As a reminder, here are the five types of foods you should avoid, or at least minimize, to speed the healing process to live young to 111:
- Bagels, Muffins, Pastas, Breads (white or wheat), etc. Virtually all of these use wheat that has to some degree been tampered with by man over the past several decades. Specifically, I mean they use genetically modified organisms (GMO). On top of the fact that you are eating a genetically modified ingredient, these foods are for the most part empty calories, offering little nutritional value. Finally, the small protein called gluten present in these foods often affects our bodies in unexpected ways through our gut. It’s best to minimize gluten intake whether you know you are sensitive to gluten or not.
- Processed Foods, or what I like to call “Food Product.” For the most part anything that comes in a box or bag with a multitude of ingredients is a food product lacking the nutrition needed to heal your body. In fact, most ingredients you’ll find included in these products fall somewhere between empty matter and toxic slug. Best to just avoid all together.
- Blackened or Charred. Foods cooked at high heat have a byproduct called Advanced Glycation End products (AGEs). Studies have shown that elevated AGEs can accumulate in your body over time with an adverse effect on many of your bodily systems. If you wish to overcome arthritis pain, avoid foods cooked at high temps for a majority of your meals. Personally, I love a good barbecue, but I’m careful not to overcook or burn the meat. Since I eat clean most of the time and take Heal-n-Soothe, I find it’s okay to indulge sometimes.
- Nightshades. The term nightshades may be one of the most misunderstood concepts in nutrition today. Vegetables from the nightshade family have trace amounts of naturally occurring chemical compounds called alkaloids. These pose very little risk for the average healthy adult, but if you have an autoimmune disorder or your digestive system issues these alkaloids should be avoided or minimized for optimal health.
- Sugar. Let’s be clear, sugar is sugar regardless of how you sell it. There are simple sugars called monosaccharides including glucose, dextrose, fructose and galactose. Then there are disaccharides, or compound sugars, where two monosaccharide molecules merge. Those include lactose, maltose and sucrose. They are all sweet. And they are all oxidative in excess amounts. With continued oxidative action, your body will trigger an immune response which keeps your body in an inflamed state. In short, if your body must constantly work to process sugars over a long period of time, your body will become stuck in this inflamed state, never giving your body a break long enough for it to advance to the next stage of healing.
Of the five worst foods, I firmly believe sugar is the worst of them all because it is found in virtually everything and we simply eat too much of it on a daily and weekly basis.
I know it can be hard to change your dietary habits, so instead of asking you to stop eating sugar, let me ask you to simply look at the nutritional facts label on the food you eat and just try to gauge your daily intake for now.
The American Heart Association indicated men can have up to 37 grams, or 9 teaspoons, a day and women can have up to 25 grams, or 6 teaspoons a day. Use that as a guideline and goal.