By Sarah A LoBisco, ND

It’s a tough, rocky road on this journey to health (pun intended). Truly. We are set up with roadblocks from when we first wake up in the morning to when we hit the pillow at night. I’ve discussed in the past how our society makes it hard to make healthy choices, with 25% of most supermarkets being dedicated to the sale of sugar and diet foods.  By now, most people are aware that sugar and artificial sweeteners are not optimal for our body. Besides affecting our metabolism and  making us fat, sugary diet foods  have been linked to many chronic diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, and even to cancer!

Furthermore, manufactures of these “non-foods” make it hard to physically stop their consumption.  By formulating the perfect combinations of fat, sweet, and salt, these “junk foods” stimulate feel good chemicals in our brain that make us want to eat them more! Literally, the food industry is investing large amounts of money to market and make addictive, non-nutritive, food that harms our body and makes us want to purchase the poison! With our brain in addictive mode, it’s hard to stop long enough to “drop the cannoli”,  think clearly, and choose what’s good for us.

Let’s look at scenarios we are up against in a typical day:

1. In the morning our alarm goes off, the announcer is all excited about the new, all improved, chocolate filled gooey drink delight. “Hmm, should I stop by D& D before work,” you think.

2. At work, your co-workers are passing around the fresh packed and packaged carb-stuffed delights, with extra gooey “creme” filled middles. How can you resist?

3. Your clients demand instantaneous emails and yell at you for moving too slow…you don’t have time for lunch.. you reach for a pick me up and glance at the coffee pot and doughnuts.

4. Crash at 3pm! No time for broccoli smoothies—how about a quick break? You deserve it… with mini-bars of sugar.

…..do I need to say more!???

We are surrounded and we are brainwashed to believe that it’s self-care to eat sugary, processed, non-foods. We are taught to feel rewarded by grabbing chocolate bars in place of rest in order to succeed is this hyper-active fast paced, type-A society. Slowing down, nurturing our bodies, and taking time to cook foods that contain powerful phytochemicals is hard to come by. Still, it’s important, not just to our society’s medical care system, but to our culture and relationships!

It’s not that junk food in moderation is bad, it’s that eating these non-nutritious foods crowd out other healthy promoting sustenance (and joy-filled activities).

Below, Dr. Marynowski gives a list of different vitamins and how a deficiency in them can create various negative health consequences. She also gives some examples of what to include in your diet to remedy the issues:

1. Less than optimal vitamin A levels have been linked to poor immune function, anorexia, anemia, and a number of skin conditions.
•Sources of vitamin A: spirulina, carrot juice, wheat grass, collard greens, or add sweet potato into the mix to ramp up levels.
2. Less than optimal vitamin D, must I go there? Thankfully, we’re learning a lot more by way of vitamin D’s expansive role within the body beyond bone health…increased cancer risk, mental/emotional dysfunction, and autoimmune conditions.
Sources of vitamin D: halibut, cod liver oil, sardines, mushrooms—and of course sunshine, but that’s not a food!
3. Less than optimal vitamin E may increase risk of cardiovascular disease and neurological disease, in addition to poor skin health.
•Sources of vitamin E: sunflower seeds, almond oil, pecans, and tempeh.
4. Less than optimal vitamin K not only hinders the ability to clot, it negatively affects bone density and increases fracture risk.
•Sources of vitamin K: turnip greens, broccoli, asparagus, and cabbage.
5. Lastly, less than optimal CoQ10 has been correlated to poor cardiovascular function, muscular pain syndromes, poor energy, and mitochondriopathies (malfunctioning of the little “energy furnaces” in our cells).
•Sources: nutraceuticals

You may be thinking, “Ok, I want a lollipop and you are telling me to grab spirulina and to take a tea break with my annoying co-worker!!! Yeah, right!” Well, that’s where balancing and supporting the body by looking for roadblocks to success in eating goals are important.

Still, if biochemistry is trumping your willpower, there may be more to the picture that needs support beyond dietary dos and don’ts, there may be more to the picture than just choosing differently.  These factors  include balancing your absorption and digestive power, eradicating overgrowth of bad bugs and microbes such as candida, fixing hormonal and neurotransmitter imbalances, supporting liver bio-transformation of foods and chemicals, nutritional typing, taking out food sensitivities, addressing inflammation,balancing  pH, addressing stress and emotional eating patterns, and more….

To get started on making wiser decisions based on your body, not on advertisements, read my series on building the foundation for health and take these first simple steps. If that doesn’t work, you may want to contact a practitioner for guidance on the factors listed above.

What about adding in more protein? And Soy? I’m glad you asked…. To Soy or not to Soy? Read more on my Saratoga.com blog.

References:

Rachel Marynowski, ND. You Are What You Eat (Clichéd, but True!). March 9, 2012. Metametrix Blogs. http://www.metametrixinstitute.org/post/2012/03/09/You-Are-What-You-Eat-%28Cliched-but-True%29.aspx?utm_source=March+2012%2C+Vol+7%2C+Issue+3+%283%29+&utm_campaign=March+0312+%282%29+&utm_medium=email

Mercola, J. Study on Splenda and Tumors. Posted 3/9/2011.http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/04/09/victoria-innessbrowns-aspartame-experiment.aspx

Abou-Donia MB, El-Masry EM, Abdel-Rahman AA, McLendon RE, Schiffman SS. Splenda alters gut microflora and increases intestinal p-glycoprotein and cytochrome p-450 in male rats. J Toxicol Environ Health A. 2008;71(21):1415-29.

Ford HE, Peters V, Martin NM, Sleeth ML, Ghatei MA, Frost GS, Bloom SR. Effects of oral ingestion of sucralose on gut hormone response and appetite in healthy normal-weight subjects. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2011 Apr;65(4):508-13. Epub 2011 Jan 19.

Bland, Jeffrey, Video from Dr. Bland’s panel discussion at Urban Zen in NYC with Dr. Frank Lipman, Dr. Mark Hyman, and Dr. Bob Rountree. Synthesis Staff. Posted date: 03/08/2011
http://jeffreybland.com/content/Blog.aspx

Dr. Mercola. Fructose. Mercola.com. Posted on 5/2/2011. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/05/02/is-sugar-toxic.aspx

A Scheinin, KK Mäkinen, E Tammisalo, et al. Turku sugar studies XVIII: incidence of dental caries in relation to 1-year consumption of Xylitol chewing gum. Acta …, 1975 – informahealthcare.com

Curi R, Alvarez M, Bazotte RB, Botion LM, Godoy JL, Bracht A. Effect of Stevia rebaudiana on glucose tolerance in normal adult humans. (abstract). Braz J Med Biol Res. 1986;19(6):771-4. PMID: 3651629

Dr. Christiane Northrup. May Newsletter. www.drnorthrup.com. Posted May 3, 2011. http://www.drnorthrup.com/news/news_article.php?id=421

Mercola, J. Doctor Warns: Eat This and You’ll Look 5 Years Older. Posted February 19 2011. Accessed February 19 2011. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/02/19/the-dirty-little-secret-hidden-in-much-of-your-health-food.aspx

Hyman, M. Why Treating Your Symptoms is a Recipe for Disaster. February 19 2011. http://drhyman.com/why-treating-your-symptoms-is-a-recipe-for-disaster-3520/?utm_source=Publicaster&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=drhyman%20newsletter%20issue%20#13&utm_term=Read+more

Balk E, Chung M, Chew P, et al. Effects of Soy on Health Outcomes. Summary, Evidence Report/Technology Assessment: Number 126. AHRQ Publication Number 05-E024-1, August 2005. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/epcsums/soysum.htm