Archive for June, 2013

So I have all of these food sensitivities. Now what?

June 14th, 2013 Lynn

You’ve had it with inflammation!  You have followed the recommendations and took a food sensitivity test.  The results are in and you discover that nearly every food that you enjoy eating regularly is yellow or red-lined on the test results.  This means that the food that sits in your refrigerator, freezer and in the cupboard is now ‘out’.  You panic.  How are you going to manage cooking different meals.  Life is challenging enough.   Take a deep breath, there is promise, by following these few steps.

1.  KNOW that you are one step closer to ‘owning’ your health.  By even looking at the test results you’ll see that these are foods that are special to you because you are an individual.   Information is power. 

2.  FOLLOW the recommendations.  All moderate to extreme foods need to be omitted, for a minimum of 3 months. 

3.  THINK OF WHAT YOU CAN EAT, rather than what you can’t.  No chicken? How about Turkey.  No beef? Consider bison, buffalo, lamb, pork.  NO potatoes? Substitute sweet potatoes, yams or another root vegetable.  There are options.

4.  BUY nutritionally dense foods and organic when possible.  Fruits, vegetables, protein and grains. 

5.  KEEP IT SIMPLE.  It’s overwhelming to think that bread, soy, wheat, dairy, corn and eggs could be out.  Often vegetables, a protein and a grain of some sort can provide essential nutrition and meet the demands of all of the family members.

6.  BALANCE your meals.  Be sure that there is protein, vegetables (plural) and a grain with each meal.

7. TRY new foods.  Consider trying buffalo, quinoa or millet, or just one new food a week.

8.  UNDERSTAND that once healing occurs, many of these food sensitivities may be reduced. 

The most difficult part of accepting food sensitivities is changing habits. Trust me,  I know:

  • My daughter, Lainey has food sensitivities to: wheat, soy, dairy, eggs, bakers yeast, garbanzo beans and tomatoes.
  • My husband has food sensitivities to: dairy, eggs, bakers yeast and corn, sweet potatoes
  • My son has food sensitivities to wheat.
  • I have food sensitivities to dairy, rice, chicken and almonds. 

Here are a few sample meals:

  • Chicken, quinoa (with onions, kales, garlic and olive oil) zucchini and a fruit.
  • Make your own fish tacos: Corn and flour tortillas, cheese, black beans, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, guacamole,peppers and onions
  • Beef burgers (no buns), salad (olive oil/balsamic vinegar dressing), millet.
  • Baked yams, topped with organic lentil soup.

BELIEVE in your self and you’ll do great.

P.S. I’ll be adding recipes to the site on an ongoing basis. 

Be well,

Lynn

 

 

 

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One man’s meat is another man’s poison

June 8th, 2013 Lynn

We’ve heard of stories of ‘others’ that suffer debilitating symptoms as a result of eating the ‘wrong’ foods:  the woman who ate shellfish and swelled up or the boy who ate peanuts and went into anaphylactic shock.   Both of these frightening circumstances present a reality for many people requiring them to avoid those foods at all costs.  But yet there are those of us that eat peanuts and shellfish and never experienced a symptom.  No symptoms, no problems, right? It depends.

As I’ve discussed in my previous posts: symptoms manifest themselves in different ways.  A person may not swell up immediately after eating wheat, for example.  However that person may suffer from joint pain, foggy concentration, or even migraine headaches.  Could wheat be a culprit contributing to these symptoms? You bet.  You may think: but I don’t have stomach problems, or gas or indigestion.  That is highly possible.  We are all unique individuals and all respond differently to what we ingest on a daily basis.  An important thing to consider is the more often that we ingest these detrimental foods the more damage the body endures.

What can we do about this? Remove all irritants, give the body the supports it needs and let it do the rest.  Begin with taking a food sensitivity test (MRT or IgG) and determine what foods are irritants.  Then remove them from your diet entirely.   (A food sensitivities test can evaluate what foods are right and what foods are wrong for an individual.  Blood is drawn and sent to the lab.  Depending on the test the lab then determines your bodies response to certain foods.) By removing irritating foods, and all other irritants, the body will attempt to restore normal function.

