: Take It Easy

Constantly being on the go is the American way. But that lifestyle is terrible for gut health. And remember, if it’s terrible for gut health, it’s bad for your overall health and wellness. There are a ton of research studies (like this one) that show a connection between excess bad stress and poor gut health. In order to have great gut health, your brain and gut need to have great communication, just like in a healthy marriage.

The problem with chronic stress is that it totally disrupts gut and central nervous system communication. And when that happens, your happy hormones and chemicals like serotonin won’t get activated.

Even if you have a super slammed schedule like yours truly, you must take the time to decompress from stress.

I like to take mini-meditation breaks. You can meditate even while you’re stuck in traffic. Instead of being annoyed that you didn’t make the light, take advantage of the situation by taking some slow deep breaths. Notice the plants and scenery around you. Don’t stare at the red light with nervous energy.

Do a 5-minute yoga routine a few times a day, take a walk during lunch. Knit, garden, do whatever it takes to chill out—in a healthy way.

#5: Sleep Like A Baby

Like the link between gut and brain communication, there’s been a lot of research lately on the association between sleep quality and gut health.

It’s easy to say get enough sleep but if you’re stuck in a vicious cycle of insomnia and poor sleep quality, what can be done?

I recommend meditating or doing deep, steady breathing at 9:00 at night for about 20 minutes. Then, take a warm bath with soothing, relaxing essential oils and bubble bath. You can also try drinking some chamomile tea and then get in bed with all electronics out of the room and your phone in airplane mode several feet away from you. If you’re still having trouble getting enough deep sleep after trying these tips, you may want to try a full-spectrum CBD oil or consult with a natural health professional.

Personally, I don’t think getting 8 hours of sleep is necessary. Not if you’re eating clean and drinking organic greens, managing your stress, getting plenty of movement activity during the day and having an attitude of gratitude.

I hope that these tips help you achieve a healthy gut makeover!

Love,

Chef V Warns: Don’t Drink Coffee First Thing In The AM On An Empty Stomach!

January 31, 2023 Chef V

coffee t-shirts

Are you a first-thing-in-the-morning coffee drinker? After reading the advice of certified nutritional therapist and ChefV.com founder, Veronica Wheat, you may want to wait a little bit before having your first cup.

“But first…COFFEE!”

“A day without coffee is like … just kidding I have no idea.”

“Coffee spelled backwards is EEFFOC. Just know that I don’t give EEFFOC until I’ve had my coffee.”

“Eat. Sleep. Coffee. Repeat.”

Even though I don’t drink coffee, I can’t help but laugh at ironic coffee t-shirts.

But let’s take a closer look at the “Eat. Sleep. Coffee. Repeat” slogan.

A more accurate ironic slogan for many people would be, “Wake up. Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.” That’s because most people race out the door on their way to work with a cup or two or three of coffee well before they eat anything.

And I’m not talking about functional coffee drinks that contain coconut oil and mushroom powder.

Nope, I’m referring to the straight black stuff some people wish they could inject directly into their veins in order to feel alive in the morning.

If nothing can resurrect you in the morning except for coffee, I’m not going to try and convince you to give it up. (Unless you’re about to do a CLEANSE, which requires a coffee-free pre-cleanse phase.)

I am, however, going to ask you to reconsider drinking coffee on an empty stomach.

woman with coffee in bed

But First…Cortisol!

You’re probably familiar with the term “cortisol.” But just in case you need a refresher, in plain English, cortisol is known as the body’s major stress hormone.

Cortisol helps our body physically deal with stress, sending us into fight or flight or freeze mode. It’s a good thing that we have cortisol because it regulates our body’s stress response.

So when a distracted A-hole driver swerves into your lane and is heading right towards you, you can thank cortisol for giving you the superpower to be alert and steer your way to safety.

But just like 10 cups of coffee or glasses of wine a day, too much of a good thing is a bad thing. And when we’re constantly stressed out, we can have too much cortisol coursing through our system.

Having excess cortisol is no bueno! It can cause elevated blood sugar levels, even contributing to type 2 diabetes. It can also wreak havoc on your immune system. And ladies: too much cortisol can screw up your cycle and may cause an imbalance of other hormones.

And if that’s not bad enough, having too much cortisol may lead to an increase of the most dangerous kind of fat: visceral fat. Visceral fat is the deep belly fat that surrounds the organs in your abdomen.

Now, normally, levels of cortisol are naturally high in the morning. Why then do we need coffee if our body should be more alert? Why do we feel dead to the world without coffee if cortisol is supposed to be our natural alarm clock?

—-> 3 Ways To Feel Unstoppable In The Morning Without Coffee

It could be because you’re not getting enough sleep. Or maybe you’re drinking too much coffee, which can screw up normal cortisol fluctuations during the day.

coffee mug in bed

How Drinking Coffee First Thing In The AM Affects Cortisol

The important thing to understand is that drinking coffee first thing in the morning on an empty stomach might be harmful to your health for a couple reasons.

First, drinking lots of coffee can itself cause excess cortisol, which can lead to having high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.

And secondly, if you have GI problems like acid reflux, drinking coffee first thing in the morning can increase acid production, making your GI issues worse.

Drinking Coffee & Brain Function

There’s actually plenty of research that supports moderate coffee consumption. To reiterate: my point of emphasis here is not that drinking coffee is bad … it’s that drinking it on an empty stomach may be for some people.

People drink coffee to fire up their neurons so they can function at work. But what are the effects of having early-morning excess cortisol and brain function? Well, a study published in Neurology that was summarized in Scientific American looked at the effects of early-morning high cortisol on brain performance in more than 2,000 people.

Most of the participants were in their 40s. The study found that those with the highest levels of cortisol performed worse on tests of memory, organization, visual perception and attention.

To make matters worse, the brains of people with the highest levels of cortisol showed precursors to Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.

I’m not trying to scare the bejeezus out of you. I’m not suggesting that if you drink coffee first thing in the morning, your brain will deteriorate. Just think twice about drinking it on an empty stomach—especially black coffee. (Sorry, a splash of cream and a packet of sugar won’t help prevent a cortisol spike.)

Fonio grain

Here’s What To Do In The Morning Before Drinking Coffee

If you can’t wait to have coffee until noon or early afternoon, when cortisol levels are naturally lower, then I have a simple solution for you. It’s something I’ve been preaching for years but it works.

Step 1: After you wake up, drink a tall glass of water with lemon juice. This will help you naturally detox your body before introducing any stimulants into your system.

Step 2: Wait 20 minutes after drinking water and then have 8 ounces of Organic Green Drink.

No, this is not just some promotional plug for my nationwide Green Drink delivery plan. My recommendation, I’ll have you know, is science-based. Minerals such as magnesium in green leafy veggies help regulate and lower cortisol, research (like this) shows.

Step 3: About half an hour after having CHEF V GREEN DRINK, if you must, have your coffee. I also recommend doing some parasympathetic (relaxing) exercise like yoga in the morning to regulate your cortisol levels.

Step 4 (optional): wear your ironic coffee t-shirt.

Go Veg: Healthy Gut, Smooth Skin, Glossy Hair And Strong Nails

January 30, 2023 Jean Yates

Veronica in kitchen with blenders

The best veggies for a healthy gut, skin, hair and nails are the same ones in Chef V’s mega-popular Green Drink. And it’s no coincidence that these same veggies are also the best for helping you cleanse and detox. Chef V covers how each of the veggies benefits your beauty.

I created the recipe for Organic Green Drink several years ago back when I was a private chef. Over time, demand grew for my Green Drink and that’s really the catalyst for launching Chef V.

Now I admit, it would be a pain in the behind to have to chop green kale, black kale, collard greens, dandelion greens, green chard, curly parsley and green leaf lettuce every day. And then have to juice it. Then clean up.

Not only can you lose weight, gain energy and sleep more soundly by having Green Drink every day, there’s a very good chance your skin, hair and nails will look better.

So let’s take a look at how the ingredients in Green Drink are the healthiest veggies for skin, hair and nails.

varieties of kale

Best Veggies for Skin, Hair & Nails: Kale

There’s even a nail polish with kale extract. Supposedly, it can help stimulate keratin production. Keratin is the other main protein that’s in your nails.

