New Year, New You, Start by Ditching These Everyday Things

I am not sure if there will be a March newsletter/blog as I write this one right now.  I am having surgery on my right hand (I am right-handed) in February. We will see how that goes as far as typing and using a mouse!

 

Some of you who follow my social media may have noticed that I did a theme for posts in January, “New year, new you? Ditch the…” I thought I would cover some of that in more detail in my blog this month for you.

 

Start by ditching chemicals:
Food dyes, artificial sweeteners, preservatives, MSG*, artificial flavorings, thickening agents, the list of manmade chemicals being added to our food today is staggering. These fake ingredients can cause direct damage to our endocrine, digestive, cardiovascular, immune, and neurological systems and offer no nutritional benefit—so they have no place in our homes or on our plates. You can refer to a food additives glossary such as https://harvestright.com/foodadditives-to-avoid/ to help see the types of language and words we are looking for, but in general these items are going to be easy to spot because they simply are not food. If an ingredient is not recognizable or pronounceable, uses a number or acronym (red #5 or BHT for example), or has a process attached to it (hydrolyzed yeast extract), your body likely doesn’t know how to use it either. Again, determine if “everything goes” makes sense for your life, or, if starting with the top 3 to 5 most consumed items and making plans for future swaps is the best choice.

*MSG is often hidden in other label ingredients. If you are sensitive, it is important to pay attention to other ingredients that indicate MSG is likely present.  Using an online resource like http://www.truthinlabeling.org/hiddensources.html can help you stay abreast of these ingredients.

Start by ditching seed oils:
Vegetable oils, Including canola, safflower, sunflower, cottonseed, soybean, corn, peanut, rice bran, margarine, and generic “vegetable” oil.

Replace with tallow, lard, ghee, bacon fat, duck fat, or coconut oil for higher heat cooking (depending on budget, availability, and sensitivities), and olive oil, avocado oil, and butter for finishing or low heat cooking.

All olive and avocado oils should be COLD PRESSED.  NOT Expeller pressed or any other form of pressed.  The heat from those change the biological make-up of the oils to forms our bodies are not made or able to use.
 

Start by ditching low fat diets:

Dietary fats perform several functions, both from culinary and nutritional perspectives. Dietary fats help us to feel full. They help our bodies absorb fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, and many antioxidants including carotenes and ubiquinol. They provide a source of slow-burning energy. They help to temper the glycemic load of high- carbohydrate foods, and they also help carry flavors and make the foods we eat taste good.

For millennia, dietary fat came from animal fats like butter, lard, or schmaltz, or traditionally cold-pressed oils like olive oil, sesame oil, or other nut and seed oils. Vegetable oils and hydrogenated fats were only made available at the turn of the 20th century and have since become ubiquitous. In 2016, the US consumed ten times as much soybean oil as it did butter (Statista, 2018), whose consumption was at a 40-year high. That amounted to 9.0 million metric tons of soybean oil (Statista, 2018) in addition to other industrially produced vegetable oils like corn oil, cottonseed oil, and canola oil. Vegetable oils currently represent the vast majority of added fat in the American diet, much of it consumed as margarine, shortening, or fry oil.

As humans replaced traditional dietary fats with newer vegetable oils and hydrogenated fats, cases of heart disease, which was virtually unheard of at the turn of the 20th century, grew to such frequency that it now represents the number one killer of both men and women in the United States, followed closely by cancer (CDC, 2017). While a shift in dietary fat consumption alone cannot be responsible for the shift in public health, we do know that it is a likely contributor.

 

Start by ditching nonstick pans:
There is nothing quite as tragic as someone infusing a beautiful grass-fed steak with Teflon polymers as they sear it in a non-stick skillet or leeching plastic molecules into their steamed vegetables as they portion them into plastic containers. When we are paying more money and putting more effort into responsibly grown food that is free of chemicals, we also need to be sure that the tools we use to prepare and cook that food are non-toxic.

Options for pans:
Ceramic Coated is a good option. It is non-stick naturally, although does need to be seasoned before using and periodically through its lifetime. Some good brands are Chantel and Le Creuset.

Stainless steel is a wonderful option for cookware. It is non-stick by adding in a healthy fat and heating slightly before adding in the foods to cook. Look for 18/0 to 18/8. USA made is best, due to less chemicals added in making

Cast Iron, if you can only buy one, this is the one to buy. Properly seasoned, this is non-stick. It withstands high heat and when properly cared for, is indestructible! Some good brands are Lodge, Vintage Griswold and Wagner.

 

Start by ditching limiting beef in your diet:
Red meat isn’t the problem – it’s industrial farming. Grass-fed beef from regenerative farms has a healthy Omega-3 ratio, lowers inflammation, and strengthens your body. It also contains carnitine, creatine and Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA).  As well as high amounts of vitamin B12, zinc, selenium, niacin (B3), potassium, magnesium, copper, b1, b5, and b6.

