We Are What We Drink: Water For Good Digestion

GOOD DIGESTIVE HEALTH Post #2

 They say that water is life. 

Indeed, 70% of the Earth is covered by water.  55-65% of an adult’s body is made of water (the number is even higher for infants and children), the human brain is 75% water.

So it’s no wonder that human beings, on average, cannot go more than 3 days without water.  We literally are what we drink.

Experts have said for years that people should drink 64 ounces of water each day – and for good reason. Water is vital.  It delivers oxygen to our cells, which gives our cells energy. It enables our cells to distribute essential nutrients within our bodies. It removes waste products like toxins that our organs reject.  Water helps to lubricate joints and provide oxygen for easier breathing.  It regulates our body temperatures so we don’t overheat.  It enables normal electrical properties in our cells (including neurotransmitters) and empowers natural healing in the body. That is why so many health issues result from dehydration; without water, our organs cannot properly function.  This is especially true for the gallbladder, pancreas and stomach, the three main organs involved in digestion. Indeed, signs of dehydration range from seemingly benign food cravings to weight gain, heartburn, constipation and even ulcerative colitis.

But knowing when to drink water can be almost as important for digestion as knowing how much to drink.  Drinking copious amounts of water, or any fluid, during meals is not good for good digestive health.  Water can dilute your stomach acid to the point that it cannot properly break down your food, and as a result, large particles of food end up in places the body cannot recognize.  This can cause a whole host of issues such as leaky gut, reflux and even an autoimmune response.

So, how do you know if you are dehydrated?

For starters, if you’re thirsty or your fingers are pruning, you are already dehydrated.  So you must get ahead of dehydration and drink at least 8 glasses (of 8 ounces) of water daily.  But remember, you want the water to reach your cells – you don’t want it go to right through you (as in, drink a glass of water, urinate 10 minutes later).  If you are having a retention issue it might be because you are low on electrolytes or minerals.  You can drink your water with a dash of good sea salt or high quality electrolytes. You can also dress up your water like you’re at the spa, or use the following foods to help you reach your daily dose.

Fruits and Vegetables with High Water Content:
Watermelon, Strawberries	92%
Grapefruit	91%
Cantealoupe	90%
Peaches	88%
Pineapple, cranberries, oranges, raspberries	87%
Apricot, Blueberries, Plums	86%
Apples, Pears	84%
Cherries, Grapes	81%
Cucumber, lettuce	96%
Zucchini, Radish, Celery	95%
Tomato	94%
Green cabbage	93%
Cauliflower, Eggplant, Red Cabbage, Peppers, Spinach	92%
Broccoli	91%

So, the next time you’re irritable, moody, depressed, anxious or have a headache, ask yourself: “How much water have I had to drink today?”

What’s the Skinny on Fat?

Back in the early 90s, I remember gorging on Snackwell fat free chocolate cookies, biting into the not at all moist center, wishing, with each chew, that the taste of chalk would subside. It’s not as though I craved these domes of fluffed up chemicals, rather, I ate them because they tasted good enough for cookies that were healthy. In those moments of weakness I basically got high on sugar (the ingredient they used to replace fat), crashed, then would reach for the box and realize I had already finished the entire thing. I know I was not the only one.

The fat free movement may have started innocently enough - hydrogenated fats found in processed foods do cause cardiovascular disease. But the food industry capitalized on this by telling us we shouldn’t have any fat, and that we should only eat “fat free.” They created an untold number of new products that we had to purchase or else we would get fat. Or sick. Or die. Fat free crackers, yogurts, cheeses, milk. Heart healthy margarines and egg replacers.

“Fat” was a four letter word.

Until we learned, fat free was just another fad. The diet police were wrong, fat free foods don’t prevent weight gain. The health police discredited the movement as well; The British Medical journal confirmed in October 2013 that indeed, saturated fat was NOT bad for the heart. Time magazine told us to Eat Butter in 2014.

Yet, low and non fat foods continue to fly off the shelves. So why the disconnect?

Perhaps the food giants don’t want us consumers to understand the nuances between healthy fats and unhealthy fats, saturated or unsaturated, trans fats or hydrogenated fats. But know this, all fats are not created equal.

Good fats are essential. Good fats serve as the building blocks of our cell membranes and our hormones. We need good fat so that every organ in our body can function efficiently and effectively. Fat helps us burn energy slowly and it prevents us from craving carbohydrates. Fat is satiating so we are nourished without overeating. Fat does not compromise our cardiovascular system, promote weight gain or suck all of our energy. It is hydrogenated fats and trans fats and processed vegetable oils that are the real problem.

