The Gluten-Free Trap

I am fortunate in that I have not yet had any sort of medical issue that has resulted in having to be tested for gluten sensitivity.  However, I have been a very clean and healthy eater for a long time now and this has caused me to naturally put a severe limit on the amount of wheat I eat.  I have found that when I abstain from eating wheat for a time and then reintroduce it, that I am much more prone to bloating and periods of low energy and low mood than when I stay away from it altogether.  My normal diet is probably what you would call pescatarian-  I do eat fish and I do eat eggs, but I don’t eat meat and I rarely eat wheat and dairy.  Anyway, I had the pleasure of having my brother from the west coast stay at my house for almost a month during this recent holiday season.  I enjoy having him around for many reasons, but one is that we have fun eating and cooking together because he is also a very health conscious eater.  We both eat with a concerted effort to support environmental incentives as well as for optimal nutrition, and we both enjoy a wide range of multicultural flavors and cooking styles.   My poor husband always tries to eat healthy but struggles to enjoy many of the curried and vegetarian dishes I like, so when my brother Ry is around I feel I have a partner in crime.  So Ry arrived, and I discovered he recently found out that he has allergies to wheat and dairy and needs to keep clear of them altogether.  This didn’t bother me as I already was pretty close to eating this way myself, save for the occasional pizza.  We did a great job of cooking and buying a lot of food that satisfied everyone’s requirements and still maintained a festive holiday atmosphere.  What I did realize, though, was this:  the number of processed gluten-free products that are readily available is now so high that you could potentially say that you stuck to a pristine gluten-free diet, but not be eating healthily at all.  It is such an easy trap to fall into the habit of filling up on delicious gluten-free cereals, snacks and rice cakes that you can still eat loads of carb-oriented calories and not be prompted to fill up on hearty, nutritious fruit and vegetable dishes.  I know that even my brother Ry, who cooks and loves to buy organic, whole food can easily get sucked into this buying pattern because it feels so convenient and easy and you are still technically adhering to your medical advice.   Here is my thought on the whole issue:  if you have a gluten intolerance, it is because your immune system has had some sort of breakdown where you can no longer function healthily while that substance is around.  Therefore, you need to work on boosting immune health from the ground up.  If you just replace all of your gluten foods with gluten-free products, you will not feel great and you may be prone to weight gain.  When I eat gluten-free processed foods, I experience the same sensations of bloat and low energy that I do when I eat wheat.  You need to replace your gluten foods with fruit and vegetable dishes, and only use the packaged gluten-free products in a pinch, not as daily staples.  In other words, it seems like people find out what the culprit is that is making them sick and feel that they are all set once they remove it.  I don’t believe this to be the real truth-  having allergies to otherwise normal food items is not a normal functioning state, so we need to remember that when a food allergy becomes a problem, we need to not only remove the allergen, but also greatly increase the richness of our nutritional intake in order to better support overall immune health.  I have found it easiest to do this by eating a lot of smoothies, salads, crockpot stews and baked vegetable dishes.  Fruits are easy enough to just eat on their own for your snacks, but the smoothies, salads, soups and baked dishes ensure that vegetables can be the highlight of each meal.  The same principles hold true for all food intolerances, and for the diets of children as well.  We can’t escape the basic ideas that unprocessed, organic whole foods are our greatest source of health, just like we can’t escape the fact that physical exercise is a necessity.  I think one of the reasons that health is such a huge focus and industry for us is because it so easily crumbles in today’s toxic environment.   I once worked with a nutrition teacher named Joan Palmer who taught “you can pay the grocer now or the doctor later”.  This will always be true, and I say there is no time like the present, so you know which choice I prefer.  Actually, I would say there is no time BUT the present… but that is a topic for another article.  🙂  I wish a peaceful and happy new year to you all, and welcome comments and discussions below to foster greater depth of thought and insight on gluten free products, food allergies, diet trends and healthy eating.  For personal help in meeting your health goals, peruse http://www.nikkisnature.com.

