Book Review: The Diet Cure

Now, you might think it strange that I’m writing a book review for “The Diet Cure” by Julia Ross.  While I am a health coach, I don’t specialize in weight loss.  Instead, I specialize in helping people recover from symptoms of chronic neurological and/or autoimmune issues like autism, ADHD, allergies, asthma, SPD, lupus, fibromyalgia, Lyme and more.

But I don’t like throwing the baby out with the bath water, so I read the book to see what’s in it for my clients.  There’s a lot!

In the book, Ms. Ross teaches us about adrenal, thyroid, yeast-overgrowth, nutritional deficiencies, fatty-acid deficiency, food sensitivities and blood-sugar issues, which are all common in my clients (both the children and their mothers) and how many of these issues can be controlled with diet (food choices) as well as amino acid therapy.

She recommends a whole-foods diet for all of these issues, as well as an Atkins-ish diet especially for those with blood sugar issues. It’s about the elimination of sugar with an emphasis on protein and fats to keep you full.  For anyone that’s ever done the Atkins diet, you know that one piece of bread will send you into a carb-lover’s binge-fest.

Ms. Ross provides us with the missing links for why the Atkins diet is not successful in the long run:

  • “Dr. Atkins did not know that carbs could be more addictive than cocaine.”
  • “Dr. Atkins specifically did not recognize the addictive power of grains, particularly wheat, for many people.”

The key to overcoming carb and sugar addiction is the addition of the amino acids that Ms. Ross recommends.

The book goes step-by-step into explaining how the factors I mentioned above as well as depleted brain chemistry and malnutrition from chronic dieting make it almost impossible to stay at a healthy weight.  Ms. Ross also shows us how to correct these imbalances.

Given that Ms. Ross has headed up the Recovery Systems Clinic for many years, she has dealt with the full gamut of different types of addiction (drug, alcohol and food).  She writes that the reason her clinic is so successful is because of the use of amino acid therapy to correct these biochemical imbalances in the brain and elsewhere.  It’s not willpower; it’s biochemistry.

When I read this book, I took a step back and looked at it from my perspective of not only a health coach but also the media director and a board member of Epidemic Answers, a non-profit that lets parents know that recovery is possible from autism, ADHD, SPD, allergies, asthma, autoimmune and more.

We let parents know WHY there is such an epidemic of children’s chronic illnesses:  it’s a perfect storm of the Standard American diet that is nutritionally deficient, the overuse of antibiotics, toxins in our environment, stressful lifestyles and gut dysbiosis (an imbalance of good vs. bad gut flora).

But when I read this book, I thought, “Huh.  All those women that have been on nutritionally deficient diets for years since at least the 1970’s are having kids, and those kids are being born with nutritional deficiencies that are compounded by gut dysbiosis, toxicity and stress.  No wonder we’re seeing such epidemics of autism, ADHD, allergies and more.”

Moms being on nutritionally deficient diets isn’t the only reason for this epidemic, but it certainly plays a key, overlooked role.

I’ll be hosting Ms. Ross on my upcoming webinar on April 23, 2014 at 1:00pm ET.  We’ll be discussing these imbalances and how to correct them with amino acids and diet, and you can sign up for your chance to ask questions here.

 

Stress and Food Choice

Stress and Food ChoiceYou’ve heard it before:  everybody is super-stressed these days.  Personally, I think a lot of it has to do with technology creep into our daily lives.

Technology was supposed to make our lives easier, and it does, but it also has allowed work and distractions to creep into our personal lives, causing stress because there is no separation and no boundary between the two.

I grew up in a family that had a chemical/technical translation business in the home (before there were personal computers!), and it was dysfunctional enough then without the separation of work and personal lives.

I think it’s worse for people these days.  No one really goes on a true vacation any more because everyone brings their smartphones with them, which allows employers, clients, soccer teams, etc., to reach them even during down time.

So what can you do about it?  Here’s one very important thing you can do, and I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, because if you’re stretched for time with an overloaded schedule, it’s one of the things you’re likely not doing on a daily basis:  cut out the processed food.

Stress and food choice can be like a chicken-or-the-egg game:  which came first?  Processed food can exacerbate stress, and stress can lead to processed food cravings.

