QuestionEvelyn
I am 50.
I have been overweight all my life with a very pronounced belly,along with poor digestion.
This in spite of the fact I eat very healthy,average 1500 calories a day and get tons of exercise (I am a mailman and play football).I have tried vegetarian,ovo-lacto,low carb,very low calorie-nothing.
I have had my thyroid and everything checked but the doctor can find no issues.Since my Dad and uncles have the same build I assumed it was genetic.
While researching my condition I discovered wheat intolerance,a mild form of celiac disease.I have most of the symptoms.Its also heredetary.
Do you think this could be the problem? I was brought up on toast,and switched to low carb bread recently which didnt help.According to the website its not the carbs its the wheat.
Answer
Hi Bud,
It is not the carbohydrates, indeed, which in themselves can cause obesity. But wrong carbs are no good. Some wheat-products are no good. A diet which does not meet your needs or overtaxes your specific processing systems will cause one imbalance or another. Obesity is one such manifestation of an underlying metabolic cause.
From an alternative point of view - separating an intolerance most definitely from an allergy - the symptoms of celiac intolerance would convene with a sluggish digestive system which could be the result of a life-long poor diet or predisposed weakness in metabolic organs. Obesity (in an otherwise moderate diet) is generally a case of not enough "belly energy". There is insufficient cooperation in this area between the different aspects of your organism. This can very successfully be remedied by a healthy diet, which does no more than to emphasise fruit and veg, wholemeal grains and fresh home-cooking. Above all, use real food (grown with respect): start by binning tins and frozen products. Use butter, not margarine, but in moderation. Fresh milk as a nurturing drink, but sour-milk products as an easy protein source. Go easy on cheese - too fat, too salty. Fresh eggs, fish at least once a week, if you like it enough; grilled, lean meat or poultry (soups/stews) in extreme moderation, because it will not kick your system into shape. The quality of your meat is the problematic factor, rather than the foodstuff itself.
Furthermore, alternative research shows that modern wheat, regarding the way it is mass produced, simply, is not what it originally is meant to be (the grain that created a modern way of thinking and helped civilise mankind in a pragmatic but caring way). Capillary testing shows some interesting differences between bio-dynamic/organic produce and bio-industry equivalents, even suggesting harvesting and planting techniques are crucial to producing a better end foodstuff.
An intolerance to wheat is on the increase, mainly from over-use and its abuse. You will find that health-food specialists are trying to do something about this by introducing spelt, a variety of wheat, and kamut, an old Egyptian variety, used for bread, pastry, pasta, and the like. Equally, important is the varied use of other grains, barley, rye, oats specifically. Each plant has a different accent which affects your digestive system in markedly different ways. A muesli or multi-grain bread is therefore much better for your condition. I would try shifting the empahsis onto qulaity and method, before cutting all wheat out of your diet. It is rather more sensible to cut down radically on potatoes and avoid added starch and sugar to many, if not most, pre-processed products. So, going ultra fresh is my top tip for you.
Every foodstuff has properties which cannot be measured in calorific value or on a molecular level. Wheat is a great source of energy, when grown in the right soil, at the right speed, in the right climate. It is full of light and solar energy, which translates into high vitamin and mineral contents. However, almost all of this gets lost in modern/factory processing. Fast milling already destroys the germ (and B1). Artificial raising-agents, preservatives, excess (artificial) salt, strange types of yeast and fats etc etc. make the average loaf of bread a stomach filler and nothing else. Toasting (and/or deepfreezing) bread kills the remaining life-force. Bowel irritation is a common complaint from regular toast consumption (even cancer if eaten daily for years on end). Low-carb bread is a con; it defrauds your system, confounding it into more panic. Eating such a product keeps the machine ticking over, but it cannot work on your health. Lastly, you need fibre, if not only in coarse grains (can be hard to process at all) which can be found in nuts (nutspreads), seeds (tahini), fruit (fresh not only smoothies or jams), salads but also steamed veg. Pic 'n mix every week to select from each category: leaf, stalk, flower, fruit (i.e. respectively: cabbage/lettuce, leek/celery, broccoli/cauliflower, tomato/pumpkin etc etc).
