Hello Everyone! In my last post, I mentioned how I have been doing quite a bit of research and that learning about WHY things work really help me in making good choices.

That post is still a strictly judgement free zone. However, please "judge" my whys- question them and provide alternative viewpoints. I want to learn more. I want to make the healthiest and most educated decisions possible. Although, remember- please be courtesy and respectful. There is always a person sitting on the other end of a post.

Ultimately, people make decisions based on what works for them- through trial and error- and if it's working and they are not harming themselves- I am all for exploring those options.

What I can tell you is that I am feeling absolutely AMAZING after my lifestyle changes. My crohn's disease is not showing any symptoms. My sugar cravings are gone- in fact, most all cravings are gone. I lost 11 pounds of fat and 11 inches in just over two weeks. I hope to continue to share successes with you!


So onward to my "whys":


1. I don’t believe in everything in moderation.
“In a study spearheaded by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) in collaboration with Commonweal, researchers at two major laboratories found an average of 200 industrial chemicals and pollutants in umbilical cord blood. Of the chemicals detected in umbilical cord blood, we know that 180 cause cancer in humans or animals, 217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 208 cause birth defects or abnormal development in animal tests. The dangers of pre- or post-natal exposure to this complex mixture of carcinogens, developmental toxins and neurotoxins have never been studied.”

As you can imagine, many of these toxins come from the food we consume. This absolutely TERRIFIES me. I don’t want “carcinogens, developmental toxins and neurotoxins” in moderation.


2. I don’t want my stomach to explode.


GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) scare me. Why do we want to genetically modify our foods? What was wrong with the food that the earth/god/universe provides? Why are we playing God/Mother Earth? I am going to try to grow my own corn this summer. Burpees has a variety that can grow in a pot!


3. I can’t listen to my body right now.
“The notion that food can be addictive has been debated for some time and largely rejected by both nutrition and addiction researchers. But last spring, the secretary of health, Kathleen Sebelius, said that for some, obesity is “an addiction like smoking.” One month earlier, Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, gave a lecture at Rockefeller University, making the case that food and drug addictions have much in common, particularly in the way that both disrupt the parts of the brain involved in pleasure and self-control.”
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/0...ice-cream-fix/


I’m sad to admit that I think from all of the years of abusing my body with chemicals and sugar, I am very imbalanced. I can’t trust my cravings- as they lead me astray. I have been trying to research brain chemistry and obesity. So instead of giving into cravings, I try to figure out what my body is really trying to say. Instead of saying, “I really want that chocolate.” It might be said, “I’m really deficient in magnesium. Can you help?”


4. For the most part, sugar scares me.
“Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology, explores the damage caused by sugary foods. He argues that fructose (too much) and fiber (not enough) appear to be cornerstones of the obesity epidemic through their effects on insulin.”
http://uctv.tv/search-details.aspx?showID=16717


This is an absolutely fascinating lecture. Dr. Lustig really breaks down the biochemistry of how we metabolize fructose, so much so that my eyes glazed over a bit, but basically he says that the only place that fructose can go in the body is the liver, unlike glucose which is used in practically every part of the body. Once fructose reaches the liver- it can’t process it all, so 30% of it gets turned into fat. Harmful chemicals are generated in the process. These chemicals can cause Gout and Hypertension, increase blood-pressure and suppress the signal to the brain that you should stop eating. He goes on to speculate that fructose is a poison and that a calorie is not just a calorie- as 30% of that fructose will always turn into fat.

Want more information? The New York Times has a wonderful article, “Is Sugar Toxic?” http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/ma...pagewanted=all


5. However, not ALL sugar scares me. Protein doesn’t scare me either.
At my last weigh-in, I had lost 11 pounds of fat, 11 inches…and one pound of muscle. Eeek! Muscle loss? Well, that certainly isn’t good! How in the world did that happen?!

It turns out that Muscle fiber can be torn apart to feed amino acid requirements... AND it can be torn apart to make glucose. So what happened? I probably wasn’t eating enough protein to give my body the needed amino acids- and I certainly wasn’t eating enough food with glucose. Where would that glucose come from, you ask? The grains/fruits/and starches, which I was limiting. Backfire.


