Newsletter #1: 3 ingredient swaps for a healthy 2024

Articles

Jan 10

HEALTHY 2024: LET'S DO THIS!

“One of the most difficult things is not to change society — but to change yourself.”

— Nelson Mandela

Happy New Year, and welcome to the FIRST edition of the Good Energy Living newsletter!

🇿🇦 As I write this, I am flying back from 10 magical days in South Africa, my head spinning with reflections and sheer awe of one of the most incredible places I’ve ever been. The good food, good swap, and good thought below are ALL inspired by South Africa…

🥑 Good food

The good food of the week is Bobotie, a classic South African casserole that I made at home in anticipation of the trip and loved so much that my boyfriend and I made 6 iterations of it in December! It’s a comforting, warm meal of savory and sweet flavors, high protein, healthy fats, and it yields lots of leftovers. We made the meat and the vegetarian versions, and they both were delicious.

The recipes for my spin on metabolically healthy boboties are on my website, here.

Why you should try it:

It’s filled with spices, like turmeric, which are some of the most antioxidant-rich foods on the planet; you should aim to use tons of fresh or dried organic herbs this year… literally as many as you can.

Antioxidants are molecules in our food (and can also be produced by our own bodies) that neutralize damaging free radical molecules in the body which, in excess, contribute to DNA damage, cellular dysfunction, and nearly every chronic disease. More antioxidants = less damage to our bodies.

Turmeric in particular contains an incredible antioxidant compound called curcumin, which goes into the cells and changes gene expression, directly inhibiting the expression of the pro-inflammatory Nf-KB pathway at several steps. With every bite of turmeric-containing foods, you’re changing your gene expression to reduce chronic inflammation (one of the processes that leads to MOST American diseases)... how cool is that?

This image shows an illustration of the complex intracellular signaling pathways that all lead to the expression of pro-inflammatory chemicals in the body. They key point here is that curcumin (from turmeric) blocks several aspects of these pathways!

Tips for making bobotie: In the meat bobotie recipe, I used pasture-raised, organic eggs from the farmer’s market (Vital Farms is great for organic, pasture-raised eggs that you can find in most grocery stores) and I used A2 organic grass-fed milk from Alexandre Farms (A2 milk comes from cows that have a specific genetic version of the dairy protein casein, which is thought to be less inflammatory than the standard kind of A1 casein found in US milk). Pasture-raised, organic eggs and milk have more vitamins, omega-3 fats, and healthful polyphenol compounds than conventional, non-organic, non-pastured versions. Read on to the next section to see the other swaps I made.

If you make it (recipe here), I’d love to see! Tag me on Instagram @drcaseyskitchen.

🔄 Good swap

The bobotie is a PERFECT example of how simple swaps can radically transform the health potential of a meal… When I’m thinking about swaps in recipes, I’m thinking about how I can swap out the “Unholy Trinity” of refined grains, refined sugars, and industrially refined seed oils with ingredients to support my cellular health.

My bobotie swaps:

1️⃣ White bread (refined grains) → Keto, gluten-free bread (I used Base Culture)
2️⃣ Apricot marmalade (added sugar) → Organic no-sugar-added fruit spread (I used Crofter’s Just Fruit Organic Apricot Spread)
3️⃣ Ground beef → Mix of ground regenerative game meats. (I used Force of Nature venison and bison, mixed. Pasture raised beef is great, but I also love wild game meats because they tend to have extra flavor, are generally sustainably raised, and have tons of protein).

Why do I make healthy ingredient swaps in nearly every recipe I make? 👇️

Swaps can transform the biology of a meal from detrimental to health-promoting.

Every ingredient you layer into a meal changes the biological impact/response to the meal.

The health potential of a meal unfortunately can be tanked by the inclusion of JUST ONE detrimental ingredient, which is why swaps are so critical. For instance, you could have a very healthy meal with lots of great, health promoting ingredients, but, if refined sugars or refined grains are added to it (i.e., sugar is an ingredient in the recipe, or you add a condiment with added sugar like ketchup or a sweetened salad dressing, or eat the meal with a side of juice or a sweet cocktail, or eat a side of bread or chips or noodles with the meal, or finish the meal with a sweet dessert with refined grains and sugars), the biologic response can be very different. Adding refined sugars and refined grains to any meal diminishes the health potential.

