Endo Belly Healing rich chocolate gelato, two ways

This endo belly healing chocolate gelato recipe:

• Contains resistant starch from cooked and cooled potatoes to boost butyrate levels.

Butyrate is a short chain fatty acid which is anti-inflammatory, and helps to inhibit the inflammatory pathways that contribute to endo growth. It also helps to keep the gut happy and healthy. People with endo are often low in this SCFA, and so boosting levels is a key part of endo management and endo belly healing (though it’s not a cure, butyrate is being explored as a potential treatment option).

• Contains inulin from the carob powder, a type of fibre that helps to boost anti-inflammatory, microbiome balancing, immune regulating and blood sugar supportive SFCAs acetate and propionate. People with endo may have low levels of certain good bacteria and higher levels of certain pathogenic bacteria, boosting SCFA levels helps to inhibit the bad guys and increase the good guys (check out the link to learn more).

• Is rich in dietary fibre, yet low in FODMAPS. People with endo often have gut problems like small intestine bacterial overgrowth, which can make digesting fermentable carbs difficult, resulting in bloating and IBS issues. However, a low fibre diet is associated with poorer gut health and fewer of those protective SCFA and good bacteria, which people with endo may already be depleted in, so striking a balance between good fibre sources that aren’t going to trigger a flare, can help heal the gut. Of course, the low FODMAP diet is not effective or suitable for everyone, nor is it a long-term strategy. The idea is to heal our root causes in order to be able to tolerate a wide range of foods again, but I am just providing this recipe as a sweet treat that won’t trigger an endo belly explosion.

• Contains healthy fats, protein and fibre to slow down blood sugar release. More info below!

• Contains six plant foods, which contribute towards your 30+ different plant foods a week, for a healthier and more diverse microbiome.

• Is a great source of magnesium, an anti-inflammatory nutrient that helps to balance hormones, ease PMS and reduce menstrual pain.

• Is a source of potassium, a nutrient which can help with proper bowel function and motility (great for those with endo who struggle with constipation).

BOY has this recipe given me the run around.

I had this idea to use cooked and cooled mashed potato for ice cream, to help boost our butyrate levels through the resistant starch that occurs when you refrigerate potatoes after cooking them.

Butyrate is a short chain fatty acid often low in people with endometriosis, and because it helps to inhibit certain inflammatory pathways that contribute to endo, scientists suspect that this gut alteration may be part of endo pathogenesis (development), or that butyrate could at least help with treatment. In fact, early research is showing that butyrate can actually slow down endo growth. To learn more, head to these episodes:

https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/endometriosis-proprionate-acetate

https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/endometriosis-butyrate

https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/endometriosis-short-chain-fatty-acids

But, back to the gelato.

I whipped together the ingredients, intending for it to be a healthy tasting ice cream, but I am not exaggerating when I say instead, it created the most decadent and rich gelato that was just better than any ice cream or any recipe I have ever made. Chris and I sat there on a Wednesday afternoon and ate the whole tub in disbelief. We talked about it for days afterwards.

But since then, I haven’t been able to create the same out-of-this-world gelato. I’ve created really delicious gelato, but nothing has stunned us into gelato eating silence like the first attempt.

Why?

I think it’s to do with the starch.

So with the first recipe, I mashed the potato, and then to get it really smooth, I used a stick blender, but it ended up going really gluey. I didn’t want to waste the potato, so decided to use it for the recipe anyway. I stuck it in the fridge, then used it the next day for the gelato, and magic was made. The gelato was just as gelato should be - borderline chewy, stretchy and thick, vs. ice cream which is creamier and lighter.

The next time I made it, I wanted to try and make it more blood sugar balancing so I added chia and played about with the dates, but I didn’t stick blend the potato. I just used boiled potatoes refrigerated overnight. It was lighter, more airy and less chewy, much more like traditional ice cream (but still really bloody good!).

I figured that the ‘chew’ and stretch was coming from the potato I over blended, so I looked into it. When you blend hot potato, the starch particles sort of ‘explode’ so you get all this lovely gloopy binding properties from the starch, and that create the gelato consistency.

Easy, I thought. I’ll blend it again next time.

But by this point, we’d moved Airbnbs (we travel full time) and I only had my blender, no stick blender, plus we were in a different country buying different potatoes.

Blending the potato fresh off the stove did create that gluey texture I was after, but not to the degree it did before. I also think it’s to do with the types of potato. As we travel from place to place, it’s sometimes hard to work out which types of potatoes we’re buying, so I think in Germany (which is where the gelato was first birthed) we were using a high starch potato, perfect for mashing, and the starch breaks down easily. Here in Slovenia, a lot of the potatoes we’ve been able to get hold of have been on the greener side and probably not quite ready to eat.

So, lesson learnt people: Buy the starchier types (russet, yukon gold), and blend however you can, but if you have a stick blender, give that a go.

This gelato is always good, but I’m hoping you’re able to get the out-of-this-world-version. If you do, let me know - I want to compare notes!

Important notes to help you tailor this gelato to your own body and needs (and tastebuds!)

Sugar content and preventing blood sugar spikes

The first time I made this gelato, I used dates and a touch of maple and yes, it tasted even better. BUT, I am all about blood sugar balancing, and I really wanted to give you guys a gelato that’s not crazy high in sugar.

But, after running a pole, some of you would prefer me to prioritise taste over endo-friendly ingredients/serving sizes, and whilst I’m probably not going to do that (just because I’m not a chef, I’m an endo health coach, so that really has to be my focus!), I did want to give you two options, for those of you who want the ice cream to be a bit sweeter.

The date version is less sweet, and uses whole foods only, which is what I am always trying to aim for because it increases fibre and nutrients most of the time.