These facts about kale make it one of the best veggies for skin, hair and nails. So drink your Green Drink and schedule that kale facial!

Best Veggies for Skin, Hair & Nails: Dandelion

collard greens

Best Veggies for Skin, Hair & Nails: Collard Greens

The reason why collard greens is one of the best veggies for skin, hair and nails is the same reason as kale and dandelion: it’s loaded with beta carotene (a precursor to vitamin A). One benefit of Vitamin A for your skin is the production of sebum. You can think of sebum as a waterproof lubricant for your skin. Without sebum, your skin would feel like it’s been scorched in a sauna for hours. And sebum is also in your hair. Without enough of it, your hair feels like straw.

Collard greens also contain iron. And one major factor for thinning hair is low iron intake.

chard

Best Veggies for Skin, Hair & Nails: Chard

Here’s why I think chard is one of the best veggies for skin, hair and nails….

Just one serving of it contains over 700 percent of your vitamin K suggested intake. It’s also got about 200 percent of your beta carotene needs and about half of your daily vitamin C needs. And chard is also very high in minerals such as magnesium. Getting enough magnesium in your diet is very important for healthy skin. It can help balance the amount of oils you have. Obviously, you need some oil but not too much. If your skin tends to run on the oily side, magnesium can reduce the amount of oils.

Chard is also high in biotin. Biotin is vitamin B7. There’s a good reason why many hair care products contain biotin. That’s because biotin stimulates hair follicles. Consume enough chard and your hair may benefit by appearing shinier and fuller in texture. And like all the other of the best veggies for your skin, chard is rich in antioxidants. Antioxidants repair and help regenerate new skin cells.

Best Veggies for Skin, Hair & Nails: Parsley

Poor parsley. Most people just eat a tiny bit of it as a post-meal garnish to freshen the breath. But here’s why you should consume more of it. (And what easier way to get your daily dose of parsley than having one or two Green Drinks per day?)

Parsley is a wrinkle destroyer. As I say above, vitamin C-rich foods help encourage production of collagen in your body. And parsley is particularly rich in vitamin C. And the more collagen production your body undergoes, the more wrinkles and fine lines will fade.

Moreover, parsley is a natural antibiotic. Thus, it can help kill bacteria-causing acne. There are several other benefits of parsley for your skin as well. But this post is already long and we’ve got one more of the best veggies for skin, hair and nails to cover:

Chef V and kale

Lettuce

Chef V, Coco and kale

We’ve Got The Beet! Why Beets Are Having Their Moment

January 30, 2023 Chef V

boy with beets

Chef V is seeing red for Valentine’s Day in a good way with beets. If you’re not on the beet bandwagon then hop on board. Never tried beets? With Chef V’s beet recipes, you’ll eventually fall in love with them and you’ll be healthier for it…

“Beets are sexy.”
—Said nobody.

But maybe I should be the first to coin that phrase. That’s right, you heard it here first. I think beets are the perfect Valentine’s Day food and not just because of the bright red color. Although for sure that’s a part of their attractiveness.

What makes beets the perfect food to eat around Valentine’s Day? Because it can get the blood flowing to parts of the body that need to operate in tip-top shape on Valentine’s Day. If you know what I’m sayin’…

And it’s not just men who benefit from beets. Ladies, eat some beets because this unsung root veggie boosts production of nitric oxide in the body. Every single cell in your body has nitric oxide, which is a gas. (Not to be confused with smelly toot gas.)

hands peeling beets

Check out my Beet Based Recipes

Beets For Better Sex?

When you have sufficient nitric oxide, blood flow and oxygen delivery to the muscles is improved. For men, nitrous oxide means better blood flow to the penis. Millions of men take sexual performance supplements that are designed to boost nitric oxide in the body.

So for men, beets may improve erectile dysfunction. For the ladies, enhanced nitrous oxide production also means that blood vessels dilate, allowing for better circulation and blood flow. When erogenous zones get more blood flow you can get more aroused.

Who would have ever thought that a beet smoothie could spark sexual arousal!

Veronica, Brandon, and Coco drinking beet smoothies

Other Reasons To Just Beet It

Because beets improve nitric oxide levels in the body, they may enhance your athletic performance. So if you’re a competitive athlete looking for that extra edge, give one of my beet recipes a try.

Check out my Beet Based Recipes

Here’s why else you should go bananas for beets…

Beet Benefits At A Glance:

High in minerals

Low in calories

High in fiber

Low in carbs

Lowers blood pressure and inflammation

Supports digestion and gut health

Supports cognitive health

Taking a deeper dive into beet nutrition facts here, so like most veggies, they’re a great source of minerals, especially potassium. This is yet another reason why athletes and active people should incorporate beets in their diet. You see, strenuous exercise depletes the body of minerals. If you don’t refuel your body with enough minerals, post-exercise, you’ll be lethargic and wear down your immune system.

Beets are also great for people who have high blood pressure and inflammation.

And remember how beets may kick your sex drive into high gear? Well, it turns out that nitric oxide also benefits brain health. In fact, a 2017 study showed that older adults who exercised and drank beet juice had brains that resembled much younger people.

seniors playing golf

Making Beets Yummy Again

Now I’m not suggesting that you eat raw beets. That would be just as unappetizing as eating raw potatoes, unless you're adding raw beet chunks to a smoothie.

The key to cooking with beets is to learn how to balance the bitterness of the veggie. And you do that by adding a pinch of Himalayan sea salt, red-wine vinegar, ginger, garlic or other herbs and spices.

Actually, before you even start cooking with beets, there’s a rookie mistake I have to warn you about!

Beets are like the permanent magic marker of the veggie world. They will leave stains that look like a horrible crime scene. I’m usually not a big fan of using anything plastic. But when it comes to cutting beets (for a salad or smoothie), a plastic cutting board is your best bet because it can be easily washed. I still use my wooden cutting board but I make sure to wash it right away.

And don’t toss out the green part that’s attached to the beets! They are highly nutritious and you can easily add them to a veggie stir fry or a smoothie. Oh, and one more tip when it comes to cooking beets…

You don’t have to remove the skins. The skin will add bulk to your stool, helping you more easily poop if you need help in that department. But if you don’t want to eat the skin, wait until after you’ve cooked the veggie to do it. It’ll be much easier.

Check out my Beet Based Recipes

beets on a counter

Beets: The Perfect Valentine’s Day Gift?

It’ll be a long time before a box of beets will be on equal par with a box of chocolates as the perfect Valentine’s Day gift. So my gift to you this Feb. 14 is leaving you with these beet recipes. May they help enhance the love you feel on this special day.

beets

How to Beat the Bloat : Chef V Clinical Research

January 24, 2023 Chef V

Chef V's Clinical Research Study conducted earlier this year shows that a 21 Day Detox followed by a week of Green drink led to a 42.6% decrease in bloating!

What causes bloating and how can I fix it?

It’s always been said that you should know your enemy. Before we can go about how to fight back against bloating, it’s essential to understand what foods cause bloating, as well as other factors.

That tight, full, and painful feeling of bloating is unmistakable. There can potentially be medical conditions that cause a bloated stomach. However, for most of us, a bloated stomach is caused by nutritional or digestive problems. The bloating feeling is often caused by excessive intestinal gas.

This gas buildup can be because you ate too fast, or you’ve overeaten. It could be because of the type of food you ate. You might even have a specific food intolerance you’re unaware of. Women also may get bloated before their periods due to menstrual changes.

Overeating can also be a cause of bloating. This is especially true if you’ve been going through a phase where you’re binging on foods that are high in fats and carbohydrates.

So what now?

Hindsight is always 20/20. Rather than bemoan the digestive issues caused by some poor nutrition decisions, it’s time to fight back with some options for reducing bloating and there are a few tactics you can deploy in the fight against bloating.

Water

Yep, just getting some water can help. This one might seem counterintuitive at first glance. Bloating makes you feel like you’re about to pop, so why fill up on water as well? It can’t be understated how important hydration is for your body and all its functions. When you drink plenty of water, your digestive system can work more effectively at processing what’s in your stomach and returning things to normal.

Eating foods high in water, like fruits and vegetables, is also a great idea. Apples, melons, and berries are all ideal fruits to get started with.

