 |
|
 |
| |
| Departments |
Home
Columns, Special
Topics & Features:
The Columns:
Angels, Guides, &
Loving Spirits:
Angel Blessings:
with Dr. Doreen Virtue
Ask Valerie Morrison,
Internationally
Acclaimed Psychic
Astrologer's Notes:
Ask Carrin Martin,
Astrologer
Basil Fearrington,
Astrologer
Diana Stone,
Astrologer &
Huna Shaman
Jeff Jawer
Astrologer
Martin Lass,
Astrologer
Glenn Perry,
Astrologer
Ray Merriman,
Financial Astrology:
MMA Market Week
Noel Tyl,
Astrologer
Daily Aspect Calendar
by Care
The Weekly Horoscope
By Care
Creating Bridges:
The Spiritual &
Philosophical
Act of Power
Discovering the Key to Living Your Sacred Dream
by Lynn Andrews
The BUT Doctor
Healing America's Real Crack Problem One Person at a Time
by Eddie Conner
Avant-Gardening:
Insights by Frank &
Vicky Giannangelo
Breaking Free:
Anne Brewer
From The Heart:
Alan Cohen
Teachings from the Western Mystery Traditions: The Esoteric "Paths of Return"
by Jacquelyn Small, Eupsychia
"Letters from Heaven:" Spiritual Guidance from
the Hebrew Alphabet
by Avigayil Landsman
Memos From The
First Tabugian
Art Rosengarten, Ph.D.
The Path of Wisdom and Love
Dr. John Demartini,
Spirituality in Daily Life: by Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron
The Conscious Column
by David Ault
Spiritual Mastery
for the 21st Century
Dr. Gwen MacGregor
Pearls of Wisdom:
with Care & Aeon
Feng Shui & Chinese Metaphysics:
Inside Chinese Metaphysics
by Barbara Finch,
Feng Shui &
Chinese Astrology
Wind & Water:
Carole J. Hyder
In Practice:
How to Create a Successful Holistic Practice- from Start to Success
by Shaun Brown,
CMT, BA BeWell Publications
Spirit in Work
by John Livesay,
Author
The Business of Tarot
by Bonnie Cehovet,
Tarot Master
Pet Care:
Dr. Carson's Holistic Animal Care
by Dr. Kathleen Carson, D.V.M.
Tarot:
Soulforest:
Tarot and Spirituality
Rachel Pollack,
Tarot Grand Master
Gateway to Tarot:
by Bonnie Cehovet,
Tarot Master
Reviews:
Tarot, Cartomancy,
Oracle Decks,
Books, & Software.
by Bonnie Cehovet,
Tarot Master
Humor:
Wake Up Laughing.Com:
Swami Beyondananda
Features:
Blessings & Messages
Crystals, Gemstones & Minerals
Event Calendar
Historical Notes & Data
The MetaPersonals
Opinion-Editorial
Symbols, Seals,
Amulets & Talismans
The What in the
World Department
Trivia & Other
Novel Moments
Interviews:
Rachel Pollack
The Kabbalah Tree
Healing & Alternative
Health:
"The Ancient Way of Chinese Medicine"
by Kevin O'Neil
Flower Essences
by Donna Cunningham
Living in Harmony-Astrology, Yoga & Ayurveda:
Venkat & Christine Machiraju
"Spirit and Practice
of the Wise Woman
Tradition"
By Susun Weed
Tai Chi & Qigong
by Bill Douglas
The Holistic Mystic,
by Lonny Brown
Medical Intuition: Tune
in to Your Body and Improve Your Health
by Caroline Sutherland, Sutherland Communications
Conscious Breathing
for Health and Self Transformation
by Dennis Lewis
Homeopathy:
by Senbita Carter,
Lecturer & Practitioner
The Directory
The Book Nook
Archives:
Past Issues
|
|
|
|
|
|
Alternative Health & Healing:
Medical Intuition- Tune in to Your Body and Improve Your Health:
Weight Issues
|
|
|
by Caroline Sutherland |
|
|
When I see overweight men and women poring over diet meals in the freezer case at the grocery store, I find this very sad. These "diet" entrees feature small portions in fancy packages; and they advertise that they contain minimal calories, no fat, and no cholesterol-but they're loaded guns. These meals don't help overweight people in their quest to lose weight. In fact, such meals can often hinder them in their quest for better health due to the incredibly high levels of salt and chemicals-and they contain allergic foods!