Good fats are fats that come from whole food sources, animals fats or cold pressed olive, flax and avocado oils (among others). Indulge in fatty fish, grass-fed butter, coconut oil, eggs. And try to break those old habits- drink whole milk, not skim. Eat full fat, not non fat yogurt.

And if you really want to eat a cookie, eat one cookie. One real cookie, made preferably from grass-fed butter, cream and organic, pastured eggs - not one of those nasty Snackwells.

The Truth About Tea

Seth Goldman knows a lot about tea.  I had the good fortune of hearing the TeaEO of Honest Tea  speak at an event at The Aspen Institute in Washington last week. I drink about five to eight cups of tea each day and am conscientious about eating organic foods whenever possible, and I was shocked when he explained why we should only drink organic tea.  In his experience of visiting the tea gardens and understanding the tea trade, he learned that if pesticides or other chemicals are used or sprayed on tealeaves, those chemicals are never washed off at any point in the picking, exporting, inspection or importing process.  The pesticides generally stay on the tealeaves until we pour hot water on them to makes ourselves a pot to drink.  Come to think of it, as shocking as this was, I’m even more shocked that something so basic was never on my radar to begin with.

When choosing loose leaf or wrapped tea, always choose organic.  This is one case where rinsing or washing off toxins won't be possible.

Balance

I was mixing the second of five concoctions that I would ingest that day.  This cleanse was serious; five drinks and one colonic each day for five days.  No solid food.  Just water. As I stood at the kitchen counter, intently mixing bentonite clay, psyllium seed husks, apple pectin and peppermint leaf, I turned to see my husband staring at me with amazement.  “Do you think I’ve gone over the edge?” I asked.  “Well,” he began, “I just feel like you should be wearing a sari, not an outfit from the Barney’s sample sale.”

I saw his point.  I had changed significantly since embarking on a journey that began in 2009 when, in an effort to stand in solidarity with my son as we dealt with his apparent GI disorders, I took dairy out of my diet.  It was so radically beneficial for me, I went further.  I helped myself by changing my diet in other ways, deepening my yoga practice and finding and releasing the great stressors in my life.  Over the course of four years, I went from buying food only sold at my neighborhood co-op, to reading the labels at the co-op, to making many of my own ingredients in order to cut out additives and chemicals - even those generally deemed harmless. I also went weekly to a craniosacral therapist, participated in a yoga teacher training program, and started writing as a way to deal with the difficulties in my life.  I came up with the idea for this blog in an effort to share the nuggets of knowledge I managed to pick up along the way with a community of like-minded people.

As most readers of this blog probably know, there are many of us out there; individuals with autoimmune disorders seeking answers and advice as to how best to cure, or at least minimize, our afflictions.  We look for community to connect, share ideas and commiserate.

Meghan O’Rourke is one of those people, as she explains in her beautifully written piece that appeared in the August 26, 2013 New Yorker magazine, entitled “What’s Wrong With Me.”  O’Rourke’s essay chronicles her struggles with autoimmune disease and the mysteries surrounding her illness.  She is always aching, fatigued, in pain and confused about her ailments.  She is unsure what is going on with her body and wonders how she can get the energy and strength she needs to get through the day.  But she goes on to talk about a deep emotional side-effect of her journey – a fear that her efforts to heal and understand her body were altering her identity from person (perhaps with some mysterious ailments) to patient.  She engages with other sufferers online.  She completely changes her diet by eliminating many foods and she turns to a varierty of supplements, vitamins and minerals.  She engrosses herself in the Specific Carbohydrate Diet for a month.  She makes her own almond milk (no easy task), brushes her body to help stimulate her lymphatic system and rid herself of toxins.  She swallows pills and liquids that can make one gag.  It is very compelling and extremely familiar.  And although it’s working – she is healing herself somewhat – she questions whether the incremental medical gains are worth the nagging feeling of obsession and seeming loss of self.  Her excellent piece challenges us to look in the mirror and ask the questions she asked:  have I gone over the edge?  Am I letting all of this define me?

Those of us with disease do have choices.  We can immerse ourselves in the world of the healing.  We can read everything, connect to others with similar struggles, change our diets, our habits, our environments and open our minds to new therapies and answers so that we can change our bodies and live a healthier life.  But along with that comes the risk of becoming obsessive about these ideas and driving ourselves and our loved ones nuts.