Intermittent fasting

Intermittent fasting is an increasingly popular way to help manage your body’s weight and metabolism. Essentially, intermittent fasting is about understanding that when you eat can be just as important as what you eat. In practice, intermittent fasting often involves eating most of your food during the day in a smaller window.

This gives your body more time to operate in “high-metabolism” mode, and start digestion faster. This, naturally, also helps out if you’re suffering from bloating, as it will make your digestive tract work faster, and better process the food causing gas.

Food to fight bloating

We touched on what foods cause bloating, the fatty and carb-heavy sort. But you can pull a reversal on bloating by eating foods great for fighting bloating. An excellent place to start are fruits high in potassium, such as bananas and avocados. High-water fruits like apples are also a great choice.

Potassium in foods like bananas, cantaloupe and apricots helps you manage sodium levels, which helps you manage hydration levels, which, as we learned, helps you manage bloating.

Certain spices are also really good at fighting bloating, turmeric and ginger being some of the best.

Foods that have a lot of healthy bacteria are also excellent choices. Fermented foods like yogurt, kimchi, kombucha, miso, and tempeh and are becoming increasingly popular for their gut-healing properties.

chef v power salad

Get moving

We get it, if you’re all bloated, you’re probably not super interested in the health benefits of exercise. But getting up and moving about can help stubborn gas be moved through your system. And any kind of exercise that works out your stomach muscles will also improve your digestive process.

This doesn’t need to be intensive exercise either. Just getting some stretching in can help you fight bloating, while also reducing the stress it causes you. Our recommendation is to give yoga a try.

Trying out a blended liquid cleanse

As we mentioned before, getting any kind of hydration is great for dealing with bloating. And so is intermittent fasting, and healthy eating. But what if you could combine all of these strategies into one?

Here’s where a detox juice cleanse comes in. The idea is that you restrict your diet down to low-carb foods filled with nutritious ingredients for a few days. Most notably, this includes a lot of green drink. This way, you can lose weight, while still keeping healthy. The best juice cleanses can last for quite a few days through the intake of detox soups and smoothies. (Make sure to check out our 21 day juice cleanse recipes for examples of what goes into one of these!)

Beat the bloat with Chef V green juice

Of course, you don’t need a 21 day juice cleanse to beat the bloat. A small 3 day juice cleanse can do wonders for helping you reduce all that bloat, at any time. It can also help you manage your blood sugar and appetite, both great for weight loss! Chef V’s signature green drink is blended to ensure it loses none of that important nutrition. We also provide detox shakes and detox smoothies so you can cleanse in a safe and achievable way. Check out all our great cleanse products today, and fight back against the bloat.

Beat the Bloat—Which Habits and Foods Cause Bloating?

January 11, 2023 Chef V

Bloating and gas are never fun. We know, really dropping the controversial statements here. The fact that bloating sucks is an obvious one. What’s somewhat less obvious is what is causing bloating. Diet choices can be a significant factor in how much bloating and gas you put up with during the day. If you’ve suffered from bloating, we might be able to help you pinpoint the causes in this blog.

What causes bloating?

The sensation of bloating can be caused by a few factors, but the most common is simply the accumulation of gas inside the stomach. This is pretty straightforward. If you’re filling your stomach up with air like a balloon, you’re not going to be having a good time. You’re also more likely to be gassy since, well, that air is going to want a way out. There’s no real polite way to put it.

But why the excess gas in your stomach? Generally, your stomach does create some gas during the digestive process as food breaks down. But there are a few reasons why this gas might be getting out of control.

Overeating

Putting too much food in your stomach is probably one of the most surefire ways to end up feeling bloated. If you have to adjust your belt buckle after meals, you likely need to cut back.

Eating too fast

Eating too fast is a path that leads right into overeating. By slowing down, you can let your body signal you are getting full. Eating fast doesn’t just put too much air into your stomach; it also means you’re swallowing a lot of air into your stomach, which then means gas.

Carbonated beverages

If you’ve ever drunk a carbonated beverage too quickly, you know exactly what we’re talking about. There’s nothing inherently wrong about carbonation (you should be worrying way more about the sugar content of these drinks), but if you drink too many of these kinds of beverages or guzzle them quickly, you can expect gas.

Smoking

Yeah, here’s another reason smoking is bad for you. It turns out that sucking in air all the time can lead to excess gas in the stomach. But if you care at all about your health, you shouldn’t be smoking anyways.

Food intolerances

So we’re finally mentioning food as part of the bloating process. This is going to be a somewhat special section. While we’ll discuss foods that could bloat, for many people, the foods that bloat them are linked to specific intolerances.

The best-known example of this is lactose intolerance, wherein certain people get bloated from consuming dairy products. In this case, dietary changes unique to the individual are recommended. For example, going vegan might be a good option for those who can’t break down lactose.

Fatty foods

Alright, let’s get into the meat of this issue. For many of us, the main culprit in causing bloating is the fat content of food. Why does fat content matter? Well, fat is one of the slowest digesting portions of food. That means food high in fat will be in your stomach longer, producing more gas.

Foods high in fiber for the fiber un-initiated

Hold up, fiber is good, right? Fiber is absolutely essential to a healthy digestive system. However, for those who don’t get enough fiber, making the transition to higher-fiber foods can sometimes cause bloating as our digestive systems adjust.

Certain sugars and carbs

Various kinds of sugars and carbs are found in the foods we regularly consume. Many of these sugars and carbs end up fermenting when being broken down, creating a release of gas that causes bloating

Examples of foods that cause bloating

Beans and lentils: These kinds of foods are generally healthy for you. Beans do have a reputation for causing gassiness that we should address. For some, this is because they are a good source of fiber. Other people have difficulty breaking down the sugars and carbs in beans. If you wash and soak your beans, you can reduce the severity of this issue. Also, the more you eat them, the more your body will adapt, causing less bloat over time.

Cruciferous vegetables: Think broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage. These foods have much the same nutritional profile as beans—lots of fiber, but also lots of sugars and carbs that ferment in your gut. You can cook them instead of eating them raw, or swap for other greens, such as spinach and swiss chard.

Dairy products: Mainly a concern for the lactose intolerant, some people just have a hard time breaking down dairy products. Trying out some vegan alternatives could help alleviate the issues.

Whole grains: Think barley and rye. Just like dairy products cause issues for those with lactose intolerance, whole grains can cause problems for those with gluten intolerance and celiac disease. These grains also can give many digestive systems not used to it a fiber overload.

Fight bloating with Chef V

We’re talking mainly about foods that cause bloating. But there are plenty of foods that can do the opposite. Fruits and vegetables high in water, potassium, or antioxidants tend to be fantastic for gut health. Berries, apples, and bananas are all great for those with gut issues.

Sometimes the key is in the spice. We get so many questions about if turmeric makes you fart. In truth, both turmeric and ginger are great for combating bloating. Even better, these are two spices found in our signature detox soups.

In fact, Chef V has plenty to help with bloating. Our detox juice cleanse includes a green drink with plenty of bloat-fighting foods, such as apples and spinach. Unlike other liquid cleanses, we make sure to include plenty of fiber as well, to avoid a gut meltdown.

If you want to learn more about our 21 day juice cleanse recipes, then check out all the information here, including facts on ingredients and nutrition!

Headaches and Other Negative Side Effects of Celery Juice

January 4, 2023 Chef V

Chef V is often lauded by supporters as one of the best juice-cleansing products you can buy. Over the past few years, it’s exploded in popularity online as a potential “cure-all” for a variety of ailments. But is celery juice good for migraines and gut health like they say? Is a celery juice diet really going to make you lose weight and feel great? Since we take juice diets seriously, we consider it our duty to get you the celery information you never knew you needed.

What are the benefits of celery juice?

To understand what has people so excited about celery juice, it’s probably best to get right down to the basics. The nutritional basics, that is. According to the US Department of Agriculture,
1 cup of chopped celery includes the following:

40 mg calcium
14 calories
2 grams fiber
263 mg potassium
1 gram protein
80 mg sodium
453 IU of vitamin A
3 mg of vitamin C
30 mcg of vitamin K

For most of you, that’s just a bunch of numbers. So let's highlight a few standouts. Most notably, celery has a ton of vitamin K, an essential vitamin for helping us repair our body from injuries. Celery also has decent showing in calcium, potassium, and vitamin C.

