Neda Smith, FDN, CMTA, HHC, Guest Writer
Often addiction, especially to food, occurs during your childhood years. We all remember eating cereal as kids, but over the past three years the amount of cereal consumed by children and adults has increased to an all-time high.
In its original form it was designed to be a quick, healthy way to ensure Americans began the day with a nutritious meal. Unfortunately, today’s cereal is made from wheat, coated with an increased level of sugar and soaked in milk.
So not only have the ingredients of our favorite breakfast changed for the worse, but we are consuming it in greater amounts.
Wheat and sugar by themselves are two of the most highly addictive foods. Together they activate pathways in the brain that signal pleasure and reward, similar to heroin and cocaine. Studies have shown that wheat and sugar can be just as addictive as illegal or pharmaceutical drugs. These foods are becoming an increasingly greater part of the American Diet.
Wheat has a protein called gluten. Gluten contains polypeptides that can react with opiate receptors in the brain, similar to heroin and cocaine. As a result they have a drug like effect on the brain. The sensation of pleasure keeps us coming back for more, and each time we reach for more, the brain’s chemistry is altered. This is the definition of addiction.
And like all addictions, regardless of how harmful a food might be to our body, when the brain sends out the sensation of pleasure we keep consuming more.
Wheat can be toxic for some people and can attack the gut; ultimately this can lead to leaky gut syndrome. From the time food enters your mouth until it leaves your body, your gut wall separates what you ingest from the rest of your body. Normally, a healthy digestive system breaks down your food and only lets simple, small molecules like vitamins, minerals, simple sugars, and amino acids get absorbed and pass into your blood stream. But when the digestive tract’s barrier becomes too permeable allowing contents like allergens and toxins to pass through to the body, then you have got a leaky gut. Leaky gut can be an onset of autoimmune diseases. The longer the gut is leaky, the greater the likelihood that an autoimmune disease will develop.
Wheat can also affect the thyroid. One example is Hashimoto’s, which is an autoimmune disease that affects the thyroid. Research has found that people with Hashimoto’s may benefit from a gluten-free diet. Those who stayed gluten-free for 3-6 months noticed a reduction or disappearance of thyroid antibodies.
During the 1800’s sugar was first introduced into the American Diet. At that time, the average person consumed approximately 6 pounds of sugar yearly. Today the average person is consuming a whopping 156 pounds of sugar a year.
Sugar could be considered the most widely consumed addictive substance in the world. One study found that sugar can be more addictive than cocaine. The only difference is sugar is a socially acceptable drug.
Researchers have discovered that a diet high in sugar can substantially alter the bacterial composition in the gut, causing dysbiosis, which is more bad bacteria vs. good bacteria. Sugar can be very damaging to the system as it also feeds the candida yeast as well as feeding cancer.
How to Transition from Wheat & Sugar?
If you find yourself having sugar cravings and constantly needing to eat wheat or sugar, then you are addicted. As with all addictions, first you must recognize the issue and then work to eliminate these foods from your diet. It is the only way to change your body’s cravings. A good first step that I often recommend to my clients is to incorporate fermented foods such as sauerkraut and pickles in brine. Another way is to consume beverages that are high in probiotics, like these.
The sour taste of these foods will slowly remove your craving for sweet foods. At the same time it will restore your inner ecosystem and the good flora, good intestinal bacteria, which impacts your digestion and nutrients your body absorbs.
I also suggest to my clients to incorporate vitamin and mineral dense foods into your diet such as dark green vegetables, ocean vegetables, and antioxidant rich berries. These foods help heal the gut, cleanse toxins, and revitalize the body on a cellular level.
Dairy in its natural form is not the issue, but the side affects of pasteurization have a dramatic impact. The origin of heating wine for preservation dates back to the 10th Century in China, however the modern version was refined in 1862 by Louis Pasteur. In his desire to eliminate certain disease-carrying germs and prevent the souring of milk, Pasteur developed the pasteurization process we use today. We can all agree it is beneficial to destroy these dangerous germs and increase shelf life, but like all processes there are some negative side affects.
Pasteurization kills both the useful germs and the enzymes necessary to digest these foods. So if you are lactose intolerant, you might simply be pasteurized intolerant.
The high temperatures used during pasteurization, destroys the nutritious constituents. It destroys the vitamin C contained naturally in raw milk and encourages growth of harmful bacteria. Pasteurization turns the sugar of milk, known as lactose, into beta-lactose, which is far more soluble and therefore more rapidly absorbed in the system. If you have found yourself asking why you are so hungry—this might explain it.
About the Author
Neda Smith, dedicates her work to helping individuals find the diet that is right for them through Metabolic Typing. In her 20’s, Neda became an expert in dieting as she tried every diet around, from Atkins to being a Vegan. Each diet left her dissatisfied and deprived causing her to “fall off the wagon” and binge on all the “bad” foods with vengeance. After 10+ years of yo-yo dieting, she discovered Metabolic Typing, which has helped her understand her body’s unique needs. Through Metabolic Typing Neda learned which foods provide her the most amount of nutrients as well as the macronutrient ratios that she needed for a healthy body and vibrant energy. She is now providing bio-individualized program for her clients, as no two people are alike.
Like most people, Neda also struggled with ailments that caused her a lot of pain and discomfort. Through Functional Diagnostic Nutrition she was able to find the underlying cause of her symptom and correct it without the use of medication, but through supplementation.
Neda assists her clients in understanding their bodies needs as well as guide them with the Body and Mind connection, a key element that has led success with her clients.
Neda helps her clients who have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, adrenal fatigue, weight issues, migraines/headaches, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, parasites, ADD/ADHD or more complicated issues such as Fibromyalgia, Lupus, and the list goes on.
If this is something that you experience on a daily basis, give yourself or a loved one the gift of life. Contact Neda so you can start the healing.
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