6. Actually, I lied- SOME protein does scare me.
“Most U. S. beef cattle are implanted with synthetic hormones in feedlots prior to slaughter. On January 1, 1989 the European Economic Community (EEC) placed a ban on hormone-treated U. S. meat, preventing U. S. meat products from being sold in any European nations. More than a decade ago, Roy Hertz, then director of endocrinology at the National Cancer Institute and a leading authority on hormonal cancers, warned of the carcinogenic risks of estrogenic additives which can cause imbalances and increases in natural hormone levels. Hertz warned against the uncontrolled use of these potent carcinogens. No dietary levels of hormones are safe and a dime-sized piece of meat contains-billions of millions of molecules.”
http://www.preventcancer.com/consume...mones_meat.htm

Again- WHY? Why do we NEED to add hormones to our meat and dairy sources? I have enough hormone issues on my own. I certainly don’t need to eat more hormones.

I also don’t need to eat my antibiotics. Cattle and other animals are often treated with antibiotics. Many speculate that this is because of poor living conditions and feeding animals food they aren’t meant to be eating (such as corn- and last year a cattle farmer fed his cows Halloween candy. ::sigh:: )

About a year ago, “The Obama administration warned drug makers that the government may soon ban agricultural uses of some popular antibiotics that many scientists say encourage the proliferation of dangerous infections and imperil public health”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/24/he...livestock.html


7. Why do I cut grains/starches?
They are incredibly inflammatory. In fact, my mom just recently had a PET scan, which measures inflammation in the body (in order to look for cancer)- you have to prep by eating a low inflammatory diet, which essentially is very low carb.
http://www.northshore.org/nuclear-me...can-procedure/

And boy do I have inflammation of the gastrointestinal track. I have crohn’s disease and both of my parents have ulcerative colitis, neither of them have their colons anymore. I’ve read that you pass on your gut flora to your children. I absolutely don’t want my children getting my gut flora.
When I was diagnosed with crohn’s disease, I was given many many MANY papers on drugs- and two sheets on a diet called the “Specific Carbohydrate Diet.”
“The rationale of the diet, as described in Gottschall's Breaking the Vicious Cycle, is as follows:
1. When the body receives complex carbohydrates (disaccharides or polysaccharides), these substances must be broken down before they can be absorbed.
2. In the body of a person who is not able to break these substances down efficiently, an influx of undigested material causes harmful bacteria to flourish.
3. Bacterial overgrowth is accordingly followed by a significant increase in the waste and other irritants they produce.
4. Irritation in the lining of the digestive tract results in the overproduction of mucus and injury to the digestive tract, which in turn causes malabsorption and makes it even more difficult to maintain proper digestion.”

I think many people probably suffer with digestion issues. There is a diet called, the Gut and Psychology Syndrome that goes even further as a healing diet and incorporates bone broth and fermented foods to health the gut lining.


8. I love the idea of burning fat for fuel (ketogenic diet).
“The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate diet that in medicine is used primarily to treat difficult-to-control epilepsy in children. (Interesting, right?) The diet forces the body to burn fats rather than carbohydrates. Normally, the carbohydrates contained in food are converted into glucose, which is then transported around the body and is particularly important in fueling brain function. However, if there is very little carbohydrate in the diet, the liver converts fat into fatty acids and ketone bodies.”

There has even been recent speculation that ketosis kills cancer cells: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/healthsci...y-to-Recovery/
A defect in cancer cells prevents them from making the switch to using ketone bodies as fuel and therefore, cancer cells can only survive on glucose.
So I would like to try to stay under 40 grams of carbohydrates to find “fat burning.” I’m not there yet.

Oh- and about the dangers, “Although your kidneys work harder when consuming an increased amount of protein, UCLA states that there is little evidence to support the idea that high-protein diets cause kidney damage in people with normal kidney function.”

Thoughts on these ideas? Any counter points? Please feel free to share your "whys" so that we can engage in open dialogue about health issues.

