3 Quick Things

Hi Everyone! 

Improve your health with this week’s three simple IBD tips and takeaways.

Remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day. Little changes lead to big results. We challenge you to take one small action today to benefit your future tomorrows.

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Sleep mask with headphones

Reminder: There is a connection between poor sleep habits, either not enough or poor quality sleep, and inflammatory diseases. 

Sleep is important for our mental and physical health, including our digestive tracts. Our bodies rely on adequate sleep to heal and function. That's why we're sharing tips to help you sleep better. 

This week’s Sleep Tip is from Scott: Try a low-cost eye mask with built-in headphones.

There’s a vast variety of audio content designed to help you sleep better. You can choose from guided meditations, relaxing music, binaural tones, nature sounds and others. Finding something to help you sleep should be easy. But putting it into practice is difficult if you share a room with someone else. 

Sleeping with a hard piece of plastic in your ear, especially when it’s under the weight of your head, isn’t always easy. As a frequent side sleeper, I’m uncomfortable every time I try to sleep with headphones. Not only was it uncomfortable to sleep with my AirPods, but I had to dig through the sheets each morning to find them.

Recently I bought a relatively low-cost eye mask that has built-in Bluetooth headphones. Now, my sleep headphones serve a double duty - they block out the sun and drown out disruptive noise. Because they’re designed to sleep with, they’re a lot more comfortable than my AirPods. 

If you like to listen to calming audio content to help you sleep, I highly recommend you try a pair of sleep headphones. 

They might not be the answer to all my sleep problems, but they definitely help.

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Diet can help or hurt mental health

For obvious reasons, 2020 is taking a toll on mental health and changing the way many of us eat. 

Colleen says: Many highly processed foods are finding their way into my grocery cart for the first time since I became a dietitian. My hunch is that this is because I’m tired of planning meals, grocery shopping with a mask on, prepping foods during the little time I have to myself and cooking on hot summery days. But, as a nutrition professional would expect, I end up feeling worse on the days I eat poorly. I become more stressed and anxious. These reactions reminded me of an article I wrote a few years back on diet and mental health. It’s as relevant now as it was then. Fortunately, the “brain healthy” diets you’ll read about are “gut healthy” diets, too.

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Homemade Condiment: Chimichurri Sauce

Bertina’s homemade pesto sauce was a big hit from last week’s newsletter, so this week we’re sharing another one of her favorite homemade condiments: chimichurri sauce. 

Not only do tasty homemade condiments and sauces make foods more enjoyable, but they’re simple ways for people on low-fiber diets to enjoy nutritious foods, like herbs, vegetables, nuts, seeds and more. 

Bertina says: I fell in love with chimichurri sauce when Scott and I began to eat a lot more of it when we were living in Austin. We are a garlic loving family, so this quickly became one of our favorite flavorings. Initially, we used it on meat like we were familiar with from restaurants, but now we pair it with fish, eggs, dipped vegetables and of course plantain chips.

To quote the internet, “chimichurri sauce is good on anything and everything.”

WHAT YOU NEED

• 1 cup packed fresh flat-leaf parsley, stems removed and finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves optional
• 2 tbsps fresh oregano leaves or 2 tsp of dried oregano
• 1 small shallot, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp of red vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1/2 cup of olive oil

MAKE IT

1. In a food processor combine finely chopped parsley, garlic, oregano, shallot, red vinegar, salt and red pepper flakes; process for several pulses. 
2. With the processor still running, slowly drizzle in olive oil until it reaches your desired consistency. We stop when it reaches a paste consistency, but you can process longer for more of a liquid consistency. 
3. Store in the fridge for 5-6 days or freeze in an ice cube tray.

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Remember, there’s no one perfect diet for everyone with IBD. If you or anyone you know struggles with what to eat with Crohn's or Ulcerative Colitis, then check out our ebook, Eating with IBD: The Essentials.

Check it out

Do you have a question about these topics, or something else? Just reply with your question to this email and it may appear in an upcoming newsletter.

In good health,

Colleen, Bertina & Scott

This newsletter is for informational purposes only and is in no way intended as medical counseling or medical advice. Results may vary