Of course, we also have the choice to do nothing, avoid change and carry the risks that go along with just living (in some cases for many years) with disease.  In our efforts not to get sucked into the fanatical world, we can go on living a “normal” life and hope for the best.

We also have the choice to find balance.

O’Rourke chose to eat well (but not always following everything to the letter) while living her life and accepting her disease.  I chose to immerse myself completely.  I allowed my journey to unfold before me, taking me on retreats to learn about proper digestion , working with different healers and eating many different foods.  All of this has worked wonders for me on a physical and psychological level.  But when I asked my husband if I had gone over the edge, what I was really doing was asking myself.  I realized that I might have been farther gone than I was emotionally healthy.  For years, I had followed a strict diet and created many wonderful new recipes which I loved.  But once I moved to Vermont and had more time on my hands, I went many levels deeper.  Defeating illness became my life.  That moment in the kitchen gave me pause; it alerted me that my ability to dive so deeply, while incredibly helpful and useful, could also be causing me to lose myself in a never ending quest.

The yogis say that just by noticing and acknowledging one’s behaviors, we can create the change we need.  By acknowledging, out loud, that I was close to fanaticism I was able to see things more clearly as how to approach my illness.  Yes, I continue to educate myself and encourage my family to try certain foods.  I still watch what I eat and try new things.  In fact, this week my son and I are eating soup, trying out the GAPS diet (so we can both possibly eat dairy again one day). But by taking a moment to pause, I was able to see this all in perspective.  What came out of this for me was the importance of living mindfully and with intention to feel good both physically and emotionally.   For me the key is focusing on family, friends, work, interests and hobbies - so that this disease is a part of my life, but isn’t it entirely.

Say What? There’s Dairy in my Indian Food?

You’d think I’d have learned by now. One would assume that after eating dairy free for three years I would know to ask restaurants if there are any secret milky ingredients or definite no-nos in my dinner that are not mentioned on the menu. I assumed that because so many vegetarians and vegans I know eat Indian food, I could safely order an Indian dish or two and not worry about it. I also assumed, incorrectly, that since Indian food follows Ayurveda, translated as the “traditional medicine" of India and known as the sister science of yoga, it would be dairy free. Enter ghee, clarified butter made from cow’s milk. As I learned from Cooks Illustrated last month, ghee is from South Asia and is used in most Indian (as well as Bangladeshi, Nepali, Sri Lankan, and Pakistani) cuisine as a base for many dishes. Here is what you need to know about ghee: Ghee is composed almost entirely of saturated fat, which is the good fat that we all need. Ghee has a very high smoke point and doesn't burn easily during cooking. Because Ghee is composed of short chain fatty acids, it metabolized very readily by the body. Therefore, ghee might work for you if you are cutting out casein, the protein found in dairy. But, if you have an issue with lactose and you eat some ghee, you might as well chomp on butter. For me, lactose is the enemy. Cutting dairy out of my diet has been amazing for my wellbeing, but since I quit it, having even the smallest bit of lactose can send my body into a fit of rage. So, last night when I went to our local Indian restaurant to pick up dinner, I asked if they used ghee in any of the dishes we ordered. The woman told me that they do not use ghee, rather, they use vegetable oil. Ok, not as authentic, definitely not as healthy given the trans fats, certainly not Ayurvedic, but for me, better than ghee. When I explained to the restauranteur why I asked the question, that I did not eat dairy, she said, “oh. Well, our curries all have cream in them”. Whoa! Who knew that for so many years I was not eating simple ghee, but cream- the creme de la crème of intestinal irritants?!? I wondered how many times I’ve eaten dairy inadvertently and why I was unable to detect it. I suppose I always chalked it up to my body’s natural cycle of having good days and bad days and contributed pain and other symptoms to factors that I could not isolate. Now, I know better. Even the most health conscious among us can get into trouble when we make assumptions. And you know what they say about assumptions . . .So now I just ask. I got my meal made sans cream. It was delicious.

Transition To A Healthy Lifestyle

I was not born this way. I was not born into a family of hippies, vegetarians or yogis. I was not born watching what I ate, supplementing with vitamins or meditating.

I grew up in a suburban Philadelphia community where my friends and I went to TGI Fridays after the movies, ate cheesesteaks and soft pretzels and drank plenty of alcohol once we got to high school and college. We really didn’t think much about our health, the food we ate, where it came from or why the produce looked so shiny in the supermarket.