What Is Processed Food?

When I say “processed food”, I mean anything that comes in a bag, box or can.  I also mean 99% of all restaurant food and prepared foods because these typically contain ingredients that I don’t consider healthy, such as added sugars, preservatives, additives, canola oil, soy oil or other vegetable oils.  (Want more info about these unhealthy oils?  Check out the Weston A. Price Foundation.)

The main reason to cut out processed food is because doing so will have an enormous impact on your health, both now and in the future.  You’ll feel better, have more energy and get sick less often.  You’ve probably heard this before, but why is this the case?

Processed foods typically contain refined sugars/carbohydrates and refined oils, two of the most unhealthy “foods” there are.  Not only do they cause inflammation, which is a key component of any chronic health condition, but they also cause reactive hypoglycemia, which stresses your adrenal glands, which reduces your ability to handle stress and lower inflammation, which means you crave carby/bready/sugary foods that can raise your blood sugar quickly.  It’s a vicious cycle.

In addition to being nutritionally deficient, these “foods” also cause nutritional deficiencies in order to metabolize them.  It takes something like 50 molecules of magnesium to process one molecule of sugar.  With Americans consuming 130 POUNDS of sugar every year, it’s no wonder most people are magnesium deficient these days!  Magnesium is a critical mineral that is essential for relaxing the central nervous system.

Here’s What You Can Do

So here’s what you do:  once or twice a week, cook a big batch of something that’s easy to throw together, like chili or stew.  Eat half during the week, and freeze the other half for later.  Do the same with whole grains, like brown rice or quinoa; you can freeze whole grains, too.  (Need recipe ideas?  Click here.)

Every day, you’ll need to cook fresh vegetables.  Sounds hard, but it’s not, and it really doesn’t take too much time.  My favorite ways for cooking them quickly are roasting with a little olive oil and sea salt, steaming or sautéing with garlic, olive oil and sea salt.

Try this for a week or two, and see if you don’t feel better.  I’m betting you’ll be able to handle stress a whole lot better than you did before.

THE “R” WORD

road to recovery signYou may or may not know my personal recovery story. I have recovered my 2 sons, now ages 5 and 7, from sensory processing disorder (SPD), asthma, allergies, acid reflux and eczema with a biomedical approach, which means correcting nutritional and hormonal deficiencies, removing toxicities and correcting gut dysbiosis.

I’m still working on failure to thrive, mitochondrial dysfunction, hypothyroidism and persistent eczema in my older son. In addition, they both had developmental delays, and my older son had severe hypotonia as a baby.

I have recovered from immune dysregulation, in which I had shingles twice, the worst case of poison-ivy ever, bronchitis (which I’d never had before), constant sinus infections and constant colds that would last 3-4 weeks at a time.

My older son had immune dysregulation, too, when he was younger: he would go to preschool, get sick and be out for at least a week at a time, then go to school the next week, get sick, and the cycle repeated ad nauseum (pun intended).

I also had severe adrenal fatigue, which was caused by dealing with my older son’s severe SPD.

Adrenal fatigue caused middle-of-the-night insomnia, in which I would be awake for hours at a time in the middle of the night and be so dead tired the next day that 3 hour naps wouldn’t help.

I later learned that adrenal fatigue was the cause of the onslaught of my “female problems”, which I’d never had before: a suddenly irregular menstrual cycle, a uterine fibroid and ovarian cysts.

I also found out I have two types of anemia: iron-deficiency (the more commonly known about kind) and folate-deficiency. I learned how these and most of out other problems can be tied back to gut dysbiosis and its chronic infections, especially Candidiasis.

I also discovered that I am hypothyroid and that this may have played a large part in my sons’ problems when I was pregnant with them.

I found out that I was loaded with heavy metals, especially mercury and lead, which are the most neurologically damaging. I immediately had my sons tested and found out they were full of them, too.

It’s been very hard going through this, as most people, even most doctors, don’t know about the causes of all these problems. They don’t understand that all of these problems are related, and they certainly don’t know that recovery is possible.

We got a lot of help from changing our diets and seeing a naturopath, a functional-medicine doctor and a holistic nutritionist, as well as from me doing never-ending research about how all of these problems are connected.

