Happy Monday everyone! I hope yinz had a great weekend and are ready to get back to eating smart and training hard! I had am amazing week last week meeting some local Paleo people in Pittsburgh, so I wanted to spend some time today going over those meet-ups. Get ready! This week is going to be super fun on primalburgher.com!
On Wednesday I had a super fun lunch date with Jill Ciciarelli, the owner of 
firstcomeshealth.com. Jill graduated from Integrative Nutrition with a health coaching degree and specializes in holistic nutrition. Jill has become a really awesome paleo pal of mine, and on Wednesday, we hit up the Over the Bar cafe for some much needed eating.
Over lunch, I had the opportunity to ask Jill about her upcoming book titeld “Fermented”. Jill, an avid paleo enthusiast, took it upon herself to take her love for fermented foods and write a book about the importance of consuming foods that are abundant in probiotics. Not only that, Jill’s new book will feature some recipes so you can pick up the art of fermenting your own foods for the added bonus to your own health.
I’m sure the idea of fermenting your food might sound a bit…well. . . odd. Truth be told, I personally hadn’t given much thought to fermenting my own food until having spoken with Jill one-on-one. I am a huge advocate of eating foods rich in probiotics (my favorite food to this day being Beyond Organic’s Amasai), but always seemed to struggle with finding other paleo friendly sources of probiotics. Over lunch, I asked Jill why fermenting your food is so important. Her response was very unique.
According to Jill, fermenting food is a lost art. So many diseases that we are plagued with in America actually begin with the improper balance of healthy bacteria in the gut. Be it diabetes, Crohn’s disease, or even autoimmune conditions, these ailments all have a connection with proper gut health. Fermented foods are actually loaded with gut friendly bacteria that may be of use when struggling with problematic health conditions (note: please be advised that I am NOT suggesting that consuming fermented foods can “cure” the above mentioned diseases. I am only suggesting that incorporating these foods in your diet may help to restore the balance of friendly bacteria in the gut). Speaking from my own personal experience , I know that increasing my own consumption of fermented foods has aided in much better digestion, increased energy overall, and not to mention the decrease in my own autoimmune condition. So…it appears that Jill is on to something here. If you want to boost your health, you may want to consume more sources of foods that are rich in probiotics. For more information on the necessity of eating probiotic rich foods, please read this article.
I am incredibly excited to see Jill’s book hit the shelves in August. Jill will be releasing recipes for items such as fermented meats, fermented coconut products, fermented vegetables, and my personal favorite, fermented tea, aka Kombucha! This is a book that 
you are going to want to add to your Paleo Library, so if you’re the super ambitious type like me, make sure you pre-order the book on amazon! The book “Fermented” will give you a crash course on why fermenting foods is so important, and it will go the extra mile to show you how you can boost your health with the amazing recipes found in this book! That’s all for me today folks! Remember to eat smart, train hard, and enjoy your life!
Love Always,
Janelle Pica-RKC, NASM CPT