Oh- and I thought of some more:

9. I don’t keep vegetable oil in my house.
I’ve read that vegetable oils (and margarine, made from these oils) are oils extracted from seeds, beans, corn, sunflower, safflower, etc. They were practically non-existent in our diets until the early 1900s when new chemical processes allowed them to be extracted. These oils can’t be extracted naturally. They must be chemically removed, deodorized and altered. Vegetable oils are also high in omega-6, which can cause imbalances.
Explore more at this wonderful blog: http://wellnessmama.com/2193/why-you...-or-margarine/

I’ve also learned that many oils are already rancid by the time you get them in the store. http://www.jctonic.com/include/heali...ancid_oils.htm


10. I don’t cook with olive oil.
Not only does olive oil have a pretty low smoke point, but it is a monounsaturated fat, which becomes very unstable when heated. The oil the oil becomes damaged. As a result, your body misses out on the health benefits and in some cases, this process will form toxic substances that build up in our body over time. So I use olive oil cold. I use coconut oil, butter and animal fats to cook with, as poly saturated fats are much more stable.


11. I soak my grains.
Grains have high levels of phytic acid, a substance that reduces our absorption of minerals such as calcium, iron, zinc, and magnesium. Researchers have found that if you can reduce the phytic acid in your food, you can improve your iron absorption markedly. A 2003 study examined the change in iron absorption when phytic acid was removed from various grains. The study found that participants absorbed 1160% more iron when phytic acid was removed from wheat. Iron absorption was improved about twelve times.

Phytic acid is removed from grains when soaked or fermented over a period of time.


12. Exercise- It can make your brain grow!
http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2012...-exercise?lite

In a study of 876 adults (ages ranged from 69-95), those who burned the most calories had 5% more gray matter in their brains.

Well I'm not judging you, regardless, but your plan and mine are extremely similar and I've done very, very well this way. Well nourished AND resistant to body fat gain, thanks to ketosis and exercise (yay for Dr. Atkins!).

I haven't transitioned back in grains and beans and don't plan to, due to additional allergies and sensitivities I have. I also haven't had a desire for starchier veggies and am quite content with my 25-30 net carbs per day. I tend to go whole foods/Weston A Price/Paleo on the things I do eat, as much as possible. But fortunately for me that works like a charm with DANDR.

I hope that, like me, this plan restores your health and is comfortable for life. Good luck!

No judgement from me, you touched on many things that concern me also.

Just keep in mind when you're reading, that every "scientific" study is sponsored by SOMEONE and SOME company, and that is rarely divulged off the bat. So you can find completely conflicting information available that says HFCS is the best thing ever or that it's the worst thing ever, depending on who is paying for the study and what they release. Basically, for any thing you can find in research, you can find something that completely negates the other findings... so ... take it for what it's worth it seems. Just do what you feel comfortable doing, for reasons that make sense to YOU and keep on keeping on.

Very well thought-out and interesting observations! Thank you for posting this. It definitely made me think. Here are my reactions to a couple of your points.

1. I don't believe in everything in moderation.

I agree. More and more studies are showing possible linkages between the pesticides and chemicals in our food (and lives in general) with an uptick in diseases. This includes diabetes. It's not that more people are born with the genes that give them a possibility of diabetes, but rather that more people who have those genes are exposed to toxins that may trigger it.

While I don't go to the extent of eating only organic food, I do try to eat more whole food and less processed food. And we're growing more of our own veggies and buying from the farmer's market more (not that that's a guarantee...).

2. I don't want my stomach to explode.

The reason for GM crops and hormone-laced animals is that we have more mouths to feed and the same amount of land to feed them on. GM crops that reduce pesticide use mean less toxins in the final product (see #1), and less pesticide runoff in the water around the farms.

This one I'm torn on. I don't really LIKE the idea of eating GM food, and I'm a little nervous about possible side effects... but I do understand the reasoning behind it. I've been reading "Collapse", which is a study of cultures that have died out over time (Easter Island, Norse Greenlanders, Mayans, Anasazi Indians, etc.) and in almost every case there are environmental factors -- often having to do with agriculture and how sustainable it is (or rather, isn't). The farmers were doing what farmers have done for centuries, but their particular areas were fragile in some way or another, and a sustained drought or too much rain, or too cold of winters for a decade tipped the balance against them.