But, overall, celery’s nutritional profile could be best described as “inoffensive.” It’s not packed with any particular vitamin or mineral, but its calorie count is also pretty low. This isn’t to say it isn’t healthy. Celery is undoubtedly a super healthy vegetable, and with its low-calorie count, it’s great for a snack.

If you were to turn celery into juice, it would be an equally inoffensive juice. In an age with so many sugar-laden drinks, we can respect that. Getting more veggies in your life is never a bad thing, whether it comes from celery stalks or drinking juice. Lots of fruit and vegetable juices, celery included, feature antioxidants that have anti-inflammatory properties.

Problems with celery juice

What's the main negative side effect of celery juice? Well, it’s got one obvious and dangerous side effect. Hype. Celery juice isn’t magically going to make all of your serious ailments suddenly vanish, no matter what your favorite celebrity tells you. It’s just a juice made from a single vegetable and a fairly innocuous vegetable at that.

Of course, plenty of people want to focus on that tantalizingly low-calorie count and assume celery drinks are great for juice diets and fasting. Trying to go for a juice fast based on celery juice isn’t a great idea. Firstly, the juicing process tends to strip most of the fiber out of celery juice. This can give you tons of digestive issues if you’re relying on celery juice alone for nutrition.

There’s also the fact that the low nutritional profile of celery juice means it’s just not sustainable for something as long as a 7 day cleanse, let alone a longer 21 day cleanse. The lack of serious nutritional value can lead to the infamous “celery juice headaches” as your body goes without what it needs.

Beyond the digestive concerns and celery juice headaches, there are also some adverse side effects of celery juice that are concerning for specific people. If you have a celery allergy, you should obviously stay away from large amounts of the stuff. However, people on blood thinner medication may also want to avoid too much celery due to the abundance of clot-promoting vitamin K.

The verdict

In the end, celery juice is just juice. That’s about it. In reasonable doses, you’re fine drinking it. The negative side effects of celery juice only start to kick in when you try to lean on it for a juice cleanse. If you want a juice cleanse that works, make sure to cleanse with Chef V. Our green drinks, detox soups, and detox smoothies have all the essentials to get you through even the legendary 21 day detox, no problem.

Alli-Yums? Should You Pass On Garlic & Onions?

January 1, 2023 Chef V

shallots on board

For most people, cooking a meal at home just isn’t whole without garlic or onions. Harsh breath aside, garlic and onions (allium vegetables) possess potent health-building properties. But for a few people with poor digestion, alliums are just no fun. Chef V explains why garlic and onions can lead to indigestion.

Here’s a little health tip that you can try at home. Just make sure you have some mouthwash handy: eating raw garlic and onion may be two of the best things to eat for your gut.

That’s because they both contain prebiotic fiber. You’ve heard of probiotics (friendly bacteria in your gut) but in case you don’t know what prebiotic fiber is, it’s basically the preferred source of food for your beneficial gut bacteria.

If you feed your gut prebiotic fiber, the good bacteria will feast on the undigested fiber in your colon and produce short-chain fatty acids. Pretty much every single health benefit you can think of, from emotional well-being to your immune system depends on short-chain fatty acids.

So does this mean you should be eating garlic and onions by the handful?

onions

The Health Benefits of Alliums

Garlic and onions are members of the allium family of plants. Leeks, chives, and scallions (green onions) are also alliums.

Besides being used to flavor dishes, there are some very good reasons to eat a lot of alliums. They are rich in vitamins and minerals and contain compounds that are believed to fight disease.

For instance, a 2017 study in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine says that alliums are rich in organosulfur compounds, quercetin, and flavonoids, among others. These compounds, says the research, have the following properties:

● Protect against cancer

● Cardiovascular disease prevention

● Anti-inflammation

● Prevents obesity

● Fights diabetes

● Contains antioxidants

● Kills germs

● Protects the brain and immune system

Moreover, several studies, says a research article in the Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention, have shown that a higher intake of allium products is associated with reduced risk of several types of cancers.

Besides bad breath, is there any reason not to eat these most common alliums by the bulb-full? Maybe there’s a good reason why Mediterranean cultures eat a ton of garlic and seem to have less chronic disease than Americans? Garlic is thought to be one of the most powerful foods for keeping the arteries clear of plaque buildup.

As for onions, it’s an excellent non-citrus source of vitamin C. Both garlic and onions are excellent for people trying to manage their blood sugar levels.

garlic

The Downside Of Alliums

But before you go eating bulb after bulb of garlic and onions, keep in mind that not everybody can tolerate alliums very well. It’s hard to say how many people have a true allium allergy.

Unlike Celiac Disease, which we know affects roughly 2 million people in the U.S, there’s no reliable data on garlic and onion allergies. Relatively few people are probably truly allergic to alliums but there are many people who are intolerant of them.

So what’s in garlic and onions that cause bloating, gas and other digestive upset? The reason why is that alliums are high in FODMAPs. FODMAP stands for fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols. Basically, these carbohydrates are very hard for some to digest.

For people that have to eat a low FODMAP diet, eating alliums can cause the small intestine to poorly absorb the sugars in the onion and garlic. The sugars then ferment in the colon (large intestine), causing gas or other symptoms. But only a few people – who need to eat a very low FOD map diet – cannot tolerate alliums. For 99% of people, they are fine.

Fructans in Garlic and Onions

The main offending carbohydrate in alliums is called fructan, which is a chain of fruit sugar (fructose) molecules. Fructans represent the ‘oligosaccharides’ in FODMAPs. Garlic is especially problematic because it contains one of the highest levels of fructans in the plant world.

Unfortunately, there’s no magic pill you can take to break down fructans like you can a lactase enzyme for dairy. That means if you eat at a meal with lots of garlic and onions, you may experience abdominal pain, acid reflux or constipation.

In general, it’s a great idea to get more prebiotic fiber in your diet. More prebiotic fiber means better gut health. But not everybody tolerates prebiotic fiber (fructans and inulin, which is a polysaccharide).

Elimination Diet

If you have trouble digesting alliums, I suggest giving them up for a few weeks along with every other type of food that may be triggering food sensitivities. That means no gluten (wheat), soy, and the most common other food sensitivity triggers: artificial sweeteners, caffeine, MSG, dairy, tree nuts, shellfish, peanuts and eggs.

That bit of advice may seem overwhelming because what’s left to eat? But if you have serious digestive issues, I highly recommend working with a nutritionist who can help you discover the root causes of your digestive issues.

The good news is that after a few weeks, you can start reintroducing some of these foods back into your diet, one at a time.

And if you love garlic but it doesn’t love you back, here’s another piece of advice. Buy garlic-infused olive oil. It’s low in FODMAPS so it won’t trigger any food sensitivities.

Just don’t forget to brush and use a strong mouthwash.

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What Is Leaky Gut & Do You Have It?

January 1, 2023 Chef V

leaky gut

Leaky anything never sounds good: Pipes. Faucet. Radiator. Can you think of a situation where leaking is a good thing? I can’t think of one. The worst leak of all, one that affects millions of people’s health and happiness is leaky gut.

How Do You Fix Leaky Gut?

Fixing a leaky gut isn’t easy and it takes time. Unlike calling a plumber, you can’t call a GI handyman to fix it fast. This is especially true if you’ve been experiencing the above symptoms for many years.

The first step in conquering leaky gut is to stop it from leaking more. And to do that, you need to stop eating and drinking things that will continue to weaken it. For this, I recommend two options. The more accurate but more expensive way is to get a food sensitivity blood test. That takes the guesswork out. If you want to go the cheaper but longer route, follow an elimination diet. That’s where you avoid all potential allergenic foods like gluten for at least 4 weeks and then reintroduce them one by one to see if you have any allergy symptoms.

There are certain foods like bone broth and collagen protein that may actually help repair the gut lining. But you can’t just sip a cup of bone broth and continue eating allergenic foods expecting miracles.

As a certified nutrition therapist, I wish I could work one on one with you to help repair your gut. But one recommendation I have for you—besides replacing the typical American breakfast every day with my Organic Green Drink—is working with a functional medicine doctor or naturopathic doctor. Through diagnostic testing and supplement recommendations, these natural health experts can help you overcome leaky gut and get you living your best life. It’ll cost a pretty penny but isn’t looking and feeling your best worth it?