How so?

In part, it is because refined sugars and refined grains can cause a big release of insulin that leads to more of the meal being stored as fat, create more inflammation, and preferentially push the carbohydrates to be used for energy instead of the fats.

This is why I really dislike the saying “all good things in moderation.” Instead, I like “only good things in the right amount.” I think it's best to be smart about how you mix and combine ingredients, and not just assume that “a little bit” of this or that is fine…

If that “little bit” changes the biology of the meal to less health promoting, then it’s suboptimal.

🧠 Good thought

In Africa, we learned that zebras and wildebeests team up in the wild as grazing buddies because one of the species has better eyesight and one has better hearing. Somehow, wordlessly, these animals figured this out, and together they form a stronger defense against predators and increase their chances of survival. In our pursuit of human health, we also know that we are stronger together, especially when we team up with others who can supplement and support our health journey.

Research has shown that who you surround yourself with directly impacts your health. For instance, if one spouse becomes obese, it almost doubles the risk of their partner becoming obese. What a mother eats before conception, during pregnancy, and even after a child is born is an extremely strong factor in the child’s health outcomes. What’s more, social support and a sense of community are known to help a person do better in the face of many different diagnoses, from cancer to heart disease. Fast food consumption “clusters” into groups – a sciencey way of saying that if some people in a community have a particular behavior, it’s more likely that others will. Health behaviors seem to be contagious.

There’s a saying that you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.

In light of that, do this exercise with me:

Think about the 5 people in your life who make the healthiest choices: eating whole foods, exercising regularly, getting good sleep, managing stress and mental health, etc.
Write those names down on a piece of paper. (And consider shooting them a text to thank them; their presence in your life may be making you healthier!)… On my list, shoutouts to Dhru Purohit, Shawn Stevenson, Kayla Barnes, Louisa Nicola, Sonja Manning, my papa Grady, and so many more!
Now, here’s a hard reality to think through: would you be on other peoples’ list? Are you in someone else's top 5 for healthiest friends?
Take steps in 2024 to cultivate relationships with healthy people and communities, because once you are surrounded by healthy people, being healthy, to some extent, takes care of itself.

If eating healthy, consistently exercising, or adopting a generally better lifestyle are goals you’ve struggled with, consider retargeting the approach away from doing the behavior itself (which is mostly willpower) and more towards finding and spending time with people and communities that already do these things.

As you spend more time around people already doing the thing, it will make it so much easier for you to do it too. Call it peer pressure, inspiration, or accountability… Whatever it is, it works. When I lived to Bend, OR, a couple years ago, I quickly joined a cold-plunging group I found on Meetup. These folks were health conscious biohackers, so anytime there was a group meal, it was healthy, whole-foods based, and Paleo. Similarly, when I teamed up with my co-founders to start Levels, we were obviously all metabolically-obsessed. So anytime we have a company meet-up, the food rarely spikes blood sugar.

Bottom line: If consistently adopting a particular health behavior is hard for you, start by forming a community with health conscious people, and much of the rest magically falls into place.

If you are feeling low on motivation to consistently implement healthy habits, let this be another piece of kindling on the fire to make 2024 be the healthiest year of your life: remember that every healthy choice you make is not just for you; it’s for everyone around you that you love. Give love to others by investing in your own health. It is not selfish. The ripple effect of one healthy person in a family or community is monumental. In 2024, let’s be that person.

With good energy 💓

Dr. Casey

👀 In Case You Missed It

Today, the Free Press published an excerpt from my forthcoming book, Good Energy: The Surprising Connection between Metabolism and Limitless Health. This book was inspired by my time working in the healthcare system and seeing how broken it is, followed by the death of my mother from a preventable metabolic condition. I hope this book will change your life and show you exactly how to eat and live for the best health of your life. Pre-order here.

Healthy living on vacation in South Africa: