Over all the years of my life, I've followed various weight loss diets, too numerous to remember. And always, of course, I've gained the weight back after the diet was "done". This morning I was remembering that each time I've dieted I've had a little mantra to comfort myself: "There will always be enough chocolate in the world for me." I snorted with laughter at myself when I remembered that. Each time I've dieted, my intention has always been to hurry up and get the weight off so that I can get back to living "normal" life, i.e. eating whatever I want to, particularly sweet things! And there was always a fair dose of feeling sorry for myself for having to deal with weight issues. Poor me!
This time, I haven't used that old mantra at all during these weeks of changing my life around. The reason is that this time I'm not thinking of this as a weight loss program so much as a health gain program. It is completely different. And my conceptual framework has shifted so much as I learn more and more about how the body works and doesn't work, and how what we put into the body impacts all of that.
Yesterday a dear friend sent me a fantastic article called
"Heart Surgeon Speaks Out on What Really Causes Heart Disease." This was written by a long-term heart surgeon, and his thesis is that the theory that doctors have espoused for so long - that high cholesterol causes heart disease - is simply false. The standard cure, taking statins and eating a low fat diet, is also incorrect he says. In fact, he says,
these recommendations are no longer scientifically or morally
defensible. Instead, it is inflammation in the body and particularly in the blood vessels, that does not allow cholesterol to move freely. This inflammation is caused by chronic exposure to toxins and to foods that the body is not designed to process. When we follow the
recommended mainstream diet that is low in fat and high in
polyunsaturated fats and carbohydrates we cause
repeated injury to our blood vessels. This repeated injury creates
chronic inflammation leading to heart disease, stroke, diabetes and
obesity.
He goes on to talk about eating sugar and highly processed carbohydrates, and the impact on blood sugar levels and insulin. He says
What does all this have to do with inflammation? Blood sugar is
controlled in a very narrow range. Extra sugar molecules attach to a
variety of proteins that in turn injure the blood vessel wall. This
repeated injury to the blood vessel wall sets off inflammation. When you
spike your blood sugar level several times a day, every day, it is
exactly like taking sandpaper to the inside of your delicate blood
vessels. He describes how the extra weight we carry also adds inflammation to the cells, until soon the body is heading towards certain illness. The answer, according to this doctor, and to other nutritionists and holistic practitioners, is to return to a diet of foods close to their natural state, not highly processed.
What you can do is choose whole foods your grandmother served and not
those your mom turned to as grocery store aisles filled with
manufactured foods. By eliminating inflammatory foods and adding
essential nutrients from fresh unprocessed food, you will reverse years
of damage in your arteries and throughout your body from consuming the
typical American diet.
Along theses lines, I'm now in the 8th week of following the
Ultra Simple Diet that I spoke about the first time I blogged about this cleanse I'm on. I've lost 16 pounds as of today, and better yet, I'm now taking only 1/2 of the blood pressure medication I've been on for 4 years. My BP is just dandy, and I fully anticipate that I will be off the meds entirely in the weeks ahead. I continue to feel terrific!
