YOU DON'T NEED THE CEREAL COMPANY TO ADD FOLATE TO YOUR FRUIT LOOPS TO BE HEALTHY!!

So I read this article this morning:  Gluten-free for weight loss? You’re doing more harm than good: study

There is so much wrong here I almost didn't even try but here goes.  Condescending claptrap. Just more of the medical establishment trying to convince people that if the doctor (is that spelled g.o.d?) didn't say it, it ain't so. Ordinary mortals are much too foolish and self-deluded to figure out what their own bodies need.  Dumbing us down on a profound level.  Ugh!

So they found that if you replace your white bread and doughnuts with gluten-free white bread and doughnuts you aren't helping anything? Genius. How about replace the gluten bearing grain with healthy, whole foods. And stop looking for science to "fortify" your foods and just go to foods that contain them *naturally.* Radical concept, I know. Me and my fads;o)  My favorite part of this article (solely for the belly laugh it gave me) was, "If I’m a college student, and I want to lose weight, and I read on the Internet that a gluten-free diet is the way to go, I may start avoiding products that contain essential nutrients such as those found in cereal grains fortified with folic acid."  If you need some folic acid eat some frickin' beans genius!  Or some spinach or broccoli or a salad!  Oy vey!!!  You don't need the cereal companies to add folate to your fruit loops to be healthy!!!!!!!

Now I don't believe everyone needs to give up gluten but I think it is a good idea to cut back on it and be much more choosy about the gluten bearing foods you eat no matter who you are.  First off, modern gluten 'ain't what it used to be.'  The bread you are eating is far, far, far from the bread your grandparents ate.  And even if your bread label says "Whole Wheat," chances are it is far from a true whole grain product.  Just about everyone could benefit from switching their usual bread and cereal products to true whole grains.  But true gluten sensitivity is brutal and pretty easy to diagnose even without a medical degree.  If you cut out gluten-bearing foods for a week or two and you are feeling fine and then you eat a serving of gluten bearing food and get sick as a dog, it is a pretty good sign that gluten is a problem for you. Over the course of the last year, we found that my youngest daughter, Harmoni, was severely gluten-intolerant.  I am actually considering getting her tested for actual celiac markers.  It's bad.  A tiny little bit of hidden gluten and she is curled up in the fetal position for hours - usually on the bathroom floor because she dares not get far from there... if you know what I mean.  Both ends baby. It has happened a handful of times when I got just the tiniest bit careless about labels.  (Seasoning packets and vanilla extract among many, many other things contain hidden gluten.)  Or on one memorable occasion when we trusted a pizza company that said their product was gluten free.  People who work at pizza places have since told me that while the product is gluten free, the employees are given NO training about the importance of handling gluten free products with care to avoid cross contamination.

Now, I do see the point that it is foolish of people to think that replacing one cookie mix with another cookie mix isn't going to help you lose weight just because one is gluten free.  So teach people that where weight loss is concerned, the problem is that you are eating all your food from a box or food that is prepared by someone else and designed to survive sitting on a shelf for months or more.  Teach people, spread the word, get the information in the hands of nutritionists and doctors that preparing your own food from whole, fresh products is the key to healthier bodies.  Health and weight-loss doesn't come in a box!  Gluten free or otherwise!! But don't try to convince people that their own intuition about their own body isn't to be trusted and that it requires a doctor to decide what you should eat.  Read my lips people!  Doctors are NOT taught nutrition!!  And what little they are exposed to is promoted, backed and often even taught by big pharma, meat, dairy and fast-food representatives.  As is the information taught to the average nutritionist.  Don't believe me?  Check this out: Nutritionists Annual Confab Sponsored by... McDonalds? Yes, seriously.  "Andy Bellatti, a dietitian and member of AND, recalls his shock the first time he attended the organization's national conference, in 2008. "I could get continuing education credits for literally sitting in a room and listening to Frito-Lay tell me that Sun Chips are a good way to meet my fiber needs," he says. "I thought, 'No wonder Americans are overweight and diabetic. The gatekeepers for our information about food are getting their information from junk-food companies.'"