Food items like GM crops allow for farming in areas that wouldn't be able to grow food before, or in already-compromised areas. In the Dust Bowl era of America, the first hybrid crops were being sold, but were very expensive. The salesmen finally began giving out samples because the farmers wouldn't buy the seed. Those crops were the ONLY crops that grew in the already-compromised drought-stricken farms. It is in part because of those crops that the farms of that era began to come back. Now we use other types of farming, as well as drought-tolerant seed, to avoid the repeat of that. Granted, hybrids are not the same as GM, but they're similar in that they are not "naturally-occuring" seeds.

I guess for me, I don't go out of my way to avoid GM food, but I tend to avoid grains in general and the veggies arent't that prevalent in GM as yet. But it's definitely something I watch.

3. I can't listen to my body right now.

I completely agree. My body/mind/food/satiety circuits are SO out of whack from years of bad habits that I do not trust myself to instinctively eat correctly.

4. For the most part, sugar scares me.

I also completely agree. I have been Insulin Resistant since High School, and have PCOS, and now am Pre-Diabetic. I KNOW that excess sugars and starches are poison to me (in fact, when I'm tempted I envision sugar molecules as little razors that rush through my body slicing into my knees and ankles (where I have the most pain and mobility issues), and that helps me resist the temptation).

7. Why do I cut grains/starches?

I agree with this one, too. See #4, above. I still eat the occasional potato or sweet potato, and sometimes a slice of bread or pizza, or a few spoonsful of rice. But I really strive to keep it at (and usually under) 15-30 grams of carb a meal, balanced with protein. When I eat more than that, I swell up, start wobbing more as I walk, have more pain, etc. It's just not worth it!

9. I don’t keep vegetable oil in my house.
10. I don’t cook with olive oil.

I have vegetable oil, but seldom use it. We keep it for certain recipes for my daughter who is learning to cook. Melted butter just doesn't do the same for some things, and coconut oil has a distinctive taste.

I do keep olive oil and macadamia nut oil, for salads. I roast garlic and put it in a jar of olive oil in the fridge, and use that garlic for lightly sauteeing things. But nothing at high heat.

By and large, I use butter, lard, bacon grease, ghee, or coconut oil in my cooking and baking. I don't buy margarine at all anymore.

Alright, so first, it if works for you, fits in your brain and keeps getting you results, DO IT!! And if it is what I would do or not, does not matter to me at all. I am here to cheer you on!

Wow! Good Morning, ladies! As I was posting this last night- I thought, "GoooOOodness Sakes! This is a novel! I doubt anyone will read this, but for those that do- it would be an interesting read."

I'm honored that you all took the time to read this post and add your thoughts.

Arctic- One of my concerns when cutting out grains was that they are one of the richest sources of magnesium. Are you supplementing or focusing on other foods for this nutrient? (I've read that it helps with morning sickness and that you can only really build up stores before pregnancy.)

How is your pregnancy going, by the way?

nationalparker- Science is always interesting like that. I've tried to do some research to see where some of UCSF's funding is coming from. You can always seem to find conflicting science everywhere you turn. Ultimately, I think people need to try things for themselves and decide how it makes them feel and also have medical physicals to see what it is doing to their body. (As an example- I was so surprised to be able to witness in my own body that I had lost a pound of muscle).

synger, I too am worried about GMOs, but your points are very interesting. However, part of me wonders if GM food might create more conditions like the dust bowl. I don't entirely know what their effects our on the ground they live in.

I am not going to give you a point by point retort, except to say that I am a vegetarian for reasons both moral and environmental, and a vegetarian diet requires grains. I don't proselytize and try to scare people who are into low-carb diets about the consequences of consuming too much animal protein (as much for the world in which we live as for anything else), and I am not completely opposed to animal proteins, particularly locally sourced animal proteins, and I myself eat cheese and eggs and will try meat dishes on occasion. Call me a flexitarian.

However, I DO think that you are being alarmist about the inflammatory impact of grains (matters to so few people that it is almost negligible), and the impact of very occasional use of sugar. When I say everything in moderation, I still mean that I eat primarily a whole foods diet. Occasionally, I have a cookie. I have not had a whole serving of French Fries in 8 or 9 months, but if I wanted one I would eat it. I chose not to. I'm not forbidden it. This gives me flexibility to feel okay about what I eat and I like it.

