Detox Questions Answered...

Every day I receive many questions about food and related issues. Here are a select few I thought you'd learn from:

Q: is it ok to eat whole eggs?

A: As long as you have a healthy liver it's ok to eat several eggs a day. if you have certain inflammatory conditions, such as arthritis and join pain then I don't suggest you eat many because the arachidonic acid in the eggs can contribute to inflammation. However, the myth that eggs are bad for your cholesterol is outdated. Eggs are the perfect protein and you can safely eat several a day.

Q: You mentioned that you can tell me more about the shaky feeling I get when I don’t eat for a  while. Can you tell me more?

A: What you experience is hypoglycemia. There are two types. Hypoglycemia occurs if you don't eat for several hours and your blood sugar drops as a result. You may get shaky, headaches, low on energy and sleepy and moody. 

The other type of hypoglycemia is called 'reactive' hypoglycemia. It occurs after eating a meal high in sugar and starches. First your blood sugar spikes and then crashes, leaving you shaky and hungry and lethargic. You can prevent this drop in blood sugar by ensuring you eat a lean protein at every meal. Protein keeps you full and your blood sugar balanced. Add a fiber from veggies to your protein. The veggies are broken down slowly and enter the blood stream slowly, thereby providing your body with energy that is lasting and you're avoiding a blood sugar crash.

Make sure you also eat every 3-4 hours because your blood sugar only stays balanced for about 3 hours after a meal. So, avoid long periods without eating. If you have been eating a high sugar and high starch diet, then chances are your body is low on chromium. Chromium is a mineral that is responsible for a healthy insulin response. However, if you're deficient, then insulin can't do its job, which is to bring your blood sugar levels back down to healthy levels after a high carb meal. Taking 200 - 600 mcg of chromium picolinate per day (ideally after meals) may help balance your blood sugar levels. Also, you can take alpha lipoic acid, which as been shown to help diabetics re-develop their insulin sensitivity. Aim to take about 300-600 mg per day, ideally 200mg after each meal.

Q: Is it harder to lose 5 lbs of fat or 5% body fat?

The two go hand in hand. Let's say you are 150 lbs and your body fat is 30%, then you have 45 lbs of fat and 105 lbs of muscle on your body. If you drop 5% body fat, then that would translate into 37.5 lbs of fat and 112.5 lbs of muscle. That means by dropping 5% body fat you would have dropped 7.5 lbs of fat. Does that make sense?

Dropping 6 lbs is easy in the first week. The question is: where does the weight come from? Is it water? Is it muscle? Is it fat? In the first week you'll lose a lot of water and then you increase your fat loss. Your body fat measurement is the only way to tell you what's going on.

Q: Heres my food intake for yesterday. Can you give me any pointers?

Breakfast – 1 slice of whole grain with some legumes/pulses

Lunch – Spinach Salad with tomatoes, cucmber and Tuna, in 1 tbsp of Olive oil

Snack – some more of the above salad (Coz Im a small eater)

Dinner – Stir fry Chicken with green / red bell peppers & onions with very little oil.

6-7 glasses of water 

Am I on track?

P.S.  Believe it or not im still sore from Monday’s class and today is Thursday. Any suggestions? Should I take a pain killer or let the pain go on its own?

A: Your breakfast didn't have nearly enough protein as you need. It was mostly carbs, which aren’t filling or helping you burn body fat.  I suggest you add a protein shake at least if you continue eating this breakfast. The rest of the day was good - protein and veggies and a little bit of fat. Make sure you eat about 5x a day - small meals throughout the course of the day.

Soreness is expected and good. It means you worked your muscles. Make sure you keep moving. to keep your body loose. Don't sit around and take pain pills. The soreness will subside with continued exercise. 

Q: Thank you for your email today about the lymph system. I have lymph edema in my lower right leg and sometimes do the skin brushing you suggested. This weekend I took the kids to see my parents upstate and I have to say it was the most challenging period since I started this a week ago.  I did succumb to 10 mcdonald's fries and one single piece of halloween candy.  I have been clean otherwise and working out.  The scale and my clothes are reflecting that.  I havent dwelled on my slip up and am back on the horse. 

Any thoughts or suggestions for managing menopause?  I felt that I was in it for sometime and the hot flashes are insane.  I convinced my physician to test me although she thought that I was way too young.  She called me on Friday to tell me that my hormone levels are consistent with someone in menopause. I ordered some portable personal fans to help with the flashes but any tried and true remedies that you have would be greatly appreciated. 

A: Don't worry about losing it for a bit. It happens and as long as you move on with your next meal, you're good.

Regarding your hot flashes... the most effective approach is to tackle it through diet, exercise and supplements.

Even though I don't typically recommend soy, for menopausal symptoms it is quite effective to add phytoestrogens to your diet. You want to reduce animal foods in your diet while boosting your intake of plant-based foods. Phytoestrogens can bind to estrogen receptors. Choose soy, flaxseed and flaxseed oil, nuts, whole grains, apples, fennel, celery, parsley and alfalafa. These foods should also reduce your risk of osteoporosis and boost bone strength. 

You will also benefit from taking higher doses of Vitamin E, vitamin C (about 1,200 to 2,000 mg per day) and hesperidin (a citrus flavonoid - 1,000mg daily). You can also try dong quai (powdered root or as tea or tincture), licorice (root powder or tea or fluid extract), chasteberry and black cohosh. A company called Oona produces a great product http://oonausa.com/ that combines black cohosh and chasteberry and it works for PMS and menopausal symptoms. You can get it at the health food store or the vitamin shoppe.

Q: If I eat fish as my main source of protein do I still need to take a fish oil supplement?

A: That depends. If you eat a 4 ounce piece of wild fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, herring) at least 3x a week then that should be enough. However, if it's farm-raised you definitely would benefit from taking a supplement. Farm-raised fish doesn’t get the omega-3 fatty acids that wild fish gets because wild fish feeds on algae, which is what the omega-3 fatty acids are made form. Get at least 2- 3 grams of omega-3s a day. Check the label for the right amount and make sure it’s a purified fish oil. New Chapter, Carlson’s, and Nordic Naturals are great brands. 

Q: Gassy and bloated...

Ariane, I have no constipation at all. Eating lots of vegetables. My typical diet now is:

Breakfast: Egg white omelette with spinach, mushrooms, peppers, onions etc.

Lunch: Plain turkey in between two slices of lettuces, yesterday was a cup of pea soup, and turkey

Dinner:  Turkey meatloaf, and salad (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, 1 tsp mayo, vinegar, and raisins)

Snacks: Clif protein bars, organic tea or cappuchino

I've decided to eat like this for the rest of my life. It's the missing piece in my puzzle. Just need to figure out what is going on with the stomach that is creating so much gas and bloating. Any ideas?

A: Your breakfast, lunch and dinner choices are great. However, the Clif protein bars per se even though they have about 20 grams of protein. They are actually high carb bars and each one has about 23 grams of sugar (make sure you read the email on how to decipher nutrition labels as you cannot rely on what a product name says). Additionally, the Clif bars are made from soy protein, which is most likely making you bloated and gassy. Skip the bars entirely and instead eat another serving of veggies or a protein that's real food, such as a chicken breast or a small salad or protein shake. You'll find it will make all the difference. THEN you can eat like that for the rest of your life, ok? :-)

Please let me know what happens over the next 2 days as you get rid of the “GAS” bars.