I received some good emails this week that I want to address in the blog. In one, a 43 year old man described himself as diabetic, overweight, hypertensive ( high blood pressure ), and on a blood thinner (from thick, sticky, blood). He needs help losing weight, and doesn’t understand why I would say he has Heart Disease. He’s gained 14 pounds in the past month.
Another email was a plea for help with sugar addiction, from a woman who has chronic fatigue and depression to the point of not being able to get out of bed for 7 weeks. She’s also gained 28 pounds since September.
While these 2 people seem to present different problems, honestly, their issues are the same: they’re incredibly nutrient deficient; their cells haven’t received the vitamins, minerals, fats and proteins they need to function normally, and now their bodies are breaking down.
How can you be nutrient deficient and overweight? Easy. Just because our fat cells are stuffed, doesn’t mean we’re getting the nutrients our body needs to run correctly.
Imagine putting water in your car’s gas tank. It’s a liquid. The tank would be full, but it wouldn’t run. That’s not the right fuel for the car.
Sugar, grains, bad fats, and chemicals aren’t the right fuels for us. Food is medicine, or food is poison. That stuff is poison and it’ll kill us eventually, after making us sick for years.
Resources and suggestions will be at the end of the Post, but first:
Robert wants to know why I said he has Heart Disease when his doctors have given his heart a clean bill of health. I’m so glad he asked, because this applies to so many people.
The causes of Heart Disease are being re-identified by modern science. Inflammation ( anywhere in the body ) that’s persistent or chronic ( i.e., not just a response to a cut or injury ) is damaging, and a huge cause of Heart Disease, the number one killer in the US.
Diabetes causes inflammation from high blood sugar and high insulin, that’s because blood sugar(glucose) and insulin do a lot of damage when they zip too long and too often through the blood stream. Diabetes causes heart disease. Heart disease and stroke are the #1 cause of death among Type 2 Diabetics. Think you’re okay because you’re on diabetes meds? You’re not. In the studies determining who died of what, the diabetics who died from heart disease were on meds. Besides that, meds all come with a long and dangerous list of side effects. Medications address symptoms – not causes. Diabetes drugs cause pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer, kidney problems and more. These diseases take years to manifest, just like diabetes takes years to manifest, and while it’s “manifesting”, damage is happening.
Other clues to Robert having heart disease: high blood pressure (HBP) and thick blood. This means the arteries are either narrowed or stiff, which makes the heart pump harder, and thick blood is also harder for the heart to push around. HBP is the #1 cause for Cardiovascular Disease. Thick blood is on that list too. Medications mask the symptoms, but the REASON for the symptom isn’t solved by meds, so the problems persist all the while the side effects of the medications are building.
Natasha, you ate a healthy diet and ran 20 miles a week before you fell ill. I thought that I ate a healthy diet, but I still got blood clots, asthma, fatigue, and horrible IBS ( inflammatory bowel syndrome ). That’s because I actually just “dieted”: low calorie, low fat foods, many of them processed. Luckily for me, I’ve always eaten a lot of vegetables, and I’m going to assume you did too. Unluckily for me, thanks to keeping my fat grams to 20 or less a DAY (except for the days I’d binge), I absorbed very little of the vitamins or minerals in those vegetables. I also consumed an enormous amount of trans fats and hydrogenated oils in all my fake cheese and dairy products, protein bars, and frozen diet meals. To add insult to injury, I was a big “healthy whole grain” believer/ addict, and did my best to get the 6 to 12 daily servings our government recommended.
I was at a lecture yesterday by the Weston A Price foundation, and the speaker – Sally Fallon – called this kind of diet a Diabetes Starter Kit. I love that!!
Anyway, Natasha’s struggle with fatigue and depression are the result of her brain, her heart, and her mitochondria/ fuel burners in her cells, NOT getting the fuel they need to function optimally.
Luckily, our body wants to be normal, and our cells are constantly renewing themselves. For most of us, we can fix what’s wrong. Robert and Natasha can. I did, you can too. All we have to do is eat a diet that supplies the nutrients our body craves: healthy fats, good proteins, tons of vegetables, some nuts and seeds, and a little fruit. Whole fat dairy, preferably raw, if you tolerate it.
Try this: Buy Kerry Gold Butter, a good Olive Oil, and unrefined Coconut Oil. Start using these in Every Single Meal. For me, this is the #1 key to stopping cravings, losing weight, and changing our cells for the better. What do you have to lose???
Eggs/sausage/bacon/veggies for breakfast? Fry them in 2 to 3 tablespoons of butter or coconut oil. Or add Coconut oil to your smoothie.
Cover your lunch meats and veggies and cheeses with olive oil – and I mean cover.
Make sure every dinner is cooked or covered in these fats.
No more tiny meals either, on small plates with baby forks, THAT’S JUST DUMB. Small meals of insufficient calories slow down your thyroid, something NOT conducive to losing weight. Use a grown up plate and eat a serving size that makes your brain relax and not go into starvation mode.
Make your own salad dressings, again, using those good fats. Go through your pantry and THROW OUT all your crackers, cereal, breads, cookies, and junk food. Anything “snackie”; this might include NUTS.
Here’s my opinion on nuts (which I literally get asked at least once a week): nuts have a TON of nutrients. Unfortunately, for so many, they’re a trigger food, and most people, and ALL ADDICTS, can’t stop at a handful. Trigger foods in your house will ALWAYS rule you, ALWAYS. This is a fact, so get rid of your trigger foods today.
Make a shopping list, then shop, chop, prep, and do power cooking ( cook in big batches ) if you need too. Take your weekly schedule into consideration when you make your list and then make a food plan of when and where and what you’re going to eat in the coming week. Got a bunch of kid’s activities in the evening? Put food in a crock pot that morning. Need to pack lunches but know your morning is going to be rushed? Do it the night before. Bake 10 potatoes at one time and refrigerate them. Make a batch of broth ( another great source of fats and nutrients ) and use that like water in your food all week. Make and refrigerate chili’s or stews or soups, their flavors intensify after a few days.
The more attention you give to making Real Whole Food work in your daily life, the easier it gets, and the healthier – and leaner – you get. You can do this. I met a woman yesterday who, at age 55, lost 70 pounds by switching to Real Whole Foods, and she’s kept if off for 8 years. After years of dieting, she now eats a ton of fat and is thin.
You can be too, I promise. Please investigate the resources below; fill your mind with the why’s and how-to’s of feeding your body the nutrients it needs to remake and repair itself every single day.
http://www.rocksolidnutritionandwellness.com/want-to-lose-weight-reduce-inflammation-gain-energy-and-look-younger/
http://www.heartmdinstitute.com/health-topics/heart-disease/424-heart-disease-risks-is-your-doctor-covering-your-bases
http://www.rocksolidnutritionandwellness.com/fat-makes-us-lean-fat-makes-us-smart-fat-gives-us-energy-step-out-of-1980-and-into-2015/
http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/?s=heart+disease
http://www.drugwatch.com/2014/05/12/increasing-side-effects-diabetes-drugs/
http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/