The Truth - just how much can or DOES diet change your life?

I am amazed, simply amazed, at what has happened with my eGFR since seeing my dietary endocrinologist. 

This man is my friend and I have seen him increase his medical/dietary/health knowledge time and again for nearly 40 years. He has helped me in the past, as a teenager on death's row, and he has most recently helped to reverse my declining kidney function.

I am not here to make claims on what could happen in anyone else's life. I am not here to promote a product. I am writing here on this "Learning Clean Eating" blog to encourage you that real life changes are indeed possible. Even probable.

What works for my body, of course, may not work for yours.  After all, we are each bio-individuals (I think that's what another friend in health terms it!), meaning just as we are all wired just a little bit different (or a lot, sometimes!) emotionally, so too are we wired differently biologically.

Each physical body is uniquely and intricately designed, with certain 'anomalies' and specific ways of communicating with other organs and tissue and hormones in the body that are not exactly the same as another body's system of communication 'being.'

Some of you lucky geese out there may have not one single apparent health issue, and want to eat 'clean' to stay that way, or perhaps just out of sheer goodness to your body. Others, like me, have chronic illnesses that will leave us at death's door without proper medical help. Still others have gone the medical route on top of 'alternative' routes and, recognized illness or no, have not found that for which they are searching.

Some of us have tried to eat 'right' only to realize it's just not working! Why? Again, because each one of our bodies is sort of an island unto itself. The things we read about (the things I am about to share) do not work for everyone because they are not designed with YOU - not "you" in the general sense, but "you" specifically - in mind. And honestly, how could they be? Just in North America alone I would guess 99.9% of people require some sort of health remedy. Do the countries some people like at askance perhaps suffer less health remedies? And if so, might it be due to a certain wa of life - exercise through harvesting, eating the fresh non-GMO food just harvested, having access to their own farms/fields that yield healthy crops such as fruits and vegetables not just grains.

Ah, but I digress. That subject will fill up a whole other post. :)

An aside about my exercise feat:
I joined a gym about 4 months ago. Paid in advance in case I didn't stick to it. I do stick to things, generally, but I have never formally - okay, informally either - exercised in my life. Chronic illness that begins at a young age tends to do that to a person. I faithfully worked out 3x/week. I was committed. Sometime into the 3rd month someone asked me how far along I am. It took me some time to realize the person did not mean how long had I been attending weight-lifting classes, but rather when this supposed baby was due to pop out of my belly! <gasp>

It was only then that I realized what the gym trainers had been saying to me was absolutely true: it's 70% diet and 30% exercise. I had not altered my diet. I drink cokes for migraines and once in awhile I think it helps. (Having never before drank caffeine, it worked REALLY well in the beginning!) I realized that my entire outer physical body had not changed one single bit. I had not gained muscle (how do I know? Because they said I would gain weight, indicating as much). My arms/legs/etc had not toned. Obviously my belly had not shrunk.

I remembered, then, the 5 weeks I had spent with my dietary endocrinologist: I had lost weight, my migraines had considerably lessened (thus greatly reducing my coke intake). And in case I needed proof that I was feeling better and on the mend - I got my labs checked.

My kidney function had jumped from 26% (Feb) to 42% in April of the same year. 

I encourage you to seek out a dietary endocrinologist for yourself if you have had health issues that you just can't seem to find a good answer for.  I know my friend and D.E. has (once again) made a world of difference in my life.

Come ‘ere sugah… or not

I read this article in the NYTimes online assuming (because of its reputation), even though it’s an “Opinion” article, that I would learn something. Not to seem… Mr. Darcy-ish (that is, arrogant), but doesn’t everyone know sugar is a culprit? That sugar is the issue?

Admittedly, “everyone” is quite the general statement. Perhaps I should state the having read the article, instead of coming away feeling enlightened, I … wondered how this was a news flash. Oh, dear, this is coming across all wrong, I’m afraid. Do not many of us know (or know of) someone with diabetes, for example, who is not overweight? And so it stands to reason…

Without further ado, allow me to share the insights Mr. Mark Bittman (whom I sure you have heard of and enjoy, as well, generally) found in the study of the journal PLoS One…

It’s the Sugar, Folks – NYTimes.com.

Eating Clean on a Budget

 

Vegetables in a grocery store, Paris, France. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Eating clean, or avoiding processed foods, is a pretty hot topic lately. And of course every magazine in the grocery store lines has something shouting at you about health. Any media outlet you come across blares it into any of the 5 senses it can reach: the billboards and internet are as bad or worse than the magazine sitting quietly in their racks; the radio and television ads blare at you from the sound systems, sometimes unwanted background noise, simmering with ‘health’ news or commercials.

Information overload begins to weigh on your shoulders. A sudden urge comes to grab the nearest unhealthy snack. Teenage-like rebellion rears its ugly head and we figuratively close our eyes and ears to the ‘evil’ descending upon us, overwhelming us.

Sometimes eating clean, or healthy, just seems too difficult. Which choice is the ‘right’ choice? Is the right choice for you also the right choice for me? How do I know? Says who? And on top of all that… How can I afford it? Is it even expensive? Look at how cheap all of this processed food is. Not to mention how quick and easy it is to cook.

Am I reading your mind? Or that of someone you know?

The link to a blog article (and the blog itself!) might help. It is called:
Eating Clean on a College Budget: How to Cut Out Processed Foods…and Add Clean Foods into Your Diet.

Sometimes I still feel like I am on a college budget – oh, wait, I am! My husband went back to school… ha Well you may feel like you are still on a college budget, or maybe you are back to one, too! At any rate, we all have to budget our time, money and other resources. Not only does this blogger help make it seem easy to budget the money aspect of clean eating, but she also makes the whole IDEA of eating healthy seem easy, so wanted to share it with you!

Happy healthy and clean eating! By the way - she also posts a nice little grocery list of items that she 'always has on hand.'

(from my post on another blog of mine called The Treasure Trove)

Related articles

• You Are What You Eat (nourishedexistence.wordpress.com)
• Eat Clean My Friends! (adriannam2.wordpress.com)
• What is Clean Eating Anyway? (lavidasanablog.com)
• Quick and Clean: 40 Non-Processed Snacks That Meet Your Need For Speed (consciouslifenews.com)
• Cleansing VS Dieting (thecleanseexpert.wordpress.com)
• Healthy eating app a hit (fijitimes.com)
• How expensive is it to eat clean? (fithmongmoms.wordpress.com)