Table Talk #3: Beth Bollinger on nutrition myths, eating for metabolic health, and how to get kids to eat real food

Plus, her cozy Thai Chicken Meatball Soup

Hi there! This week’s newsletter is a bit different than my usual format. I’m so excited to feature a Q&A with Beth Bollinger of Nest Wellness.

Beth is a nutritionist and integrative health practitioner who shares tips on wellness, nutrition, healthy aging, menopause and longevity. She also develops low-glycemic, gluten/grain-free recipes that are CGM-tested with her own continuous glucose monitor.

It’s so fun to discover and connect with like-minded people in this online space, and Beth’s newsletter is one I look forward to every week. I was thrilled to guest author a post for her while she was on vacation recently. Today, not only is she the feature of my Table Talk Q&A series, she’s also sharing the recipe for an incredible Thai chicken meatball soup!

Photo courtesy Beth Bollinger.

This interview is packed with info! Beth touches on common misconceptions about nutrition, she explains what exactly is metabolic health and why is it important, and she also offers a few practical tips for how parents can encourage healthy eating with their little ones.

I’ve made this week’s post public for all subscribers so that everyone can access the info here that Beth shares.

Keep scrolling down to view the full recipe for the Thai chicken meatball soup!

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Really quick— if you’re a paid subscriber, thank you so much for supporting my newsletter. I love creating low-carb and low-glycemic recipes that help you get dinner on the table in 30 minutes.

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An annual subscription costs less than a latte per month ($4.16) and allows me to continue to share creative, low-carb recipes that are free of ads and screen clutter.

Either way, I’m glad to have you here. ♥️

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Table Talk #3: Beth Bollinger with Nest Wellness

Q: Tell us about yourself and your newsletter!

A: My name is Beth Bollinger and I live in Sonoma County, California. I am a certified nutritionist, integrative health practitioner, recipe developer, mom of four and a doctor’s wife. I specialize in real food recipes for blood sugar balance and metabolic health.

I am passionate about the concept of food as medicine and developing and sharing healthy recipes is one of my favorite things to do. I wear a continuous glucose monitor when I develop recipes to be sure that they produce a level glucose response. Over 100 of my recipes live in the Levels Health App, and many more are on my website, Nest Wellness.

I wear a CGM and test all of my recipes to ensure that they produce a level glucose response. This is important for people with prediabetes, diabetes, or anyone wanting to improve their metabolic health. 

I work 1:1 with women as well as offer custom meal plans. I also have many done-for-you ebooks and meal plans available. 

A little about me: I love to hike, read, cycle, and snow ski in winter. I love to listen to audiobooks and podcasts when I cook. I have been married almost 30 years and Dr. B and I have 4 children, a dog, 4 cockatiels, and many chickens. My husband is a doctor but didn’t study nutrition in medical school. We studied nutrition together originally to heal ourselves and our children.

Here on Substack I share a Wellness Wednesday newsletter without a paywall that covers a metabolic health topic. Every Sunday for paid subscribers, I share a brand new recipe that will not be published anywhere else. I have been sharing recipes for free and without ads on my website for over 4 years and there are hundreds of them now. 

I wanted to cut back on the number of clients I see and lean into the creative process of recipe development a little more so that is why I started a Substack!

Q: Can you tell us what a CGM is and why you choose to wear one? 

A: A CGM is a continuous glucose monitor that is worn for 10-14 days at a time and syncs to your smartphone. It measures your glucose in real time so that you can see how different foods, stress, sauna, lack of sleep, exercise all affect your glucose.

I Initially started wearing a CGM 4 years ago out of curiosity. I started sharing my glucose response to the foods I was making and eating and Levels Health noticed. They hired me to create a library of recipes that still lives on their app and website today. I still wear a CGM to test the recipes that I now create for Substack!

Q: How do you describe eating for "metabolic health" to someone who is new to this idea? Why is it important?