Your health is a dynamic between give and take, push and pull, up and down, in and out, systole, diastole, with a lot of mind over matter, influencing your peristalsis (bowel movements) and other digestive organs (gallbladder, liver, pancreas especially).Your body may be a vehicle, but it also is a vessel containing your real essence (a soul and spirit). Unlike plants, we have to reach out for our life-force: just standing in the sun won't cut it for us. Nor, are we generators in need of a gallon of fuel. Also, good health, i.e. a natural balance, will lead you to the right amount of exercise, and it is why exercise in itself cannot redeem poor diet or solve obesity. Your relationship to food, the communication between inner and outer worlds is what needs to be addressed. Like must meet like: good health needs good food. Food is as good as it is made by natural resources and subtle (cosmic) powers. Artificial food caters to artificial (temporary) needs, and can only sustain you on a physical level, which only goes so far.
For more life force, to get that metabolic system working properly, you need to pack your diet, quite literally, from dawn to dusk with fresh fruit and vegetables(have an early breakfast, a solid lunch, don't eat too late and eat regularly at set times; don't snack throughout the day). Eat wholewheat products ONLY. Try sour-dough bread - yeast can make for a sluggish system. You have to have a carb staple in your main meal (dinner). Pasta only once a week. Rice max. twice (brown, long grain, parboiled). Potatoes once a week max. Now try filling in the other four days! Quinoa, millet (burgers), grits, pot barley in stews or "shepherdess pie" (with lentils and walnuts), couscous (try bulghur, cracked wheat, in kamut variety), buckwheat noodles (soba, Japanese) - browse through a healthfood store - and later find equivalents if you can in a convenience store near you. Half the work is in educating yourself on the possibilities. Of course, I am presuming here, that you can set your hand to home-cooking!
A lot of outdoor exercise as your job and hobby provides you, will fundamentally work up a healthy appetite, that needs a type of food which satisfies the metabolic system. If your calculations are anywhere near accurate, you are eating far too FEW calories. This in a roundabout way puts your system on non-active, and all it will do is store fat. Up them to around 2000 (on healthy, fresh food alone!). In the long run, food deprivation of this order will cause damage to your organs: it's not the fat that kills people, but the disturbed process which leads to obesity. Some over-weight people have excellent health, and merely a genetic predisposition to a (sometimes even extremely) large build. This is not often the case, mind you. Generally, over-weight people are not comfortable with their excess "luggage", which it has precisely become because they are not eating and processing in harmony with their natural given organisation. One way of looking at it, is that it is hereditary because we are born into families with the same underlying soul-issues. It helps assume a more responsible, pro-active, self-determining attitude, perhaps.
Add lots of ripe, aromatic fruit to your diet, berries and dried fruit (apricots, prunes, dates, figs, raisins). Don't worry about the high fat in nuts (oils) they are the right type and nuts (NOT peanuts, which are not nuts) are full of minerals and proteins. A regular portion of steamed/cooked carrots, beets, parsnips, turnips (root veg) is good for concentrating your metabolic forces where they are needed. Raw foods stimulate the digestive system further, but you have to wake it up first, or you will feel miserable on a salads. A glass of OJ in the morning (fresh) is great but don't use it as a drink throughout the day. Try herbal teas, or mineral water, or diluted fruit juices as a treat. Coffee is not a good option. Regular alcohol is a disaster (even a small unit promotes holding onto your fat in your case. An occasional drink is not the problem.). Furthermore, adopt a reverent and curious attitude to your food. Discover, explore, experiment with flavours and colours. This will engage the necessary energy in the processing systems. The fat-metabolism is very sensitive to this aspect. Unconscious scoffing or fast food, but also low-life-force food disses this organisation.
Finally, also, make sure you do not ingest extra salt and sugar. Derive sugars from fruits and grains: this stimulates your metabolism better. Season with herbs, a little soysauce, and horseradish, mustard rather than hot spices or vinegar. Use sunflower, rapeseed, flax, or nut oils, and virgin olive oil where possible. Combine pulses or dairy with grains to make complete proteins, not necessarily in the same meal. For the rest enjoy your food with the emphasis on joy. The secret to great digestion and a healthy weight maintenance really lies therein.
Hope to have given you some new inspiration,
many blessings to you,
Evelyn
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