Baby Steps

The reason why many diets don’t work is because the diet authors try to incorporate too many steps in too short of a period of time.  For example, Candida diets begin by offering you a bullet point list of foods, mainly vegetables and protein, and a list of supplements and then they send you on your way.  Diet books and programs make it seem easy to go from being a chain smoking, junk food mowing, fast food frequenting, binge drinking American to some vegetarian monk who runs triathlons in a little less than a week.  Well, I’m here to tell you from personal experience that healing your body doesn’t work that way—at least it didn’t for me.

See, I tried all those diets to get my health shifted in order and I found epic fail every time.  I’d always begin my diet when I went to the grocery store.  I’d see all the pretty colors in the produce section and I would ecstatically pile up my cart.  Now that I look back, I wonder what the cashier was thinking, probably wondering how much I would actually eat before it all went bad and created a petri dish in my refrigerator.  And she would have been right, because all of it always did go bad, every time.

See, the true way to achieve good health is to start out small.  Maybe you are a heavy smoker and you want to quit. Try cutting out one cigarette per day, and be dedicated to eliminating that one cigarette for the rest of the month.  Don’t worry about cutting out more than that. Instead, begin thinking about the reasons why you started smoking in the first place.  Chances are you smoke because it is a coping mechanism for stress.

Stress comes in a variety of packages:  work, school, family, health, breakups, relationships, infidelity, sexuality, infertility, low self confidence, cancer, death, trauma, war, money, lonliness, abuse, and the list goes on and on.  Nobody is exempt from stress, even if they pretend to be.  That’s why addiction is an ever rampant problem.  People turn to addiction in any of its forms to combat the stress from the past and the stress they face each day.

When combating poor health and addiction to substances like sugar, it is absolutely necessary to deal with things that happened in the past.  Once you begin to address your addiction, you won’t be able to use it as a crutch anymore to deal with past stress and new stress.  Bring those emotions to the foreground and identify the problem. Give the problem a name, research it on the internet, think about it, talk to loved ones about it, try to find answers, make choices.  Take some alone time to deal with it, even if it is just an hour each day.  Breathe. Go through every emotion: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance.  It is only after you reach acceptance that you will be able to make positive changes in your life. 

The Healing Properties of Coconut Oil

Fat used to be the buzz word of diet plans aimed to cut calories and promote wellness.  It is by no surprise, then, that we made the simple and inaccurate connection between the fat in the foods we consumed and the weight we gained on our body.  This led to a whole strew of ad campaigns and low fat products that both cut out good fats and promoted sugar as a base product to their revolution.

The problem with cutting fat out of our diet, is that we cut out oil too, which can rob us of vital nutrients.  Coconut oil, for example, is rich in Omega-6’s, improves digestion/vitamin absorption, and contains Lauric Acid, which promotes healthy HDL cholesterol.  A surprising side effect of Coconut Oil is weight loss. Funny isn’t it? A fat that helps you burn fat—because this fat is designed to burn energy (1,2).

For Candida sufferers, Coconut Oil is another first step to combating the infection and returning to normal health. This is because Coconut Oil contains two powerful antifungals: Lauric Acid and Capryllic Acid. It’s like superman on steroids.

A study done by University College Hospital in Nigeria showed that Candida was more susceptible to Coconut Oil than Diflucan, a prescription antifungal (3). Switching to coconut oil, essentially, is like having a prescription in the cupboard.

I buy my coconut oil at my local grocer and add it to my skillet for everything I cook:  stir-fry's, ground beef for tacos and chili, frying potatoes and eggs, and sauteing meat and veggies for soups.  I also use a spoon to grease the bottom of the pan for baking food in the oven.  You can also just glob it on without smearing it, because it will melt to prevent sticking.  It has a consistency like crisco, so I use it mainly for cooking and save Olive Oil to put over salads and steamed vegetables.

1)      http://www.doctoroz.com/blog/audrey-kunin-md/going-nuts-about-coconut-oil

2)      http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/surprising-health-benefits-coconut-oil

3)      http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17651080

A Bowl of Yogurt per Day

You have probably heard the old adage about an apple a day, but what about a bowl of yogurt per day? With a society addicted to broad spectrum antibiotic use and increased sugar consumption, it seems that eating yogurt regularly is needed to keep the delicate balance of our intestinal flora in check--and not just when taking antibiotics.

There is a strong correlation between Candida Infections and sugar consumption (1).  Candida Albicans is a type of yeast that is naturally occurring in the body, specifically in the GI tract, mucous membranes, and the skin.  In a balanced gut, Candida isn’t a problem, because it serves as just one microbial population that is kept in check by a healthy immune system and another population called probiotics (good bacteria). Candida doesn’t become a problem until the gut balance is highly disrupted in favor of the Candida. 

Antibiotics are one cause of this disruption because they kill our good bacteria indiscriminately--warranting the need for repopulation through yogurt or probiotic supplementation.  However, Antibiotics alone, in my experience, are not the sole cause of chronic Candida.

