Start here · Page 12
How to Use This Book
Every recipe in this book follows the same layout, so you can scan a page in five seconds and know whether it fits your day.
Don't overthink it. If the scoring system feels like too much, start with the Close the Gap recipes and the one-week plan in Start Tonight. Pick foods you tolerate and enjoy, and learn the rest as you go.
How to Pick a Recipe in Four Steps
- Check the scores. In a flare or an elimination phase, pick an Autoimmunity Score of 10 and a Steady Energy Score of 8 or higher.
- Check the flags. Skip any recipe flagged for something you react to (coconut, egg, FODMAP, free glutamate, histamine, nightshade, oxalate, phytate, salicylate, sulfur, tannin or tree nuts).
- Start with Close the Gap. The recipes that meet the book's strictest criteria are on one page, and each carries a gold Close the Gap badge.
- Break ties with your GlycoProfile. When two recipes fit, choose the one with a green check for your blood type, secretor status or glyco markers (see Find Your GlycoProfile).
The Quick Reference Table at the back lists every recipe with its page, total time and scores, so you can do all four steps from one page.
The Score Strip
Autoimmunity Score (1 to 10) answers one question: how well does this dish fit the book's strict criteria for a reactive, leaky or autoimmune immune system?
- A 10 meets the book's strict elimination-phase criteria.
- An 8 or 9 fits most autoimmune protocols.
- A 6 or 7 belongs in reintroduction.
Every recipe starts at 10 and loses points for the food groups most often tied to intestinal permeability and immune reactivity. R
Both scores are screening tools I built for this book from each recipe's ingredients and cooking method. They are not validated clinical scales, and they do not diagnose or predict how any one person will react.
| Deduction | Why |
|---|---|
| Nightshades, minus 2 | Glycoalkaloids in tomatoes, peppers and potatoes increased permeability in animal models R |
| Grains and corn, minus 2 | Gluten, prolamins and lectins |
| Legumes and soy, minus 2 | Lectins and common allergens R |
| Dairy, minus 2 | Casein and whey (ghee is exempt because it is clarified) |
| Pseudograins, minus 1 | Quinoa, buckwheat and sorghum |
| Eggs, minus 1 | Egg white is a common trigger in autoimmune protocols |
| Nuts and seeds, minus 1 | Tree nuts, sesame, flax and chia |
| Packaged or cured items, minus 1 | Additives, and higher histamine |
| Added sugar over 5 g per serving, minus 1 | Glucose spikes and glycocalyx damage |
Steady Energy Score (1 to 10) answers a different question: how steady is your energy likely to be for the 3 to 4 hours after eating this? A 10 is rock steady, and a low score means a dip is more likely.
It drops with net carbs per serving (minus 1 above 10 g, minus 3 above 20 g, minus 4 above 30 g), added sugar, a breakfast or main with under 15 g of protein, high-heat cooking, and aged, cured or fermented ingredients (which raise histamine load).
Net Carbs are total carbohydrates minus fiber per serving, estimated from USDA data.
Heat shows how hard the main cooking method is on your food: gentle (poach, steam, simmer, slow cook), moderate (saute, bake or roast at or under 375F), or high (grill, broil, fry).
Dry high heat multiplies the advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in food. R
Strict Base, Optional Swaps
Every recipe is written first in its strictest version.
Anything that would lower the Autoimmunity Score is listed under Swaps, with the points it costs, so you choose based on where you are in healing.
The scores always describe the base recipe, never the swaps.
Supplements
Supplements are always optional. They can interact with medications or be a poor fit for some conditions, so check with a qualified clinician or pharmacist before you add one.
Junction Support Tags
Each recipe lists the mechanisms its ingredients bring, mapped to the targets in the Junction Dysfunction framework: the gut barrier, the glycocalyx, the endothelium, Nrf2, the microbiome, and immune balance.
Hacking Icons
Your top three hacking categories appear on every recipe as colored pills:
The index at the back of the book lists every recipe by category.
Sensitivity Flags
Outlined flags mark ingredients that commonly cause trouble in sensitive people:
A flag is not a warning for everyone.
It is a shortcut for the reader who already knows their trigger.