I went to doctor after doctor for 30 years trying to figure out why I was declining in health and expanding in size so drastically.  Not one ever offered me any solid advice on what to eat or not eat.  If and ONLY if I asked, they gave me those sheets about the healthy plate and the FDA's food pyramid.  Yeah that worked.  I followed the conventional wisdom on weight loss for years while I gained over 100lbs.  When I would tell doctors what I ate, you could tell they thought I was lying.  I couldn't be getting this fat if I really had given up soda and fried foods and was only eating "healthy, lean cuts of meat" and watching my portions.  And even worse, not one single health professional ever even hinted that the medical conditions that were systematically trashing my quality of life could possibly have ANYTHING to do with what I was putting in my mouth.  But I'm supposed to go pay for a test to prove what I have already found to be fact in my own experience and my child's about eating gluten and ask them to help me fill in the horrible, gaping void left by bread and pancakes and spaghetti?  Thank you!  I needed a good laugh today.

Now, there is the matter of that study they referenced.  (Insert eye roll.)  They said half the people were given standard cookies and chips and the other half were given gluten free cookies and chips.  Gee, maybe the problem was that they were feeding these people COOKIES AND CHIPS!!  "Participants were cycled through three diets: high-gluten, low-gluten and a control...  Participants reported stomach pain and sensitivity even when they weren’t eating gluten. Each diet had patients reporting pain, bloating, nausea, and gas after their baseline treatment."  Okay, what was the control?  What was the "baseline treatment?" How long were they on this diet? And what did the rest of their diet look like?  Lots of things can cause bloating, pain, gas, etc.  And if none of these was completely gluten free, it tells you exactly nothing.  And they didn't even mention the studies that have shown the effect of gluten on the thyroid.

So bottom line for me... I'm not saying everyone should go gluten free.  Healthy, truly whole grain, preferably home-made, grains without artificial crap added are a great part of a healthy diet for many people if you haven't already developed a gut problem.  My youngest daughter has SEVERE stomach issues, pain, diarrhea, gas and vomiting from even a whiff of gluten.  I just get bloating, joint pain and gas.  These can last a few hours to a few days.  It is reliable as the sunrise.  Eat gluten, this happens.  Don't eat gluten and it doesn't.  My middle daughter is on the same whole-food, plant-based diet as Harmoni and I, lives in the same home and eats the same food, but she can eat a truly healthy, whole-grain bread or pasta and not suffer any ill effects.  She is losing weight right along with Harmoni and I and has stopped her acid reflux and horrible allergies and gotten off of the continuous need for medication for those conditions.  I think I can save the money and time and skip the doctor on this one.

So no, I don't think everyone needs to go gluten free.  But I'm beginning to wonder if we don't need to go doctor free:/  (Just kidding!  Don't shoot me!  But we seriously do need to take the time and effort to find a doctor who has a clue.)  But I think if you are seeking your healthiest state that it is well worth trying an elimination diet to make sure gluten isn't creating a stumbling block for you.  And make sure that whatever grains you include in your diet are really whole, as fresh as possible and not processed and messed with beyond the point of being healthy any longer.  And above all, we need to stop spreading the idea that people are too stupid to know what their body needs without someone with a bunch of initials after their name to approve their decisions.  And all the evidence out there that diet is the key to the huge health decline around us needs to be made available instead of covered up and ridiculed by people with lots of money to lose once people know the truth. And I really believe that those big money interests need to STOP being the ones funding the "studies."  Has everyone forgotten what the term "conflict of interest" means?!

To quote Dan Miller, "Relax and enjoy, eat and drink plants."  And of course, my favorite, JUICE ON YA'LL!  WE GOT THIS!!

The Gluten Summit - SOOO much information!

I read Wheat Belly several months before I saw FS&ND. I started trying to eliminate gluten - keyword there is trying:/ While under the influence of a toxic diet, trying to eliminate foods that are addictive in nature is HARD!  Once I got on my juicefast, of course, gluten was automatically eliminated. Along with sugar and dairy and added fats. LOL That is why coming off of juice fast is the ultimate perfect time to carefully and individually add things like that back in to see what causes a bad reaction. For me it was all of the above but especially the gluten. Dairy makes me nauseous and bloated but gluten is literally debilitating. VERY quickly.  Sugar just triggers food cravings and makes me think I'm hungry all the time.  