A diet high in refined sugar feeds the Candida and encourages its growth.  Combine that with a diet lacking vital nutrients and you have a taxed immune system and increased inflammation. This is a melting pot not only for poor health, but Candida overgrowth.  To keep both probiotic colonies and the immune system strong, it is necessary to consume yogurt each day.  However, all yogurts are not created equal. 

Some yogurts, like cereal, are high in sugar because they are flavored.  I was able to combat this problem by buying plain yogurt and flavoring it generously with the same spices I listed on my last post: Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ginger and Cardamom.  The reason is because these spices are sweet and have some properties specific to Candida that I will cover later. 

There are two kinds of yogurts I buy that I mix.  I prefer Greek yogurt, because it contains protein, but in reality the quality of the yogurt and the number of different strains of probiotics is key (not just Acidophilus). I buy Fage 2% Greek yogurt from my local grocer and a yogurt called Bulgarian Yogurt, made by White Mountain, which I purchase from Vitamin Cottage.  Bulgarian yogurt is a little bit more expensive, but contains 90 billion cfu (colony forming units) of probiotics per serving.  It is not as thick and creamy as Fage, so I mix the two together.  Together, these two have made a great addition to my diet and vital first steps to overcoming Candida and poor health.

 1)      http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6481700

Breakfast: The Most Important Meal of the Day

There is a general consensus that calories contribute to weight gain.  Because of this preoccupation with calories and weight, it is easy to begin seeing food, not as a palatable delicacy to fulfill our energy and nutritional needs, but as a plate of caloric units requiring moderate activity to burn off during the day.  Whether it is a slice of white bread or an apple, we’ve been trained by advertisements, diet fads, and society to avoid calories until our cravings get the better of us.

It is by no surprise, then, that many Americans skip breakfast (1).  For me, mornings were the only times when I didn’t feel hungry.  To break the cycle of not eating breakfast, I had to begin by allowing myself to eat breakfast.  At first, it seemed unnatural to eat when I wasn’t hungry.  I felt like I was committing some kind of great crime against my body, that these excess calories would somehow contribute to my health problems even further.  I had subconsciously made the false connection between calories and health.

It took some time, but I slowly began to rewire my brain to see food for what it was:  fiber, energy, minerals, vitamins, and building blocks for the complex processes of my body.  I saw food, not for a number, but as a substance to be judged on its merits.

When we think of breakfast, we may think of cereal, yet not all cereals are created equal.  In fact, many kids’ cereals contain more sugar than a sugary snack or cookie of the same serving size (2).  The solution may seem simple:  avoid cereal marketed to children.  But what about cereal’s marketed to adults?  A simple trip to the grocery store and a few glances at labels may prove that cereal marketed to adults has just as much sugar, and a whole list of unpronounceable additives, as well as added vitamins.  And why are the vitamins added? The answer is simple:  because these substances do not contain vitamins in their natural state.  A buzz word to be cautious of is fortified.

You may be thinking right now, “I’m a busy person, I don’t have time to make a 3-course breakfast.”  The reality of the situation is you don’t have to.  Many whole grains serve as a great alternative to cereal. Whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, oats, millet, amaranth, and buckwheat can be great alternatives to their sugary counterparts. 

I use a rice cooker to cook my whole grains in the morning.  Unlike a stove, you can add your desired amount of whole grain to water ratio and let it simmer in the rice cooker while you take a shower and go about your morning routine.   For some flavor:  add nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, or cardamom.  These are spices available at your grocery store.  I buy mine at Vitamin Cottage in their spice aisle, along with my whole grains. I shop for spices and whole grains exclusively at Vitamin Cottage because they are cheaper than my local grocer and there is a better variety.

Another breakfast option is a piece of fruit, or you can add some fruit to your whole grains. Don't use packaged or canned fruit, but instead add some fresh berries or cut up an apple.  For Candida and Sugar Addiction, I noticed that enjoying fruits and whole grains (good carbohydrates) helped me curb processed sugar cravings throughout the day.  



1) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/11/31-million-americans-skip_n_1005076.html
2) http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20111207/many-kids-cereals-loaded-with-sugar-report

Why this Isn't a Self-Help Site

In every library and bookstore, there is at least one aisle dedicated to Self-Improvement. Catchy titles and trendy covers jump out at unsuspecting patrons, promising quick fixes, fast results, and a one size fits all approach to their problem of choice. Problems are categorized and labeled, giving the impression that disease states, whether they be physical or mental, are all separate entities, instead of symptoms of the same problem.

This blog focuses not on quick fixes, but subtle lifestyle choices that when implemented over time may have beneficial effects on your symptom of choice. My nemesis is Sugar Addiction and Candida, but all of the information I will be presenting serves as a building block for a healthy and happy life through food, exercise, introspection, life choices and healing. 

As a disclaimer I want to iterate that I am not a doctor or healthcare professional. All of the information I will provide I have received through research, life experience, as advice from friends and coworkers, and through trial and error. I will provide citations and links to information that I will use for each post, and as always, Dear Reader, it is best to consult with a healthcare provider before undergoing a change in diet or exercise program.