I only use two medjool dates here because they are fairly high sugar (19g per 30g serving typically), which comes in at about 5.7g naturally occurring sugar per serving, and about 22.5g carbs per serving. Not bad really, but because this recipe does contain potato starch and does contain dates (both known to spike blood sugar because they tend to be easy to digest/absorb and higher in carbs), I have chosen to keep the dates on the lower side. I added a teeny bit of carob because it’s high fibre, but naturally sweet, so this helps to boost the taste a little. It’s also another short chain fatty acid supporter! You can add more if you like the flavour, but 6g per serving is low FODMAP, and if you go higher, you might find it to be bloating/endo belly triggering.

For anyone who is not familiar - let’s do a super quick blood sugar lesson. When we eat carbs (not just sugar), they break down into glucose, which is absorbed into the blood stream. A quick release of glucose (especially if there’s a lot) results in something called a blood sugar spike, which basically means you have a lot of sugar in your blood stream. This can cause inflammation and hormonal imbalances, and can even contribute to pain. You can learn about all of this here:

• https://endometriosisnews.com/2021/02/11/pge2-prostaglandin-e2-endometriosis/

• https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/effective-strategies-for-endometriosis

• https://endometriosis.net/living/how-to-balance-your-blood-sugar-levels-to-reduce-endo-symptoms

However, the way we eat food and what we eat can make a difference. For example, whole food carbs tend to breakdown slower than refined carbs - think fruit vs. table sugar (this is a general rule of thumb, there are exceptions). Additionally, if you add protein, fat and fibre to meals, the break down of carbs to glucose takes longer, so that’s why all of my sweet recipes are packed with as much of these nutrients as I can cram in. Finally, starchy foods tend to spike blood sugar, such as mashed potatoes, but if you cook and cool potatoes overnight, they develop some resistant starch, which resists digestion in the small intestine (where glucose is absorbed), so the glucose release is lessened and slowed.

In this recipe, the fibre, fat and protein from the nut butter; fibre from the dates; resistant starch from the potato and extra inulin from the carob (a type of fibre you can learn about here) should all serve to slow down the glucose spike, but everyone is different (this is especially true with blood sugar), so just see how you feel from it.

If you feel like you crash after this gelato, it probably spiked you a bit. If that’s the case, go for a little walk after the gelato, do a bit of movement, or have it after a meal rich in protein, fat and fibre. Alternatively, you could add some chia to the recipe, which really helps to slow down the glucose spike. The reason why the date version doesn’t have chia is because the recipe just wasn’t sweet enough to also carry the flavour of the chia and mask it - it ended up diluting the chocolatey richness of it, and I had to add more dates, which defeated the point! However, you can certainly give it a go and see what you think. The recipe is pretty versatile, so you can play around with it.

For those of you who would prefer the gelato sweeter, I’ve created the maple syrup version. This comes in around 7-8g sugar per serving, depending on the the brand of maple syrup. Because each serve contains a moderate amount of carbs and sugar, I’ve added chia seeds to help slow down the glucose release.

When you taste it before it’s frozen, the chia has a slightly oaty yet bitter taste, it almost tastes a little earthy. However, when it’s been churned/frozen, that taste totally disappears and instead, you get left with a silky smooth, very thick, chewy gelato. The only issue with this version is that yes, it’ll give you a sweeter gelato, but if you’re sensitive, you may pick up on the chia notes (we didn’t once it was churned, but you never know) and unless you have a good blender, you might struggle to get it totally smooth (that’s why pre-ground is so helpful). Keep going with the blender though, try to get it as smooth as possible - it’ll be worth it, I promise!

I also personally found the chia diluted the chocolate taste a tad - it’s still chocolatey, but I found the date version to be richer. However, we loved both versions and my boyfriend couldn’t really the tell the difference, as soon as he was eating one, that was his favourite and he’d jump ship as soon as he tasted the other! So, they’re both good!

One more thing - I used to use a lot of monk fruit - a sugar free, natural sweetener than my support gut health, but now I travel full time, I can’t get hold of it. If you want to skip the sugar entirely, you can just remove the dates or maple syrup, and add a couple of drops of monk fruit syrup or a pinch of monk fruit powder. Be careful, this stuff is SWEET and you should only need a little. I used to use this for all my ice cream recipes and loved it.

FINALLY - I am not suggesting you never eat sugar again, but the purpose of my work is to help you to manage endo, and blood sugar balancing is part of that, so I do cover this topic regularly a lot. However, if you ever fancy a ‘normal’ ice cream, go for it! But hat’s not what this recipe is - this recipe is rich in functional foods that serve a purpose for you health, that happen to make a crazy good gelato.

Low FODMAP

Each serving is low FODMAP, so in theory, you should be able to better tolerate the gelato without it causing too much bloating (a.k.a endo belly). However, remember that every person is different, and if you have small intestine bacterial overgrowth, this is especially true because it really just depends on what you tolerate and what your SIBO likes to eat, and the low FODMAP diet is not always enough for people with SIBO.

Additionally, just to be clear, I am not suggesting we all go low FODMAP. But these recipes are designed to feed and heal your gut, and even relieve symptoms like constipation or gas, without triggering more endo belly symptoms, so keeping things low FODMAP helps me to do that.

If you want to adjust the ingredients, go ahead, but if you still want it to be low FODMAP, just download the Monash University app. and check the low FODMAP serving sizes of each ingredient.

Further resources

If you’re struggling with your gut health, you might find my courses and one to one coaching helpful. You can find out more here. I’ve also got endless podcast episodes on gut health and blood sugar, plus, you might find these article helpful in terms of how to manage your blood sugar levels and why:

https://endometriosis.net/living/diet-sugar

https://endometriosis.net/living/how-to-balance-your-blood-sugar-levels-to-reduce-endo-symptoms

To understand more about the low FODMAP diet, start here.