Newsletter – Nov 2013

• Food is an integral and ongoing way to nurture the Mother Nature relationship. We eat 2-3 times a day.
• Eating whole foods for a healthy body, and a calm mind, will also nurture the Earth. We are intricately connected with the Mother.
• Eating more vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds are better for you, and the Earth. Allow the mothering of Mother and the nurturing of Nature to be your daily offering of thanks.
• Use your cotton mothering Mother bags as ongoing reminders of this evolving relationship. Less plastic is better for you and the Earth.

Namaste
Sydney

About 8 months ago, and almost 40 pounds ago, my mother sent me the book, The Virgin Diet, which claims that one could lose seven pounds in seven days simply by foregoing seven foods (gluten, corn, soy, peanuts, refined sugar, eggs, and dairy). Although it was originally sent with some humor about the chapter on “poop”, I was impressed by the author’s cavalier use of the word “poop” in what was supposed to be a serious context. I was struck by some of the other claims made with respect to weight gain, digestive issues and food intolerances. As someone who always had irregular digestion and metabolism, and who, for the past several months, could not seem to lose any weight despite a fairly balanced diet and regular exercise, I was intrigued by claims that the answer to my problems were entirely food related and not some sort of genetic predisposition. The author reasons that because the above mentioned seven foods produce serious allergic reactions in some people, then all people should avoid them.With a healthy level of skepticism to these claims I figured that seven days wasn’t too challenging to give it a try.

So, I set out on this food experiment! After five days of mostly strict adherence, there was no change in my weight, at least nothing that I could notice (I didn’t own a scale at the time).  While I was tempted to write off the book as bogus, I pushed myself through another week of the diet, until I could get to accurate results from a bathroom scale! Lo and behold, I had lost five pounds! That was all that I needed to see to stick with the diet for a little while longer. My skepticism was diminishing!

Since my initial commitment to eliminate those seven foods, my diet and lifestyle have seen many alterations. I investigated Celiac Disease and soon sumised that although I do not have the gluten allergy, I do have digestive challenges with gluten. This intolerance lead to weight gain and digestive distress/irregularity, so gluten became public enemy number 1!

Avoiding wheat/gluten is difficult and I came to see that gluten could somehow be added to almost any food. Adding soy, corn and dairy into the avoidance list made it truly maddening. These ingredients are everywhere in prepared foods. Despite some frustrating days and wasted food purchases, I was able to make the diet work. After losing 20 pounds in a month with essentially no exercise, I checked with a doctor to make sure that nothing was seriously wrong.  The doctor told me I was perfectly healthy, I didn’t have a problem with gluten, and that there was no reason to be alarmed by such sudden weight loss.  I left shaking my head, knowing that my pre-diet lifestyle was not completely to blame for my weight.  A subsequent trip to an allergist because of sudden semi-allergic reactions to nuts also left me with more questions than answers as the doctor said that I was not allergic to any foods.  To make matters worse, perusing Celiac and gluten-free message boards and websites offered me with minimal direction and more often than not left me frustrated as there inevitably seemed to be a struggle between those who felt it was OK to trust your own gut and those who felt strict adherence to some established, yet somewhat arbitrary, diet/lifestyle was the only answer.  Fed up with doctors and message boards, I decided to trust my gut, which I was convinced was leaky (Google “Leaky Gut Syndrome.”)

Because of the links between GMOs and stomach issues, I made it a point to continue avoiding soy and corn, two heavily genetically modified foods.  By the end of July I was down 25 pounds total and was still avoiding gluten, soy, dairy, corn and tree nuts (except for almond butter, which I found too hard to go without in my morning oatmeal).  However, as my weight loss began to plateau, I noticed that my digestion was also regressing slightly.  Remembering some of the posts on the message boards that I had read months ago, I narrowed my problem down to almonds and beans, both of which I had been eating a lot of (both foods are high in something called lectins, which do not bode well for those with Leaky Gut Syndrome and other autoimmune disorders).  Since cutting out those two foods I have lost an additional 15 pounds and I’m honestly not sure that I’m done slimming down.

The moral of my story is that if you have weight and/or digestive issues that you cannot pinpoint a cause for, then it’s worth cutting out some types of food to see if you have any intolerances, sensitivities or gut issues.  All it takes is eliminating a food for 10-14 days to see if it has a negative effect on you.  If you’re truly impatient, then you can try eliminating all seven (or nine if you count tree nuts and beans/legumes) at once, though this will make it difficult to pinpoint which food or foods is the root of your problem.  While it seems daunting and even down near impossible at first, it’s really not that difficult once you get into it, and I can verify that the results are well worth it.  Aside from my weight loss, I have experienced great improvements in my digestion, I sleep better, and my skin and joints seem healthier.  Though I’m not sure if I’ll ever get a true answer to what exactly is “wrong” with me, I take comfort in knowing that I’m much better off than I was eight months ago.  I urge you to do some research online to see if you can relate to any of the information that is out there, but I caution you to not get lost down the rabbit hole of information that exists online. My experiences have shown me that the only true source of comfort and knowledge is my own body.

The Lawyer/ Healthy Guy Graduate!