The Forks Over Knives and Plant Versus Protein Debate

On my facebook business page I recently shared a link to the popular documentary “Forks Over Knives”, and I promised that I would write a follow-up review and explanation of this, so here it is.  I have been studying health, healing and nutrition for some time now and my own diet has evolved over years of trials and reading to be one that consists primarily of whole foods, with minimal amounts of meat and processed foods.  After seeing the movie “Forks Over Knives”, however, I decided to try moving into a primarily vegan diet, and I will explain why and what the results have been.  I want to make it clear that I am not morally opposed to the idea of people eating animals in order to live.  I agree that this an instinctive way to survive, and that our ancestors relied heavily upon animal-based foods to get us to where we are today.

The bottom line here is that The China Study, which is one of the main studies discussed in the movie, demonstrates significantly different health trends in groups of people who eat plant-based only versus animal and plant-based diets.  We already knew a lot about the association with meat and dairy to heart disease, but The China Study shows clear trends of increased cancers of different types in addition to increased heart disease in people who eat animal and dairy products as opposed to those who do not.  The evidence presented seems clear and convincing to me.  Even my husband, who has always been a roast beef sandwich guy, felt compelled to have me help him move to a primarily plant-based diet after watching this film.  Understandably, there are many people who are balking at this idea.  There are lots of preconceptions about vegans being weak, sickly and hippy-ish, as well as preconceptions that we need animal-based proteins in order to be active and healthy.  Also, since most of our Western society eats some kind of meat and a lot of dairy every day, people bristle at the prospect of having to change anything that might present an inconvenience or a divergence from comfortable habits.  I have to say, though, that if you search around, you will find that there are plenty of world-class athletes who are totally muscle-bound and healthy that follow vegan and vegetarian diets.  Also, there are many cases of doctors treating patients with progressive chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and even MS who are finding that the disease halts and often goes completely away without even the need for routine medications because of a shift to a plant-based diet.

There is a new dietary trend referred to as the Paleo diet, and this has become popular with a lot of people that I know personally.  I don’t think it is a bad way to eat, and it is certainly better than what most people eat, but the arguments that it is overall more healthy than eating a plant-based only diet do not hold up.  The Paleo diet consists of high animal protein (25-30% of daily calories) and a lot of fruits and vegetables.  If you switch to this way of eating you will undoubtedly feel great for having cut out all refined grains and sugars and processed foods, but this doesn’t mean that animal foods are better than plant foods.  The theory is that we should be eating the way that our ancestors would naturally have done, and that that must be the healthiest way to be since they survived and got us to this point.  I read a long paper that included discussions and rebuttals between Dr. Campbell, the author of The China Study, and Loren Cordain, author of the Paleo books.  The problem with Cordain’s arguments is that he claims following human evolution should be the key to our health today.  He does not discuss the fact that our paleolithic ancestors had far lower life expectancies than we do today, and that their instinctive tendencies were to survive long enough to procreate, not necessarily to live long, peaceful lives, contribute something to society and see their grandchildren get married.  He also does not discuss that huge period of human evolution where we came to understand agriculture and to be able to grow a wide variety of fruits and vegetables that would sustain us while also allowing us to take care of the earth.  I wonder if the human life expectancy rose after agricultural methods became common and vegetable crops were regularly available?

Also, primitive humans eating meat would have been eating freshly hunted meat, and we know most of our meat is inhumanely raised, butchered and processed.  (See the movie “Food, Inc.”)  This may seem like a totally crazy idea to many, but what if the inherent healthiness of our food is directly related to how happy the organism was during its life before we killed it?  If you must eat meat there is always the grass-fed, cage-free, open-air slaughter option.  This is certainly better than grocery store meat, but still questionable as to whether or not we really need it to live healthy lives.  I do have a big problem with how our food animals are treated in general, so if I can avoid eating them I feel better about upholding my own moral standards.  I also know that I am contributing less to the environmental impacts of the packing, storing and shipping since a greater portion of my kitchen comes from local and more sustainable sources.

