As if you needed another reason to eat only natural foods and stay away from artificial ingredients, here’s a good one!
You know how when you put a program into your computer, it reads the codes of the program and then knows what to do with it? Well, whenever you eat or drink (or inhale) anything, the substance you’re eating, drinking, or inhaling also has a code. The cells of your body read the code and then, like your computer, set about following their programmed instructions to put it to (hopefully) good use. When you consume something that has artificial ingredients (like artificial sweeteners, artificial food dyes and flavorings, or even high fructose corn syrup), your body’s cells are confronted with a code that they most likely can’t read properly. What happens next is, in essence, similar to what happens when your computer can’t read a program properly—it can freeze up or slow down, or just refuse to deal with it. The end result is that your metabolism (which is your body breaking down foods into nutrients, then sending the nutrients to the proper places to be used for energy and health) slows down, you feel tired, nervous, or out of sorts, and the artificial substances then get sent to the liver to be tossed out . This makes your liver cranky because it has to spend time and resources figuring out what to do with this weird chemical instead of working on its favorite obsession, your health and well-being.
When you eat healthy, clean, natural foods, your metabolism just zips along, reading those codes, sending the nutrients right out to be used, and your liver has less work to do so it can run much more efficiently and keep your system cleaner. Even if you have a genetic predisposition to a slow metabolism, no, especially if you have a genetic predisposition to a slow metabolism, this is important to you. Eating clean is like if Mary Poppins herself was in charge of running your metabolism--efficient, making the best out of what’s at hand--you know, spit spot, practically perfect!
Here here!!!
ReplyDeleteI second that motion. :D
Thank you so much for starting this blog! It is inspiring me to eat better and exercise more :-)
ReplyDeleteLove the comparison there Julie,especially since I do tech support.Makes a lot more sense in jargon I can understand.lol.
ReplyDeleteThat is a great metaphor! You explained it so well that it is motivation to keep out that "bad, random code."
ReplyDeleteWow, I'm really so happy that you're all taking this information and putting it to good use! Thanks so much for letting me know!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more Julie! I've had profound changes in my health since changing my diet to (mostly) clean, whole foods some ten years ago. At age 16 I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue symptom and later developed severe hypoglycemia. The latter became so bad that "attacks" would drench me in sweat from head to toe and cause me to nearly lose consciousness. Very embarrassing during a business meeting! I gradually became aware of the fact that processed foods-especially those containing high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) -triggered the hypoglycemia. HFCS is in most processed foods in the US simply because it gets a government subsidy for food producers (a program started by Nixon to help corn growers). It is banned in much of the EU. I discovered that cutting by out more than just HFCS I gradually overcame not only my hypoglycemia, but also saw huge improvements in my other health issues. My fibromyalgia became far less crippling when I cut artificial sweeteners and MSG out of my diet. Now I look for prepared foods that have the fewest ingredients possible and no artificial anything-even colors-if it can be avoided. I've found that breads from local or grocery bakeries are less likely to contain the bad stuff than pre-packaged baked goods. I also opt for organic eggs, veggies and berries when I can afford them. It's amazing, but you really can taste the difference after "eating clean" for a few years! You'll also lose weight; several family members and I share the same sluggish metabolism. Those of us who "eat clean" carry around less than half the extra weight of those that eat processed foods regularly. Now if I could just be better about getting my workouts in!
ReplyDeleteOther ways I've found to keep toxins out of our bodies: using natural, non chemical cleaners around the home (I cured my chronic dermatitis simply by switching to dish soap from the health food store). I avoid bottled water for these reasons: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/291452/dangers_of_bottled_water.html and carry home filtered water in a Sigg bottle instead (glass is also far safer than plastic). I've also learned recently that you can add three houseplants to your home that will vacuum toxins from the air and give you fresh oxygen in return: http://greenspaces.in/blog/ted09/ . It's a shame that modern living exposes us to some much bad stuff, but thankfully there are ways of dealing with it.
Julie, what is your viewpoint on raw milk since we are on the topic or natural foods? It is at times difficult to get (I used to get it at a farm in Doylestown) but from what I have read, the benefits are amazing compared to pasteurized milk.
ReplyDeleteA lot of people are certainly passionate about the benefits of raw milk. I haven't tried it--I don't drink a lot of milk to begin with, plus, I just can't get past the fear that I'll get listeria or something. I think if I had my very own cow (which would be SOOOO cool, but Boris would be very unhappy about it), I'd know exactly what my very own cow eats every day and how healthy she is and THEN I would give raw milk a try!
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