Energizing Meals, Gallbladder and THM

Yesterday I wrote about the importance of getting your E meals, I mentioned how different our Trim Healthy Mama plan is from diets that sadly often get mentioned as a "similar" lifestyle to follow... Extremely low carb diets have good intentions and I am sure they can help many lose weight... They certainly found something that is true... carbs are something we need to be mindful of... We can't eat them liberally without expecting our waistline to suffer the consequences (especially if those carbs are mixed with fats!)... The Trim Healthy Mama plan instead of avoiding them all together explains which carbs convert to sugar faster in our bloodstream (which we should avoid) and how we can INCORPORATE them in our menu without paying the consequences! But that's what the Trim Healthy Mama plan teaches... how to INCORPORATE our carbs into our meals ... not how to completely erase them from our lives!

Yes... in the beginning there is a learning curve that we all have to go through (just like with any plan, and, I admit this one is particularly challenging just because it first un-teaches us some things we have strongly believed most of our lives)  there is some mindful counting and measuring for starters... BUT... after a little bit of patience and commitment... it all just flows! the knowledge becomes part of you and without even realizing it... you just make the right choices " in a natural and very FREEING way.

But today I want to tell you another reason why we need to add "E" meals to our menu... OUR GALLBLADDER! (or lack of it!) If you don't have one you might feel even a bit uncomfortable if you go heavy on the fats and if you are not making sure there's a certain balance with carbs and lots of leafy veggies! It's important that we do know the role that this organ plays (or played) in digestion and what your body can (or can't) handle once it's not there anymore!

I am a crazy reader on anything and everything pertaining to food (I've been seen to leave the library with more than 10 books at a time on the food subject!)... and from all that reading and from my own experience without gallbladder (and learning a lot from the Haylie Pomroy Fast Metabolism Diet) I can share with you this knowledge:

Our gallbladder plays an important role in the digestion, I am not going to try to give you a long explanation but trying to put it in just a few words here goes: It stores the bile that the liver produces that helps in the digestion of the foods we eat, when you lose your gallbladder obviously you don't have a "bile storage unit". So, even though you will have the same amount of bile in your body, you will not have as much bile in your intestine after your gallbladder is gone (the gallbladder can store about 1 cup of fluid at a time and release it into your intestine when needed), without it the bile is constantly being delivered into your intestine instead of being stored. In theory, this means that you will not digest fats as well.

  Thankfully there are some foods that actually HELP in fat breakdown (which is the hardest thing to process if you've gone through gallbladder removal)... some of these are:

• Apples and Asian Pears
• Asparagus
• Beets
• Cilantro
• Cucumbers
• Figs
• Garlic
• Grapefruit
• Green Beans
• Limes and Lemons
• Okra 
• Salmon
• Shallots
• Sweet Potatoes
• Tomatoes
• Okra

Note:  (guacamole is a great option when eating S meals because the awesome fat is accompanied by several of these wonderful helpers!)

Make sure your foods are rich on fresh herbs and spices... Get heavy handed with cilantro basil and Non Irradiated Turmeric Powder ! (make some curry!), don't skimp on dried spices that increase the temperature of your body like all hot peppers, cinnamon, cayenne, Ginger and paprika (as you can see the THM drinks like GGMS, shrinker and earth milk are highly recommended) -find some of those drinks recipes here-

Drink up! Drink all your water (and then some)... Make sure you also chew a lot your food (this I fail to do all the time)

And again... Enjoy your S meals, don't be afraid of them... but remember to include those E meals! They're way lighter on the fats (which we all love, they are great for you and I don't discourage you to eat them... I am just encouraging you to make sure you balance everything out and I can't stress enough the importance of using your freedom and eating some carbs!) 

You want an idea on what to eat for an E? I have a great and very easy breakfast for you today!

French Toast - E -
(1 Serving)

Ingredients:

• 2 slices of Ezekiel Bread (if you freeze it make sure it's thawed)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cashew milk
• 1/4 cup all whites (egg whites)
• 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• Sweetener to taste (you can use stevia, swerve, truvia -not the baking blend-)
• 1 tsp. of butter (for cooking the french toast) 

Topping :

I topped with Slim Belly Jelly (recipe in the book page 411 and you will need Glucomannan to make it) ...  you can also use your own jelly without added sugar.
I also had a coconut creme Oikos Triple Zero on the side. (My precious!!!)

Elaboration:

Mix the milk with egg whites, cinnamon and sweetener, let the bread soak all the liquid on both sides (you can even press the bread a little until all the liquid has been absorbed.
While the liquid is absorbing, melt the butter on a non-stick skillet at medium-high heat.
When the butter is melted and bubbly place the slices of bread on the lightly greased skillet, flip after it's evenly browned on one side, it should evenly brown on both sides. Sprinkle with more sweetener and cinnamon if desired.

In the making

Enjoy!!!

Liked what you read today? I sure hope so! Let me know if it's helpful... I don't want to keep all this info just to myself... I love sharing it with you... I would love hearing from you as well.

© Paloma K.

 Disclaimer: Some links in this post may be affiliate links, this means that you pay the same price, but I also receive a very small compensation. I recommend products I have tried and love.