What’s Going On In There?

Heartburn SmallI was deep in conversation recently with a young woman, as she explained to me in earnest, how she was struggling with an over-production of stomach acid.

This had been causing her all kinds of problems.

(Since we were at a party, I’m actually not sure how we go off onto that tangent, but we did.)

After listening intently, I gently explained to her that high levels of stomach acid are actually exceedingly rare.

And I went on to explain that the likely culprit was more likely low stomach acid.

She was confused.

It’s a common myth, one you’ve likely heard yourself.

After all, the media bombards you all the time with messages of what you should do for heartburn.

And they always recommend an over-the-counter medication, to ease your symptoms.

The key word here is “symptoms”.

Because in the end, all that medication actually does is ease your symptoms – without addressing why you have this problem in the first place!

In order to find the problem, you need to first back things up – and look for the cause.

After all, there’s a reason you’re experiencing heartburn.

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The Noise In The Room

You are fired! “Every part of your body & every cell in your body communicates with every other part of your body & every other cell. Everybody’s talking at the same time.”

Mark Hyman, M.D.

 

Have you ever found yourself in a crowded room full of people?

Did you happen to notice the cacophony of voices as you found yourself speaking as loud as possible to the person seated right next to you – trying to be heard above the din?

Well, that’s the kind of noise that’s going on in your body all the time.

The above quote illustrates this perfectly!

It makes sense, of course, since everything’s interconnected.

Of course, you’re not aware of this noise in your body.

It’s more like a low hum in the background, so faint you really can’t hear it at all.

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How To Avoid The Sugar Blues

SugarI suppose the simple answer to that question would be to, well – simply not eat it.

But that’s easier said than done, I know.

While I’ve personally been avoiding refined sugars for more than a year now – it doesn’t mean that I refuse to eat anything sweet.

Quite the contrary!

Nor does it mean that I will never, ever eat anything made from refined sugar – sometimes it’s just too hard to avoid. (Chocolate chips come to mind, as an example).

However, there are plenty of sweet alternatives to refined sugar – things like honey, and agave nectar, or coconut sugar.

True, agave has gotten a bad rap of late – you can read more about it here.

And yes, it might seem like an odd thing to even mention on the heels of Valentine’s Day, when sweet temptations are beckoning to you from all directions.

However, it’s not all that uncommon for someone to be diagnosed as either allergic, or sensitive, to sugar.

The next time you’re planning to bake, why not experiment with some of these alternative sweeteners like coconut sugar, or succanat?

I’ve given you plenty of suggestions in last week’s post Can It Be Valentine’s Day Without Chocolate? (The short answer was “no” – at least for me).

Then again, it isn’t just white sugar in its traditional form that’s the villain, here.

According to Dr Mark Hyman, “If you have two slices of whole wheat bread, you’re going to raise your blood sugar more than two tablespoons of sugar.” 

In other words, too many carbohydrates in general – especially the “white stuff” like potatoes, rice and flour – are empty calories that offer little nutritional value.

Unfortunately, gluten-free baked goods are no better – due to the presence of various starches such as tapioca flour, arrowroot or potato starch – all of which converts to sugars once consumed).

What can you do?

At meals, help yourself to an extra serving of vegetables, instead of a mountain of brown rice.

Tread light, and see how you feel.

A funny thing happens, though, when you cut back on sugar.

All of a sudden, many of your favorite foods might seem a little too sweet!

I guess that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

 

The ABC’s of Gluten-Free Bread

CautionlBread has gotten a bad rap lately.

Many of the most popular diets – weight loss and otherwise – favor the elimination of bread completely, in place of whole grains, nuts and seeds, and plenty of vegetables and fruit.

If we look at the Paleo diet, The Virgin Diet, or Dr. Mark Hyman’s Blood Sugar Solution  – each of these diets eliminates gluten simply by default.

Plus, they go a step further – advising us to avoid any and all baked goods, breads, cookies and crackers that rely on highly processed flours.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

The science behind this is that the standard American diet contains way more carbohydrates than the average person needs.

These abundant carbohydrates – or carbs – are converted to sugars in our body, which for many of us leads to weight gain and all kinds of health issues.

But the truth is, we live in a carb based society.

If you think about the typical foods you eat on any given day, chances are the list includes bread, crackers, and any manner of baked goods along with whole grains and sugar.

However, if you’re just starting out with the gluten-free lifestyle, this may not be where you want to begin.

In fact, you might be wondering  – where does it all end?

Isn’t it enough that you’ve had to give up gluten, or dairy, or eggs?

What’s a person to do?

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The Noise In The Room

“Every part of your body & every cell in your body communicates with every other part of your body & every other cell. Everybody’s talking at the same time.”

Mark Hyman, M.D.

 

Have you ever found yourself in a crowded room full of people?

Did you happen to notice the cacophony of voices as you found yourself speaking as loud as possible to the person seated right next to you – trying to be heard above the din?

Well, that’s the kind of noise that’s going on in our bodies all the time.

Of course, we’re not aware of this noise in our bodies.

It’s more like a low hum in the background, so faint we really can’t hear it at all.

In fact, the only way our body really “talks” to us – to let us know when something is wrong – is to signal pain or discomfort.

Our energy levels might be low, or we feel tired, depressed or hungry.

We might be running a fever, or experience what’s referred to as “brain fog” (i.e fuzzy thinking).

Truth is, there are any number of ways our bodies can let us know when things are out of whack.

And yet, we don’t always listen.

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