We’ve recovered from so much, although there is still more work to be done. In any case, we are so much better off now than we were 4 years ago, when all of these problems hit a crescendo.

I want people to know that recovery is possible, which is why I joined the non-profit Epidemic Answers. We seek to educate parents about the causes of these problems as well as let them know that recovery is possible.

In fact, we’re making a documentary film to show the world that recovery is possible because most people just don’t know that.

Most people don’t know that a child can recover from autism or asthma or that an adult can recover from an autoimmune disease, even multiple sclerosis or rheumatoid arthritis.

If you want to learn more about our film, you can find out more by watching this video or by visiting our website. Please help us get this film made!

 

BOOK REVIEW: IT’S ALL GOOD, GWYNETH PALTROW’S COOKBOOK

Gwyneth Paltrow It's All Good book coverMy husband bought me a copy of Gwyneth Paltrow’s cookbook, “It’s All Good:  Delicious, Easy Recipes That Will Make You Look Good and Feel Great” the other day for my birthday.  I have to say I was pleasantly surprised!

She openly talks about the health problems that she had that led to her needing to make dietary changes.  I can relate because I’ve had to do the same for myself and my children.  [Read more…]

ADRENAL FATIGUE

exhaustionI became severely stressed when I began taking care of my two boys without any help because that’s when my older son’s sensory issues and “fight, fright or flight” issues really kicked in.  [Read more…]

THE “R” WORD

recover button

recover button

You may or may not know my personal recovery story.

I have recovered my 2 sons, now ages 6 and 8, from sensory processing disorder (SPD), asthma and acid reflux with a biomedical approach, which means correcting nutritional and hormonal deficiencies, removing toxicities and correcting gut dysbiosis.

I’m still working on failure to thrive, mitochondrial dysfunction and hypothyroidism.  In addition, they both had developmental delays, and my older son had severe hypotonia as a baby.

I have recovered from immune dysregulation, in which I had shingles twice, the worst case of poison-ivy ever, bronchitis (which I’d never had before), constant sinus infections and constant colds that would last 3-4 weeks at a time.  [Read more…]

Why Is Gut Dysbiosis So Bad for You?

Why Is Gut Dysbiosis So Bad for You?Gut dysbiosis is an imbalance of good vs. bad bacteria, yeast and other pathogens in your intestines. This is important because most of our immune system is located in our gastrointestinal tract, as most pathogens enter our bodies through our mouths.

Gut dysbiosis can cause lowered dopamine and lowered serotonin, as well as an inability to remember something in the short term, because most neurotransmitters are made in the intestines.

It can also cause leaky gut (intestinal permeability) which means that waste products that should be pooped out are not and are instead leaking out and causing an immune response.

Gut dysbiosis also causes nutritional deficiencies and can lower thyroid function, as well as cause lowered excretion of waste through the kidneys.

In addition, it causes increased ghrelin and lowered leptin, making you feel hungrier than you should, thereby contributing to weight gain.

Toxins produced by gut pathogens impairs your liver’s ability to detoxify, and because they are stressors, your adrenal glands will produce more cortisol, leading to fatigue and an inability to handle stress.

Gut dysbiosis causes inflammation and oxidative stress, as well as damage mitochondria, thereby increasing fatigue and lowering glutathione, the body’s powerful antioxidant.

 

WHAT HELPS MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION FOR CHRONIC FATIGUE?

A Paleo diet, restful sleep, a supplement regime and a low-stress life can improve mitochondrial function in patients with chronic fatigue.  Read more…

SOURCE:  Questioning Answers


RECOVERING MY SONS FROM SENSORY PROCESSING DISORDER

Here’s Beth Wiles’ interview of me, in which I talk about how I had adrenal exhaustion about the time one of my sons was showing signs of Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD, also known as Sensory Integration Disorder), which is now diagnosed in 1 out of 65 children.

ADRENAL SUPPRESSION IN CHILDREN WITH ASTHMA

“Two-thirds of children on corticosteroids may have hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysfunction. In one-third, central function had recovered but adrenal suppression persisted.”  Read more…

SOURCE:  Pediatrics