Life wth Nutrition -- changes already!

I've continued to eat only gluten free now for almost a month. It's really an easy choice when I remember how utterly awful I felt when I had some gluten in a slice of birthday cake, of all things! Here I was at a happy event, celebrating with my family and enjoying the company and conversation when - BAM! - the gluten reacted in such an unpleasant way in my body that I had to move away from the family.

The choice has been made. And even when people continue to offer gluten-filled products to me, it's easy to simply say "no, thank you."

In the past I would have felt it's necessary to be polite and to take "a small piece" and eat it. Now, why would I want to ingest something that causes me pain and obviously harms my body? I DON'T!

So to the changes I've made in my diet, I've now added 90 essential nutrients. I've been taking the product now for two weeks, and there are new revelations!

The first thing I noticed was that within a few days I was sleeping through the night.

Doesn't everyone, you ask?

Well, no. I had been waking up every hour or so for the last year or so. It doesn't help that my energetic cat can obviously sense when I'm near waking, and he'll make some noise to ensure I'm wide awake and paying attention to him.

Within a week I realized that I was feeling more rested.

Then I thought about it, and I realized I was sleeping through the night! What bliss!

My best friend, Ashley, who introduced me to Dr. Glidden's talk, noticed within only four days that she had more energy. For someone who had been diagnosed with adrenal fatigue and who had difficulty "ever" getting enough sleep to wake up early in the morning and bounce out of bed full of vigor, this was huge!

Better sleep and increased energy seem to be the main early observations.

After two weeks on the product, I got up one morning and realized I could think clearly!

I was really amazed! I was not aware of being in a fog. If anyone had asked me I would have said I was thinking clearly.

Until I got up one morning and realized that I was NOW thinking clearly -- the fog lifted!

More reasons to be both gluten free and nutrified!

Gluten Free For Me!

What an interesting ride!

This is the first step, and it's really easy... I've been following the "good food" and "bad food" recommendations. In particular, I've come to understand the importance of avoiding gluten -- becoming gluten free! Let me explain my results.

So to recap:

Foods to avoid are:

• wheat
• barley
• rye
• oats/oatmeal, even when it says it's gluten free (oats produce a molecule very similar to gluten)
• fried foods
• oils, including olive oil
• well done meat (grill marks on barbecued meats, well done meats -- rare and medium are ok)
• nitrates (preservatives) in deli meats
• soda -- carbonated beverages, for example, including "fizzy water"
• skin of baked potato/sweet potato; boiled is OK

 Foods that are OK are:

• eggs, soft scrambled, poached, soft boiled
• butter -- yes, butter!
• salt -- yes, salt!
• dairy
• fish, including canned in water, tomato sauce, mustard (remember, no oil!)
• chicken
• lamb
• beef, rare and medium rare
• veggies
• fruits
• mixed salted nuts - no peanuts!
• nut butters (other than peanuts) with no added sugars
• rice
• millet
• beans
• corn
• buckwheat (isn't wheat!)
• beans
• couscous (made from pearl millet only)
• coffee, tea, green tea, red wine
• 4-8, 8oz glasses of filtered water each day, avoid plastic bottles
• lard

Ensure the consumption of 20,000 ORAC points per day -- do a google search to get a list of high ORAC foods. Ensure that choices are gluten free.

This turns out to be really easy to do -- by eliminating "bread" products and avoiding thickeners in soups, the majority of gluten is gone. Eliminating fried foods and salad dressings got rid of most of the oils. I preferred my meats medium to rare anyway, so that was easy. I rarely ate deli meats, so this too was easy. I had eliminated sodas a long time ago, and drink plenty of water each day.

Nitrate free bacon, soft eggs, gluten free toast

Eating plenty of eggs and natural sources of protein with salads, and keeping some nuts available for snacks added richness to my diet. The "ancient grains" not only taste good, but they are helping my body heal.

This "diet" feels healthy and fulfilling -- I'm really enjoying it!

Well, Dr. G advised that I follow this process for at least seven days, and then test my results by consuming some products with gluten. In the first week I lost 4 pounds.

