Tag Archive for thyroid hormones

Ditch The Starchy Carbs and Paleo Indulgences to Get Rid of Winter Fluff

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI’ve had several questions on “safe starches” and paleo indulgences. Here’s a Post with the 411 on both, and advice at the end for making it easier to get rid of winter weight gain.

If our starch is coming from a grain, as opposed to vegetables or fruit, I don’t think it’s safe – for most people.

If the grains contain the protein “gluten”, we’re ingesting one of the most common allergens out there. If we don’t see typical symptoms, like stomach ache or stuffy nose, that’s because food allergies, or food sensitivities, often manifest in sore joints, headaches, skin problems, fatigue, and auto-immune conditions.

The gluten protein is incredibly difficult to digest; humans don’t even have enzymes for gluten. Gluten goes thru the small intestine IN-completely digested, perforates the intestine wall, and leaks into the blood stream as a large protein. When our immune system sees the big proteins in the blood, it mounts an Immune Attack, and this can manifest as joint pain or an attack on different organs or systems. Pretty serious stuff.

What about gluten-free grains, such as kamult or spelt? They still contain “gliadins”. Gliadins, once digested, become “exorphins”, which are morphine-like compounds that bind to opiate receptors in the brain. Their effect is to cause Addictive Behavior, and Appetite Stimulation. This explains binges and eating way past full.

What about “healthy whole grains”, like buckwheat, quinoa, or millet? Look at their carb counts:

1/2 c oatmeal 29g carb

1/4 c wild rice 34g carb

2 oz wheat pilaf w orzo 40g carb

1/4c barley 32g carb

1/4c quinoa 30g carb

2oz whole wheat pasta 44g

Note that these serving are really, really, small; I mean, who eats a quarter cup?  Have you ever measured 2 oz of pasta?  I have.  It’s miniscule.

4 grams of carbs = 1 tsp of sugar.  2 ounces of pasta is 10 teaspoons of sugar.  Think about that.

Excess blood sugar is ALWAYS repackaged as triglycerides, always.  I know I’m beating a dead horse here, but high blood sugar is tied to every disease out there through the inflammation and glycatation it causes.  It’s also a big cause of Weight Gain.

Next, Paleo Indulgences.  I’m talking treats made with almond or coconut flour, plantains, honey, molasses, Swerve, chocolate, cream, nut butters, etc.  I’m going to call them P.I. for short, and if you need recipes, search Pintrest.

P.I.s are wonderful for kids. They’re practically a necessity when transitioning from a SAD ( standard american diet) to RWF (real whole food).  I LOVE a good paleo cookie or homemade ice cream. But unfortunately, and this is where I am right now, for weight loss, or just leaning out the Junk In The Trunk after a long winter, they need to either go, or be strictly limited.  Sad.

But summer clothes just don’t have the “hide the poochy stomach” ability that winter clothes do!

What to do? Set up your house/office so that temptations don’t trigger you.  Don’t buy anything that tempts you, because tempting food calls to us, loudly.  No lying that we’re buying something “for the kids”.  If it’s a temptation, it’s banned.  Treats need to be “treats”, and the definition of treat is: “an event or item that is out of the ordinary and gives great pleasure.”  Once or twice a week is an out of ordinary event.  EVERY DAY IS NOT OUT OF THE ORDINARY.

Girlfriends, thanks to estrogen, a propensity for slow thyroid, very little testosterone, and high cortisol, we just don’t have tons of leeway for jumping off the path of a RWF, fairly low carb diet, if we want to be a healthy weight and feel great.  It’s the price of being a woman.

It doesn’t mean we have to starve or exercise a ton – as a matter of fact, that plan slows down thyroid hormones and raises cortisol – exactly what we don’t want.  But we do need to pay attention to the details:  TONS of vegetables, plenty of good meats and eggs, healthy fats, some fruit, some nuts and seeds, and some real dairy if we tolerate it.

Hours need to go by between meals so that Sugar Burning stops and Fat Burning happens.  Avoidance of foods that cause headaches, stomachaches, and skin problems is important; those symptoms are signs of inflammation, which raises cortisol, which inhibits fat burning.

So there’s my Sunday take on grainy carbs and paleo treats.  Have a wonderful Mother’s Day, and eat smart!

 

Estrogen, Cortisol, and Thyroid; GIRLS SCOUT COOKIES, Recipes

blood spotOkay, Full Disclosure:  I’m Going Through Menopause. Ugh. This picture to the left?  That’s a “Blood Spot” test I did this morning. More on that in another post, I promise.  I’m actually just letting you know because today I’m tying Hormones to Health, Mood, and Food. What We Eat Affects Our Body and Mind.  I’m doing this after being inspired by a client email last night, asking if eating a few Girl Scout cookies would undue a “good” day. Let me tie my menopause, YOUR body, and her girl scout cookies together, because they are.  Our body, our energy, our emotions, our health,.. they’re one big connection.

Here’s some interesting facts:

*The Ingredient list for Samoas:(Don’t be hatin on the Messenger!)

