Why Eliminate Certain Foods?

Today I want to discuss how and why it’s a good idea to eliminate certain foods and junk foods from your diet a couple times a year. One main reason to eliminate certain foods from your diet from time to time is that they may not be very good for you, they can be inflammatory and cause enough irritation of the gut to create food sensitivities. Perhaps you already know some of the foods that give you trouble but you eat them anyway, the body knows it doesn’t agree with you and can create a sensitivity reaction which causes an immune response. This immune response uses up our infection fighting resources making us more susceptible to getting sick. But which foods are causing this immune response and should be eliminated?

Did you know that the first head of the FDA, Dr. Harvey Wiley found himself out of a job after impounding several trainloads of white flour and designating them as a toxic substance? His action then prompted the flour mills to collaborate with the pharmaceutical companies and add synthetic vitamins to the white flour, giving the impression that the public was protected from the toxic substance. Why did Dr. Wiley and many other whole foodists of the time think that white flour was toxic? Because during the milling process of grains most of the nutrients, fiber, vitamins and enzymes are either destroyed or removed. To the untrained eye it looks nutritious when in fact it is filled with chemical substitutes. Why? To increase the shelf life and ease of making processed food.

One result of that action carrying forward to today is that 1 in 3 adults in the US are either pre-diabetic or diabetic. Childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 2 decades. We have more immune and autoimmune conditions than ever before. Our children and youth are malnourished to the point of needing to take anti-depressants, anti-anxiety meds, and proton pump inhibitors just to name a few.

In my practice, when I interview these patients they seldom if ever have an acceptable nutrition protocol. Most eat few to no veggies, or if they do its the tomato sauce on a pizza, or the lettuce on a taco, both fast food sadly. We have been told for decades through the power of advertising, by the new FDA and by big corporations, that these less than whole foods are ok to eat, healthy even!! Look at our free school breakfast and lunch programs; most are embarrassing. Dr. Wiley and others of his time such as Dr. Royal Lee, Weston Price, Francis Pottenger, and Melvin Page realized that eating healthy whole food was the first step in having a healthy vibrant population. There is a book called “One Degree of Change” that is a tool I use when implementing an elimination protocol, also known as the Standard Process Purification Program. It lays out what a difference a three week change in nutrition can make. Eating whole food instead of fake food, eating real veggies instead of processed or dehydrated veggies, and eating a piece of fruit instead of juice can make a world of difference in your health.

One Degree of Change in your dietary life could look like:

• Avoid eating at fast food places
• Avoid eating processed food, things in a package
• Avoid processed sugar
• Add in more veggies in the color of the rainbow
• Add in more good fats and avoid bad fats
• Drink green tea or herbal tea instead of sodas and coffee

One way I like to support my patients in making One Degree of Change is to lead Purification group classes a couple times a year. This free class allows you to start a reboot of your eating habits and to be more mindful of what you put in your mouth and what you feed your family. If you don’t want to wait for the next group class, you can schedule an appointment and get started today!

One of the main reasons for doing a Purification Program is to eliminate certain foods from our diet either for a short time or perhaps permanently depending on your response to the elimination and reintroduction of the eliminated foods. The gut can and does become compromised due to stress, chemicals, medications, poor quality foods, etc. and once compromised it can result in our body rejecting certain foods, becoming inflamed, giving us indigestion, reflux, GERD, irritable bowel, loose stools, rashes, hives, allergies, and the list goes on. A gut that has been compromised long term can even lead to auto-immune conditions so it would be to our advantage to address gut issues early and regularly.

Some of the most common foods we eliminate during a Purification Program are listed below. While some of these foods are healthy and good for you, if you have a compromised gut, they have been found to add to the inflammation or they may be very difficult to digest, so don’t be too surprised!

Some foods to avoid during the cleanse are:

• Grains
• Sugar
• Eggs, for some
• Red Meat, unless grass fed or wild
• Nuts and nut butters
• Alcohol
• Caffeine

If a Purification Program seems like it may be the right thing for you (hint: it is!), contact my office to make an appointment and I will customize one just for you! See how much better your gut and whole body can feel with less inflammation, less gas and bloating, a clearer mind, and more energy!