This week, I have been watching tons of video presentations of The Gluten Summit. It makes me really sad that the vids are only available for 24 hours because there is WAY more information than I can really assimilate and share in that short time period. I can't afford the DVDs unfortunately.  But one good outcome is that both my youngest girls have decided to eliminate gluten too. Harmoni was feeling yucky after a sandwich and said, "Mom, I wonder...." And she hasn't had any gluten anything since then, about 6 days ago. When we weighed in Friday, Gini was excited because she has lost 47 lbs but she said, "It is a little frustrating because I'm not losing this (pointing at her belly) as fast as I hoped." I said, "Get off the wheat." She said ok and went and threw out the last bit of bread in the house! She was the only one eating it by then. LOL So I'm really curious to see what her waist measurement is in a week or two. We already knew she was lactose intolerant and I've learned at The Gluten Summit that the two OFTEN go hand in hand but people don't realize it. People will even try elimination diets and when eliminating the gluten or the dairy doesn't have as much effect as they were hoping they give up not realizing that they need to try a period of giving up both. So many people just don't want to face the idea of giving up something they "love." Whether it is relationships or people. They say, "But I love it/him/her!" Instead they should look at whether or not it is a healthy reciprocal relationship.  If it isn't serving you well, kick it to the curb and don't look back!!!

Dear Doctor, Why?

I have spoken many times about all the medical issues I faced before starting my journey to self-healing and weight loss.  It was pretty grim.  Over the last few decades, I (and my insurance companies) have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to make my life bearable.  In all those years, I found pretty much zero help or relief.  I just got progressively worse and worse.  The answer to many if not all the problems I was having was as simple as changing my grocery list.  Yes, I spend a little more on groceries now but, recall that "hundreds of thousands" I mentioned?  Not hyperbole folks. So there's expensive and then there's expeeensive.  And there is more than one sort of "cost."  Basically, what's it worth to you?  Expensive is a relative term  A $50k house is a bargain basement find!  But a $50k car is expensive!  What's the value of the thing is a a better question that what is the cost.  So to me, my new diet is not expensive.  For it's value, it is quite cheap.  How much do you spend on perscriptions?  What if your food was your food and your medicine?

First off, I find it laughable when people say to me that they can't afford all this "expensive" produce but it is actually a serious issue for many so let's talk about that for a moment.  I understand tight budgets.  No really, I do.  We have been on the nothing-but-ramen-noodles-all-week diet more than a few times.  I know from broke.  But most of the time in recent months, before becoming whole foods/plant based and juicing (WFPB from now on) we spent around $125-175 per month on food for the family.  We also ate out at least once, often two or three times every week.  It was our payday ritual.   We usually got pizza or Sonic or Arby's or Taco Bell.  Taco Bell and Little Caesars are cheap for those weeks we had a more limited food budget.  But that was an additional $15 to $60 per week or more.  And then let's add up all the stops at Quick Trip for soda and a "snack."  Am I the only one who would routinely spend $5 on #%$!* every time I filled up the gas tank of my car?  I think not.  So I was spending $150-200 per week on crap that was killing me.  Literally.  Literally crap and literally killing me.  Not to mention the money I was spending on medications I no longer need. Nowadays, I routinely spend $180 a week on food.  I haven't spent a solitary dime on fast food, packaged junk or convenience store snacks in 4 months.  Yup, that WFPB diet is just too expensive.  Still think it is too expensive?  Check out Ellen Jaffe Jones.  You can find her on facebook and youtube.  I am not sure if her website is working but she also wrote a book called Vegan on $4 a day.  And then there is this blog: http://homelessformyhealth.blogspot.com/.   Go read it.  Seriously.  AFTER reading that blog, you come tell me that a healthy diet is too expensive.