Gut: Not The Same As Belly

You’ve probably heard of leaky gut but aren’t quite sure what it means. In order to understand what leaky gut is, it’s important to first understand what the gut refers to.

Many people think the gut is the stomach or abdomen. But your belly is just a small part of your gut. Your gut, or gastrointestinal (GI) tract actually begins in your mouth. Digestion begins even before you take the first bite of food. When you so much as look at or even smell what you’re about to eat or drink, saliva starts forming, ready to soften food for transit down the digestive tract. Eventually, what you eat is eliminated through your backside, which is where the gut ends.

So now that you have a clear definition of what the gut is, let’s focus on a specific area of the gut that heavily influences your immune system, mood and overall health…

Your intestines are home to trillions of bacteria. It’s also here that 80% of your immune cells reside. Some people believe that in order to have strong digestion, you need a strong stomach. But actually, the part of your body that has the most influence on your health is called the intestinal mucosal barrier.

stomach mucosa - leaky gut

The Mucosal Barrier & Gut Health

Years ago, when I first heard the term mucosal barrier, I was kind of grossed out. When you hear the word mucus what do you think of? Disgusting runny noses, right? But it turns out that mucus is one of your best friends. Your intestines are lined with a mucosal barrier. This barrier protects you from potentially-disease-causing pathogens like harmful bacteria, viruses, fungus, etc. In addition, the barrier interacts with immune cells, absorb nutrients and is also responsible for directing waste out of the body.

Your mucosal barrier is lined by epithelial cells. A healthy mucosal barrier has tight junctions between the cells.

Leaky Gut Explained

So here’s where we get to leaky gut. Because of several reasons I’ll mention in just a sec, the tight junction can weaken over time. And when this thin intestinal mucosal wall leaks now you have a leaky gut. What exactly is leaked? Undigested food particles, toxins and microorganisms (bacteria, etc.).

leaky gut

What Happens When You Have Leaky Gut?

Bad things. Autoimmune disorders can arise. A weak gut lining can cause rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, fibromyalgia, Crohn’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome and other imbalances in which the body attacks itself.

Why does the body attack itself? It’s because when these undigested food particles, toxins and bacteria flow unimpeded through the bloodstream, the immune system mounts a defense and tries to destroy them. This creates a high inflammation response in the body, leading to painful joints, skin and digestion problems and more…

Why Hasn’t My Doctor Told Me About Leaky Gut?

Because leaky gut isn’t an officially recognized medical disorder. The closest thing to it is “intestinal permeability.” But in order to get diagnosed with that, you need to undergo a biopsy, in which a slice of your intestinal tissue is removed.

There is a bit of a chicken and egg scenario with leaky gut. Did the weakening of the mucosal barrier cause an autoimmune disease or is it the other way around?

I’m convinced that because of various factors, leaky gut causes inflammatory conditions, not the other way around.

probiotics

Symptoms of Leaky Gut

You don’t have to have an autoimmune disorder to have a leaky gut. Other signs that your intestinal wall has gotten weaker include:

Brain fog
Constipation
Insomnia
Fatigue
Feeling cold
Bloating
Gas
Acne, eczema and rashes
Anxiety and depression

Causes Of Leaky Gut

If you have any of the above symptoms do you relate to any of the following causes?

Frequent antibiotic use
Gut dysbiosis (not having enough friendly bacteria, having too many harmful bacteria)
Chronic stress
Exposure to harmful chemicals like glyphosate
Excess alcohol
Consuming too much sugar
Eating foods to which you are allergic or sensitive, e.g. gluten, dairy. (This is also a chicken or egg question: are you allergic because of leaky gut or did leaky gut cause the allergy? Hmmm.)

There are other causes of leaky gut but these are by far the most common.

5 Reasons Dark Leafy Greens Are Awesome For Gut Health

January 1, 2023 Chef V

How many times have you heard “FOLLOW THE SCIENCE” over the last two years? Well, there’s no debating that dark, leafy green veggies are some of the most health-promoting nutrient dense-foods on Earth. In this article, certified nutritional therapist, Veronica Wheat Kress, aka Chef V, lists 5 research-backed ways that dark leafy greens improve gut health. All disease starts in the gut. So make sure you’re taking care of your digestive system by consuming dark, leafy greens every day. Not getting enough greens? (DO THIS.)

I’m probably not rocking your world by telling you this news: dark, leafy green veggies are the best and most affordable superfoods on the planet. But what you probably didn’t know about my fave greens are how they specifically help improve gut health. So let’s dive right in.

gut health

#1: Contains Sulfoquinovose

Last year, a team of researchers in Austria were the first ones to discover how bacteria in the gut process a sugar found in dark, leafy greens called sulfoquinovose. Nutritional hipsters like myself call it “SQ.”

SQ contains sulfur. But it’s not the same as the rotten-egg sulfur smell you’re probably thinking of. And even though it’s a sugar, SQ doesn’t act in the gut the same way sugar does. Sugar—I’m talking about the kind in white table sugar packets—feeds a large number of different kinds of bacteria in the gut. But SQ only feeds certain bacterial species that are found in healthy people.

And when these healthy bacteria digest SQ, an energy source for other friendly bacteria is formed. Evidently, your harmful bacteria don’t want to have anything to do with dark, leafy greens.

So the more dark, leafy greens you consume, the more SQ your gut produces. This causes the good guys in your gut to multiply while kicking out the bad party guests.

leafy greens

#2: Produces Short-Chain Fatty Acids

This kind of relates to SQ, but I’m about to get a little gross here. You see, when you consume dark, leafy greens, your body can’t digest some of the fiber. But your friendly bacteria can in your colon. And when the bacteria eats the fiber, it produces short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs).

SCFAs are basically the poop of your gut bacteria. You thought probiotics were vital for great gut health? Well, they are. But it’s actually the SCFAs that provide us with so many health benefits.

For instance, SFCAs act like fertilizer for the cells that line the mucous lining of the small intestinal barrier. This prevents your food from leaking out into the bloodstream.

It’s pretty creepy to think that the more bacterial poop you have in your gut, the better your health. But it’s true. SCFAs improve communication with your cells. And when your cells are more communicative, your immune function, mood and other systems improve.

sore stomach

#3: Decreases Methane

For people with digestive problems like gas and bloating, there is usually more methane-producing bacteria in the gut. So if good bacteria poops short-chain fatty acids, harmful bacteria has stinky methane gas.

Most of us only associate methane gas with cows. (Climate change has brought that to our attention.) But eating unhealthy food also causes the release of methane albeit internally in your gut.

#4: Lowers Inflammation

Dark leafy greens contain another sulfur compound called sulforaphane. Sulforaphane and other antioxidants like quercetin (which has received a lot of attention over the last couple years because of a certain worldwide virus) are inflammation fighters.

People with gut dysbiosis—too many harmful bacteria, not enough friendly ones—often have chronic inflammation in the bowel or elsewhere in the digestive tract.

By eating more dark, leafy greens, your body may develop with a more normal inflammatory response—including in the gut.

#5: Contains Cellulose

Like the walls that keep your home warm and cozy, plants have cell walls. These walls are made of sugar called cellulose. Because your digestive system can’t fully digest cellulose, it’s considered a fiber. Cellulose helps fertilize your good bacteria. It does this by increasing the amount of starch that gets fermented in the colon. This increases the amount of short-chain fatty acids (bacterial poop) that your good bacteria produce.

Dark, leafy greens aren’t just reservoirs of awesome nutrient density. Yes, they are chock full of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. But you could also say they are Mother Nature’s most awesome food for gut health.

And if you’re not eating enough of them, here’s the perfect solution.

Gut Health Survival Guide: Chef V’s 5 Tips For Success

December 29, 2022 Chef V

veronica eating soup

Good gut health – maybe you feel powerless on vacation and special occasions. With people getting out again and traveling, you may run the risk of overwhelming your digestive system. So follow these 5 tips for a healthy gut.

Gut Health Survival Guide Tip #1: Eat one big meal a day

If you love to pig out during special occasions, I have great news for you. Feasting like a Roman gladiator is totally doable, if you know how to do it right. And here’s how.

