Natural Skin Care Ingredients

As I indicated in my earlier blog on false fat, foods that “injure” your digestive system can cause your digestive organs to swell and bloat, giving the appearance of “fat” in your abdominal area. To prevent this unwanted false fat, you will need to limit—or better yet eliminate—the most common culprits of false fat: wheat, dairy products, and sugar.

Now I know your immediate reaction is WHAT???? Are you kidding me? That was mine to. Let’s face it, the vast majority of foods contain at least one of these ingredients. But that’s all they are…ingredients. I’m not saying to give up bread or milk…just wheat-based bread and cow’s milk. But more on that later. Let’s first discuss why these four food groups are so bad for your health and your waistline.

Wheat Products

Wheat contains gluten, a protein that is difficult for your body to break down, absorb, and assimilate. Wheat intolerance can cause bloating, intestinal gas, and bowel changes, as well as fatigue, depression, post-nasal drip, nasal congestion, frequent colds, and even middle ear infections.

Great wheat-free substitutions include Glutino’s Flaxseed bread, Bionaturae’s pastas, Mary’s Gone Crackers crackers, and snack bars from Larabar (peanut butter is my favorite!!!) and Zoe’s (again, I have to go with the peanut butter).

Dairy Products

Dairy products are the main dietary sources of arachidonic acid, the fat your body uses to make inflammatory series-2 prostaglandin hormones. Dairy allergies or intolerance can manifest as bloating, intestinal gas, and bowel changes, as well as fatigue, depression, nasal congestion, and frequent colds. Dr. Lark has found that people can also have a delayed reaction to dairy, which shows up as anxiety, irritability, depression or mood swings, insomnia, fatigue, dizziness, confusion and disorientation, headaches, joint pain, and worsened PMS symptoms. Plus, even if you are not allergic to dairy products, the artificial hormones and pesticides used in livestock feed make cow’s milk an unhealthy choice.

Great dairy-free options include almond or rice milk, goat’s cheese (on occasion) and coconut milk-based yogurts. You can also choose sorbets or rice-based ice creams for a yummy treat.

Sugar

In addition to being highly inflammatory, sugar is also highly addictive and puts incredible stress on your adrenal glands. Plus, sugar depletes your body of important nutrients, including calcium, magnesium, and potassium. This leaching actually leads to cravings and binges as your body desperately seeks to replenish the nutrients that have been taken away.

In fact, sugar has been found to have opioid or narcotic properties—meaning they act like endorphins in your body. However, this fulfillment is short-lived. Just as with real drugs, sugar withdrawal causes physiological symptoms, including shaking, anxiety, low energy, and extreme cravings.

To this point, a study published in the June 2002 issue of Obesity Research found that withdrawal from repeated, excessive sugar intake created symptoms that were similar to those of withdrawal from morphine and nicotine.

Making the Change

I know that eliminating these food groups/ingredients can seem imitating, but it is not nearly as difficult as it appears at first glance. The best thing to do is to wean them in. Pick one (wheat for example) and make the substitutions for a week. Then add another (maybe dairy) the second week. By week three you can add the final one. Next thing you know, an entire month will go by and you’ll be off all three.

You can also approach it like a true foodie and explorer rolled into one. Look for gluten-, dairy-, and sugar-free options at your local grocery and health food stores. Check out Web sites and magazines that focus on allergen-free foods. You can also visit my Web site for great alternatives and recipes.