Whole Grain Wheat is Healthy, Right?
Since going through my own personal struggles with not
feeling well on a regular basis, only to find out that my symptoms were a
result of the food I was consuming, it seems that I am now automatically
attuned to what people are saying about how they feel. It’s the buzz at the
gym, when I’m walking through the supermarkets, passing conversations on the
street or in the workplace. Everyone is talking about it- how they feel, and they
don’t feel good.
On a daily basis, I hear people complaining that they’re in
some sort of pain, generally don’t feel good or are tired. Some of this is
normal. Being tired, or having some pain is a part of life, yes. But, when it BECOMES YOUR LIFE, it’s a problem!
People everywhere are not feeling well, are overweight, have
migraines, feel bloated or are in some sort of pain, more than just
occasionally and the sad thing is, the things they’re doing to help with these
symptoms are not working or are only temporarily providing a band-aid which is likely
hurting them in the long run.
When I’ve had conversations with people regarding their symptoms
possibly being related to food sensitivities or intolerances, I continuously
hear the phrase, “But I eat pretty healthy.”
Yes, you may very well eat pretty healthy indeed! You may
even eat healthier than you did when you were a kid. That’s great! But, if
you’re still not feeling well, PLEASE DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT dismiss the idea
that you wouldn’t feel better by taking a serious look at your diet and revamping
it.
First, let’s look at how we in our fast paced, convenient,
Western culture defines healthy. Chances
are your definition was formed and is continuing to be shaped by TV
commercials, by the allure of fancy food packaging and marketing billboards, or
the messages you’re subconsciously picking up when you drive down the main
street in your town or city, to name a few. These all have most likely contributed
to your ideas of health.
You may be someone who has taken the high road and decided
to resist the urges to give in to temptations induced by media and educated
yourself by strictly following the USDA daily recommendations, but oddly enough
you’re still experience migraines, eczema, acne, depression, anxiety or joint
pain. And then you say to yourself, “I eat really healthy, this couldn’t have anything
to do with what I eat,” and you go off to the doctor to get help with your
symptoms.
Let’s look at the USDA Food Plate that recently replaced the
Food Pyramid you might have sworn by when trying to eat healthy in the past.
Here are the two problems I see with simply referring to this new food pyramid:
1.) Most of our diets don’t consist of 1/3 veggies per meal
per day as recommended by the USDA. I know this because I am human too. I am a
busy working mom and I understand the need for convenience and again, because I’m
human I understand food cravings. I eat maybe 3-4 servings of veggies a day,
and that’s on a good day when I’ve had a good night’s rest.
2.) Even if you do
follow the Food Plate guidelines, that fails to take into account that dairy
products and wheat are the food categories that research shows people are most
sensitive to and don’t even realize it. In a nutshell, it is not that easy to
just follow the suggested Food Plate.
So, we can’t rely on doctors to suggest food intolerances as
an underlying cause of the symptoms we continue to treat ourselves for, and
eating more and more whole grains and dairy because the USDA says they’re “good
for us,” isn’t helping us either.
But don’t worry because as I found out for myself, the answer is inside of you!
So what do you do?
You need to dig deep and rely on yourself for answers.
The best way to define health is to define it for you through
trial and error and by doing your own investigating and research.
Start with an elimination diet. I would suggest that you
start with completely eliminating gluten.
You know what I bet? I bet that if you eliminate gluten for
2 weeks, you will feel better. Why, you
ask? Because, the latest research shows that 1 out of 133 people are living
with celiac disease and 18 million people have gluten sensitivity which is 6 times as many people who have celiac disease. And on top
of that, according to the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center, 97% of those suffering with celiac don't even know it. Chances are slim that you don’t have celiac disease, but chances are likely
that you do have a sensitivity or
intolerance to gluten.
You might be saying, “This doesn’t make sense! I thought
whole grain wheat was supposed to be good for me!” Yes, that is what the culture has told us and
part of that whole wheat is good for
you (or at least better than white flour).
But, the other part of the wheat, (the gluten) is not good for
many, if not all people.
Here’s something to ask yourself. “Why would you eat
something that only part of it is really good for you, but the other part of it
is really bad for you?” If part of it is really bad for you, guess what gets
trumped? You guessed it- the really good part. You will not feel really good if
half of what you’re eating is having a negative effect on you.
I will help you really get this point by using an example
from Pastor Craig Groeschel of LifeChurch.tv who uses this example to talk about sin.
He says, “If someone made you brownies and said, they’re really good, and
there’s only a little bit of dog poop in them. Go ahead, try them! Would you
eat them?” I’m going to assume you would say no. That’s because we’ve associated poop to words
like, gross, disgusting, not good for me, would make me sick, and inhumane to
say the least. He says that when we say
we only sinned a little bit, that because it's only a little bit, it's OK. We do the same with food.
What we need to do is to break our food habits that are
slowly making us sick. These foods are not good for us and our bodies are subtly
giving us signs here and there in the form of headaches, stomachaches,
and heartburn. or countless other symptoms. And you’re just passing up all of these things as normal. This is
not normal when it happens on a regular basis and affects your overall
well-being.
Admittedly, this is a tricky correlation to make at first. This is because
food satisfies cravings, hunger and provides all sorts of comfort that we’re
not even aware that we’re feeding. We believe it’s good for us or at least OK
for us to eat these foods because initially it does make us feel really good or on the
other hand, doesn’t make us feel bad
right away.
If you’re ready to stop making excuses, if you’re ready to
stop sticking band-aids on your wounds, if you’re ready to dig deep and
figure out what is keeping you from feeling your best once and for all, you may want
to try the Gluten Free diet.
Gluten Free B’s
Gluten Free Trial Diet
#1 Follow the MY Plate suggestion and replace whole grains with
gluten free grains or naturally gluten free grains like quinoa or brown rice.
#2 Don’t just say you’re going to eat gluten free, but limit
the gluten free processed items you do
consume to one serving a day.
(If you want to have a few gluten-free
cookies or a sandwich on gluten free bread go right ahead. But, don’t be cruel
to yourself and eat a gluten free bagel for breakfast, a gluten free sandwich
for lunch, GF cookies for desert, GF pasta for dinner with a GF brownie for
desert. Not only are you being cruel to yourself, (that stuff is loaded with
sugar) you are not following the MY Plate.)
#3 Make sure that 1/3 of what you’re eating at each meal is
vegetables. Yes, that’s right- EAT YOUR VEGGIES!
#4 Surround yourself with people who have similar goals-
join my Gluten Free Challenge Group or Gluten Free Support Group by contacting me at my Facebook page, Gluten Free B.
#5 Educate yourself. Below are some resources I suggest:
#6 Keep track of how you feel by writing in a daily journal
#7 Don’t cheat
#8 Do this for 2 weeks and see how you feel
If you don’t feel better or feel better, but still don’t
feel your best, repeat again by eliminating dairy or another common offending
food.
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