I was feeling good for nearly two weeks, and just eating the foods with no real thought to developing a "test" when I attended a family dinner that included a birthday celebration. I navigated the main course with ease, and then, when I was offered a small slice of birthday cake, of course I accepted - I didn't even think about gluten! What a mistake that was...

Well, I won't describe my experience in detail, however, it was extremely unpleasant. And it carried on for a while.

I knew in that moment I would continue to be gluten free.

It's an easy choice! I just FEEL BETTER!

Skin Issues -- and healing advice

When I met Dr. Wallach last week, he first gave a lecture that illustrated that medical doctors provide care for trauma and infections, but don't have a good track record with chronic conditions.

He rattled off a lengthy list of health concerns that he says can easily be eliminated. First you stick to the "good foods" and eliminate the "bad foods" then you nutrify the body with the 91 essential nutrients, dosed appropriately for body weight.

After his lecture, Dr. Wallach invited questions from the audience.

The woman seated in front of me started by asking about plaque psoriasis. Dr. Wallach started by saying to her that she was on steroids. She asked how he knew; he answered that she was puffy and fat from the meds. She said that would lose the weight when she went off the steroids, but then the psoriasis would come back.

Dr. Wallach asked about her diet. Did she eat any products containing gluten, breads, for example? No, she said, she had only an occasional sandwich.

When she said that, the man seated next to her, who turned out to be her husband, did a double take and just turned in his seat to look at her. Apparently he thought she ate more than the occasional sandwich.

Dr. Wallach asked if she had fried foods. Rarely, she said; her husband shook his head. Her husband's body language suggested there was a greater frequency than she seemed to acknowledge.

Dr. Wallach asked if she ate protein rich foods, like eggs, meat, fish, poultry. She said yes, and her husband again shook his head, no.

Then Doc gave his recommendation: she should eat the "good foods" and avoid the "bad foods" and add the ninety essential nutrients. She should take additional EFAs to support healthy skin development.

The woman said, "thank you," and Dr. Wallach turned to me.

I said I had a skin concern as well.

Dr. Wallach asked what it was. I said, "ichthyosis." I didn't tell him that I hadn't realized I was "different" until I changed schools at seven and found that my classmates wouldn't touch me because they didn't like the feeling of my skin. I didn't tell him of the doctors who had pronounced the disease incurable. I didn't tell him about the various drugs, lotions and potions that had been prescribed over the years to improve my skin's condition. I didn't tell him that nothing had worked. I didn't have to; I think he already knew!

Dr. Wallach asked, "did they tell you what causes it?"

I replied, "they said it was hereditary."

"Wrong," he shouted. "No genes need to express except hair and eye colour." Anything else is optional. These concerns are the result of nutrient deficiencies.

By replacing the essential 90 nutrients and ensuring a healthy diet that did not increase challenges and inflammations, it is possible to heal a chronic skin problem.

Doc advised me to make sure that I eliminated all gluten, oils and fried foods, and ensured lots of eggs, butter, and salt to support digestion. I should take the quantity appropriate for my body weight of the essential 90 nutrients as provided in the Healthy Start Pack to ensure the base nutrients are all covered, and to add EFAs. He said I'd notice a difference in three months and it could be gone in 3-6 months!

Wow! Healing can be easy!

Some Scary Thoughts

I'm just beginning to learn about the importance of minerals to the functioning of our human bodies.

The logic of the "good foods/bad foods" list is simple: in one way or another, the "bad foods" harm our bodies, either through causing inflammation and carcinogenic changes or through damaging our ability to absorb nutrients. The "good foods" are those our bodies have greatest ease with, that support our health and digestion, and that provide antioxidants.

Because of my own health challenges with obesity and dry skin, I've experienced "diets" and paid attention to developments in nutrition for over four decades, and have seen very few references to trace minerals and their importance in our bodies. Most often I've read of studies of calcium and magnesium and why we should not have salt (sodium chloride). I have taken supplements for nearly 40 years, and rarely have the "multi-mineral" combinations included more than 15-20 minerals.

I earned a certification as a Sports Nutrition Specialist (SNS) in which I studied the importance of proteins, fats and carbohydrates to the human body. I also learned of the amino acids and which were not manufactured by the body, and thus were essential. There was limited information about minerals, about how some were essential and the impact of their absence.