Step #1: When you wake up in the morning, don’t eat anything. Instead, first drink a tall glass of water. If you have electrolyte drops, add them to your water or sprinkle a teaspoon of sea salt and stir. The minerals in the salt or drops will help give your cells a zero-calorie energy boost. Add a squeeze of fresh lemon to give your liver a little helping hand in the detoxification process.

Step #2: Roughly 30 minutes after you chug some water, break your fast with a low-calorie, low-sugar Organic Green Drink. If you’re not getting enough green leafy veggies in your diet, this is the easiest way to get ‘er done. There’s no excuse not to consume enough veggies when you get them delivered to your front door in cold-blended juice form!

Step #3: Eat a light meal or have a plant-based protein drink about an hour or so after Green Drink.

Step #4: Eat one huge late lunch. At around 2 or 3 in the afternoon, eat whatever you want and as much as you want. Just make sure to avoid high-sugar junk. For dessert, treat yourself to some berries and a piece of dark chocolate.

Step #5: You can have a very light snack no later than 7 p.m. A small portion of nuts, a piece of fruit or yogurt. Then don’t eat anything or drink anything with calories until 11 a.m. or later the following day. The beauty of combining one main meal a day and intermittent fasting is that you can eat as much turkey and stuffing as you want. Your digestive system will have plenty of time to work. For even better results, exercise in the morning before breaking your fast.

digestive bacteria

Tip #2: Don’t Take An Antacid

If you have acid reflux because you ate way too much, taking an antacid may offer immediate relief, but it comes at a price. If you’re going to take an antacid once or twice a year, most likely that’s fine.

But frequent use of antacid creates chronically-low stomach acid. If you don’t have enough stomach acid, you’ll have indigestion all the time; the very problem that antacids are supposed to eliminate. (And don’t get me started about Zantac, the most popular antacid of all time. It was pulled off the market because it contained a cancer-causing chemical.)

Tip #3: Take Digestive Enzymes

Instead of taking an antacid to help eliminate symptoms of indigestion, solve the root cause of indigestion. And what’s the root cause? You can blame it on sluggish digestive enzymes.

Your body contains several kinds of digestive enzymes, starting with amylase. Before your food even enters your stomach, your eyes and nose spring digestive enzymes into action. Your sense of smell and sight sparks your salivary glands into action. Spit (saliva sounds so much nicer) contains amylase, an enzyme that breaks down carbohydrates.

There’s also lipase to break down dietary fat and pepsin for protein and several others. But if your digestion is sluggish, your digestive enzymes need outside help. Enter digestive enzyme supplements. Now, I’m not in the supplement business so I’m not going to recommend one brand. But I encourage you to do your research (read product reviews) and start taking digestive enzymes with every meal—especially the massive holiday ones.

Chef v walking

Tip #4: Walk It Out

Been there, done that. Before I became a certified nutritional therapist, I would celebrate by overindulging. But then I read research studies that said walking right after a meal was a great way to control blood sugar and lose weight.

It’s so easy not to do anything after a big meal. The furthest people want to walk after a big meal is from the dining room to the living room where the couch and TV are.

But if you can just force yourself to go for a walk immediately after a meal, it’s really the simplest thing to do to prevent excess blood sugar from getting stored in the liver and eventually as body fat. See if you can get someone to join you. If not, listen to some good tunes or a podcast to make the time go by quicker. Even just 10 minutes will do your body and your gut some good.

probiotics

Tip #5: Make Perfect Poop With These Helpers

In this article I wrote about preventing food poisoning while travelling, I mentioned a probiotic yeast that’s the best for preventing diarrhea. It’s called Saccharomyces Boulardii. Buy it and take it before you eat a huge meal. It’s always good to have on hand.

This probiotic is the only one that’s a fungus. (Yeast is a fungus.) That may sound gross to take a fungus. But remember that edible mushrooms are the fruiting body of fungus and they are one of the best things to consume for immune support. Anyway, S. Boulardii is the best probiotic if your poops could use an image makeover.

Tip #6: Have A Great Healthy life!

That about says it all!

Raw Veggies Vs. Cooked: Does It Matter For Gut Health?

December 11, 2022 Chef V

what do I eat today liquids

We know that eating more veggies can boost the number of friendly bacteria in your gut. But what’s a mystery to most people is if how we prepare our veggies affects gut health in any way. “V” reveals if there’s a winner between raw veggies or cooked plant-based foods.

If you’re a nutrition research geek like me, you’ve probably come across lots of studies on intermittent fasting, vegetarian diets, keto diets and other types of eating protocols. But if there’s one type of food study that’s as rare as finding a perfectly round pearl in an oyster, it’s this subject…

Is there a difference between eating raw plants versus cooked veggies? As I’m writing this, it’s August, or as I like to call this time of year, Rawgust! Because it’s so hot out, it’s the best time of year to consume a raw, plant-based diet. All I know is that when it’s 100 degrees outside, the last thing I want to do is slave over a hot stove, cooking up a huge slab of meat. Nope, this time of year, it’s all smoothies, mocktails and salads (and maybe a gazpacho or two).

So I like to go with my gut and listen to what my body is craving—as long as the craving is for something healthy. But beyond my intuition, is there any research to back up my craving for raw food? Will going raw any time of year support the trillions of friendly bacteria in my gut microbiome?

Well, it got me wondering? So I did my best nutritional Sherlock Holmes investigating. Unfortunately, the trail went cold. But I persisted and eventually found what is believed to be the first study to bring up this nutritional debate.

salad

Raw Vs Cooked Veggies For Gut Health

Before we get into the research, chew on this…

Horses don’t eat cooked food. Neither do chimps or gorillas. Yet they’re strong as bulls. In fact, humans are the only animals that cook their food. Many paleontologists believe our human ancestors developed bigger brains precisely when eating cooked food became the norm. In the hundreds of thousands of years since, our gut microbiomes have been influenced largely from cooking bones and meat.

It’s no wonder that there has hardly been any research looking into the effects of raw plants on the gut microbiome.

But finally, in 2019, researchers from Harvard University put that question to the test … at least in mice, not humans. And the results were not what I expected.

What the researchers discovered was that the mice who ate raw sweet potatoes essentially committed murder on several of their gut species.

But if there’s one thing that drives me a little nuts is when I hear people say that raw food is hard for the body to digest. That might be true if you’re trying to eat a raw, high-starch veggie like a potato or sweet potato. I’m definitely not suggesting eating raw potatoes.

Why the researchers didn’t give the mice lots of other raw veggies, like say, lettuce, I can’t explain. I also have no clue why more research hasn’t been done on the effects of raw veggies on the gut microbiome versus cooked veggies.

veronica and kale

Eating Raw in Rawgust: Benefits

Now let me ask you something. If you’ve been partying in June and July like it’s 1999 and your digestion, energy and skin need a reboot, what do you think is better for you: cooked meat or salad?

Of course a diet high in raw veggies is much easier on your system than cooked meat. Now I admit, there are a few veggies that you may have a harder time digesting raw rather than cooked. This is especially true of the nightshade veggies:

Peppers (it doesn’t matter what kind or what color)
Tomatoes
Egglplant
Potatoes (which we covered)

Personally, I’m not a huge fan of raw broccoli either. But when it comes to green, leafy veggies such as spinach, kale, collard greens, lettuce, parsley, chard and dandelion, the research doesn’t lie. There are so many health benefits of the 7 leafy greens that are featured in Organic Green Drink that I could write a book about it.

In fact, I sort of did: a cookbook, Making Cleansing Easier, which features an intro that talks about several of these health benefits.

The bottom line is that if you want a health makeover, let the sizzling summer months be the perfect time to boost your intake of raw veggies. Your gut microbiome will thank you for it.

Healthy Gut, Smooth Skin, Glossy Hair And Strong Nails

November 27, 2022 Chef V

kale

I created the recipe for Organic Green Drink several years ago back when I was a private chef. Over time, demand grew for my Green Drink and that’s really the catalyst for launching Chef V.

Not only can you lose weight, gain energy and sleep more soundly by having Green Drink every day, but there’s also a very good chance your skin, hair, and nails will look better.

