
There’s only two things you ever need to remember when it comes to what to eat.
1. Feed the gut
and
2. Protect the liver.
Feeding the gut means supporting a healthy microbiome by eating fresh vegetables and fruits, nuts, seeds, and grains that are high in fiber, vitamins and minerals, and high quality healthy fats.
Protecting the liver means eating foods that are free of additives, low in added sugar, and are minimally processed.
When you follow these two rules, food choices are simple.
Not only that, but you’ve got the best medicine out there for treating and healing chronic diseases like Type 2 diabetes, cancer, dementia, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension.
Chronic diseases cannot be cured through modern medicine; drugs only treat the symptoms.
The science tells the full story-- only changes in lifestyle, especially eating habits, can prevent and even cure chronic illness. It is the only way to address the root causes of illness.
You probably spend a good time worrying about which foods are good and bad for you.
But I want to dispel that worry. All foods begin as inherently good. It is what is done to the food that makes it less nutritious and even poisonous to the body.
Doing something to the food, or food processing, always involves one of two things, or both.
1. When foods are processed, poisons (substances that promote illness) are added, which tax the liver,
or
2. Fiber and nutrients are removed, which starve the gut microbiome.
So you can see how consuming too much processed food stuffs the liver with poisons and too much sugar, which later is stored as fat...
and the starves the intestinal bacteria of fiber and basic nutrients, which it needs to thrive.
You can’t eat well at home without buying at least some foods from a grocery store, and the stores are where our health problems begin. Foods stores sell 80% processed food (or non-food, depending on how you look at it) and only 20% real food.
To make the most of your shopping trips, use these tips from endocrinologist Robert Lustig, MD to build a healthier food cart and begin to change your life.
Don’t go shopping hungry. I’ve noticed that I have to steer around a 3-foot high mountain of packaged cookies and cupcakes when I enter the store nowadays. Keep pushing right past that!
Shop the perimeter of the store. Venturing into the aisles is entering the land of food poison.
If a product is on an endcap, the company paid to have it there. Push on past it.
Any food with a logo or a Nutrition Facts label has been processed. Keep these foods to a minimum. And if you are buying a processed food, look for foods with short ingredient lists.
Avoid foods that claim to be low-fat, no trans-fat, low-calorie, etc. This means that something chemical and artificial has been added in its place.
If it doesn’t say whole grain, it isn’t. …And even if it does say whole grain, it probably isn’t !! Look for a carbohydrate to fiber ratio that is greater than 10:1.
If any form of sugar is one of the first 3 ingredients, consider it a dessert. You might want to search the web for the many names for sugar. There are literally hundreds. Don’t be fooled. Sometimes companies will have 5-6 forms of sugar on the ingredient list…called by different names.
Remember, keep your food choices simple by feeding the gut and protecting the liver. It’s a back-to-basics approach and its the most effective way to transform your health.
As your coach, I believe that simple approaches work best for success. I give you the framework, and you adapt it to fit your needs. If you need help with simplifying your habits, I offer free consultations.
P.S. - I want to get this information out to as many people as possible, so if you know someone who you think would find this helpful, please share it with them.
Keep it simple and take care.
x,
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