 

Start by ditching sugar:

While most of us are not going to be totally derailed from our wellness journey by having a scoop of ice cream at a birthday celebration or enjoying a slice of pie during the holidays, processed cane sugar does not provide nourishment to our bodies as an everyday food, and it is wise to remove most of it from our homes as it is tempting, addictive, and very easy to consume mindlessly when it is readily available. This stage can be one of the more emotional parts of the process as we tend to have strong memories associated with sweet treats, and they can provide a source of comfort, stress relief, and feelings of joy to some degree. Because of this emotional connection, it is a stage where you should really focus on the importance of balance and the good-better-best continuum. For example, if you look in your pantry and you have an entire basket of fun-size candy bars that you turn to for energy, emotional release, celebrations, etc., you may not be ready to just toss that out cold turkey. Instead, you can begin by replacing the candy bars with a darker chocolate that is sweetened with organic cane sugar and has minimal added ingredients. There will be time later in your journey to move even further on the continuum to very dark chocolate that is sweetened with coconut sugar or a little honey.

Start by ditching a low sodium diet:

“Use unrefined salt liberally” is the ninth of our 11 Wise Traditions Dietary Principles from the Weston Price Foundation.
We need about one and one-half teaspoons of salt per day to satisfy the body’s requirements for sodium and chloride—more when we work in the hot sun or when under stress. We recommend you avoid refined and iodized salt. Refined salt contains only two minerals, sodium and chlorine. Natural, unrefined sea salt contains 92 essential minerals. Cells need trace elements to control their ions; a deficiency can create dire consequences within our bodies. Unrefined salts have a shorter shelf life so keep that in mind when you purchase quantities. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/its-time-to-end-the-war-on-salt/

 

Start by ditching drinking plain water:

Electrolytes and water
Electrolytes have 4 general functions:
1. Control the osmosis of water between fluid compartments.
2. Help to maintain the PH balance.
3. Carry electrical current.
4. Serve as co-factors needed for optimal activity of enzymes.

As a master electrolyte unrefined salt HYDRATES. Coconut water, aloe vera juice, cream of tarter, all high in potassium, another electrolyte needed to balance sodium. Make sure you are getting enough magnesium with these as well.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK610839/

 

Start by ditching refined grains:

Whole grains provide a concentrated source of complex carbohydrates, dietary

fiber, and, when properly prepared, myoinositol, which research suggests could play a therapeutic role in managing blood sugar regulation and insulin resistance (Croze & Soulage, 2013). Much of the nutritional benefit of grains rests in their bran and germ, while the endosperm is rich in carbohydrate. When the bran and germ are removed from grains through milling and bolting of flour or by polishing rice, all that is left is the starchy endosperm. This refinement process removes an(- nutrients from grains, but it also removes micronutrients and causes the grains to have a higher glycemic load.

Grains, like beans, nuts and seeds, are also a source of food phytate which binds minerals and can prevent their full absorption. All these need to be soaked or soaked and sprouted to reduce/remove the phytates. There are flours available on the market that do just this. “To Your Health Sprouted Flour Company” is one.

 

Start by ditching alcohol:

Alcohol is a toxin that can damage the gut by affecting the gut lining and brain by shrinking neurons. It depletes NAD which is critical for longevity, highly affects sleep and is inflammatory, even at low levels.  It is also dehydrating as well as filled with sugars. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5513685/

 

Start by ditching regular use of restaurants and take-out:

You have zero control of the quality of food when you eat out.  MOST restaurants are using seed oils, why?  Because they are cheap and flavorless (they can add a little bit of the more expensive olive oil or butter for flavor). Reserve eating out for only special occasions.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31918785/

 

Start by ditching late nights with early wakeups:

The body responds to sleep deprivation in a myriad of ways. We do not yet fully understand all the impacts, though we learn more each day. When one considers how busy the body is when it is sleeping, it’s not surprising that scientists have uncovered evidence of immune and hormone dysfunctions, blood sugar dysregulation, obesity, mood disorders, and cardiovascular problems when people routinely get less than seven hours of sleep. The more sleep deprived, the more significant the health problems seem to be (Colten & Altevogt, 2006).

Sleep deprivation impacts our lifestyles, eating habits, and decision making as well. Physical activity and athletic performance suffer consequent to lack of sleep. Tired clients are less likely to desire physical activity, so the probability of working out is decreased. Prolonged recovery due to impaired perspiration, accelerated lactic acid build-up, and increased risk of injury reinforce exercise avoidance. Workout duration and efficacy are diminished due to decreased muscle strength, respiration rate, and time to exhaustion. People who sleep less than seven hours per night tend to have higher caloric intake (specifically from fat and carb sources), diminished food selection variety, and increased snacking, although it is not clear whether this is a cause or effect of sleep deprivation (St-Onge, Mikic, & Pietrolungo, 2016). Less than adequate sleep also seems to decrease impulse control and attention {Pilcher,Morris, Donnelly, & Feigl, 2015).

Sleep sufficiency is not only about quantity of sleep, but quality of sleep as well. Unfortunately, sleep has become undervalued in our modern culture. Erratic schedules, late night television, and noisy bedside cellphones are more the norm than the exception, each of these negatively impacting our quality of sleep.

 

Information taken from the Nutritional Therapy Association Student Guides 2019