So let’s take a look at how the ingredients in Green Drink are the healthiest veggies for skin, hair, and nails.

your microbiome - bacteria

Best Veggies for Skin, Hair & Nails: Kale

In fact, kale can even help tighten your skin. How? Well, one of the reasons why your skin isn’t as tight when you get older is that the aging process weakens your collagen. Collagen is the body’s main structural protein. In fact, over one-third of the thousands and thousands of proteins in the body is collagen proteins. Collagen provides strength to your tendons, ligaments, teeth, nails, hair, bones, gut lining, and much more….

The vitamin C in kale along with the antioxidant, lutein, promotes collagen regrowth and production. In addition, vitamin A in kale helps prevent damage to the skin. It also repairs damages to the epidermis.

There’s even a nail polish with kale extract. Supposedly, it can help stimulate keratin production. Keratin is the other main protein that’s in your nails.

These facts about kale make it one of the best veggies for skin, hair, and nails. So drink your Green Drink and schedule that kale facial!

weight and your microbiome

Best Veggies for Skin, Hair & Nails: Dandelion

Like kale, dandelion also contains lots of beta carotene and vitamin C. It’s also rich in B vitamins and vitamin E, which is a standard ingredient in many skincare products. Moreover, the minerals and trace minerals in dandelions may actually help regrow hair.

collard greens

Best Veggies for Skin, Hair & Nails: Collard Greens

The reason why collard greens are one of the best veggies for skin, hair, and nails is the same reason as kale and dandelion: it’s loaded with beta carotene (a precursor to vitamin A). One benefit of Vitamin A for your skin is the production of sebum. You can think of sebum as a waterproof lubricant for your skin. Without sebum, your skin would feel like it’s been scorched in a sauna for hours. And sebum is also in your hair. Without enough of it, your hair feels like straw.

Collard greens also contain iron. And one major factor for thinning hair is low iron intake.

probiotic

Best Veggies for Skin, Hair & Nails: Chard

Here’s why I think chard is one of the best veggies for skin, hair, and nails….

Just one serving of it contains over 700 percent of your vitamin K suggested intake. It’s also got about 200 percent of your beta carotene needs and about half of your daily vitamin C needs. And chard is also very high in minerals such as magnesium. Getting enough magnesium in your diet is very important for healthy skin. It can help balance the amount of oil you have. Obviously, you need some oil but not too much. If your skin tends to run on the oily side, magnesium can reduce the amount of oils.

Best Veggies for Skin, Hair & Nails: Parsley

Parsley is a wrinkle destroyer. As I say above, vitamin C-rich foods help encourage the production of collagen in your body. And parsley is particularly rich in vitamin C. And the more collagen production your body undergoes, the more wrinkles and fine lines will fade.

21 day detox from Chef V

Lettuce

One of the main reasons why lettuce is good for your skin is it contains the following three minerals: silica, sulfur, and phosphorous. You don’t need a large quantity of these minerals from the foods you eat. That’s why they are called trace minerals. But these three trace minerals are vital for maintaining healthy skin, hair, and nails. Without a doubt, you’re not going to get many benefits by eating iceberg lettuce, which is devoid of nutrition. But green leafy lettuce can also protect your skin against harmful UV rays.

So now do you see why I selected these six veggies (7 really; Green Drink includes two different types of kale)? Not only are they the best-tasting and most detoxifying, but they’re also the best for your skin, hair, and nails.

Chef V and Kale

Dark Leafy Greens & Gut Health: What’s The Connection?

November 27, 2022 Chef V

The fact that dark, leafy greens are healthy isn’t exactly headline, groundbreaking news. We all know they are loaded with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber. But what you may not realize is how the 7 leafy greens in Organic Green Drink may improve your gut microbiome, that tiny universe that’s home to your trillions of bacteria.

If you want to be happy and healthy, you have to make sure your gut microbiome is in top-top shape. So let’s learn exactly what consuming Green Drink does for your gut galaxy of bacteria.

This is Your Gut Bacteria On Green Drink

Eating or drinking dark, leafy greens doesn’t directly make you healthier. There’s a middleman involved. Trillions of them in fact. And when you feed the trillions of bacteria enough dark, leafy greens, they feast on a compound that makes us healthier.

To enjoy a balanced immune system, flawless skin, a positive mood and abundant energy, you need about 85% of the bacteria in your gut microbiome to be friendly strains. At that percentage, the 15% potentially harmful bacteria don’t stand a chance to overwhelm the good guys.

When you consume dark leafy greens, your friendly bacteria feast on an X-factor compound that helps them reproduce. It’s only by continuously feeding your good bacteria that the dark, evil forces in your gut—harmful bacteria—can never emerge victorious. Remember, gut health is everything. I’ve probably said that a million times over the years but I can’t emphasize this point enough.

You can pop all the vitamins and other supplements you want. But if you’re not feeding your friendly bacteria dark, leafy greens, they won’t be able to “make copies of themselves” or have microorganism babies, or however else you want to put it. The bottom line is that the friendly bacteria you do have can only go to work for you if you feed it the best stuff.

SQ For Gut Health

If you’ve been reading my articles over the years, I’ve probably scared you away from consuming sugar. But every single food with carbohydrates, fruits and veggies included, contains sugar. And some sugars are actually great for gut health. Dark, leafy greens contain a carbohydrate (sugar) called sulfoquinovose or SQ for short.

SQ is the only sugar molecule that contains sulfur and this is a very important fact. This is because sulfur is the 7th most abundant mineral in the body and many people don’t get enough of it. Now, it might not seem that 7th place is very important. After all, who remembers who came in 7th place in an Olympic race. But let me tell you why sulfur is important…

Your body needs sulfur to build and fix your genetic material (DNA). Every day and all day, your body is constantly trying to repair your DNA and protect your cells from damage that can lead to premature aging and chronic diseases. So you can think of sulfur as superfood for your DNA.

Without sulfur, you wouldn’t be able to metabolize your food or have healthy skin and joints. And when you consume leafy greens, you’re getting sulfur in the form of biotin (vitamin H; bet you didn’t know there was a vitamin H!). Biotin is made by your friendly gut bacteria! So eat lots of leafy greens to get your daily dose of sulfur.

Good Bacteria Love Protein, Too

Who doesn’t love to sink their teeth into a tasty morsel of protein, whether it’s a carnivore tearing into a T-bone or the plant-based dieter enjoying tempeh tacos. Well, it turns out that our friendly bacteria love protein, too. They need amino acids just as much as we do. And it’s that X-factor compound, SQ, the sulfur-based sugar that produces amino acids for our good bacteria.

Some of the best sources of SQ include the 7 certified organic leafy greens in Organic Green Drink, which you can have delivered right to your front door. No wasting time on shopping, prep work and cleaning. Just drink it straight out of the bottle right into your gut, like superfuel for your friendly bacteria.

LEARN MORE ABOUT GREEN DRINK

Chef V’s 3 Simple Tips For Great Gut Health

November 14, 2022 Jean Yates

We often hear the phrase gut health. But what exactly does that mean and how can it be achieved? Veronica Kress, aka “V” of Chef V fame, shares how she’s been able to keep her tummy flat and keep her mind sharp despite the stress of running a demanding business.

Gut health is everything. And by that I mean how you feel mentally, physically and spiritually is directly connected to a tiny universe in your gastrointestinal (GI) system. So if you wanna look and feel your best, you gotta have great gut health.

Whether your skin is flawless or blemished…

Whether you can have a cheat meal and not put on weight or just look at food and feel bloated…

Whether you can concentrate on work for hours at a time without any effort or feel brain fog just minutes into a task…

Whether you feel calm and steady or every day is a roller coaster ride of emotions…

All these wellness factors are determined by the state of your gut.

But what is gut health anyway?

Gut Health, Explained

Have you heard the term “gut microbiome?”

On a simple level, it’s a collection of the trillions of bacteria—both good and bad—that are living rent-free mostly in your large intestine (colon), and to a lesser extent in your small intestine. These bacteria help digest our food.

And while it’s kind of disgusting to think about it, when the bacteria help us digest our food, they poop just like us. You see, when friendly bacteria eat specific types of foods, they produce a healthy type of fatty acid called short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs).

Feeling awesome day in and day out depends on producing enough SCFAs. Most people think that it’s probiotics that are vital for overall health. And by now, who hasn’t heard of probiotic supplements? Probiotics are specific strains of beneficial bacteria that have been clinically proven to offer health benefits to the host (the person taking the probiotic). This assumes the probiotic is of high-quality and can survive the acidic environment of the stomach.