That is the long story, but the end result is this:  I have now been eating a modified vegan diet for about eight weeks.  I felt great before, but I still feel great and feel lighter, with never any stomach bloat, plenty of energy to work out, and feel great about my choices being in line with who I am and what is important to me.  To clarify what I mean when I say “modified”, I mean that I eat mostly fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and fish and eggs, but no meat and no dairy.  I am generally against anything artificial, and steer clear of all processed modified wheat foods, processed sugars and anything with artificial ingredients.  In most of the studies I have seen, it is dairy and mammal meats that seem to be the culprits involved in the poor health trends associated with animal products, and this was also recently reiterated to me by Dr. Horowitz, the chief of cardiology at Stamford Hospital, which is why I feel good about keeping the fish and eggs.  This is how I have been eating, and it feels fantastic.  Feeding my family is a different story, and a more gradual process.  My husband is doing a great job and only eating meat about once a week and it is usually chicken.  My children are cutting back on meat and dairy but since they don’t eat as wide a scope of vegetable and fruits as do my husband and I, theirs is a gentler approach.  The important thing is that they are trying (and liking) many vegan foods, and also receiving lots of great nutrition education from us as they grow and mature.  Learning to undo the eating habits of today’s society to make them more healthful is very difficult and requires change that most people are not willing to make.  As a nutritionist that I like and respect likes to say “you can pay the grocer now, or the doctor later!”  My goal is to enjoy my active life in as healthy and as environmentally supportive a way as I can for as long as I can.  Maybe you feel the same way.  There are a lot of studies out there, and a lot of constantly changing advice on what is the best way to eat.  There seems to me to be no better evidence than experience, so I am giving this a try and going with my intuition.  Feel free to post your comments here, or message me if you’d like more information or resources.  Peace!

Practical Healthy Shopping Tips!

I have recently been thinking and writing a lot about health and healing philosophies, but I realize that some of you readers subscribed in hopes of learning some practical everyday tips for health.  Not everyone looks at health from the holistic or spiritual viewpoint that I tend to like analyzing, but everyone can benefit from frequently reviewing and reminding themselves of ways to make small, smart lifestyle decisions on an ongoing basis.  These little choices really add up in the long run!  I thought I might share some of my current favorite brands of food and health products.  These would all be things that can be found in the regular grocery store or in the health food aisle of a regular grocery store.  I do have things I love to buy from Whole Foods or from my local health food store, but that can be saved for a separate article.

Before I start listing individual products, I should state that I am not wealthy and I do have to watch my budget.  This said, I know that I spend more on certain foods than other families do, and I choose to prioritize this kind of spending.  We spend very little on clothing and travel and other things, but I just can’t justify compromising food decisions if I have the choice.  I do buy a lot of natural and organic foods at my regular grocery store, which happens to be a Shop Rite, because Whole Foods is a lot further away.  However, it actually costs less in general to buy organic foods from Whole Foods than from the grocery store.  Whole Foods has the reputation of being overpriced, and that in itself isn’t true.  We all know that better quality things cost more in any category.  That is the same for food.  So it isn’t that Whole Foods is overpriced, in fact it is reasonably priced in terms of organic products when compared to other stores.  Your grocery bill is going to go up a lot if you buy a lot of organic food, but it often makes a huge difference in quality ingredients.