Now, on to the things that are really on my mind today.  A couple of things I have been hearing lately really have me pissed.   Both have to do with doctors.  First off, why the holy heck in all the years I've been to doctor after doctor, spent many weeks in hospitals and had dozens of very expensive tests done and been lectured about my weight continuously, has no doctor ever, once suggested that I had a leaky gut or gluten intolerance.  Never once has any of them suggested I try eliminating sugar or dairy.  Not ONE medical professional has ever suggested that people who eat primarily a plant based diet have little to no heart disease, cancer or diabetes.  You know why?  Because they know squat about nutrition.  Seriously.  They can't tell you what they don't know.  There is, of course,  the problem of  the bought and paid for research they are being fed by USDA, FDA and Big Pharma plus there is the absolute absence of any real education.  In medical school, our future physicians get a few hours of training in nutrition.  Hours.  NOT class hours or credit hours.  As in your history class counts as 4 credit hours.  No.  A few actual clock hours of their entire education.  Don't believe me? Check this out:

The approximate time devoted to nutrition science over the first two years of my medical education is a measly 6 hours....  James Haddad  [http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2011/12/nutrition-taught-medical-school.html]  After the first two years they are in actual medical settings as interns and residents.  With live patients.

Your doctor was not taught nutrition unless he went out on his own time and dollar and researched it himself.  Since doctors in training have all that.. ya know... spare time.  And since becoming a doctor, he is consistently fed the SAD conventional wisdom that is killing us all by degrees.  So when people ask me if my doctor is on board with me going WFPB and all the juicing, my response is, "I don't give a rat's tail."  My nutrition is up to me.  

The other thing that set me off was several instances of hearing that what few doctors actually got the memo that WFPB diets can prevent a host of diseases dropped the ball anyway.  Mostly.  There are those few voices in the wilderness but your average physician in your average town or city?  Well, the prevailing attitude seems to be that they don't bother recommending any radical change in diet because patients will likely find it too challenging and won't follow through.  Changing your way of eating is too hard.  Why bother when weight loss surgery is so much easier.  And heck, many insurance plans are starting to cover it now too!  Bonus!  (In case you missed it, insert heavy sarcasm there.)  So if even one doctor over the years looked at me and thought, "Damn woman!  All you need to do is make salad the main dish!  Throw out the cheese and the bread and eat some veggie stew instead."  he or she then decided that I couldn't possibly have the physical or mental fortitude to deal with such advice so they just scheduled the next MRI or bone scan, filled out another perscription and sent me home.  We are being treated like idiots and fools by the people we trust with our lives.  Weak idiots and fools.  Sure lots of people say, "Oh I couldn't do that!"  But the problem is that they don't really believe in it.  If our doctors were educated enough and committed enough to our health to really teach it to their patients, a LOT of them would say, "It will actually give me my health and energy back?! I can do that!"  Some wouldn't.  So for them, doctor, go ahead and schedule that next scan and write that next prescription.  Do what you can to prepare them for the fact that their lives will be shorter and more painful and miserable.  But at least learn what you need to know to give as many of us as possible a shot at real health.  I know the first rule is supposed to be "do no harm" but shouldn't that be closely followed by "do as much good as you possibly can?"  

11 WEEKS IN - An Update

It is pretty crazy to think that we only started this new lifestyle 11 weeks ago.  I haven't blogged as much lately because I tend to think I don't have anything interesting going on.  I'm just a mom and grandma dealing with day to day life just like anyone else.  I forget that certain things about our lifestyle nowadays are considered "non-norm."  I forget that it is not "normal" to find no meat and no dairy in the average kitchen.  I forget that not every mom hears their teenagers arguing over who took all the mushrooms in the salad.  "I want mushrooms too!"  LOL  The average home probably doesn't have 10 pints of beet/apple/carrot/ginger juice in the frig.  For about a minute; until the teenagers discover it.  Not every house on the block contains 3 ladies who have lost a combined total of 115 lbs in the last 3 months.  Is it normal for you to spend 90% of your grocery shopping time and money in the produce section?  I used to barely glance in there; maybe to grab some bananas for the grandkids or a bag of potatos.  Is the average families trash made up almost entirely of juice pulp and peelings?  Where are all the cans and boxes and plastic containers?

Here are the problems we have lately:
Honey, should we sell the microwave?
No!  I heat up my lemon/ginger water in there in the mornings!

I am NEVER going to finish my holiday knitting if I don't find some time to sit and knit!

Mom! We're out of celery!

I can't BELIEVE I was dumb enough to consume gluten again!  Gluten makes me ill!  What was I thinking?!!!

