The Tofu Scramble That Helped Me Stop Missing Eggs
What happens when your body says no to eggs—and you decide to listen.
As it turns out, all these years that I’ve been “listening to my body,” I haven’t been truly listening. This July, I began a path towards becoming a functional nutrition counselor. I’ve been diving into the Full Body Systems program at The Functional Nutrition Alliance and learning not only about how the body is supposed to function, but also tuning into how mine actually is (or isn’t) functioning.
Tuning out the food noise
The lens through which Andrea Nakayama teaches is nothing short of transformative. The program she’s created focuses on bio-individuality, and it’s helped me to tune out all of the “food noise” we’re bombarded with—noise I’m guilty of having contributed to on here in past posts. People screaming into the void: eat at least 30 grams of protein at every meal; if you have any of these 50 different symptoms, you’re in perimenopause; take these supplements to help with anxiety; eat these foods; don’t eat these foods. It’s everywhere and it’s constant. As I’m learning, we’re all unique and something that works for one person may not work for another. I’m slowly learning that even top, trusted functional medicine doctors and certified nutritionists aren’t always armed with the powerful framework of working within bio-individuality.
Connecting the dots: Hashimoto’s, food sensitivities, and gut health
Recently, I discovered through routine labs, that I have markers that indicate Hashimoto’s, an autoimmune disease. Thankfully, I’m in the early phase of the disease and can work towards preventing major symptoms. I also took a food sensitivity test and lo and behold, the eggs I’ve been eating every morning and on top of all of my bean dishes and savory oats? My body doesn’t like them. And it doesn’t like dairy or gluten either. My test also confirmed what I already had assumed through what I’ve been learning: leaky gut. With this new knowledge, I cut all of these foods out of my diet. Just a few days into making this change, I suddenly had energy I hadn’t had in…maybe years? The proof was in the pudding, or in this case, the eggs, dairy, and gluten. I knew I had been experiencing low energy for a long time but I chalked it up to age (read: perimenopause) and lack of exercise after recovering from a back injury, and the big one: stress. Of course these things are all contributors, but little did I know, things also weren’t functioning properly in my gut and slowly this lead my body to activate an immune response.
healing the soil, not just addressing the symptoms
As my program has taught me, I like to think of this immune response as a good thing. Think about it, our bodies see things going awry—not functioning how they’re supposed to—and they set off little alarm bells. The key is listening to those alarm bells. And sometimes they’re silent, which is why working with someone who understands how everything in the body is connected and should function is so important.
This, of course, isn’t the only piece of the puzzle, but it’s a major step towards healing my gut and preventing my body from experiencing the long list of potential Hashimoto’s symptoms. As my teacher explains: there’s never just one root to our signs, symptoms, and diagnoses—there are many. And under those roots is the soil. And addressing that soil is where healing begins.
Learning to let go of eggs (at least for now)
Just because my body is saying no to eggs in this moment, it doesn’t mean I’ll never be able to eat eggs again, but for now, they’re off the table. So all of this brings me to this tofu scramble. I remember my mom making it on occasion—her version included a block of tofu and a packet of seasoning, and it was delicious. But as part of healing my gut, it’s important that I not only remove the triggering foods, but also add in as many of the good ones as I can. I’ve been aiming to eat the rainbow every day.
Below is what I added to my scramble, but think of this as another choose-your-own-adventure recipe. See what you have at home, use up what’s on its last leg in the crisper, and try to get a variety of colors into your pan—which I find to be a fun little challenge. I hope you do too.
This makes enough for one serving (maybe with some leftovers)
Ingredients
Extra virgin olive oil
1/2 block extra firm tofu
Veggies/plant foods of your choosing (all sliced/chopped into smaller pieces) - I used: purple cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, dandelion greens, scallions, mushrooms
Seasoning of your choosing - I used a curry powder blend, added turmeric, and black pepper
Salt to taste
Toasted sesame seeds (optional for added texture)
Squeeze of lemon
How to make it
Slice your tofu into thinner pieces and press out any extra moisture.
In a large pan (so your veggies don’t crowd), heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and other veggies—hold off on the leafy greens for now—and let them caramelize.
Once they start to brown, season with salt, crumble in your tofu, sprinkle everything with chosen spices, and continue sautéing for a few more minutes. If the pan gets dry, add a little more olive oil so the spices can bloom. You can also then add a splash of broth or water to deglaze the pan a bit.
When everything’s cooked to your liking, toss in the leafy greens and sauté just until wilted.
Squeeze fresh lemon juice over the whole thing, taste, and adjust seasoning as needed.
Transfer to a dish and top with toasted sesame seeds—or anything else you’d like to add.