Most people don't realize how simple it is to lose weight. Contrary to popular belief, losing weight isn't about counting calories, weighing food on scales, measuring portions, or starvation. It's about knowing what the body wants, and how it utilizes certain foods and translates them into cell tissue-particularly those foods that it's allergic to. I call this the great fat/fluid myth.
Let's look at the common components of the weight issue.
1. Food allergies-Almost all overweight people have food allergies, particularly to common foods that are eaten every day. This includes candidiasis, which can trigger tremendous cravings for starches and sugars. Most overweight people are afflicted with candida, but it's easy to correct.
2. Excessive carbohydrate consumption-Carbohydrates (starches) convert quickly to sugar. Excess sugar is converted to fat and stored in the cells, leading to weight gain.
3. Hormone imbalances-Another major component of the weight issue is hormones. Overweight people often have thyroid and related endocrine problems. Hormones require careful balancing.
4. Exercise-Overweight people need to get their bodies and lymphatic systems moving, tune and tone up their muscles and fibers, increase their heart rates, and simply feel better. They should pick a simple activity that they can commit to every day.
5. Bowel movements-Believe it or not, this is a very telling area regarding weight loss. If the body is holding on to excess matter (resulting in constipation), this can contribute to weight gain. Conversely, a case of diarrhea means that the body isn't getting a chance to absorb nutrients.
Following are some useful guidelines if you're ten pounds or more overweight.
Food Allergies and Weight Gain
Most people aren't aware that the foods they consume on a daily basis can actually be their biggest enemy. This is true for both weight loss and the quest for better health. Many suffer from what is termed an addictive/allergic response. This means that people can actually be allergic to the foods they crave, and must eat these foods in order to stave off withdrawal symptoms. Food allergies (or sensitivities) engage the immune system, which recognizes certain foods (particularly dairy, and wheat or flour products) as foreign invaders. The body reacts defensively against the allergen and engages the immune system. A chemical called histamine is released, and it can induce tissue damage, inflammation, and fluid retention. This fluid is stored in the body's tissue, rather like a filing cabinet. The body says, "I don't like what she/he's consuming, so I'm going to store this in the tissue until I can figure it out later."
Unfortunately, this never happens. The body never can "figure it out later" because the person keeps consuming the same foods, which can be aggravating the system day after day. As soon as the person stops consuming the offending foods, the body miraculously releases the stored fluid, and it's urinated out of the body.
Food-sensitive people tend to crave foods that release serotonin, usually found in sugars and refined carbohydrates. Serotonin is the "feel-good" chemical in the brain-but this temporary feeling of well-being invariably leads to a decline in blood-sugar levels, resulting in fatigue and a myriad of other undesirable symptoms. As soon as the North American diet industry understands this simple concept and everyone becomes aware of their own individual food allergies and sensitivities, the entire business will be revolutionized.
One big myth most overweight people mistakenly believe is that there are certain foods that will help them lose weight because they're low in calories. One such food that falls into this category is cottage cheese-this, or any low-fat cheese, is a staple in the diet industry. How many people start a diet on Monday morning with a plate of low-fat cottage cheese and fruit? But cottage cheese is a dairy product, and dairy, although delicious, can trigger immune reactions. So the body recognizes the cottage cheese, low-fat or otherwise, as an attacker, mobilizes histamine, and stores the resulting fluid in the body. As soon as people identify their food allergies and stop creating histamine reactions, they won't be storing fluid in the tissue-thus, they'll lose weight.
If you want to slim down, I suggest that you stop consuming dairy or wheat products, sugar in any form, and caffeine for a period of four weeks. If you're suspicious about corn-which can be a common allergen in overweight people-avoid it as well. Corn in some form is almost always contained in baked goods or processed foods, and because it's so sweet and breaks down to sugar so quickly, it can contribute to carbohydrate and blood-sugar problems.