A: Eating for metabolic health refers to eating in a way that energizes, protects, and nourishes all of the cells in our bodies. This is a “do no harm” philosophy of choosing foods that nourish, energize, and protect. Eating for metabolic health includes an emphasis on protein, veggies, low-glycemic fruit, nuts, seeds, beans, full-fat dairy, herbs, spices, and fermented foods. We are excluding “foods” that do not nourish, protect and energize. Namely refined grains, refined sugars, ultra-processed “food,” and factory-produced fats. 

Eating for metabolic health is important because currently 88% of US adults are metabolically unhealthy. Metabolic syndrome is defined as having three or more of the following traits, including traits for which you may be taking medication to control:

• Large waist — A waistline that measures at least 35 inches (89 centimeters) for women and 40 inches (102 centimeters) for men

• High triglyceride level — 150 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL), or 1.7 millimoles per liter (mmol/L), or higher of this type of fat found in blood

• Reduced "good" or high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol — Less than 40 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) (1.04 millimoles per liter (mmol/L)) in men or less than 50 mg/dL (1.3 mmol/L) in women of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol

• Increased blood pressure — 130/85 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) or higher

• Elevated fasting blood sugar — 100 mg/dL (5.6 mmol/L) or higher

Q: Are there any major/common misconceptions about nutrition you would like to de-bunk? 

1. Choosing to eat real food is not a “diet”!

2. I don’t buy into the idea of “everything in moderation”. We don’t have a biological need for food dye, preservatives, additives, refined sugar, refined grain, or factory produced fats.

3. We are all born metabolically flexible fat burners, and we are trained to be sugar burners by “kid foods” like rice cereal, goldfish crackers, fruit snacks, juice pouches, happy meals, lunchables  and all of the things people think of as “kid foods.”

4. Kids are better off eating adult meals! Start when they are babies and give them traditional foods like bone broth, sardines, avocado, liver, berries, a wide variety of vegetables, grass fed and pastured meats, unsweetened yogurt, beans, and fish. There was an astonishing study in the 1930’s where a doctor took in malnourished babies and offered them a wide variety of whole foods and allowed the babies to choose what to feed themselves. The babies chose the foods that they needed to heal their nutrient deficiencies! So if your baby or child wants loads of strawberries, maybe they need more vitamin C that day. If your child is smashing avocado, they are needing some healthy fats. 

5. That eating healthy is expensive. I would encourage everyone to read this blog for some perspective. 

Q: Do you have any tips on teaching kids and teens about nutrition, food, and health to encourage healthy eating habits? 

A: The best thing you can do is offer only real food at home. Take your children shopping and teach them to read labels. Have a pantry that is accessible to kids and allow them to have whatever they want but only offer what you want them to eat.

As kids get older, they will have more access to junk food but with the background of real food behind them, they will be better equipped to hone into how they feel when they are faced with junkier options.

My son says “kids given only real food at home are gonna want to try the junky things when they get older. They will realize that fake foods don't taste as good as they thought they might.”

Q: What's your favorite under-30-minute dinner?

A: I love a one pan meal so this time of year, soups fill that bill. This week we have had Lemon Turmeric Meatball Soup and Thai Chicken Meatball Soup, as well as a simple miso soup that comes together with whatever veggies and fish you have on hand.

This is a good basic miso soup recipe that you can add mushrooms, bok choy and steamed fish to.

Q: Please share anything you’re loving right now!

1. I love bio-hacking gadgets and that includes my CGM, my Lumen (use code BETHB to save), which helps you to achieve metabolic flexibility.

2. I am working on healthier holiday recipes which include more desserts than I normally make! I am loving the Lakanto monkfruit + allulose blend. Allulose is a rare sugar that has been shown to have metabolic health benefits. My holiday treat ebook is here!

3. I am loving finally wearing sweaters, jeans and boots! 

4. I love my kindle and always have a health book and a “fun” book going at the same time. I would highly recommend the book Good Energy by Dr. Casey Means -all about eating for optimal metabolic health and good energy!

