Lately, I've been researching an old,
healthy diet that I think I need to try. No, it's not for weight loss, or
weight management, or anything like that. It's for the health of me and
my body.
Celiac disease has taken its toll.
Even being on the gluten-free diet, I still don't feel the way I know I
should. My stomach still gives me issues, my head aches and throbs for no apparent reason sometimes,
and I'm less energetic than I know I can be.
While researching all the different
products I mentioned above, I stumbled upon some articles about the additives
(artificial flavors and food coloring, etc.) and carcinogens
disguised as preservatives (BHT, BHA, etc.) they put into our foods (aka processed foods). I couldn't
believe that even some of the so-called healthy foods that we are being sold are
filled with these sorts of things!
A few days ago, my mom sent me an article about the
same toxins being found in gluten-free foods (and even in higher concentrations than non-gluten-free foods) and, I admit, I was
disheartened to hear that the diet I have been prescribed to follow is nothing but a basic surface diet. It not only neglects to eliminate all of the contributors to my poor health, but it also deceives me into believing that gluten-free foods are "safe" when in reality, they may very well be even more toxic!
It seems to me like it's a feeble attempt to keep Celiac patients hanging dependently on their
doctor's every word. We're supposed to trust the experts, aren't we?
At least, that's what we've been told to do because the experts know what
they are talking about and have our best interest in mind.
Yeah, right. If that's true,
why aren't they telling us to go on the Paleo diet?
(Y'know, the way human beings used to eat, back
before meals were packaged and sold to us in convenient little cardboard boxes?
I knew I admired the Native Americans for a reason.
- They exercised dominion over the animals and used every resource the animals had to offer so as not to be wasteful. Every part had a use.
- They ate off the land and tended to the plants and fields surrounding their villages, the way God first commanded Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
At the end of the article about the
toxins found in gluten-free foods, there
was a link to the author's research on the Paleo diet and I started looking
into it for myself to see if it was something that might actually help me in my
search for Celiac symptom relief. I honestly have to say, I wish I had
thought about food this way from the beginning.
- If wheat nowadays is so
heavily laden with chemicals and is genetically modified beyond my body's
ability to digest, common sense would have me wonder about the genetic and
chemical properties of all the other foods I eat on a daily basis! -
What I found was incredibly encouraging, even though the concept was incredibly simple. The Paleo diet is basically the hunter-gatherer diet. It consists of things you can hunt or find, such as the following foods*:
- Meat - GRASS-FED, not grain-fed. Grain causes the same problem in animals as they do in humans.
- Fowl - Chicken, duck, hen, turkey…things with wings that (try to) fly.
- Fish - Wild fish, as mercury and other toxins can be an issue in farmed fish
- Eggs - Look for Omega-3 enriched eggs.
- Vegetables - As long as they’re not deep-fried, eat as many as you want.
- Oils - Olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil – think natural.
- Fruits - Have natural sugar, and can be higher in calories, so limit if you’re trying to lose weight.
- Nuts - High in calories, so they’re good for a snack, but don’t eat bags and bags of them.
- Tubers - Sweet potatoes and yams. Higher in calories and carbs, so these are good for right after a workout to replenish your glycogen levels.
That's the way our ancestors ate before processed foods came along. You can read about it here (and I strongly encourage you to do so!):
(*Note: list taken from The Beginner's Guide to the Paleo Diet website)
The health benefits are for everyone, not just Celiac patients. If you're living on processed foods like all the other obese, diabetic, and chronically ill people in America, how long do you really think your body can last without developing those same problems? Our bodies weren't made to be nourished by fake foods. Our bodies consist of delicate, sensitive vital organs, tissues, and cells which can only function properly with specific nutrients and dietary requirements that just aren't being advocated enough by national experts or doctors.
The research is out there. So, why aren't doctors recommending this diet when treating their patients?
I don't know about you, but I think it's time I went Paleo.
