Your Gut: The Gateway to Health?

I watched a recent you-tube video on “Debunking the Paleo Diet” that clearly showed that our ancestors ate differently than the current Paleo culture would advocate.  It is a fascinating talk by archelogical scientist Christina Warinner and worth the 22 minutes of your time.

However, this blog is not about the Paleo diet so if you are interested in my recommendations on it read this past blog.

This blog is about your gut and how important it is to overall health.  For starters, your gut is the biggest organ in your body and approximately 30 feet long.    Our intestines are the largest interface between the environment and us.  One single layer of cells separates the blood stream from the intestines.

Since food and health is my job, I constantly think about how health is affected by what we put in our mouths.  However, the last few weeks it’s really hit me how every morsel of food, where it comes from, and it’s integrity is key to overall health.

The gut is the organ that digests our food, is responsible for how it is processed for delivery to every organ and cell in our body.  If one is eating a processed diet with suboptimal nutrients this affects one at the cellular level. 

We all know that what we eat affects our health but do we really UNDERSTAND the ramifications of excess sugar, additives, preservatives, and toxic fats to our system, especially on a regular basis?

The take home messages from this video are sound:

We are evolved to eat fresh, whole foods.   Our guts are full of good bacteria that regulate and protect your immune system, and inhibit bad bacterial growth.  Whole foods have the complete package with fiber and roughage, which modulate metabolism and feed the good bacteria.

If we consume processed food full of preservatives we lose the connection and balance our bodies require.  The loss of fiber exacerbates risk of diabetes, obesity and cancer.  We lose the ability to know when we’re hungry or full.  Our gut stops protecting us from disease and dumps toxic substances into our system and we wonder why we don’t feel good or have the energy we want.

It’s all so simple:  eat whole real foods in season and stay away from the inside aisles of the grocery store.  You’ll know what’s in your foods, which will provide the nutrients and fiber you need for health.  Sounds to me like the gateway to better health!

Weight Loss Season?

Many of my clients have heard me talk about this – there IS a weight loss season.  And I am not talking about swimsuits and beaches.

About 10 years ago I noticed most of my clients losing weight and eating healthfully from the months of March through the end of October. 

Then something happens.

In November the days get shorter, the weather is colder (even in California), the holidays are upon us and the body starts to hibernate and want to “hold on.”  There is something about the chill in the air that causes us to want more warm “comfort” food.

People aren’t as focused, SAD (seasonal affect disorder) is in full gear and eating healthfully and getting enough exercise becomes more challenging.

We are not bears but somehow the body is not as geared towards letting go and being able to change. 

I do believe seasons affect us more than we realize.

My philosophy is this:  concentrate on losing weight from March to October – eat as “clean” as you can and get as much exercise/activity as your schedule will allow for.

During the winter months, keep as close to your food plan as you can with as much exercise as is reasonable to keep your weight stable.  Stability is the key for the winter.  Change is hard, even in the body and honoring the challenges of the season is important.

This is not a get out of jail free card for eating hot fudge sundaes but just the reality of needing to give the body the dignity of change or not for the season to season time of year.

Eating Out Over-rated

When was the last time you ate out and had an amazing meal?  One that equates to great clean food, and wonderful service with no food hangover?

Yesterday, I took Jeffrey out for a birthday lunch to a restaurant in town that boosts sustainable produce and  “clean” protein (wild fish, grass-fed meat, etc. free of hormones) and was beyond disappointed besides spending a fortune.

We rarely eat out since the food we make at home is organic, clean protein and my body is happy later with no food hangover.  So yesterday was a treat with an expectation of a good experience considering all the good reviews of this eating establishment.

I have to wonder if my body is so used to this type of eating that it “rebels” when something alternative is introduced such as too much salt or additives and preservatives.

What’s the solution?  I choose to make great tasty food at home since I can control what goes into it (as much as one can) and use spices instead of salt or very little salt to flavor my food.  I go out on occasion and limit the restaurants I try to those with my principles – a selection of “clean” protein, organic produce, and limits of salt.

However, what do you do if you follow these principles and it does not work out?  What did I do besides writing this blog?

I waited till my body felt better and ate a very small clean meal last night to minimize the backlash.  I wrote my first ever review on Yelp since I needed to vent a bit and I’m keeping my meals small and simple today.  And this week will be the same – simple tasty food that my body likes and rewards me for at the end of the day and on the scale.

On occasion an eating out experience can be amazing and there are some wonderful restaurants in Los Angeles.  However, for now I’m eating at the Dopart-Batchelor establishment and am happy to report no food hangover with great service provided!

Sometimes we think it is a treat to eat out. 

However, the treat of health may be a simple healthy meal from home….now that is A Recipe for Life!

“Detox” Diets and Colon Cleansers?

Ads for detox diets and colon cleansers are rampant.  The marketing schemes for them are alluring promising everything from weight loss to energy to restoration of total health.  Even the most discerning can be attempted to try one of these programs.  Are these “cleansing’ programs necessary for health?