Like most people, my friends, family and I did talk about losing or gaining weight. That was the one subject that to us, marked how healthy we were.

The house where I grew up was stocked with cans of diet soda, boxes of Sweet N’ Low, frozen Weight Watchers desserts and diet salad dressing. My parents have been on one diet or another since the Carter administration.

One day back in 1999, my cousin told me that her New Years resolution was to cut out all artificial sweeteners. I didn’t understand why she would do this or how she could! How can one drink coffee without lots of cream and Sweet N’Low? But she shed light on how these chemicals could really harm us and that it would be a noble effort to rid them from her diet. It made sense to me, so I did it.

First, I switched from Diet Coke to Coke. Coke was so sticky sweet I could taste the syrup. I somehow got used to regular Coke but eventually grew sick of it.

I gave up cola, then soda, entirely. I couldn’t drink coffee black or coffee without sweetener (sugar never quite made it there for me), so I switched to tea.

I educated myself on the benefits of organic produce and began to buy organic from a neighborhood delivery service in New York City.

When I moved to Brooklyn, I joined the local food coop and worked several different jobs as required by the coop. I spoke with the educated cashiers, read the coop newsletter and website and listened to others around me while I shopped. I learned an enormous amount in a very short period of time.

Then when my son got sick and we went to a developmental pediatrician who suggested we take dairy and gluten (and eventually soy) out of his diet, my learning curve went through the roof. The internet can be an amazing resource for learning about food and how you can make little steps toward a healthy lifestyle.

I eventually gave up dairy, started taking omega 3s and probiotics and began to heal myself.

I encouraged my mom to join my shift to a healthier, more-chemical-free, diet. My mother had watched me evolve over the past decade yet, when she saw my daily regimen, she was like a deer in headlights - unable to move and protect herself from a dangerous appetite for industrial food.

But like me, she too has evolved; she must, if she wants to prevent disease and live longer than her parents. For many years, my mother looked at me and thought that she could never do what it took to change her lifestyle - she thought she was too old to change. But she is getting there, at her own pace. She now drinks green tea, no longer has diet soda, buys organic food and takes probiotics.

I imagine that for my mom, it was inspiring to see her daughter cure herself of ulcerative colitis. There it was, proof that changing diet and lifestyle could have a profound impact.

Will she take up yoga anytime soon? I don’t think so. But I guess one never knows how people evolve. I never would have thought I’d adopt my current diet - I had no idea how much I didn’t know when I gave up artificial sweeteners so many years ago.

So if the idea of change and learning all that there is about diet and supplements seems overwhelming, the best advice I can give is to focus on one goal. For me it was taking one ingredient at a time out of my diet – and it had a domino effect. Once you start to feel good (and successful!) with one change, you’re more likely to get excited and energized to do more - if more is something you need.

Pick one thing for yourself and take small steps - the first step is always the most difficult. With a little help from yoga, meditation or some other tool you might use to remain mindful of your body and your goals for good health, the rest will probably flow naturally. It did for me and for my mother - two very different women, on two different paths who each found what they needed, in due time.

Identifying Stress

STRESS! That ubiquitous word. The root of all disease. “Are you stressed?” The word takes your shoulders up to your ears as soon as you hear it. Even the sound of the word is harsh. When I hear that word I think, I’ve got to DO something about this stress, I must get rid of it. Putting that kind of stress on yourself to get rid of stress can be, well, stressful. Want to lower the risk of cancer? Don’t stress. Want to get rid of your headaches? Reduce stress. Want to stop having gastrointestinal woes? Manage your stress. Want to fall asleep, insomniac? I would, if I could stop stressing long enough about how I’m stressing which is causing my insomnia.

When I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at age 14 I was told that I had to reduce stress. So, what did that mean to me back then- um, don’t bother going through adolescence? Don’t bother going to high school or trying to get into college? Clearly, I was not able to slow down life at that point, did not completely understand that the doctors were actually telling me to manage my stress and even if I had understood the advice, I was not self aware enough to change my stressful circumstances.

So many diseases supposedly are caused by this fiend, this stress, that causes problems in the gut, inflammation, headaches, backaches, muscle aches and insomnia. But what is it really? In the case of insomnia, thinking about not being able to fall asleep most definitely makes it harder to do so. But in the cases of other disease, is it really all in our head?

