Transform your holiday season
The secret to quelling the fire – Could you use the gift of health this holiday season? You can transform your health and energy in as little as two weeks by adhering to the "anti-inflammatory nutritional plan" detailed below.
While naturopathic doctors individualize their dietary regimes for each patient, this short term diet has proven amazing for many people. Often, due to lifestyle choices, inflammation can develop and show up in many different forms in our bodies, often times while we are unaware. Our internal organs can become inflamed in such cases as autoimmune diseases, inflammatory bowel disease, heart disease and cancers, and many others. Most of us could really benefit from quelling the firestorm inside with this anti-inflammatory plan.
I would like to share this anti-inflammatory plan with all who read this column so that you can improve your health and start feeling better as soon as possible. Most patients show rapid and significant health progress, including: weight loss, clearer thinking, better digestion, relief of pain and fatigue, better memory and mood, lower blood pressure and less migraines – to name just a few.
Two week anti-inflammatory nutritional plan includes:
- All fruit, especially berries (except all citrus)
- All vegetables (if joint pain, no tomatoes, eggplant, peppers or potatoes).
- All nuts and seeds (except peanuts and cashews)
- All beans and lentils (except soy)
- Starches OK: brown rice, oats, quinoa, amaranth, teff, millet, buckwheat
- Dairy substitutes OK: almond/rice milk
- Animal protein foods OK: all fish, lean poultry, wild game
- Oils/fats OK: Extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, flax, sesame, walnut and macadamia
- Sweets OK: xylitol, stevia, brown rice syrup
- Spices OK, especially turmeric, ginger and others
- Beverages OK: Filtered water, herbal tea, seltzer
Foods to eliminate:
- Corn and all gluten: wheat, rye, barley, spelt and kamut
- Dairy: whey (especially protein powders), milk, cheese, cream, yogurt, butter, kefir, ice cream
- Eggs, beef, pork, bacon, sausages
- Anything in food label that says "hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated," shortening, margarine, non-dairy creamer, some salad dressings, margarine
- White, brown or raw sugars; maple syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, all artificial sweeteners
- Ketchup, mustard, pickle-relish, soy sauce and barbecues sauce
- Soft drinks, alcohol, coffee, black tea, other caffeine-containing beverages
If you would like to lose abdominal fat, also cut down on carbohydrates. If you do not exercise like the Amish (14,000 to 16,000 steps per day), do not eat like them. Eat carbohydrates in proportion to how much you move each day.
When in doubt if a food is on or off the program, do not eat it.
Take a total of 10,000 to 15,000 IU of Vitamin D3 daily for the rest of December, unless you have been tested over 50 on the Vitamin D 25 OH test, and then 4,000 per day beginning in January.
Find healthy ways to deal with your emotions. Toxic emotions such as anger, depression, and excessive worry or anxiety can also lead the body out of balance. Exercise for at least 30 minutes daily, unless contraindicated by your doctor.
It is usually easier to follow the plan eating at home, than at restaurants. The key is to plan ahead so that when you are hungry, you always have a "safe" option.
If you feel better, and the diet is working for you, stay on it indefinitely.
Explore additional topics from Sacramento Naturopathic Medical Center with Dr. Godby, ND, MA and his team at Natural Wellness.
As a naturopathic doctor for the last 20 years, I have witnessed the power of a preventative lifestyle and naturopathic medicine to transform the health and lives of thousands of patients.
Sacramento Naturopathic
2530 J Street, Suite 100
Sacramento, CA 95816
Phone: (916) 446-2591
sac-nd.com/dr-dennis-godby-nd-ma