Okay-  not everything has to be organic, although that would be great!  I try to stay organic with fruits and vegetables where you are eating the peel or outside, especially on things with a lot of surface area like blackberries, raspberries and grapes.  I don’t worry about organic with things like bananas, oranges and avocados.  For butter I like to buy the store brand regular butter-  read the labels on everything!  Butter products should not contain anything unrecognizable in the list.  It should really contain only sweet cream and salt.  If you have to have something soft and spreadable (like me) on hand also, I like the Land O’ Lakes spreadable butter with olive oil.  It contains only sweet cream, olive oil and salt.  A lot of people think they have to buy margarine to decrease their salt intake, but there are often so many chemical and processed ingredients in there that is more harmful than having some natural salt.  If you have a medical reason to fear the salt content then you should probably just decrease the amount of butter consumed.  Bread is one of the hardest things for me to find in a regular grocery store.  Very few breads are truly natural and healthy, but you can weed out the worst of the worst at least.  Avoid any bread that contains high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils.  This will eliminate most of the choices available in the entire aisle.  I like Vermont Bread Company myself, and the kids love the organic soft white in this brand.  It is really hard to find any hot dog and hamburger rolls at all that meet my standards.  In a regular store the best choice (though the ingredients aren’t perfect and it still is plenty processed) are the Martin’s potato bread buns.  They are less offensive than the other regularly available brands.  There is never a reason to buy any yogurt that has artificial color or sweetener, or chemical preservatives.  Stonyfield Farm yogurts are my favorites, and most of them are organic and reasonably priced.  Their drinkable yogurt smoothies are also delicious, healthy, and a great lunchbox item.  I really like the Applegate brand of hot dogs, deli meat and cheeses that are now available in the regular store.  They are all either natural or organic and taste great.  Hot dogs were one of the items that I couldn’t feel good about buying for a long time because they all had nitrates.  Applegate has a grass-fed beef hot dog that is uncured, and still delicious!  My family loves them, and I have a husband who is kind of picky about his hot dogs.  Humus is a great dip and makes eating veggies more delicious, but they are not all created equal!  Most of them have chemical preservatives, but Tribe brand does not-  the roasted garlic flavor is great.  At Target the Archer Farms brand of foods that they carry is a nice and affordable option for a lot of natural and organic products.  They have an almond butter that is very good, among many other things.  If your family uses a lot of ketchup you should make an effort to buy organic ketchup.  If you can’t bear to change anything else about your shopping right now, let this be the one thing.  It is usually the only guarantee that it won’t be made with high fructose corn syrup.  Shop Rite has its own store brand organic ketchup and I believe it is in the two dollar range.  I could list brands for everything I buy but you are probably already getting bored of this.  You get the idea though-  learn to read labels on things that are in your local store until you find the best option for each category that you buy regularly.  Oh!  The “bakery section” of the grocery store is a scam.  I don’t care if they bake it on site or not, just take a look at the ingredients.  A chemistry professor would squint and stumble over that list.  Avoid it if possible-  there are nice mixes in the health food aisle.  Please feel free to comment here or email me personally if you have questions about specific things you buy or want more information on ingredients to avoid and to look for.  I could talk on about high fructose corn syrup, cage-free versus organic eggs, grass-fed beef and more, but I don’t want to throw on too much at once.  As always, buying from local farms is best for the environment and freshest for you, or of course, grow your own!  Peace!

Raw Food Cleanse

I recently read the book “Raw Food Cleanse” by Penni Shelton.  It was just something I randomly picked up because the cover looked enticing to me.  I am not at all a friend to that “Master Cleanse” thing where you drink nothing but cayenne lemonade-  that just seems crazy and sickening.  Over the years I have become increasingly clear on the idea that the best way to good health is through food.  I believe not only this, but that our society’s food is what is generally causing a majority of the health issues that are prevalent today.  Every time I talk about this with someone, they agree with me… but I don’t see people making a conscious effort to improve their choices.   Anyway, I liked the idea of doing a cleanse with raw, whole foods.  I didn’t think it would be that hard for me to do since I have already cut a lot of unwanted things out of my diet.  I have been able to go periods of sixty days with absolutely zero high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated oils, and this has led to great habits in this respect.  Once you get used to assessing your choices regularly, you change how you shop and avoiding these things is no longer hard.