Next, take a look at your legume (bean) consumption. Legumes, although tasty, can be hard to digest, contributing to gas and bloating. Peanuts and soybeans are legumes; coffee and chocolate belong to different food families, but they're also a variety of bean. And don't forget about soy-it's the fifth most common food allergy and is a much-used filler in the production of many packaged foods. Soy can contribute to an increase in estrogen production, and overweight people often have high estrogen levels. The current popularity of soy consumption may not be appropriate for every body. Leave soy and beans in any form out of your diet for four weeks. Use your instincts to detect which of these foods could be involved in your weight problems.
So what are you going to eat? You're going to eat heartily from everything else. Imagine being able to lose weight without measuring out portions, starving, and counting calories. What a relief!
The Carbohydrate Equation
Now let's talk about carbohydrates, another important element of weight loss. After you've identified all your food sensitivities and have eliminated them for approximately 30 days, the next step is to analyze your carbohydrate or starch intake. There are several popular books on the market that discuss the low-carbohydrate diet. These books can be very useful in explaining how cholesterol is formed, and how a low-carbohydrate diet can lower blood pressure, and they can help diabetic and pre-diabetic conditions. An excellent reference for following a low-carbohydrate plan is Protein Power (Bantam, 1997) by a medical husband-and-wife team, Mary Dan and Michael Eades.
The basic principle of the low-carbohydrate program is that you don't eat starches such as breads, pasta, cakes, cookies, popcorn, rice, or potatoes in excess. The plan focuses on the consumption of animal protein; or protein from beans, legumes, nuts, and seeds, as well as plenty of vegetables and some fruit in moderation. (First, make sure you use your intuition to parse out food sensitivities.) Portions of the above foods aren't limited; it's just the carbohydrates (starches) that are measured-now you do have to start counting. A low-carbohydrate program suggests that you consume approximately 30 grams of carbohydrates for the first two weeks and 60 grams after that. I find that 60 grams of carbohydrates per day from the onset of a low-carbohydrate program is a manageable amount.
Here's the basic principle of a low-carbohydrate plan. Let's say that you eat two whole-grain muffins for breakfast loaded with fiber, honey, dried fruit, and molasses-very healthy, right? Well, as soon as you start eating those muffins, they begin to convert to sugar in your digestive system. In less than an hour, there's approximately one cup of sugar speeding around in your bloodstream. Then the pancreas, the organ that regulates blood sugar, goes to work and releases insulin to take care of this rise in blood sugar-all of this the result of the two "healthy" muffins.
At the same time that the pancreas is taking care of the rise in blood sugar, it also gives a message to the liver to create cholesterol in the same amount. Cholesterol is stored in the body unless it's used up through exertion (exercise). The trick with a low-carbohydrate diet is to not initiate a strong insulin response from the pancreas. This way, the pancreas isn't overworked, constantly releasing insulin, nor is it constantly giving messages to the liver to create cholesterol.
Also keep in mind that it can be useful to avoid caffeine when following a low-carbohydrate plan. Caffeine stimulates a temporary surge in blood sugar, which can be followed by an overproduction of insulin and a low-blood-sugar downward spiral.
A low-carbohydrate plan can be very effective. Not only do people have more energy (because they're not consuming sugars and excessive starches), but they tend to lower their cholesterol and blood pressure, and sometimes are able to even reduce or discontinue diabetes medication. When there's very little sugar in the blood, cravings appear to subside, and the body uses up the stored fat in the tissues for fuel. Weight loss naturally follows.
Pity all those poor people who've been avoiding fats and animal proteins-neither of which trigger an insulin response-and have been consuming excessive amounts of carbohydrate, which does trigger an insulin response, in an effort to lose weight.
With all due respect to the low-carbohydrate diet books out there, they're all missing one important element-food allergies and sensitivities. Almost all of these books encourage people to eat cream, cheese, sour cream, and cottage cheese in liberal amounts. Remember, the number-one food sensitivity for most people with weight and assorted health problems is dairy products. It baffles me that no one has figured out this obvious connection. When people have been on a low-carbohydrate diet and have reached a plateau or haven't lost a significant amount of weight, I encourage them to avoid dairy products for several weeks. I especially urge DLH types (with their tendency toward lymphatic blockages) to follow this advice. Usually the reduction of dairy will be the linchpin, and the weight starts to drop off.