5. I am a big tea lover and my husband recently broke my teapot one groggy early morning when he dropped a mug on it. I replaced it with this new teapot that will keep my tea warm for me! I just love it and it would make a great gift for yourself or for the tea lover in your life. I love loose leaf green tea and this earl grey and I have been known to mix the two! 

6. The most popular recipe on my website is this Triple Chocolate Banana Bread. People are always surprised by this because bananas eaten alone will cause a big blood sugar spike. This banana bread, with its perfect combination of fat, fiber and protein, produces a level glucose response!

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Thai chicken meatball soup

With Beth’s permission, I’ve re-shared her recipe below (here is the original post with a printable PDF).

Photo courtesy Beth Bollinger.

Yield: 4-6

Ingredients

• 1 4-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled

• 6 cloves garlic, peeled

• 1 jalapeño pepper

• 2 pounds of ground chicken

• 1 large bunch cilantro, finely chopped. Reserve a few whole leaves for garnishing the soup

• 3 tbsp fish sauce, divided

• sea salt 

• 2 tbsp avocado oil or coconut oil, more as needed

• 2 cups chicken bone broth

• 1 14-ounce can full-fat coconut milk

• ½ tsp monk fruit, monk fruit allulose blend, or allulose

• 2 cups baby spinach or frozen spinach

• 1 tbsp lime juice, plus lime wedges for serving

• Steamed cauliflower rice for serving

Method

1. Grate the ginger, garlic, and jalapeño with a microplane or fine grater or chop them with a sharp knife. Transfer half to a large bowl and set the rest aside. Add the ground chicken, finely chopped cilantro, 2 tablespoons fish sauce, and 1 teaspoon sea salt to the large bowl. Combine thoroughly with your hands or a fork.

2. Form 2-inch meatballs (about 2 ounces each) using your hands or an ice cream scoop. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large Dutch oven or soup pot. In batches, add the meatballs in a single layer and cook until golden brown for about 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer the meatballs to a plate and repeat, adding more oil if needed.

3. Once all meatballs are browned and out of the pot, reduce the heat to medium, add the rest of the ginger mixture, and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the chicken bone broth, coconut milk, sweetener, and the remaining 1 tablespoon fish sauce, and bring to a simmer. Add the meatballs and any juices from the plate, and simmer until the flavors come together and the meatballs are cooked for 5 to 8 minutes.

4. Remove from heat, and stir in the spinach and lime juice. Divide cauliflower rice among bowls, then top with meatballs, broth and cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.

Substitutions 

Fresh ginger: use frozen minced ginger (found in cubes in the freezer section of the market)

Garlic: fresh is always best, but in a pinch, substitute dehydrated garlic granules (about 2 tsp)

Jalapeño: leave out if you don’t like spice at all, or use ½ if you like less spice

Ground chicken: use ground turkey, bison, lamb, grass-fed beef, or cubed tofu

Cilantro: if you don’t like cilantro (my daughter hates cilantro!), use parsley instead or leave it out

Fish sauce: this adds flavor, saltiness, and umami to this soup, but if you don’t have it or don’t like it, use a dash of tamari instead

Avocado oil or coconut oil: use olive oil instead

Chicken bone broth: use vegetable broth

Full-fat coconut milk: you could use lower-fat coconut milk 

Monk fruit or allulose: use maple syrup or coconut sugar 

Baby spinach: use chopped regular spinach, frozen spinach, bok choy, or chopped kale

Lime juice: lemon juice and lemon wedges would work in a pinch!

Cauliflower rice: cauliflower rice and riced broccoli are terrific for blood sugar balance, but if blood sugar is not a concern, use jasmine rice or ½ jasmine rice and ½ cauliflower rice

Nutrition Cronometer (4 servings)

• Calories: 534

• Protein: 36.5

• Fiber: 4.17

• Net Carbs: 3.8

• Fat: 37

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Thanks so much, Beth!

Here’s Beth’s newsletter, Nest Wellness, along with her Instagram and website if you want to follow along. :)

Until next week!

Abby