Nutrition for thought.

Be well,

Lynn

 

 

 

 

 

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Fat is not your fault

June 5th, 2013 Lynn

Yes; you read that correctly.  Many mainstream “integrative” Doctors that work within the ‘whole body’ approach are declaring this to be true.  Fat is not simply a result of over eating and not exercising.    Fat is  rather a result of a breakdown in your gastrointestinal system and ultimately a result of the culprit behind many illnesses… inflammation.  This is why fad diets prove to be ineffective for the long term.

How could this be?  Bacterial imbalances in the GI tract (also known as our ‘gut’) happen when processed, nutrient-depleted and sugared foods and/or infections (named as ‘invaders’) flood the digestive system. The result is a battleground.  The immune system makes all of its necessary attempts to defend itself from the “invaders”.  The ‘gut’ protective shield (also known as the mucosal barrier) becomes permeable (damaged) and food particles now escape from the ‘gut’ and leak into the bloodstream.  The result is massive inflammation, also known as swelling. 

What to do:

Hire a professional to help you identify the following:

  1. Identify through an IgG test what your food sensitivities are.
  2. Avoid those foods for a minimum of three months.
  3. Provide support for the digestive system with digestive enzymes.
  4. Heal the mucosal barrier.

No more invaders; no more swelling. 

Read more specifics on scientific studies and success stories on this approach:

http://drhyman.com/blog/2010/04/20/are-your-food-allergies-making-you-fat/?utm_source=WhatCounts+Publicaster+Edition&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=drhyman+newsletter+issue+127&utm_content=Are+Your+Food+Allergies+Making+You+Fat%3f

Be well,

Lynn

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Why all the supplements?

June 2nd, 2013 Lynn

pillsThere is much discussion about supplements these days: what supplements to take; do they contradict each other; is it really necessary to take supplements? 

It has become more present that the foods we eat today are not the same foods that our ancestors ate 100 years ago.  Seeds have been genetically modified, the soils have been contaminated, whole foods have become refined foods, pesticides have become in mainstream use and fast food is more popular than ever.    Over time our whole foods have become depleted, lacking in nutrients and vitamins; what the body needs 24 hours a day to function optimally. 

What about the fortified foods you ask? Fortified foods have been supplemented by the Food and Drug Administration to meet minimum requirements as determined by the FDA.    And yet with all of the fortified foods being consumed approximately 70% of Americans are Vitamin D deficient, for example (per Joseph Mercola, MD).  As Edward Giovannucci, MD, Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology at Harvard University states:

‘Milk alone is unlikely to be an adequate source of vitamin D. True, milk is fortified in the U.S. (it is not fortified in most countries). Each glass of fortified milk should contain about 100 IU of vitamin D (but on average, it may contain only 50 IU). So someone would have to drink at least 8 glasses of milk per day to get 800 IU of vitamin D. Moreover, most experts now conclude that 1,000 to 2,000 IU per day of vitamin D may be what we need for optimum health.’

I’ve recently read 1000IU’s per 25 lbs is the recommended dose of Vitamin D3 (per Dr. John Cannell of the Vitamin D Council).  This means that a 150 lb person would have to drink anywhere from 60 to 120 glasses of milk per day.  Get the picture? And this is only vitamin D we’re talking about.  I’ll save B Vitamins, Vitamin A, K,C and others for another time.

So what to take? Here are suggestions:

  1.  Find out what you’re deficient in.  Discuss with a practitioner what your needs are.
  2.  Avoid the ‘one size fits all approach’ with a multi-vitamin until you know what your body needs.
  3.  Purchase supplements from only reputable, quality manufacturers.  Many supplements are stuffed with fillers that are unneeded and can even be damaging depending on the individual.

Each and every one of us an individual.  Be sure to be supplemented like one.

Be well,

Lynn

 

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