2 “Health Foods” To Watch Out For That Can Make You Fat, Diabetic, and Inflamed
Oh my gosh – nutrition and diet info is everywhere!
And each expert and association tries to lead you in their direction because they know best and their advice is going to help you. Right?
Well, maybe…
Everyone has heard (and maybe lived through) the intense focus on how much you eat. This has gotten way too much attention because while this does affect your weight and energy level, it’s certainly not the “holy grail” of health.
Let’s focus a bit more on the often overlooked (and proven) benefits of what you eat and drink and how you eat and drink it.
What you eat and drink
The “calories in, calories out” philosophy (i.e. how much you eat) is being drowned out with research on other factors that may be just as important. Don’t get me wrong limiting calories, carbs or fat can certainly help you lose weight but that’s simply not the only factor for long-term weight loss and maximum energy for everyone.
When the intense focus on how much we ate didn’t work in the long-run it wasn’t really a surprise. We kinda knew that already, didn’t we?
You can certainly still continue to count your calories, carbs, and fat but don’t forget to also pay attention to what you eat.
Ideally, you need a varied diet full of minimally-processed foods (i.e. fewer “packaged” “ready-to-eat” foods). This simple concept is paramount for weight loss, energy, and overall health and wellness.
Every day this is what you should aim for:
- A colourful array of fruits and veggies at almost every meal and snack. You need the fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.
- Enough protein. Making sure you get all of those essential amino acids (bonus: eating protein can increase your metabolism).
- Healthy fats and oils (never “hydrogenated” ones). There is a reason some fatty acids are called “essential” – you need them as building blocks for your hormones and brain as well as to be able to absorb essential fat-soluble vitamins from your uber-healthy salads. Use extra virgin olive oil and coconut oil, eat your organic egg yolks, and get grass-fed meats when possible. You don’t need to overdo it here. Just make sure you’re getting some high-quality fats.
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How you eat and drink
Also pay attention to how you eat and drink.
Studies are definitely showing that this has more of an impact than we previously thought.
Are you rushed, not properly chewing your food, and possibly suffering from gastrointestinal issues? Do you drink your food?
When it comes to how you eat let’s first look at “mindful eating”.
Mindful eating means to take smaller bites, eat slowly, chew thoroughly, and savour every bite. Notice and appreciate the smell, taste and texture. Breathe.
This gives your digestive system the hint to prepare for digestion and to secrete necessary enzymes.
This can also help with weight loss because eating slower often means eating less. Did you know that it takes about 20 minutes for your brain to know that your stomach is full?
Thought so!
We also know that more thoroughly chewed food is easier to digest and it makes it easier to absorb all of those essential nutrients.
And don’t forget about drinking your food.
Yes, smoothies can be healthy and a fabulously easy and tasty way to get in some fruits and veggies (hello leafy greens!) but drinking too much food can contribute to a weight problem and feelings of sluggishness.
Don’t get me wrong a green smoothie can make an amazingly nutrient-dense meal and is way better than stopping for convenient junk food – just consider a large smoothie to be a full meal not a snack. And don’t gulp it down too fast.
If your smoothies don’t fill you up like a full meal does try adding in a spoon of fiber like ground flax or chia seeds.
Watch Those Grains and Fruits
Eating less fruits and no grains can be a fast track to reversing diabetes, losing weight, and pushing back on auto-immune diseases. Can everything be consumed in moderation? Well that depends on where you are in your health journey.
One of the biggest reasons your blood sugar is still high, or you’re not losing the weight you want, or your chronic aches and pains aren’t subsiding, even though you have been on this or that diet for some time, is that you are consuming some type of sugar, even “natural sugar”.
The two primary culprits are usually grains and fruits.
Many people do not recognize that eating even moderate amounts of fruits can absolutely raise your blood sugar to elevated levels even though fruit is an all-natural “health food”.
Here is an example: a client came in last week and notified me that his blood sugar level had hardly decreased, and he had no idea why. The patient was surprised and very concerned and felt he had followed our program to the “T”. Before diving any deeper into something we may have missed in his laboratory testing I began to question him and found out that he was eating large amounts of fruit all throughout the day -every single day.
The client told me he normally ate two bananas, one to two oranges, a couple cups of grapes, a Fuji apple and anything else that might be in season. And he was mostly eating them by themselves unaccompanied by a protein source. We pulled out a copy of the fructose chart and reviewed how much fructose he was consuming. (You do the math on how much he was eating.)
I began to explain that fruits are a wonderful alternative to ‘junk food’ snacking and contain a myriad of health benefits, tons of wonderful vitamins and minerals BUT, still contain sugar that can absolutely raise your blood sugar. I asked him to cut his consumption of fruits to an equivalent of 10g of fructose daily and he will see a dramatic improvement in his blood sugar levels and lose weight.
Another way to raise your blood sugar, stall fat burning, and increase inflammation is the consumption of grains -even “whole” grains. Grains come in many forms but regardless of its form, all will raise your blood sugar. Two slices of bread is the equivalent of two tablespoons of white sugar. Hard to believe? Try this little experiment. Rip off a small slice of your favorite bread, stick it in your mouth and suck on it for a couple minutes and in a short amount of time it will start to taste very sweet.
The sugar content in grains is not the only thing in your way of wonderful labs and a healthy future. Many folks absolutely must be wary of grains’ effects upon their immune system if they have an auto-immune condition as well, even a bite can create a flare-up. So be careful on your consumption of fruits and grains, both can be nutritious but be wary if you have diabetes, want to lose weight or have an auto-immune condition.
Summary:
Consider not only how much you eat but also what and how you eat it.
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Recipe (Smoothie meal): Chia Peach Green Smoothie
Serves 1
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
handful spinach
1 tablespoon chia seeds
½ banana
½ cup frozen peaches
1 scoop Designs For Health MyoStim
Add ingredients to blender in order listed (you want your greens on the bottom by the blade so they blend better and have the chia on the bottom to absorb some liquid before you blend).
Wait a couple of minutes for the chia seeds to start soaking up the almond milk.
Blend, Serve and Enjoy!
Tip: Smoothies are the ultimate recipe for substitutions. Try swapping different greens, fruit or seeds to match your preference.
Bonus: Chia seeds not only have fiber and essential omega-3 fatty acids but they contain all of the essential amino acids from protein.
References:
http://summertomato.com/wisdom-wednesday-salad-dressing-is-your-friend
https://authoritynutrition.com/20-reasons-you-are-not-losing-weight/
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/nut-and-seed-products/3061/2
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