THE HEALTHY GUT ZONE DIET VERSUS THE BLUE ZONE DIET (PART 1)
In our final letter on the gut, part 1 will focus on the healthy gut zone by Don Colbert(from the Healthy Gut Zone by Don Colbert) . The more we learn about gut health, and how it’s connected to brain, immune system, digestion, disease, and overall health, the more we want a “happy gut”. Every part of us is connected to our gut just like we are connected to our Lord and Savior as part of the body of Christ.
When your gut is healed, your entire body wins!! Patients with serious diseases, autoimmune disease, or neuro degenerative disease (Alzheimer’s) will need to stay on the Healthy Gut Zone diet and avoid lectins. At the core of the Healthy Gut Zone diet are 3 amazing pieces, when implemented together, have the ability to heal the gut and body!
#1.FEED THE GOOD:
The 5 Power Gut Tools, listed in our previous two letters, explain how to feed good bacteria in your gut. A chart at the end of this letter will list the good foods we can eat on this diet. One –half to two-thirds of each lunch and dinner should be raw or cooked veggies and one-fourth to one-third of each for lunch and dinner should be protein. Veggies are the base of the Healthy Gut Zone diet and your gut thrives on a mix of ingredients.
#2. STARVING THE BAD:
As you feed the good bacteria, using the chart at the end and the 5 Power Gut Tools (letter1&2), you must simultaneously starve the bad bacteria. This is the other half of the equation because you need to avoid or eliminate foods that cause pain, inflammation, bloating, leaky gut, etc…If it hurts, don’t eat it! This is the perfect recipe for your gut and GI tract. Stopping antibiotics, acid blockers, medications, etc… may not be advisable but under the care of a functional medicine doctor to help reduce or eliminate medications, it will help.
Table 1: Here are 7 enemies of the gut:
| Gluten | Artificial sweeteners |
| Dairy | High sugar, high-carb, high processed foods |
| Lectins | Emulsifiers |
| Saturated fats |
Your plan should be: Go less! Go low and finally go none at all.
Take your time, as it may take time to replace one food with another.
#3. TAKING A TIME OUT:
We need to jump in with two feet and do so with at least eight to twelve weeks commitment for your gut. The gut begins to heal within one to four weeks, often times with symptoms fading around the end of week one! We want to follow the Healthy Gut Zone Diet in 3 phases:
- Intense focus for 8-10 weeks
- Expand food choices for 8-12 weeks.
- Live a gut-friendly life style with new good habits.
Don Colbert recommends you stay off of cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers during phase#1. This minimizes the lectins. Peeling and deseeding these veggies will help ,after you add them back in. Beans are an excellent source of fiber, however pressure-cooking them for 7-8 minutes after soaking them for 24 hours will reduce the lectins.
They’ll be safe to eat, removing most of the lectins. During phase one, he recommends NOT eating beans at all. There are numerous other recommendations, so I would highly recommend you buy the book. It will be a worthwhile investment that you won’t regret. This is not so much about a diet, but FEEDNG the gut, BALANCING the gut, and HEALING the gut. The following CHART should be easy to access and in everyone’s kitchen for quick reference:
Table #2:HEALING FOODS TO EAT
VEGGIES: artichokes, arugula, asparagus, basil, beets, bok choy, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage(Chinese, green, red),carrots, cauliflower, celery, chives, cilantro, cucumbers, garlic, greens, kale, kimchi, kohlrabi, lettuce(butter, romaine, green leaf, red leaf), mint, mushrooms, okra, olives, onions, parsley, perilla, purslane, radishes, sauerkraut, scallions, seaweed, spinach, Swiss chard, tomatoes(seeded and peeled), watercress
DAIRY: Avoid all dairy for one to three months. After that, use cheese(goat, sheep, feta), grass-fed butter and ghee, goat milk kefir, goat milk yogurt, milk(goat or A2 milk rather than A1).
MEAT: beef, bison, elk, lamb, moose, venison, chicken, duck, eggs, goose, pheasant, quail, turkey, bass, calamari, clams, halibut, salmon, sardines, tongol tuna(wild caught ot raised for all)
NUTS AND SEEDS: almonds, Brazil nuts, chestnuts, coconut, flax-seeds, hazelnuts, macadamia, pecans, pine nuts, pistachio, psyllium, walnuts. ( peanuts and cashews are legumes, not nuts)
BEVERAGES: coffee, tea(black, green), filtered water, or sparkling water with lemon or lime wedge
CHOCOLATE: low-sugar dark( 72% or higher)
FATS: avocado, MCT, nut, and olive oils
FERMENTED FOODS: kimchi, pickles, sauerkraut
FLOURS: almond, arrowroot, cassava, coconut, green banana, plantain, sweet potato flour
FRUITS: avocado and berries (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries)(low sugar content)
RESISTANT STARCHES: green banana, green mango, green papaya, jicama, parsnips, rutabaga, sweet potato, taro root, yams, yucca
SEASONINGS: anise, basil, capers, celery seed, cinnamom, cloves, cocoa powder, cumin, curry powder, ginger, oregano, peppermint, rosemary, saffron, sage, spearmint,thyme
STARCHES: flax bread, millet bread. Add Indian basmati white rice after avoiding for at least one month, sweet potatoes, yams, cassava, carrots, yucca, jicama, tortillas(from cassava,coconut, or almond by SIETE brand), and bread made from almond, coconut, or cassava.
SOPPLEMENYS: prebiotics, probiotics, psyllium husk powder, and if needed, vitamin D3, hydrolyzed collagen, L-glutamine, magnesium, omega-3
SWEETENERS: erythritol, (just like sugar-inulin), monk fruit sugar, stevia