It’s true the Western diet is unhealthy and full of processed foods not beneficial to any part of the body including the gut.  However, the body has amazing resiliency and can “detoxify” itself through many resources.  Let’s take a look.

Dr. Stephen Barrett from John Hopkins University summarizes how the body cleanses itself:

1. The Liver:  the major detoxifier of what comes in.  The liver has 2 main functions one of which is to filter toxins for excretion and the other to filter blood before it reaches the heart and lungs.
2. The Skin:  your sweat glands carry waste products in the form of perspiration, which are then excreted by the body.
3. The Kidneys:  your own built in filtering system that cleanses the blood of waste products in the form of urine.
4. The Lungs:  your breathing passages contain mucus, which is then carried to the throat by little fingerlike projections, called cilia which are then coughed out.
5. The Intestines:  your intestines also contain little fingerlike projections called villi, which help to create movement and flow through the intestines.  The large intestine carries waste to be excreted by the body.

And what about colon cleansers?  The gut contains lots of bacteria, which are in your favor.  Ridding the intestines of these beneficial bacteria can disrupt the balance of normal digestion and absorption.  In addition, techniques of colon cleansing can draw water from surrounding tissues of the colon, thereby changing the balance of electrolytes such as sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus leading to dehydration.

The stories of things staying in your gut for many years are anecdotal. Within three days most of what you’ve eaten is gone.  If you want to “cleanse” your gut just eat a “clean” diet with unprocessed foods full of vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and other high fiber foods and eliminate the rest.

The good news is if you have indulged for months or even years, just shifting to a clean whole foods diet can clean your system in three days.  Of course the shift in increasing your energy, losing weight and restoring your health can take much longer but the body has a built-in cleansing system so take advantage of it and save your money for. …and let the body cleanse and detoxify itself as it was originally meant to do – on it’ own.

Friday Night on Abbot Kinney

My good friend Nichole and fellow recent SELF blogger texted me on Friday morning saying she was going to be on Abbot Kinney on Friday night sampling her chocolates.  If you haven’t tried Nicobella’s chocolates you are missing out.  Her new line of “Munch” is amazing and a great little treat with nice variations from regular dark chocolate.

After a long week I figured a stroll on Abbot Kinney might be a great retreat.  Little did I know practically the entire city of Los Angeles would be spending their Friday evening on Abbott Kinney.  Parking was challenging, and even walking on the sidewalk was a bit hard to navigate with the crowds – a bit reminiscent of Disneyland on the 4^th of July.

The plethora of food trucks and their various cuisines are on both sides of the street with everything from pizza, to cupcakes, burritos, and every kind of ethnic food.

After visiting with Nicole and of course getting a bite of her chocolates we decided to have dinner.  Although the food trucks were tempting I really wanted to sit down and have a date night with Jeffrey.

Axe with chef Joanna Moore just reopened after being closed for renovations.  I wanted to do a review for my clean eating restaurant blog since they offer many options. 

At 8:15 we tried to get a table and although several tables were open they told us it would be 10 pm before something opened up or just 45 minutes for a seat at the bar which was not an option given our level of hunger.

We then walked down the street and went into Hals.  I have not been there for years and although they were extremely busy they found a quieter table in their upstairs room and were very accommodating.

Hal’s is not a clean eating restaurant but they certainly have many choices.  I decided I wanted to stick as closely to my usual routine but maybe splurge a bit.

Protein choices were limited since they don’t have grass-fed meat or Jidori chicken.  They had one wild fish entrée but Jeffrey and I were sharing and he was not in the mood for seafood.

I chose the Manuel’s salad, which had endive, mixed greens, goat cheese, grapefruit and walnuts.  It had a beautiful presentation and was very tasty.

Jeffrey wanted one of their small gourmet pizzas.  One had goat cheese and olives and another had heirloom tomatoes and lamb (which is normally grass-fed).  He asked our waiter Jose which he would recommend and he said “why don’t I see if you can have ½ and ½ so you can try them both.”  I thought that was a very patron-friendly suggestion.

Unfortunately Jose came back and said the kitchen would not do that but insisted he would bring both pizzas since he felt bad about the suggestion.  Hal’s gets high marks for their waiter Jose.

The 2 other menu items we selected were the squash blossoms with ricotta and a small side of the polenta.  Hal’s used to have this side of polenta years ago and then took it off the menu so I wanted to try it again given I have good memories of it.

 Both pizzas had lots of protein.  I ate ½ of a slice of crust and then the top of the rest and the top of one other slice.  I had one squash blossom, which was a little soggy for me.  I had a few bites of the polenta, which was amazing but can be addicting.

 Manuel Mares, the chef at Hal’s, does a great job with coupling flavors and concepts, giving a nice balance of taste.

 Not the most high protein meal (a splurge like I said) but shows you can navigate a menu and have some protein and a little extra carbs and be okay.  I was not bloated the next day so it worked and showed there was not too much salt in anything.

 If you want an adventurous Friday evening head out to Abbot Kinney for numerous food options and people watching.  If you want a “scene” you won’t be disappointed.