But the surprising thing is that it’s not just the probiotics that provide us with good gut health. It’s their metabolic byproduct (poop), the short chain fatty acids I was just talking about.

Having good health means that you should have at least 85% friendly bacteria. When your gut microbiome is at that level, the friendly bacteria prevent the potentially unfriendly bacteria from crashing the party in your gut and leading to poor digestion, bad skin, brain fog, infections, and potentially chronic illnesses.

You might think that popping a probiotic pill is all you need to do to achieve great gut health. But that’s only one small piece of the puzzle. Here are 3 things I do to support my gut and overall health.

Organic Green Drink: A Natural Prebiotic

Every morning, the first thing I do after I wake up (and use the potty) is drink water and then have a Chef V Organic Green Drink about 20 minutes later. I’m not using this space as a shameless promotional spot. This routine that Brandon (my hubby) and I have been doing for over the past decade has served us well. Doing this not only continues the detoxification that occurs while we sleep, but it also does our gut good.

The reason why is because the 7 certified organic leafy greens in Green Drink contain prebiotic fiber. You can think of prebiotic fiber as your friendly bacteria’s favorite food. Unlike simple sugars that get digested very rapidly, prebiotic fiber resists digestion and gets gobbled up by friendly bacteria. This helps stimulate the growth of more friendly bacteria.

Many people don’t get enough prebiotic fiber in their diet. Again, you can’t just rely on taking a probiotic supplement, especially if your diet isn’t all that great. By drinking 8 to 16 ounces of Green Drink in the morning—as my breakfast—I know I’m fueling my trillions of friendly bacteria with their favorite food that will help them grow just like breast milk does for a baby.

Fermented Foods: Natural Probiotics

Personally, I don’t even take a probiotic supplement, at least I don’t everyday. I might take one from time to time if I’m traveling and eating foods that I’m not used to. Or maybe I’ll take some in the rare instances I indulge in my vice: french fries. Not that I think probiotic supplements are overrated, I just think people rely on them too much without doing the other things necessary to achieve great gut health.

Instead of relying on probiotic supplements as a magic gut health bullet, I stimulate the growth of friendly bacteria in my gut with natural sources of probiotics. I’m talking about fermented foods like no-sugar-added plant-based yogurt (cashew, coconut), sauerkraut (fermented cabbage), kimchi (sauerkraut with a spicy kick), and fermented soy like miso.

There is one fermented food that I think is overrated: kombucha. Some brands of kombucha have way too much sugar and they may not contain enough probiotics to contribute to gut health. But there are some brands of kombucha that are low-sugar. Just don’t rely on kombucha alone for adding more good bacteria to your gut microbiome.

Avoid Unfriendly Bacteria Triggers

My third easy tip for having better gut health is avoiding certain foods and drinks that stimulate the growth of unfriendly bacteria. Here’s my “Don’t Eat This” list:

Gluten (avoid most products made with wheat)
Dairy (avoid conventional dairy unless it’s made with A2 protein and/or fermented organic, grass-fed dairy)
Beer (most of which contains gluten)
Sugar (for the most part, the only sugar I get in my diet comes from fruit; on occasion, I’ll add coconut sugar to my tea or healthy dessert)

So there you have it … 3 easy ways to support your gut. And when you support your gut microbiome, your “feel-good” hormones and neurotransmitters will be better activated. That means a healthier, happier you.

To your health,

Detox Juice and Gut Health

May 19, 2022 Chef V

Gut health could be one of the most complicated facets of nutrition. Prime gut health requires carefully balancing the wonderfully complex world of bacteria in your gut. Thankfully, you have plenty of tools to help you out in this endeavor. One of the best options in your gut nutrition health kit must be juices for detox. We’ll discuss the relationship between juicing and your gut, after we give a basic overview of how gut health works.

Gut flora

The term “gut flora” refers to all the bacteria in your digestive system. We tend to reflexively think of bacteria and microbes as a bad thing. After all, the wrong microscopic guest in our body usually means we’re about to come down with something.

However, there are plenty of tiny passengers on our bodies at any given moment that have absolutely no ill effect on our health. In fact, there are plenty of microbes that are overall beneficial for us. One of these categories would be the “gut flora”—the microbes that live inside our digestive system.

Our gut flora play a key role in helping us digest certain materials, particularly fiber. However, maintaining an average balance of gut flora seems to have even wider health implications. Everything from reducing obesity to lowering the risk of colon cancer has been associated with proper management of gut flora.

How diet affects gut flora

Since those little guys in your gut are doing so much for your digestive health, it makes sense to give a little back to them. Keeping your gut flora happy keeps all your gut happy. The main way to boost the production of healthy gut flora is through diet. One part of this is getting enough fiber, since this is a crucial part of those microbe’s diet.

It’s also important to get plenty of prebiotics in your diet. Prebiotics are particular nutrients and substances that your gut microbes need to thrive. If you get plenty of foods with prebiotics in your diet, your gut flora will do just fine.

What foods include prebiotics? There’s a long list but some of the most notable include leafy greens, garlic, onions, leeks, bananas, oats and barley, and apples. Many spices are also great for your gut. If you’re wondering if ginger is good for your gut, the answer is yes! We see a lot of people also asking, “does turmeric make you fart,” but turmeric is actually a great way to deal with gassiness and bloat.

Juicing and your gut

Many people have taken to using juice cleanses to try and cut back on their caloric intake without sacrificing nutrition and thus burn away fat. Organic juice cleanses are also a great way to do a “reset” on your system, avoiding potentially harmful preservatives or additives in your diet.

While juice cleanses are great for losing weight, it’s also important to note how great they can be for the health of your gut. The best juice cleanses will be filled with things like leafy greens and apples, providing a ton of prebiotics.

The Chef V cleanse

However, where many juice cleanses tend to fail is in providing enough fiber to all for healthy gut processes throughout the entire cleanse. Thankfully, Chef V’s juice cleanses are a bit different. We provide plenty of fiber through our delicious detox soups and detox smoothies, and our green drink is filled with every sort of mineral and vitamin you need to make your weight-loss goals while keeping your gut flora happy and healthy at the same time.

Chef V Challenge Clinically Proven

December 11, 2010 Jean Yates

Why Juice Cleanses Lead to Side Effects

The Most Common Juice Cleanse Side Effects

How To Avoid Cleanse Side Effects

Pre-Cleanse

Avoid Juice Cleanse Side Effects By Having More than Juice

Other Ways To Avoid Cleanse Side Effects

Experience The Chef V Cleanse Difference

Why Are Gut Disruptors Bad?

Common Gut Disruptors

12 Uncommon Gut Disruptors Chef V Avoids (And Baby Kaden, Too)

Chewing Gum

Mouthwash

Non-Stick CookwareMicrowave Popcorn BagsFast-food and Take-Out WrappersStain-Resistant Carpet and FabricsWaterproofing Sprays

Preservatives & Additives

Over-The-Counter Pain Relievers

Tap Water

Household Cleaners and Personal Care Products

The Benefits of Avoiding Gut Disruptors

What is Bee Pollen?

Bee Pollen: A Gold Mine of Nutrition

The Health Benefits Of Bee Pollen

Lowers Blood Sugar and Body Weight

Results of Chef V's Clinical Research Study

Beets For Better Sex?

Other Reasons To Just Beet It

Making Beets Yummy Again

Beets: The Perfect Valentine’s Day Gift?

What causes bloating and how can I fix it?

So what now?

Water

Intermittent fasting

Food to fight bloating

Get moving

Trying out a blended liquid cleanse

Beat the bloat with Chef V green juice

What causes bloating?

Overeating

Eating too fast

Carbonated beverages

Smoking

Food intolerances

Fatty foods

Foods high in fiber for the fiber un-initiated

Certain sugars and carbs

Examples of foods that cause bloating

Fight bloating with Chef V

What are the benefits of celery juice?

Problems with celery juice

The verdict

Gut flora

How diet affects gut flora

Juicing and your gut

The Chef V cleanse

Non-Stick Cookware
Microwave Popcorn Bags
Fast-food and Take-Out Wrappers
Stain-Resistant Carpet and Fabrics
Waterproofing Sprays