Atkins, South Beach, Gluten-free, Low fat, Low Sodium, blood type diet, the list goes on. Which one is right for you? Perhaps the answer is none of these.
As mentioned in my previous blogs, I am not a healthcare professional. I am someone who has been fighting to get my life back on track after years of eating the wrong foods. In my case, I should have been on a gluten-free diet my entire life. The digestive disorders caused by the gluten in my diet prevented me from absorbing the nutrients of the foods that were good for me.
I also ate a lot of crap. Cake for breakfast, pie for lunch and ice cream for dinner were my selections in the college dorms. Since I adhered to an 1800 calorie a day allowance, I couldn't eat anything healthy or I'd go over my allowance.
The combination of gluten, crap and processed foods left me very nutritionally depleted. My bones were breaking down, I had a severe yeast problem, and I had high levels of toxins coursing through my body. I felt like I was dying.
Knowing what worked for me, the more I've learned, the more I get aggravated when certain textbook diets are recommended for large masses of people. Nutrition is so personal. Broccoli is definitely fine for most people, but in my case, it was ripping me apart. Fruit? After 2 years of rebuilding my system, I am still told to stay away from it, except for an occasional berry if I must indulge. Sugar is TERRIBLE for me. It is not necessarily great for anyone, but it is definitely worse for some than others.
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I most recently found out I cannot eat RICE. That was crazy. I was off gluten due to Celiac-like symptoms, and I replaced everything grain with rice. It turns out I developed an allergy to rice due to overuse. I stopped eating it, and a persistent cough I'd had for 3 months went away after 3 days without rice. I cheated and started coughing again. It was bizarre.
How can you figure out what's right for you? I recommend NRT, Nutrition Response Testing. Here's a link that explains what it is:
http://www.ahccenter.com/NRT.htm
I'd love to find someone who practices Nutrition Response Testing here in Milwaukee. Let me know if you know of anyone without a 6-month waiting period for an appointment.
PS, good fats, in my case, are really really good. Maybe you'd get some good news like that! My cholesterol dropped to 135 from 185, and meats and fat featured strongly on my personal good-for-me list. And I'm not even "o" blood type.
PPS, NRT can be done with supplements as well. I never take a supplement that hasn't been tested on me with NRT. Right now I drive to Neenah to get this done. Strong Chiropractic, I see Dan Strong.
