Hi there! So nice to write another #HealthyThursday article for you. This time we deal with food choices when faced with health problems. Do you ever ask yourself why food is known to damage you, but not to heal you, to make you feel better? Why do the media and doctors say that you should eat less of this and less of that? Why food x caused y condition and nothing i said about what you should eat for a healthy system? I do to. Even more after being diagnosed with an autoimmune chronic illness like multiple sclerosis. I not only choose to quit sugar, but gluten and dairy too. Let me tell you why.
HOW EATING CAN IN FACT STARVE YOU
If you’re reading this it’s most likely you have been diagnosed with an autoimmune condition. You could also dropped by just wanting to learn more about the question in the title. Either way, this article is for you. We all want to be healthy and enjoy our meals in the process.
Disease starts small. Very small. Cells are the first ones to get it. Your lifestyle and diet are powerful factors that can make you well or make you sick. But you know this by now. I am sure you had at least one stomach problem or sluggishness from food you ate, sometime during your lifetime. So you can relate to what food can do to you if eaten mindlessly.
There is quite a big difference between being full and being nourished. Our body needs fuel to function the right way. What you eat has great impact on how you feel physically and emotionally. Your internal biochemistry needs to function correctly in order for your body to thrive. Too much inflammation and starved cells are a direct result of your lifestyle choices.
WHO ARE SUGAR, GLUTEN & CASEIN?
Sugar is in fact a group of short-chain, soluble carbohydrates that have a sweet taste. Like most carbs, it can be simple (glucose, fructose) or a bit more complex (sucrose, lactose). You get your daily amount from fruit and other food you eat, and from table sugar and dairy. In fact, you are consuming just empty calories and your body starves on the inside. Sugar also encourages bad bacteria and yeasts to grow in your gut. It can oxidize proteins, making them unrecognizable for your immune system. In individuals that are genetically predisposed, it can lead to attacks from T cells, as they treat the protein as a foreign invader.
Myelin, the tissue attacked in multiple sclerosis is made out of protein.
Gluten is a protein found in grains, mostly in wheat and also in barley and rye. Gluten makes dough elastic, helping it rise and keep its shape. It can cause a lot of issues, ranging from simple bowel problems (ex: bloating, foggy mind, fatigue, rhinitis, etc) and wheat allergies to coeliac disease (intolerance to gluten).
Casein is another type of protein, but it is found in dairy, mostly in human and mammalian milk. It is one of the main triggers of food allergies. Casein can influence the release of histamine in the body, thus leading to inflammation in the bowels and influencing the immune system.
Lactose, the sugar found in milk, is also a major allergy source and deserves a sidekick role in this post. In certain predisposed individuals it can cause lactose intolerance, meaning that milk and other dairy products can’t be digested properly, causing gut problems.
THE ADDICTIVE THREE
Gluten, casein and sugar are very similar to the opioids, meaning they cause addiction. You surely know the effect a cheese pizza, a strawberry milk smoothie or chocolate have on you. The chemical process is simple. When you eat foods like these, your brain releases dopamine to signal the body it just had a pleasurable meal. It also rises your body glucose levels, making you feel good.
Over time, this effect is less and less powerful, thus you increase the amount of dairy, sugar or gluten you eat, in order to feel the same sensations. Your brain becomes addicted to that high. Another damaging effect is that you end up eating to much calories and less and less nutrients.
Because you have been eating them all your life, or most of it, you are not aware of any sensitivities that you might have or not. You do not associate many of your symptoms with food sensitivity to one of these elements.
The body has grown accustomed to the food you have been eating and to the damage it has been causing. You are used to the way you feel, and thus you keep consuming them. For only 30 days, do a test and give up dairy, gluten or sugar and then do a test meal and see how you feel. If you notice any reaction, be careful with it or eliminate it from your diet alltogether.
These three (four if we count lactose) are part of the factors that may increase the strong immune response. You also need to take into account many other issues like the amount of toxins in the body, hormone levels, infections, amount of omega-3 fatty acids (found in fish, chia seeds, flax seeds, etc), food intolerances, etc.
WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE & MY EXPERIENCE
When dealing with an autoimmune illness, your goal is to dampen the immune cells reaction so they are less likely to attack oxidized protein in the body and cause symptoms or a possible relapse. The solution is quite simple, and has been given by many others before me. Good examples are Sarah Wilson, founder of the I Quit Sugar platform, Dr. Terry Wahls, creator of the Wahls Protocol, Melissa Hartwig and Dallas Hartwig from the Whole30 Program. They all state that a healthy, nutritious and allergen-free diet is key.
Being such a curious person, I tried their advice on myself and found out they were all right. I also remembered the time I was on the Dukan diet and wasn’t eating any cereals and sugar. Gluten was making me feel bloated and sluggish, sugar made my insulin levels spike up and making me gain weight. Dairy was the last of them, as it never caused me major issues. But a test meal after 30 days off it made me realize that it does more harm than good.
It all led up to making up my mind to quitting sugar, gluten and dairy altogether and replacing them with healthier alternatives (more about these on future #HealthyThursdays). I gave them up and I advise you to do the same. The choice is yours.
I know social influence (ex: meals with friends, commercials, lunch brakes, chocolate :)) ) can have a powerful impact on your choices, but take time to think about the long-term effects and then make a decision. See if and how each food influences you mentally and physically.
Give them up one at a time and most of all… take your time. Don’t rush it or it will become a chore and you will most definitely give up. It’s OK, we are all used to eating bread, chocolate, and cheesecakes. I know how hard it can be. I’m here for you if you have questions or need help.
I encourage you to do your own research and adapt it according to your own lifestyle. Be as comfortable as you can with the decisions you make for yourself.
If you follow this blog you know that I can’t recommend enough a healthy lifestyle, with all that it offers: whole foods, home-cooked meals, a diet as free as possible of allergens, sugars and toxins, regular exercising routine and basically taking care of any health issues like infections, hormonal imbalances or stress.
It’s all about the choices you make. The smart choices that through daily practice become habits for living a healthy life. Even with an autoimmune disease.
This was all for this week’s #HealthyThursday! Thank you for reading and if you would like to receive my next articles right into your mail
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Have a most wonderful day & make healthy choices!
Sincerely,
Alexandra