Seems like there’s always a new fad diet, it can be confusing and difficult to decipher what is the best way of eating for you.
I personally have been on every single diet known to man (or woman) including the fad ones. Here’s what I came up with; eat what makes you feel good, eat what makes you feel alive and energetic. Case in point, I did Whole30 a few years ago (basically paleo, no dairy, alcohol, sugar, grains) and by day 25 I was exhausted, I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open. Finally Tao to Wellness acupuncturist, Nikole Maxey looked at me and said, “Why don’t you have just a little bit of rice?” What a brilliant idea, I was so concerned with doing it perfectly, I wasn’t checking in. I ate rice and my energy perked up immediately. So, Whole30 as wonderful as it is, is not for me. I also gained weight during those 25 days which again is not the norm for that particular diet.
At Tao to Wellness, we’ve seen many patients over the years with exactly this profile; vegetarians and vegans with severe fatigue and high cholesterol. People are misinformed and think that high cholesterol is a marker showing too much red meat and rich foods, it can be, but it’s not the only way to have high cholesterol. From a functional medicine perspective, it can also be from excessive carbs and too little protein, which deprives the body of amino acids, which in turn effects the brain chemistry, the thyroid is left deregulated and detoxification of the body suffers, this can result in high cholesterol.
The fix I found – Eggs.
Eggs feel less harmful for our vegetarian and vegan friends, it’s a great first step. I’ve seen eggs make such a difference in energy levels almost immediately. As the Dalia Lama says, “If you can, vegetarianism is the best way to go from a spiritual standpoint, but if protein is what your body needs, that’s fine too.” The Dalai Lama does eat meat now due to the urging of his Ayurvedic physician.
I had a patient who was on a fad shake diet to lose weight. One shake for breakfast, one for lunch and then a sensible dinner with protein and a vegetable. Unfortunately, the one thing that was lacking was fat. She was not allowed to add any fat her meal. She lost weight quickly, over a hundred pounds actually, but as the months went on her system grew dry. Dryness in Chinese medicine can cause achy joints, muscle pain, restless legs syndrome, arthritis type symptoms and sometimes anxiety and insomnia. Unfortunately, she had every one of these symptoms. Her brain was not receiving enough fat in her diet and so it was not able to rest. After months of very little sleep, we worked together to incorporate good fats into her diet, like olive oil and coconut oil, this helped her sleep and her pain started to disappear. The weight did start to return, but she said she’s done with crash diets and is working with a therapist around body dysmorphia.
So, what to choose?
The answer: What feels good!
No two bodies are alike, we all have varying levels of intolerances and sensitivities to particular foods. One of the best ways to decipher what works is our detoxification program, not only will you detoxify toxins and decrease free radicals, but we pair it with an elimination diet where you can see what foods truly work for your body and which ones do not.
