What is the best diet?
Should I eat paleo? Carnivore? Mediterranean? Vegan? Gluten-free? Keto? There are so many options. How do you know what is right for you? The answer is simple: eat what makes you feel the best. I’m not talking about ice cream and potato chips. I’m talking about feeling good for hours, days, and a lifetime, not minutes. I’m talking about fueling yourself with high-octane foods that give you energy and keep your body and mind working their best. The question is: how do you figure out what makes you feel best?
Pay attention to your body.
Listen to it. Hear it screaming? I once asked a patient who was on three medications for arthritis totaling thousands of dollars a month if he felt like anything he ate affected his joints. He replied readily, “Of course. Every day about an hour after I eat my Snickers bar, my joints are on fire.” He heard his body, but he chose to ignore it. Ignoring is a choice, but I would argue that it is not the healthy choice.
Inflammation is a side effect of the standard American diet. Sugar and corn syrup are at the top of the list of troublemakers. Gluten, found in wheat, and dairy are also high on the suspect list. They have proteins that can be hard for the body to handle. To round out the top ten foods that cause inflammation due to allergy or sensitivity, here is a list:
- peanuts
- eggs
- soy
- corn
- yeast
- nightshades such as tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, and eggplant
So what do you do with that information? Just avoid it all? Sounds impossible. The beauty of the elimination diet can ferret out what ails you.
What is an elimination diet?
First, give yourself a fighting chance of figuring this out by cutting down on sugar to one serving a day or less frequently. If you want to know how good you can feel off sugar, try eliminating it completely for two weeks. Plan something nice for yourself on your third day off sugar: a massage, early to bed, or a yoga class in the evening. Your withdrawal will peak at day three, so be prepared.
You’ve successfully eliminated sugar except for your morning coffee. I’d encourage you at this point to switch to a less inflammatory sweetener like honey or agave nectar. Now we’re getting somewhere. How about a two-week trial off gluten and dairy? Both? you ask. Ok, how about one or the other first? Have you recognized that dairy will frequently upset your stomach or give you extra bathroom time? You might want to start with dairy. Do you notice that eating a sandwich tanks your energy for hours afterward? Do you have a problem with hypothyroidism, or does it run strongly in your family? If any of these are true, you might want to start with gluten.
On your mark. Get set. Plan.
A successful trial off gluten, dairy or both takes a bit of planning. Plan on not eating out. Cook ahead. Make a crock of your favorite chili, beef vegetable, or white chicken chili. Freeze some. Stock up on salad fixins. Plan on cooking at least twice a week and cook enough for leftovers. To be a true test of your sensitivity to a food, you must avoid it completely for two weeks. Read all labels. You’ll be surprised.
So, you’ve finished two weeks off gluten, dairy, or both and you’re not sure if they were dragging you down. What next? Reintroduce one food at a time. Eat it three times a day for three days. Does your nose get stuffy? Does your eczema flare? Is your heartburn back? Diarrhea? Joint pain? Sleeping more? Bags under your eyes? Swollen ankles? Nothing? If you notice no difference if you eat it or not then it is probably safe for you to eat within moderation.
The best food plan for you is the one that makes you feel the best. I strongly suspect that a diet that is composed mostly of real food is going to be your answer. Once you remove the general and more specific foods that inflame you, you’ll be able to better recognize when you eat something that makes you feel less than excellent. Experiment with your diet, but keep in mind what Michael Pollan says, “Eat (real) food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
Having trouble figuring out what to eat? Are you eating real food most of the time and still struggling? Come get some help. We can do a nutritional assessment and run some tests, if appropriate. Call our office to take the next step to feeling your best: 814-772-0722.