So life around here is just the same old boring routine as anyone elses.... With a few twists;o)  And the most beautiful part is that I am actually participating in that routine.  I'm not sitting in my room watching life go on without me.  Yes, I am still on the program.  Yes, I am still losing weight although it isn't beating any speed records.  I have broken through to the 200s again but since I hit 299 last week, I haven't lost any more.  The scale likes to screw with me  like that.   I'm not worried.  I am giving my body what it really needs and trusting it to do the rest.  Meanwhile, I feel fantastic!
A few things have changed.  I no longer have to mindfully create positive dialogue about my food. I don't have to say to myself, "Those foods are poison to me.  I am not the sort of person that eats whatever is easiest.  I nourish my body."  I don't have to mindfully say those things any more than I have to mindfully say, "I am a mom.  I am a wife."  They are just who I am.  And did I mention I feel fantastic?

Thyroid Cure?

I just picked up a Woman's World magazine because there was an article in it about a book called "Hormone Cure" by Sara Gottfried, MD.  Thyroid medicine is one of the few perscriptions I'm still supposed to be taking.  I say supposed to be because I have chosen to stop taking all perscriptions to give my body a chance to do what good it can with all this terrific new nutrition I'm giving it.  In a few months, I'll get checked out and then see if there is anything the doctor thinks I need to go back to using.  And I'll think about it;o)  So anyway, my interest was piqued and I'm not a fan of reading a magazine in the checkout line and then putting it back.  Feels dishonest.

So Dr. Gottfried outlines a sample days menu and describes the basis of her plan.  Imagine by surprise (read a heavy dose of sarcasm there) when I realized that basically she was just saying to go gluten free.  LOL  It was kind of cool to read her explanation though, since it isn't something I've had explained quite this simply before.  She says that "In the last 30 years, wheat has been genetically modified to have a higher gluten content."  The thyroid trouble occurs because "gluten is a sticky wheat protein so similar in shape to thyroid hormone that it can enter and block the body's receptors for thyroid hormone."

She basically says to swap things like sugar, bread, white rice and pasta for brown rice, beans and sweet potatos.  Hmmm, I already have! LOL  So now I stick to the plan and in a few months I will be very curious to see if my thyroid has improved.  I'll keep ya posted!

The Gluten Question

Well, for me at least, the question is settled. A few months ago, after some research and reading*, I decided to try eliminating gluten for a couple of weeks to see if it helped with how horrible I felt back then. It did seem to help and I was pretty much convinced that I was one of the unlucky few to have significant problems with modern wheat gluten. I was trying to keep it out of my diet as much as possible. 

Fast forward to October. After juice fasting for several weeks and then combining plant-based clean eating with juice, I was completely gluten free. And if you've read any of my blogs, you know I was feeling fantastic. My experiment during the Spring was done when my diet overall was a mess. I noticed a reduction in joint pain and stomach pain and brain-fog but any improvement was just a matter of degree. I had come to think that was all I could ever expect from anything so that was good with me. Well now, I know that I don't have to settle for a few degrees better; I can demand GREAT! So I decided to redo the gluten experiment. 

This past week, I reintroduced very healthy, limited portions of sprouted, whole-grain bread back into my diet. For the first time since I began my juice fast, I have had stomach pain, brain-fog and aching joints. Also (coincidence maybe? I kinda doubt it....) the first week I haven't lost a single pound. So that's enough proof for me to make a decision. FOR ME, the gluten question is resolved. No gluten for me. I don't settle for better any more. I want to keep feeling fantastic. I am not saying that everyone should eliminate gluten, but I would recommend that if you have a pretty healthy diet and are still struggling with weight loss and/or digestive issues, joint pain, brain fog, fatigue, etc, it might be worth it to at least try a couple of weeks without it and then put it back into your diet to see if it affects symptoms. 

*Wheat Belly by William Davis is a good laymans introduction to the issue but I always advocate looking up the research for yourself if you can.  The wheat we are sold today is NOT the same as the wheat our ancestors ate.  That much is fact.  You can have all the opinions your little heart desires but you can't have your own set of facts.  Wheat today barely resembles the wheat from even 100 short years ago.  If GMOs aren't remotely disturbing to you then...  wake up.