Then I heard Dr. Glidden's presentation (http://spectrumradionetwork.com/Archive/dr-peter-glidden-the-myth-of-md-directed-medicine.html) on "alternative" medicine and its recognition of the body's innate ability to heal.

And yesterday I met the man who has made it his life's mission to share the importance of 91 essential nutrients. And he says, "One sentence has killed more people than all the wars in American history: you get all the nutrition you need from the four food groups."

Dr. Joel Wallach pulled out a massive binder of documents that he used in his presentation. These were newspaper and magazine headlines -- mainstream, in the news, information! - that he used to make his points.

Dr. Joel Wallach

Some of the key points:

• we are living in the richest countries in the world (United States and Canada) and there are more people living to be 100 years of age in Third World countries which do not have our wealth or medical care.
• the United States is 60th in the world in terms of life expectancy. Since the US has the greatest per capita expenditure on health care, one would expect life expectancy to be among the highest in the world!
• in the United States according to census information published in 2010, the life expectancy of men who are black is ~60 years, of men who are white is ~75 years, of men who are hispanic is 80.6 years -- the difference, Dr. Wallach says is attributable to their use of the medical system. Those who see the doctor more frequently are taking more medications and shortening their lives.
• Purina, a dog food manufacturer, spent $120-Billion over the last hundred years and has effectively tripled the life expectation of pet dogs. During the same period the human life expectancy has not changed significantly.

Dr. Wallach said lots more than this, and I'll write a separate post about some of the questions, including mine, that he answered.

But I've been thinking about his lecture, and having some scary thoughts. Why are we not living longer?

And why are we putting up with lives in which the quality of our health and ability to physically participate in life is less than excellent? I have friends who are older than I am who say that they're OK with living only a few more years (early 70s), or that they are ready to die (early 80s). I am shocked and horrified that they are willing to "give up" the opportunity to experience the richness of their lives with their families, children and grandchildren. It saddens me to think that they have so little quality of life that they are willing to die.

I have started an experiment with my own food and supplements. I'm eliminating the "bad foods" and sticking to eating only the "good foods" and then I'll test the results. Then, I will add the 91 essential nutrients, "The Mighty 90" and see what happens then.

More to come...

A Health Journey, Beginning Again...

For over four decades {gasp} I've known that I need, my body needs help. And when I was in university I read that in the 1930s the Canadian and US governments announced that the soils were deficient and crops no longer offered the nutrition needed for sustenance. I've taken vitamins and supplements ever since.

I've been overweight since I was a preteen, and "went on" my first diet when I was 18. Why do we say we "go on" a diet? We go on dates, and then come home. We go out, and we come back. I guess that's because that's what weight typically does - it goes and it comes back.

That first diet experience was typical -- the weight left, and it came back.

It came back slowly, but it certainly came back.

After that I dieted almost annually. I have been supervised, prescribed and poked by doctors. I have been told that I cheated, when everyone in my life would have supported me (in my awful grumpiness) in my testimony that I followed the program precisely. I have followed juice fasts, water fasts, high protein, low protein, high fat, low fat, high carb, low carb, soups, shakes, potions, vegetarian, vegan, macrobiotic, paleo, Atkins, South Beach, raw veggies, fruit, brown rice, liquid protein...did I leave anything out? I've followed most of the major diets you can find over the years.

I've had success with every program. And then the weight comes back...

I've lost (and regained!) hundreds of pounds -- maybe it's even a thousand pounds. Wow! I'm imagining the impact of all that weight, coming and going like the tides, and what it's doing to my heart and circulatory system. What I've eaten and not eaten...

As my friends and family will say, I have great will power when I put my mind to it. So once again, I'm putting my mind to it.

My friend Ashley has recommended a new regimen. I spoke to the doctor, and I'm trying it out.

The first step is simple: avoid certain "bad" foods, and stick to "good" food choices.

I have reservations. It sounds good, but will it work for me? My goal here is to document what works (and doesn't!) so that I'll remember in future.

I don't want to diet ever again...

Mum took a photo of me just a few weeks ago on Sept 18th, so I'm including it here for reference.