Generally, I think in 15 years the craze for low-carb will be replaced by a craze for something else - just as the whole LOW FAT phenomena has been replaced by low carb. To the extent that these buzzwords work on the population in general (rather than you specifically), they tend to create a 'halo of health' around processed foods that encourages overeating. Whether Snackwells in the 1990s or beef jerky and bacon in the 00s or protein shakes in the 10s.

This, I think, is very wise. People need to try things for themselves and find a balance that works for them. I have, and clearly you have too. Congrats on your weight loss! However, I don't know who told you that you lost a pound of muscle. Any sort of 'measurement' like that sounds more like pseudoscience to me.

Finally:

The DUST BOWL occurred because we overexpanded our farmland and plowed up prairie grass that was adapted to the high-wind, dry-season conditions of the great plains, especially in the high plains. Because scientists told them that if they planted crops it would attract rain! And that plowing was good for the soil. IT had nothing to do with the crops that were specifically planted in the ground, but instead with the FACT of all that sod-breaking in response to the ever-increasing prices of wheat and ongoing real-estate speculation in farmland in the 1920s.

That, combined with a drought. Will GMOs cause another dust bowl or destroy our fertile soil? No.

But climate change might.

Ideal Protein...check it out..

I now realize that grains/sugars wreak havoc on my body. When I eat more grains and sugars:

A. my gut expands by several inches. (inflammation?)
B. I need to go poo much more often. (less processing of food? inflammation?)
C. I get sinus headaches and feel sinus pressure and I might snore (inflammation)
D. I feel very lethargic - like a complete slug.
E. My urine smells different and is cloudy.
F. It is easier for me to reach orgasm (inflammation?)

The only "positive" on that list is the orgasm one and I have learned that one by process of elimination and it's beginning to make sense. I am more likely to reach orgasm around ovulation and a day before my period - also other times things are a bit more 'swollen/fuller' down there. Sugars/grains do similar things it seems. So... basically for the last 2 years, whenever I'm on a low sugar/no grain diet I feel great, but.... I don't reach orgasm - like ever.

Pretty terrible trade off, huh? I look better and feel better and my husband is more attracted to me, but it's not as fulfilling. I first thought it was the blood pressure medicine, but I went off that in 3 months. Then I though it was the thyroid medicine and I switched from generic to name brand and it got better - HOWEVER that was also when I went on vacation and had sugars/grains. As soon as we came back and I buckled down - same anorgasmia. Then this fall it was better. Now this January it's worse again. I can't "prove" that it's the sugars/grains, but the pattern holds true 100% for me.

This.

I believe that we have different metabolic types and some people thrive on one type of diet, and others on a different type. Unfortunately, this is just my own theory for now (at least as far as I know - maybe there is research out there but I have no idea). So you can't go to your doctor and get a test to know which type you are and what kind of diet works best for you. So we all learn through trial and error what makes us feel good, helps us lose weight and that we can stick to.

Congrats on finding yours!

lunarsongbird, I really appreciate you taking the time to post all of this info....I completely agree with everything but I'm not willing to give up the whole grains. I also don't eat great due to a binge eating disorder. What I wanted to add was that fermented foods (Kombucha is a fermented tea & raw sauerkraut) are very good for restoring balance to the gut. Something that helps with inflammation is fresh raw ginger. I have just started making a green smoothie using a lot of fresh ginger in hopes that it will heal my chronic daily migraines (I've tried just about everything else). Anyway, you're one smart lady who has really done her research. Yes, you can find opposing studies for just about everything but if you take into account who is funding the studies and what makes sense, you'll come to the choices that are best for you and in my opinion, you have done so.

Don't worry about magnesium. Not only is it incredibly easy to supplement, but foods like almonds, Brazil nuts, dried herbs, and pumpkin have plenty, too. Most people who eat grain diets are still magnesium deficient - our modern food supply is decent (not great) but the choices people make within it are NOT health promoting, on the whole. Some targeted supplementation and an animal and plant heavy diet is putting you strides ahead of the general publicin termsof nutrition, even on micronutrients like magnesium