Week 3
Self Check
How do you feel?
What changes did you make that you will maintain this week?
What foods do you suspect may be causing inflammation in your body? Corn? Wheat? Dairy?
What are the things getting in your way?
Food As Medicine
Modern medicine does not embrace nutrition as an essential part of preventing disease, being healthy, and feeling good. Sometimes, on the surface it may seem that modern medicine wants to help us through nutrition like recommending diets for high cholesterol or blood pressure. However, the main therapy for all chronic diseases is prescription drugs. These drugs do not address the underlying/root cause of inflammation.
Why are we so inflamed?
Primarily from the food we choose to eat + stress! In order to feel better and resolve our underlying chronic health issues, we must choose food that serves us well and is healing.
The 4 Primary Purposes/Jobs of Food:
Nourish our bodies
Keep inflammation down, not cause it
Keep our blood sugar stable
Provide satiety and satisfaction
What Is The Perfect Diet?
With bounds of conflicting information regarding what to eat is no wonder many of us have our heads spinning. In one sentence, the perfect diet is one that you have found to serve you well through experimentation. If you can take the time and energy to experiment, you will find the perfect diet for your body and lifestyle. That being said, I have compiled some Basic Nutrition Principles, listed below, that serve the majority of people well.
Basic Nutrition Principles
Listen to your body: when you hear an answer, don’t ignore it. Minimize or eliminate the foods that cause inflammation in your body. You may “hear” things like gas, bloating, headaches, joint pain, rashes, IBS, gastric reflux, etc.
Eat real, unprocessed food 80% of the time: it’s called the 80/20 rule. This means eat organic, non GMO, whole foods most of the time (which requires cooking). This also means not choosing low fat options and limiting boxed/canned foods due to additives that are associated with inflammation in our gut and other health issues.
If you want a structured plan, choose a traditional diet: These diets have withstood the test of time, generation after generation sustaining mankind. All of these diets are based on eating whole/unprocessed food that are high in vegetables and healthy fats and moderate in grains, dairy, and red meat. Examples include the Mediterranean diet, Japanese or Indian diet, traditional diets.
Keep your sugar intake low (25-45 grams a day or less + 2 servings of fruit): Sugar fuels the release of insulin in our blood stream which leads to widespread inflammation and negatively affects our hormones. Most sodas and juices have 37-45 grams of sugar which is a whole days worth! Also, carbohydrates like breads, pastas, rice, and starchy vegetables like potatoes break down like sugar (glucose) quickly so keeping carbohydrates low is best for most people. Look for added sugar in things like yogurt, creams, crackers. It all adds up!
Eat to keep your blood sugar stable, avoiding spikes: The spikes in sugar cause spikes in insulin which leads to low energy and makes us crave more sugar. Eat regular meals + healthy snacks that include a lean protein + healthy fat like avocado, nuts, seeds, olive/coconut oil. Every time you eat say, “Where is my fat? Where is my protein?” Fat + protein will stabilize your blood sugar. Also avoid sugary drinks like juice, sport drinks, and sodas.
Consider targeted supplementation: talk with your doctor about supplements. Many Americans are deficient in Vitamin D, which is vital for cardiac, emotional and immune health. Others to consider are Magnesium, Selenium, Zinc, B Complex, Fish/Krill oil, and probiotics. Resveratrol and turmeric have a strong anti-inflammatory and cardio-protective properties. If you choose to take a multivitamin, make sure it is from whole food. For additional recommendations see Healing Strategies.
Optimize your gut (digestive) health: if you are eating all the right foods, but don’t have enough acid in your stomach, digestive enzymes are deficiency in gut bacteria and you will have poor absorption of food and supplements. Improving you gut health is a process of eliminating toxic, allergenic foods and adding back in healing foods (this what you have been doing with this challenge). Also, in many cases, taking targeted supplements to help heal the gut lining is necessary. These adjustments will result in better absorption of all the essential nutrients like iron, zinc, B vitamins, etc. The end result will be your organs getting the nourishment they need so your body can run like a well oiled machine.