Much of this blog will look at the role that mindfulness plays in our physical state. Indeed, themindfulgut was born out of the idea that our mind and our gut are deeply connected and interdependent, so much so that we can often heal our bodies just by calming our minds. Even the most conventional gastroenterologist will tell you that the stress you have in your mind will most certainly contribute to your GI troubles.

Yet there is another kind of stress that is more tangible- it is the physical stress that we put on our body, that may or may not have born out of stress but has transformed into an actual physical problem. This often happens without our knowledge. This is not to say that our mind cannot help our bodies change, simply that there might be physical obstacles that might be hindering our mind’s ability to change our body. Indeed, all the yoga in the world might not be able to cure all of one’s physical ailments.

What I found was that the times in my life where my colitis flared, it wasn’t in my worst emotional states- it was when I put stress on my body physically. In college, I flared after I abused my body by binge drinking. In law school, I got sick from eating greasy and fatty food late at night while studying. Then the worst of it came during both of my pregnancies and the subsequent years spent nursing when my colitis and psoriasis flared out of control. The great physical stress of pregnancy and the depletion of nutrients from nursing are a huge stressor on the body- and one not mentioned in the What to Expect books.

Physical stress can stem from, among other things, an excess of stored toxins in the body, muscle tightness or tissue blockages left unattended over the course of many years. Often times, detoxing our bodies by eliminating known stressors such as gluten, dairy and animal fats helps to rid the body of accumulated toxins. Other ways to remove physical stress and obstacles are Massage, Myofascial Release and craniosacral therapy. By being mindful and paying attention to what physical obstacles we might have, and what irritants are harmful, we can start to understand what is aggravating our system. Once we address our physical obstacles and work out whatever these blockages are, we will see the deep benefits of relaxing and calming the mind. We can then go deeper, enabling us to function and heal more efficiently.

Carrageenan: The Devil You Didn’t Know

Even the most conscientious consumer can get confused and distracted by the myriad choices in our supermarkets and even our co-ops, healthfood and specialty stores.  For the past several years, there has been a deluge of information pointing us toward organic and vitamin-enriched foods, and driving us away from allergens and pesticides.  This is great progress!  Unfortunately, even within the small universe of healthy alternatives, the mysteries, controversies and contradictory evidence presented by food organizations, doctors, scientists, corporations, advertisers and trade organizations can be overwhelming and seemingly impossible to decipher.  It’s enough to make me want to throw up my hands and say: “pass the Cheetos.” While we all want to trust that our local co-op only carries products made with healthy ingredients, and we generally believe that organic is better than conventional and that “natural food” is just that, there is one ubiquitous ingredient lurking beneath the sea salt, behind the xanthan gum or next to the sunflower lecithin in many of our highly evolved products: carrageenan.

Carrageenan is a food additive derived from red seaweed - sounds natural and nutritious, yes, but in actuality, it has notably high correlations to colon cancer, inflammation, and a depressed immune system.  It’s cheap and easy for manufacturers to use, and makes otherwise bland food taste palatable. Check your fridge- you’ll find carrageenan in such healthy foods as organic yogurt, hemp milk and Applegate Farms sliced turkey.

The controversy around carrageenan involves the idea that there is one type of carageenan that is healthy and one that causes cancer and other disease.  Indeed, corporations and other heavyweights in the food industry successfully lobbied the FDA to have carrageenan deemed safe.  However, the safety of the “healthy” carrageenan has been refuted by top medical professionals who suggest we stay clear of the additive. I only recently became aware of the additive, the controversy and the realization that so many of the products we have switched to in an effort to eliminate inflammation may in fact be exacerbating inflammation.  My son and I haven’t eaten any dairy for almost three years so we’ve been making healthy smoothies filled with vitamins and antioxidants- until just last month when I realized that our almond and coconut milk have been processed with carageenan.  So essentially, we have been trading the devil we knew for the devil we didn’t know.

So where does this take us, to the point where we cannot trust anything or anyone leaving us no choice but to create our own concoctions?  That would be an option.  But while we all wish we had the time, space and patience to make all of our own food from absolute scratch, even the crunchiest among us often reach for some ready-made grocery items. What you may find is that carrageenan often appears where you least expect it, including toothpaste, beer, shaving cream, gummy products and yes, organic dairy. In my mind I ask, why not chose the products without carageenan and support companies who use whole ingredients and stay away from potential carcinogens? The good news is that there are many products out there that do not use carrageenan.  Here is a comprehensive list of some very nutritious and healthy foods that in fact have carregeenan in them- and the brands that don’t.