Back to your insides...Other than working as a food processor to mix up your food your bowels serve to absorb all those important yummy nutrients and water that makes us happy and healthy, but also absorbs the things we eat that are not good for us. After reading up on this subjects I've surmised that eating anything that slows down your digestion, slows down your metabolism => slows down your life.
I read a very informative article yesterday on the demands that sugar puts on the digestive system. This article is telling me to avoid vinegars and pickles because it can create an environment for yeast to grow. Yeast feeds on sugar, so the yeast in your body could be behind your (and my) sugar cravings. But seriously. How can one eat a sub correctly without vinegar and pickles? Maybe it's a Jersey thing but no subs are eaten without the standard olive oil and vinegar, salt pepper, oregano, and a pickle on the side. Luckily I just found out that coconut oil helps battle yeast, fungus and candida. (check the pantry dictionary)
Your GI tract has 3 major functions. I listed the first two for mixing food, and absorbing nutrients. The third is to act as a lymphoid organ. Meaning that it is part of your immune system. The intestines have a large number of lymph nodes and nerve endings. Which is why many people with a GI system that is out of whack also suffer from auto-immune conditions like IBS, food allergies, Celiac Disease, ect. One physiatrist that I spoke to believes that if you have an auto-immune condition in one side of the body that it may lead to other auto-immune conditions to other parts of the body such, for example, Rheumatic Arthritis. That can be pretty scary.
And so I've decided to by nice and listen to my groaning belly and do something about it. Since I can't avoid getting older, I can try to make it as painless as possible.
Today is the second full day of my new diet change. It sounds funny to say that. I've always hated diets. I've tried to think of it as a lifestyle change but that doesn't quiet seem right either. I'm just trying to be healthier and not eat things that make me feel ill. A personal food journey seems more like it. Incidentally today is the second day that I haven't had a stomach ache after eating lunch or dinner.
One of the biggest changes that I've noticed is that my brain keeps telling me that I'm hungry. I know it's not true because I just ate a full meal. The second I eat a piece of fruit I'm fine again. I think it's just my brain asking me if I'm done eating or not. The brain runs on glucose and often will send messages of hunger until it gets it. Often the brain has to wait a long time until the carbohydrates you eat get broken down into glucose. Or you can give your brain an immediate bit of satisfaction and eat a sweet dessert. This is where we often go wrong and overboard. A grapefruit followed by a glass of water seems to do the trick. But my brain is still telling me that it really prefers a piece of 70% cacao dark chocolate because that's what its use to getting. I'm standing my ground for now, but I realize I have only days to find a refined sugar free chocolate before this whole journey falls to pieces.