As mentioned in an earlier blog – your body is your temple. You need to know what is going on inside of it in order to improve your health. The major players include your adrenal glands, thyroid, pituitary, kidneys, endocrine glands and liver. These help to keep your metabolism in check.
What should you eat or should you not eat? The following is a list of do’s and dont’s.
NO WHEAT: Wheat is indestructible in nature thereby making it nearly indestructible in your body – making it very hard for your body to digest and extract its nutrients. Wheat creates inflammation, gas, bloating, water retention, and fatigue. What is the alternative to wheat? Most breads are made of wheat – instead, eat bread made from sprouted grains or spelt. Other alternative foods include wild rice, barley and quinoa.
NO CORN: Corn is a food your body never digests. It is your metabolisms worst enemy. Corn equals quick fat. The farmers use it to increase the grade of meat and fatten the cattle. If you want to look pregnant, have a pouchy belly, round cheeks, plump arms and legs, plump anything – be my guest and eat all the corn you want. I know it’s yummy, but – it is a no, no.
NO DAIRY: All dairy products, which include – milk, butter, butter blends, cheese (natural and processed), cultured dairy (yogurt, cottage cheese, sour cream, dips, and other cultured dairy foods, frozen deserts (ice cream, cakes and other frozen dessert made with dairy ingredients, milk, whey, milk powder etc. have a sugar/fat protein ratio that wreaks havoc to your digestive system; and especially to your metabolism, if you are trying to lose weight. The sugar and fat in milk is high. Fat free doesn’t change that ratio as the metabolism still slows down. The alternative to milk and milk products are
unsweetened almond milk, coconut, any of the nut milks, and any products, desserts etc. made with these milks. You can do a lot with them and add any flavor you want to them.
NO SOY: most soy is genetically modified – slows down the metabolism, and builds up the estrogen level in the body. Your body already makes its own estrogen so it doesn’t need more. Soy also causes bloating and swelling etc.
NO CAFFEINE: Caffeine stresses the adrenal glands. The adrenal glands are very important in regulating blood sugar, keeping your cortisol (stress hormone) levels steady and regulating epinephrine and norepinephrine hormones. The adrenal gland also regulates aldosterone (a steroid hormone) which controls fat metabolism, regulates sugar storage, muscle development, and regulates the salt and water balance of the body.
Caffeine pushes the body past its healthy state of energy. Ditch it – ditch it forever! The energy high is short-lived. Also decaf coffee is not truly caffeine free. It can contain from 13 -37% of caffeine of regular coffee.
Coffee before eating food pulls sugar from the muscles in order to sustain the adrenal hormones. Caffeine before breakfast is a metabolism killer – and that includes non-coffee choices like black tea, green tea and white tea. The bottom line is: caffeine, “is not a mineral required for your body. Caffeine is emotionally and physiologically addictive, and the withdrawal can be tough.”The good news: after withdrawal is over – NO MORE AFTERNOON SLUMP. No more obsessive need for a buzz. Get that caffeine monkey off your back.
Ways to deal with caffeine withdrawal:
1. Add cinnamon to your morning smoothie
2. If you get a withdrawal headache, the herb feverfew can help, as can Ginkgo biloba.
3. Be patient. Keep telling yourself you are going to feel great, wake up great, and go to bed great.
NO ALCOHOL: I know, the TV, magazines, books, newspapers are all telling you to have that cocktail, that glass of wine etc., it will relax you, make you feel good, it won’t hurt you. BUT the bottom line here is that ALCOHOL has to be processed through the liver – a major organ that is always, because of the SAD in need of repair. Alcohol has empty calories, is very high in sugar, and again is not good for the metabolism.
- NO ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS OR FAT FREE DIET FOODS:
Those fake blue, pink, and yellow sugar packets are poison to your body. Replace them with natural sweeteners to include: Truvia, Stevia, or new on the scene, but very effective – Xylital, Honey, Maple Syrup, Agave Syrup. In order to have a functioning metabolism, and dieting means:
- eating real food – 3 meals , 2 snacks,
- fresh foods you freeze yourself are better than processed frozen foods
- stay quit of caffeine, gluten, corn, soy, sugar, alcohol, smoking and processed foods.
- stay hydrated – rule of thumb: drink 1/2 your body weight in fluid ounces every day. Drinking water flushes the wastes and toxins from the body’s system all day long – instead of playing catch up and drinking the water all at once after 6 pm or before you go to bed.
- exercise
- do organic
- supplement as needed
- chill out, have patience, keep stress at bay, RELAX!I hope I haven’t overwhelmed you. I know some of you will say this is asking too much, I am old and I am still alive – it is too late to start a new routine now. There will be many rationalizations. IT REMAINS – YOUR CHOICE. Ask yourself – is it less expensive than being on prescription drugs for the rest of your life? Ask yourself if you are always getting correct health information from allopathic doctors? I know! You say they are keeping you alive – but for how long? A band-aid is short-lived.
Be your own healer – consult a good alternative medicine physician. Follow the alternative methods listed above and you will be a healthier you.
PATIENCE – PATIENCE – PATIENCE! May God bless you all!
FYI-HEALTH TALK 