And I really mean that.
With all the reading I've done as a result of my daughter's digestive illness and food allergy, I have no doubt that diet plays a much larger role in our health than many of us choose to believe. When you stop, think, and read about it, it all makes perfect sense.
Key word: read. When so-called "experts" contradict each other, you MUST take matters into your own hands. That means, you not only have to search for internet articles, but you also must read books. When many of them start to say the same thing, then you know you're on to something.
When I discovered that grains and starches could be making my daughter sick, everything we ever knew about nutrition came into question. And guess what? Within a week of eliminating these things from her diet, she felt better. Her symptoms were GONE, without having to give her the potentially harmful medications the doctor had prescribed.
It was amazing.
Was she cured? No.
Once something goes wrong, it's hard to completely reverse it. And sometimes, the damage is so severe that dietary changes won't stand alone as a treatment. I'm not a medical professional, and am certainly not suggesting that you go against medical advice. BUT, if your doctor is not open to your questions and ideas, then I would run, not walk, away.
It's better to prevent disease from happening in the first place. And prevention starts with changing how we live and eat. Our choices can either make or break us.
We must take responsibility for our own health, rather than leaving it all up to someone who doesn't really know us very well. Or more importantly, someone who hasn't taken time out to ask all the right questions.
It's that simple.
And so, every single time I hear of someone being diagnosed with a disease, or see someone who is more than a little overweight, I wish I could hand them some books.
Books can change lives. My daughter is living proof of that.
Like many people, I used to think that low-carb diets were to be used only for weight loss. We've been led to believe that such diets are unhealthy, when quite the opposite has turned out to be true - for centuries! When you look back at how people used to eat, we see that most of their carbohydrates came from vegetables and fruit. Yes, veggies and fruit can give us all the carbs we need. And if we take time out to add more of them to our diets, we won't miss all those refined carbs and sugars much at all.
There are all kinds of "carb-controlled" diets (as Jonny Bowden puts it), and many of them do not require you to eliminate all grains and starches.
Even if you never even take a look at any of these specific diets, you can change your life simply be reducing your intake of refined carbs and sugar - especially white flour, and most sweeteners. Wheat causes a lot of problems in more and more people, even if it's whole wheat. It's certainly not the only food that many people are sensitive to, though. And with all the additives and genetically modified ingredients that are being added to our food supply these days, it's no wonder that food allergies and sensitivities are becoming increasingly common.
Anyway, I wrote more than I planned to today, after reading another Los Angeles Times' article: A reversal on carbs. The author provides a nice overview of the latest nutritional research, which your doctor may not have caught up with yet.
And of course, it's never enough to read just one article to believe it. Here are some great books and recipes for you:
Books to Back the Research Behind Low-Carb Diets
Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Glazed Pound Cake
Have a healthy week!
