Eating Clean Means Minding The Details

It is through restricting our diet in such a way that we also increase our mindfulness and appreciation for our food. In particular, this diet has been used by people who live in blue zones, which are parts of the world where people live the longest. It also involves a higher intake of carbs and a lower amount of protein than I’m accustomed to eating. However, this is the shift that is needed for the positive effect to occur. As with any health practice, it’s important to know your body when following this diet. For instance, if you have kidney or liver disease, or if you’re currently at the extreme end of stress mode, this isn’t a good time to try this way of eating. Stabilize your body first by following a diet that decreases stress messages. By doing things in this order, you’ll avoid making your health worse. I’ve seen these curves in patients of mine when they were either recovering from anorexia or dealing with severe stress and digestive issues. Multiple days of fasting are rarely recommended, especially if you are already under stress or if you are a Stress Magnet. It’s important to avoid going beyond the beneficial period, or what we call the hormetic zone, and avoid stressing your body even more by using extreme fasting techniques. I’d start with the smallest possible quantity of cooked and easily digested foods and continue until my digestion was ready for more regular meals.

We All Die Someday

When foods are premade, packaged, and sold at the store, often other ingredients are added to improve the taste, texture, and freshness. This means that along with the food, you are getting chemicals that can potentially send stress signals to your gut, nervous system, hormones, and immune system. Check the label on the package for any additives that you don’t want to eat. Best of all is to buy the actual foods and make your meals yourself, so that you know exactly what the ingredients are. The term paleo is often used to describe food that meets these criteria. Choose organic, as well. Each spring, the Environmental Working Group releases its dirty dozen and clean fifteen produce lists. Absolutely aim to buy organic when it comes to foods on the dirty dozen list. The clean fifteen are the foods that tend to have the lowest levels of pesticides. Still, my rule of thumb is to buy organic as often as possible, or always. It can be hard to find restaurants that pay attention to avoiding toxins in their food, but I have discovered and enjoyed some amazing organic eateries and have found businesses offering clean options on their menus. Decreasing or avoiding sugar, especially in the form of actual cane sugar, as in white and brown sugar, is also important.

Until the End of the World

Often sugar will be replaced in products with coconut palm sugar or monk fruit, which is a better option because it offers sweetness but is less likely to raise blood sugar levels. Sugar, on the other hand, is known to raise blood sugar levels, overwhelm insulin function, increase cholesterol levels, and raise inflammation while decreasing immune function and leaving us vulnerable to all sorts of health issues. The amount of sugar in foods quickly adds up, between packaged and baked goods, and beverages and even condiments. Before you know it, you could be consuming way more sugar than you even realize. Start by checking labels and decreasing the use of sugar in recipes. Often the same recipe tastes just as good or better without sugar. Decrease or avoid caffeine while clean eating, since it is known to increase both cortisol and adrenaline levels.20 Depending on your stress type, you may currently be relying on caffeine to get you through the day. Stopping cold turkey isn’t the best option then. Instead, the goal is to help your body recover from stress. As your cortisol and adrenaline levels stabilize and improve on their own, you’ll become less reliant on caffeine for energy. Decrease or avoid alcohol, too, as it must be metabolized by the liver, which makes it a stress to your body and means that your body will require antioxidants to help it recover.

My Soul's Got Wings

Women should drink no more than one glass of wine in one day and no more than four glasses per week. Men should drink no more than two glasses of wine in one day and no more than six glasses per week. It’s also possible to get resveratrol from berries and supplements, so you don’t have to miss out on it if you abstain from alcohol. Choose foods high in antioxidants and related phytochemicals, which exist in herbs, fruits, and veggies. When in doubt, turn to color, as antioxidants give foods their beautiful hues. Think of green, purple, orange, red, blue, yellow, and even white options when choosing fruits and veggies. For example, tomatoes, papaya, and watermelon contain lycopene, which is known to decrease heart disease risk. These plant substances help us recover from stress and trauma by protecting cells. Then there is chocolate! They all contain substances that assist with detoxification pathways. Avoiding foods that increase inflammation is of utmost importance when clean eating. Sugar is one of the most important to watch out for. The food reaction is caused by not digesting the food or component of the food well. Other times it is due to a specific protein in the food triggering an immune response. Dairy is a perfect example. When people are lactose intolerant, it is because they are not digesting the sugar in milk products well. They are likely to experience bloating and digestive issues. When people react to the proteins in milk, casein and whey, it causes an inflammatory response that can spread throughout the body, and is associated with sinus congestion, ear infections, anxiety, and more. Grains containing gluten are most likely to increase inflammation and to cause leaky gut, making it more likely you’ll react to additional foods. Nightshades include potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers.