7 Rules For A Healthy Diet
People often ask me what I consider to be a healthy diet. In this article, I outline my seven rules for a healthy diet.
Guidelines For Successfully Following A Gluten-Free Diet
A gluten-free diet is a diet that excludes the protein gluten.
Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye grains.
A gluten-free diet treats celiac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity and other auto-immune diseases, such as Hashimoto’s Disease and Rheumatoid arthritis.
Gluten causes inflammation in the small intestines of people with celiac disease.
A gluten-free diet helps people with celiac disease control their signs and symptoms and prevent complications.
Initially, following a gluten-free diet may be frustrating.
But with time, patience and creativity, you’ll find many gluten-free foods you already eat, and you will discover substitutes for gluten-containing foods you can enjoy.
Read on to learn some easy-to-follow guidelines on following a gluten-free diet, including what foods are allowed, foods to avoid and what to do about cross-contamination.
Gluten-Free Diet Guidelines
Switching to a gluten-free diet is a significant change; like anything new, it takes some getting used to it. You may initially feel deprived by the diet’s restrictions, especially if you weren’t having troubling symptoms before your diagnosis.
However, it may help to try to focus on all the foods you can eat instead.
While a wide variety of gluten-free products are available now, many of them are full of unhealthy ingredients and have been shown by research to be contaminated with gluten.
A healthy approach to following a gluten-free diet is to avoid eating too many processed foods and, where practical, try to cook your meals from scratch.
Suppose you’re starting with a gluten-free diet and are feeling overwhelmed. In that case, it’s a good idea to consult a holistic nutritionist who can answer your questions and offer advice about avoiding gluten while still eating a healthy, balanced whole-food diet.
Allowed foods on a Gluten-Free Diet
Many healthy and delicious foods are naturally gluten-free:
- Beans, seeds and nuts in their natural, unprocessed form
- Fresh eggs
- Fresh meats, fish and poultry (not breaded, batter-coated or marinated)
- Fruits and vegetables
- Most dairy products
It’s important to ensure they are not processed or mixed with gluten-containing grains, additives or preservatives. Many grains and starches can be part of a gluten-free diet, such as:
- Amaranth
- Arrowroot
- Buckwheat
- Corn and cornmeal
- Flax
- Gluten-free flours (rice, soy, corn, potato, bean)
- Hominy (corn)
- Millet
- Quinoa
- Rice
- Sorghum
- Soy
- Tapioca
- Teff
Foods to avoid on a Gluten-Free Diet
Avoid all food and drinks containing:
- Barley (malt, malt flavouring and malt vinegar are usually made from barley)
- Rye
- Triticale (a cross between wheat and rye)
- Wheat
Avoiding wheat can be challenging because wheat products go by numerous names. Consider the many types of wheat flour on supermarket shelves — bromated, enriched, phosphated, plain and self-rising. Here are other wheat products to avoid:
- Durum Flour
- Farina
- Graham flour
- Kamut
- Semolina
- Spelt
Avoid unless labelled ‘gluten-free.’
In general, avoid the following foods unless they’re labelled as gluten-free or made with corn, rice, soy or other gluten-free grain:
- Beer
- Bread
- Cakes and pies
- Candies
- Cereals
- Communion wafers
- Cookies and crackers
- Croutons
- French fries
- Gravies
- Imitation meat or seafood
- Matzo
- Pasta
- Processed luncheon meats
- Salad dressings
- Sauces, including soy sauce
- Seasoned rice mixes
- Seasoned snack foods, such as potato and tortilla chips
- Self-basting poultry
- Soups and soup bases
- Vegetables in sauce
Certain grains, such as oats, can be contaminated with wheat during the growing and processing stages of production.
For this reason, I recommend avoiding oats unless they are explicitly labelled gluten-free.
You should also be alert for other products you eat that could come in contact with your mouth containing gluten.
These include:
- Food additives, such as malt flavouring, modified food starch and others
- Medications and vitamins that use gluten as a binding agent
Watch for cross-contamination
Cross-contamination occurs when gluten-free foods come into contact with foods that contain gluten.
It can happen during manufacturing, for example, if the same equipment is used to make various products.
Some food labels include a “may contain” statement if cross-contamination is likely. But be aware that this type of declaration is voluntary.
Foods may also be labelled as “gluten-free.”
If a product made in the US carries a gluten-free label, the Food and Drug Administration requires that the product contain less than 20 parts per million of gluten.
Be aware that products labelled “wheat-free” may still contain gluten.
You still need to check the actual ingredient list.
If you’re unsure whether the food contains gluten, don’t buy it or check with the manufacturer first to ask what it includes.
Cross-contamination can also occur at home if foods are prepared on common surfaces or with utensils that weren’t thoroughly cleaned after being used for cooking gluten-containing foods.
Using a common toaster for gluten-free and regular bread is a major source of contamination, for example.
Consider what steps you need to take to prevent cross-contamination at home, school or work.
Be careful about eating out at restaurants.
Ask restaurant staff members if they have gluten-free choices, including being prepared to avoid cross-contamination.
Disclaimer
This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Now I’d like to hear from you. Let us know in the comments below.
The Fasting Mimicking Diet – Benefits and Recipes
Fasting is one of the oldest and most potent health interventions. Studies have shown that fasting regulates the immune system, lowers blood sugar, promotes autophagy, improves lipid profiles, and can even stimulate the growth of stem cells. Water-only fasts are challenging and require careful supervision because of potentially dangerous side effects like refeeding syndrome. Refeeding syndrome involves hazardous shifts in electrolytes, potassium, phosphorus, and magnesium. Intermittent fasting is a more accessible alternative to water-only fasting, but the effects may not be as robust. Recently I have learnt about the fasting mimicking diet, a new approach, that has many of the
benefits of fasting but without the stress of complete food restriction.
In this article, you are going to learn more about the fasting mimicking diet, who can benefit from it, and how to put it into practice including recipes and meal plans.
Who developed the Fasting Mimicking Diet?
The Fasting Mimicking Diet is an approach developed by Dr Valter Longo, a professor of biological sciences at USC and the director of the USC Longevity Institute.
Dr Lango studies the underlying mechanisms of ageing in yeast, mice, and humans by using genetics and biochemistry techniques. It is through carrying out this research that led to the development of FMD.
What is the Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD)?
FMD is a low-calorie, low-protein diet that causes changes and markers associated with stress resistance and longevity like prolonged water-only fasting.
What are the proven benefits of FMD?
Since FMD is a relatively new approach, the majority of the research on it has been performed on
animals. There needs to be more research on the effects of FMD in humans to confirm the benefits seen in animals, but the few human studies that do exist are impressive.
FMD has been shown to have profound effects on metabolic markers like visceral fat, fasting glucose, and IGF-1.
In one study, FMD impressively led to the regeneration of pancreatic beta cells and the return of insulin secretion in animals with late-stage type 2 and even type 1 diabetes. In other words, FMD reversed these conditions.
FMD also has significant effects on autoimmune disease. In a study looking at Multiple Sclerosis in mice, FMD reduced clinical severity in all animals and completely reversed symptoms in 20 percent of animals. It also regenerated the myelin sheath, which is unheard of in other studies.
FMD has been shown to have many other benefits, including improving cognitive function, protecting against cancer, and slowing ageing.
Who could benefit from FMD?
Good candidates for FMD include people with:
- Weight or metabolic problems including diabetes
- Chronic infections
- Autoimmune disease
- Immune dysregulation
- Neurological issues
- Cognitive disorders
As well as above conditions, you may use FMD as a way to optimise your health, prevent disease, and increase lifespan.
How to do an FMD
One FMD cycle typically lasts for three to five days once a month for three to 12 months a year, depending on the condition. Between FMD cycles, eating resumes as usual without any additional restrictions. If the patients following a Paleo diet, they just continue that between the FMD cycles.
The frequency and length of cycles depend on the patient’s health status, weight, and goals.
In general, the more grave the condition, the longer the cycle should be, though not exceeding five days, and the more frequent they should be, for example, doing one cycle every month instead of just one cycle for three months out of the year.
In human studies, FMD is often implemented using prepared foods and micronutrients administered under a doctor’s supervision.
That said, I am not a fan of packaged foods. In my opinion, a homemade version of FMD would have the same effects as the packaged products. But you should know that there have been no studies on homemade versions.
If you’d like to use the packaged products, you can obtain them through the company that makes them, ProLon.
Conclusion
Intermittent and water-only fasting has numerous health benefits but can be
hard for people. The fasting mimicking diet is an alternative approach that may offer many
of the benefits of water-only fasting but is easier less challenging.
If you like to try the Fasting Mimicking Diet, I have created a handout that explains it along with recipes and suggested meal plans.
Disclaimer
This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Now I’d like to hear from you. Let us know in the comments below.
Elimination Diet: Everything you need to know
You may not be aware of it, but the foods you’re consuming every day could be gradually damaging your health and cutting your lifespan. But how do you know? For numerous people, toxic foods are hard to detect, particularly for those who’ve already cleaned up their diets and believe they are eating healthy. For example, I recently saw an old client who came in because she was getting headaches. She had already gone gluten-free, was a trained nutritionist, and overall had a very healthy diet. But examining her, I found that she had signs of chronic low-grade inflammation. This client came in because she wanted food allergy testing. But what she left with was an elimination diet. Here’s why.
Allergy Testing can be illuminating, but the “gold standard in figuring out if foods are causing inflammation, is to cut out the suspect foods for about a month and see how you feel when you reintroduce them.
I suggest that everyone do an elimination diet at least once.
So how do you do an elimination diet and not make it difficult?
Here is my easy 6-step plan for doing an elimination diet. You might be shocked by what you learn!
1. Take a step back. It’s difficult to know where you’re going unless you know where you began
Do you, like my client also get headaches? Do you have skin problems? Digestive symptoms like gas, bloating, or constipation? Allergies? How’s your energy? What about your mood? Do you feel like you suffer from brain fog? Joint pains? These are just a few of the symptoms of food sensitivities.
So, before you begin an elimination diet, scan your body from top to bottom, and make a list of everything you notice, however, subtle or long-standing the symptom has been. This process sets you up to see significant changes when they occur.
2. Eliminate the usual food suspects for 30 days.
The primary elimination I use in my practice was developed by the Institute of Functional Medicine (IFM). This includes:
No gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, corn, peanuts, red meat and shellfish for 30 days.
Why 30 Days?
Antibodies, which your body produces when food allergens are present, take approximately 30 days to leave the body. So if you don’t eliminate things that you’re sensitive to for at least 30 days that time, you will not get an accurate picture.
3. What can I eat?
If this is your response, do not panic! You can do this. The diet requires a little grocery shopping and taking a few extra minutes a day to prepare food.
We’re all habituated to fast-food, easy preparation, and taking two seconds to eat a meal. The problem is that typically food made and consumed this way makes us unhealthy over time.
New habits take 21 days to form, which is also why we’re doing a 23-day elimination diet! We want these new habits to die hard.
This is what you can eat:
30% lean chicken, lamb, pork, and fish.
70% vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, and gluten-free grains like quinoa.
Simple!
4. Do’s and Don’ts
DO …
DO eat fish. (But beware of fish high in mercury like tuna and swordfish.)
DO eat lots of fibre, fresh whole foods, and homemade meals.
DO eat lots of healthy fats including olive oil, ghee, coconut oil, and avocados.
DO NOT …
Do NOT eat packaged or processed foods if possible. They are often full of additives, preservatives, and sugar.
Do NOT replace gluten products with gluten-free bread, cereals and crackers. After all, a muffin is a muffin whether it is gluten free or not.
5. How do I reintroduce foods the right way?
This process is also much simpler than people make it out to be.
On day 31, choose one food you eliminated but not more than one, and eat it.
See how you feel over the next four days. If you have no reaction after four days, eat that same food again, and for a second time, notice how you feel. From there, it’s up to you whether or not to re-incorporate that food into your diet on a regular basis.
Once you have decided whether a particular food is good or bad, pick another one and follow the same steps.
6. This process works best when you are self-aware.
During the elimination diet and the reintroduction process, be aware of how you feel. Maybe you’ll see changes you weren’t anticipating. Maybe your sleep quality or your energy level is better. Maybe the redness in your skin is gone, or your belly is flatter.
No blood test can tell you what life will be like without a particular food. When you find out for yourself by doing an elimination diet, you could be saving yourself a lifetime of annoying symptoms, and in some cases, even life-threatening diseases.
If you have any questions about this article either post them in the comments section below or email using the form on my contact page.
Disclaimer
This article in not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.