Sugar, vegetable oil (soybean and palm oil, partially hydrogenated palm kernel and/or cottonseed oil), enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin,reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate [vitamin B1],riboflavin [vitamin B2], folic acid), corn syrup, coconut,sweetened condensed milk (condensed milk, sugar),contains two percent or less of sorbitol, glycerin, cocoa,invert sugar, cocoa processed with alkali, cornstarch,salt, caramelized sugar, soy lecithin, dextrose, natural and artificial flavor, carrageenan, leavening (baking soda, monocalcium phosphate).

Pure Poison.

* Since our body could CARE A LESS about calories, and is DOMINATED by the hormones Insulin and Cortisol, does “food” like this undo a good day?  YES!,  “food” like this is ALWAYS harmful for your body. Always.  After eating this, your blood sugar and insulin spike, your Immune System is suppressed for 24 hours, you’ve allowed in Cancer Causing Sugar and Flour (glucose – cancer’s favorite food), Chemicals (artificial colors, flavors), soy, hydrogenated oils and Omega 6/Inflammatory vegetable oils. If ONLY the worst side effect was a little weight gain.

* What if you’re in the Majority of Women, and struggle with Bloat and Headaches; bile beanswhat affect will this “food” have on those issues?  Bloat, which happens in the Small Intestines, is from Bacteria or Yeast that DOESN’T BELONG THERE.  BLOAT IS NOT NORMAL. EVER.  Eat “food” like these Girl Scout Cookies, and you’ve just fed that bacteria and yeast it’s most favorite, fortifying meal.  It’s like when Popeye eats the can of spinach and then he can beat up Bruno.  That’s what’s going on in your “dysbiotic gut” (overgrowth of the bad stuff, not enough good):  you’ve just empowered it and prolonged your condition.

* Headaches are highly linked to Sugar/Flour/Insulin/Cortisol/Thyroid/Estrogen.  There’s a cascade effect going on that’s too long to write about, but eat this “food”, and if you’re prone to headaches, you’ll get one.

* Eating “food” like this suppresses/destroys our beneficial gut bacteria.  Here’s one surprising side effect from that: after our body produces estrogen,(this is for MEN and WOMEN) and uses it, it’s sent back to the liver to be broken down.  After leaving the liver, the “conjugated” estrogen is sent to the small intestine to be further broken down, or actually consumed by, the bacteria “lactobacillus acidophilis”.  If you’ve destroyed your gut bacteria with: SUGAR (the kind in Girl Scout Cookies), Processed Refined Foods (like a Girl Scout Cookie), Antibiotics, Cortisol/Stress, chemicals in water (fluoride, chlorine, etc), birth control pills, anti-inflammatories, acid suppressors, or Splenda,  you’ve likely impaired your bodies ability to break down and get rid of “old estrogen”;  back into the system the estrogen goes instead of being pooped or peed out of you.  Not Good.  (Bryan – there’s your favorite word again)

*The Sugar, Flour, and Chemicals in this product will ABSOLUTELY STIMULATE AND NURTURE the Addiction Centers in your brain.  And your child’s brain.

*Eat enough of these to raise your blood sugar way above normal, and your pancreas will respond with a big dose of Insulin to push it back down.  Unfortunately though, when blood sugar crashes, Cortisol is called in to correct it. Boom!  Stress.   Like I said above, Cortisol and Insulin are our 2 Dominant hormones, whether we’re male or female.  Too much Cortisol and too much Insulin mean that Sex Hormones and Thyroid Hormones will have to take a back seat.  Reproduction and Metabolism are not priorities.  Balancing blood sugar ( because SUGAR IS TOXIC), and Fight/Flight (staying alive) are priorities.

What’s all this have to do with my peri-menopause?  So far, my only symptom has been losing my period.  I’m sleeping well, no hot flashes, no up and down moods.  If pretend foods like Girl Scout Cookies were a normal part of my diet, I’d be a nut case.  ( to my husband and children, ……..)  Being a hormonal nut case IS NOT NORMAL.  It’s the food, it’s the food, it’s the food.  It ALWAYS matters, always.

When you look at that cookie or cake or chip or whatever it is that’s calling you, STOP.  Ask yourself, “how will I feel about this in an hour”;  practice thinking about the long term consequences from our actions.  Isn’t that what we tell our kids?  It’s great advice for us too!

Parchment-SalmonHere’s a recipe we made last night, oh my gosh it was delicious! Samoras-2-0051 I used cod instead of salmon because it’s cheaper and I can always find wild caught.  The parsley and lemon together were so good!  Did you know that parsley helps the body detox heavy metals, and that’s it’s LOADED with Vitamin’s K, C, A, and Bs, and a whole bunch of minerals.  And here’s a Paleo Samoa cookie Meg made – it was excellent!  You can have a dessert that doesn’t shoot up your blood sugar and instigate destruction of your brain and body, or your kids brain and body.  Real Whole Food is the answer.