So, the book starts off talking about toxins and where we are exposed to them in our diets and in our environment.  It is pretty basic stuff, but it gears you up to want to do a cleanse in the first place.  It is a very quick read, and when you get to the part about how to do the actual cleanse, it is so simple!  Basically, you eat only fruit, vegetables and nuts.  I know that sounds tough and not delicious… and it is in a way.  The author makes it doable though, and this is because of the long recipes section that is included in this book.  If you choose, for example, the three day cleanse, then you make a list of what you are going to eat for each meal during the three days.  She tells you something like, “…breakfast day 1-  choose a smoothie recipe from the green smoothies section”, “…lunch, choose a salad from another section”, and so on.  In this way, you can plan what are going to eat, have all the ingredients ahead of time and be ready to go.  I found that the recipes all tasted pretty good.  Another bonus is that there is no portion size limitation-  you can eat as much of this stuff as you want.  What I found in doing this was that you do feel the detox of not having refined carbs, and those cravings that we are so used to satiating can make you grumpy.  By the third day, however, I felt really good.  I felt really light and clean and energetic.  The best thing was that doing the cleanse inspired me to try to eat 75% raw foods in general, and I have been pretty successful on most days.  It is definitely hard to do when you go out or when you go to a social event.  Another great thing about using this book to cleanse and help clean up your diet is that the author introduces you to a lot of health food items that you may not be familiar with.  These are things that are also raw that you can use in your smoothies and salads to increase the nutritional value.  She tells you their benefits as well as how to use them and then incorporates them into her recipes.  The only caviat is that you have to be willing to visit a Whole Foods or health food store to find a few of these items.  Most things I was able to find in the regular grocery store which has a health food section, but I had to go to a different store for things like chia seeds, kombucha and goji berries.

If you strive to do healthy grocery shopping and continue to improve your diet and nutritional intake, then I would highly recommend this book.  You can do anything for only three days!  I had to write about this experience because I am still so impressed at the lasting impact this short experiment is having on my diet and on the contents of my refrigerator.  Please, please, if you try this, or even if you try any part of it, comment here to let me and others know what you thought.  What did you like?  What didn’t you like?  As always, I’d like this to be a forum for communication, questions, and the continual evolution of our approach to a healthy, enjoyed life.  Peace!

Very Simple “Food Rules”

The book “Food Rules” by Michael Pollan was a New York Times Bestseller, so this is probably old news to a lot of people.  I just recently gave it a thorough read, however, and since I never got to it when it first came out, I figure I’m likely not alone, and thought it might be worth mentioning here.  For anyone who strives to consistently try to shop healthily and struggles with food and eating decisions, this book is great.  There are no mentions of monosaccharides, polybicarbonates, or any other long scientific food product terms in this book.  This is simple language, and for the most part, it is all totally common sense.  It is a quick read, and the rules are so simple that you can’t help but remember at least a few of them as you are meandering down the grocery store aisles.  I find it inspiring because the ideas are so clear.  Statements like “Don’t eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk” and “The whiter the bread the sooner you’ll be dead” really stick when you are actually putting items in your cart.  He reminds us that foods that are “lite”, “lo-cal” and “fat free” are a terrible choice.  I am a firm believer that diet soda directly causes you to gain weight-  there are different scientific theories to support this which I have recently heard and I believe them,  not just because of scientific backup but also because of witnessing its use amongst friends and family.  Anyway, if you do strive to provide healthy food for yourself and your family this book is worth your time.  Even as I write this I hear my nine year old in the other room quoting a line from this book.  He just said, “It’s not food if it arrived through the window of your car”.  He giggled, remembering me quoting that part of the book to the family.  This incident reminds me that this book is also a good way to teach your kids ways to tell if food is healthy, because it is written so simply and clearly.  Borrow this book from your library if you haven’t already read it-  you’ll be able to return it in a day or two, and you’ll have some new guidelines for your next grocery trip.  Even if you just choose three or four of his rules that would be doable for you personally and stick with them, you’ll see some nice changes in your food choices.  Happy, healthy eating, friends-  here’s to the steamed kale I’m about to go cook!