Quote:
Originally Posted by Ogdog13
I'm right there beside you on a soap box too Wyo Sky!! Hip Hip.
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Love the soapbox Wyo! You said it better than I could have. I'm an RN and have been interested in nutrition for a long time. I became a vegetarian in the 1980's and gained most of my weight then because I was eating off- the-shelf products full of chemicals (plus desserts
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After all my reading, thinking and observation here is the bottom line:
When we eat all the cr%p that you mentioned in your post our bodies react by becoming "inflamed." Another way to think about inflammation is "irritated."
The inflammatory process is our bodies effort to get rid of any foreign substances that go into them.
On a big scale: Think of people that receive organ transplants. They have received a foreign substance/object into their bodies and will have to be on immune suppressive drugs for the rest of their lives. These drugs suppress the inflammatory process which is designed to "get rid of" the "offending" substance.
On a smaller scale: think of a splinter in your finger. It becomes red & swollen (the inflammatory process) in order to "push out" and get rid of the foreign object.
Any disease that ends with the letters "itis" is in reference to the inflammatory nature of the disease.
Allerigic rhinitis: swollen, runny nose trying to remove pollens.
Hepatitis: inflamed liver trying to get rid of the virus (Hep C, etc)
Arthritis: an auto-immune disease (unknown cause), inflammation of the joints.
I could go on with a long list of "itis" words from the medical terminology list.
My point is that processed sugar and man-made chemicals are some of the the worst substances to ingest because they are "seen" by our bodies as foreign and something they must "get rid of " which starts the inflammatory response. They irritate our tissues causing swelling (water retention) and a host of chemical reactions in our body's effort to "get rid of" the foreign substance! This is weird but remember that sugar is a tiny crystal with sharp edges that probably "cuts" the lining of our membranes and causes the irritation. Whilst protein and fat molecules are round and smooth and easily slide against and through our membranes. Unless our membranes are irritated and then the cholesterol tries to "patch up" these areas by sticking to them!
Our organs can become so overwhelmed that they start to fail. Diabetes is really organ failure from eating too many carbs. The pancreas (starts producing more and more insulin) can no longer keep up with the onslaught of a high carb. diet. The receiving cells throughout our body become insulin resistant in an effort to "lock out" the extra sugar. The sugar level in the blood stream rises leading to a diagnosis of diabetes. It's a vicious cycle!
The American Diabetic Association finally caught on and started recommending carb. counting for diabetics instead of just limiting calories and "exchanging" foods.
Just before discovering IP, my doctor and I had been trying to come up with a diet plan exactly like it! Adequate protein, low fat, low carb. But the best we came up with was non-fat cottage cheese for breakfast, chicken and fish the rest of the day (with non-starchy vegetables.) Doesn't sound bad now that I look at it again. LOL.
So I highly recommend IP products for their relative purity and diversity of products and amount of research that has been put into them. It teaches you how to eat a healthy diet if nothing else!
And I really believe that my "organs" are no longer inflamed and are processing food in a much more normal way. I used to feel "swollen and bloated" constantly. All my clothes felt binding. And now I feel light and slender and can digest my food more easily (I don't feel stuffed after I eat a regular meal.)
And it is expensive! But think of the health care costs you will be avoiding if you kick obesity and all its complications to the curb once and forever!
Okay, that was my soapbox. Hope this helps/inspires all of you to stick with it. It's a healthy diet! It's temporary! You will get to maintenance and the world of choices will open up again.
Anyhoo, looking forward to getting to really know all of you.