Plan to keep your carbohydrate intake to approximately 60 grams per day. It can also be helpful to avoid eating fruit or carbohydrates at breakfast and lunch so that insulin levels aren't increased during those times, and there's no subsequent crash in blood-sugar levels. Save the carbohydrates for dinner, when a drop in blood sugar and energy won't affect late-day activities. Many people find that if they eat carbohydrates-even fruit or a small amount of starch-at breakfast or lunch, they continue to crave these sweets and starches for the rest of the day. Experiment with this yourself. Your body is the laboratory, and it will show you the effects of what you're doing.
An Easy-to-Follow Carbohydrate Plan
Here's an easy guideline to follow. I consider it a little rigid, but it can be a useful kick-start to following a low-carbohydrate plan. Your aim for the first two weeks is to keep your carbohydrate intake at approximately 30 grams per day. At the end of two weeks, I suggest that you increase your daily carbohydrate gram intake to 60 grams per day and expand your food horizons at this time.
You can eat any amount of meat, fish, poultry, and eggs (providing you have no sensitivities to these items). Butter, nuts, and oils may also be used sparingly. If you do not have allergies or sensitivities to dairy products, then cheese, milk, and cream may be consumed in limited amounts as well.
I don't calculate the carbohydrate in vegetables as part of the 60-gram total, except for carrots, beets, and other sweet, starchy vegetables. Keep your intake of starchy vegetables low. For example: 1 cup cooked winter squash = 10 grams of carbohydrate, and 1 medium-sized sweet potato = 20 grams of carbohydrates. Choose green vegetables, as they're low in carbohydrates, and you can eat an unlimited amount.
Vegetable Choices
o Eat any amount of the following vegetables, cooked or raw: arugula, asparagus, bean
sprouts, bok choy, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, collard greens, crookneck squash, cucumber, endive, escarole, fresh herbs, green pepper, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, pattypan squash, parsley, radishes, spinach, su choy, summer squash, watercress, zucchini.
Starchy Vegetable Choices
o For the first two weeks of your program, keep your consumption of these vegetables low (refer to the carbohydrate list for verification): artichokes, avocado, beets, Brussels sprouts, butternut squash, carrots, Danish squash, eggplant, jicama, leeks, okra, olives, onion, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, turnips, water chestnuts, winter squash, yams.
Beverages
o Limit your beverage intake to these items (which you can have an unlimited supply of):
herbal or decaffeinated teas or coffee, coffee substitutes, beef or chicken broth, and
purified water.
Fruit
o Consume fresh fruit on a limited basis-as snacks only-and watch the carbohydrate grams.
Here's a surprising look at some carbohydrate grams.
o 1 slice bread = 20-25 grams
o 1 medium potato = 20 grams
o 1 cup cooked rice = 20 grams
o 1 ear of corn = 20 grams
o 2 RyKrisp® (whole rye) crackers = 14 grams
o 1 rice cake = 8-13 grams
o 15 almonds or 1/4 cup = 5 grams
o avocado = 5 grams
Refer to the carbohydrate gram chart on page ___ or to low-carbohydrate diet books for a complete list of foods and information.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Caroline Sutherland
Medical Intuitive,
Lecturer, & Author
|
 |
Caroline
Sutherland is an internationally recognized medical intuitive,lecturer, workshop leader, and author of 15 books and audio programs onhealth, personal development, and self-esteem.
She is the founder of Sutherland Communications, which offers Medical Intuitive Training Programs;Beautiful & Ageless® Programs for Menopausal Women; Why Wait to LoseWeight®
® Effective Weight Loss Programs, consultation services, and relatedproducts for adults and children.
She is a popular guest on radio and television. The Body Knows is her first book with Hay House.
www.carolinesutherland.com
|
 |
You'll find it in
The
Directory!
|
|
|
|
|
