Breakfast like a king lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper. Apple a day. Name and adages some more dietary axioms, ad nauseam. perhaps a poor choice of words in a blog about dieting. But successful weight management is all about choices, not deprivation. While all of these axioms have some nuggets of truth in them, I recommend an eliminate all white foods diet because it is easy to remember and easy to follow! White foods such as fresh peeled or instant potatoes, pasta, rice, sugar, bread, processed pastries and any such ingredients that may be camouflaged by artificial colorings and flavorings are notoriously starchy, high glycemic, and devoid of nutrition, hence weight producing.
A no white and un-natural foods diet like this provides form as well as function: having eye and taste appeal. It is anything but boring but rather diverse not to mention massively nutrient dense. Colorful foods are the key to effective dieting virtually without dieting, as their pigments contain nutrients and compounds such as flavonoids antioxidants and amino acids that feed essential organs and glands that control or influence the metabolism and protect against disease and decaying and over-storage of calories as excess tissue, and double as fiber sources which contribute greater volume than calories promoting an increased feeling of satiety., Also, fiber rich foods are typically pre-biotics which feed the probiotics or beneficial bacteria that can positively influence your moods and restrain impulse eating.
Eliminate all fried food trans fats etc too many calories often breaded, etc,. Aim to replace one or more egregious food “favorite” (read: indulgence) a week like a processed desert or fast food, Similarly you can progressively substitute whole vegetables and fruits for other less nourishing or sweeter more caloric ingredients.
Western science, Ayurveda (one of oldest and venerated health systems) and TCM concur that astringent foods such as raw or steamed vegetables and lower glycemic fruits like lemons limes cranberries and most berries displace other denser foods like protein sources They may burn more calories in digestion processes than they supply being an excellent way to encourage weight loss. In addition, these are considered cleansing foods, said to wash out toxins and remove impurities which can interfere with optimal metabolic activity. These are also easily obtained with salads and the myriad leafy vegetables that you can create from such as microgreens, lettuces, celery, cabbage. etc. Bitter greens and herbs found in many spring mixes and mezcal are good for stimulating the liver and gallbladder responsible for metabolizing fat, enriching and purifying the blood, enabling proper elimination and detoxification. If it accommodates your lifestyle due to let’s say time factors you can throw many of these into a smoothie and add some well designed organic protein powder and you've got a meal or three substitute. You can even borrow some hacks from the keto or paleo tribes and have a dessert or treat by substituting nut or seed such as psyllium flour for baking flour and natural non caloric sweeteners such as monk fruit or erythritol.
Nutrients like chromium, trace minerals, found in the list combat insulin resistance. Insulin resistance compromises the way your body burns carbohydrates and sugars when the pancreas and liver become lazy or overburdened due to excess sugar and carb consumption or inactivity in general efficiently produce insulin to respond to sugar and carbohydrate utilization.
Alpha lipoic acid found in the list can also deter insulin resistance. Since some of these foods are less prevalent in the diet or may require an impractical level of consumption to be therapeutic, supplements are usually a preferred option.
Healthy fats are built into this kind of eating. However when a recipe calls for oils or fats, use this as an exercise in label reading to choose the least bleached, solvent derived and heated, natural and ideally organic fat source with no trans fats. Look for those labeled mostly monounsaturated, some polyunsaturated and very little if any saturated fats. Sauté foods lightly in oil or add after steaming; do not deep fry as this can make fats carcinogenic or otherwise unhealthy and add hard to shed fat to your tissues.
For proteins I suggest consuming meat, fish, beans. dairy, and/or nut sources recommended by the blood type diet since these will be less likely to cause counterproductive reactions such as impairing metabolic or immune functions, while avoiding inflammation which science increasingly links to cognitive and behavioral issues, cardiovascular diseases and various cancers and of course, weight gain. Good protein sources provide you with the elements such as amino acids and certain fats needed for repair and maintenance of every body system; most relevantly one’s endocrine define.
For instance Phenylalanine and tyrosine rich foods stabilize the appetite and promote metabolism, and can also elevate mood.
Certain foods are thermogenic but frequently useful to add a supplement like fire cider. Ginger, cinnamon, green tea, even decaf and other thermogenic herbs (most spices and many herbs) are often also anti inflammatory. Seaweed as do pink and grey salt helps the thyroid help metabolism burn food fuel efficiently rather than storing it as added tissue and weight.
Current research indicates that managing cortisol, a stress related hormone which can linger past it’s usefulness causing an increase of fat around the waist and hips and other areas, with cleansing foods and herbs. teas or supplements like Holy Basil, list more.
70/30 recommendation for integrating good food regimens. Taoists (where much of traditional chinese medicine originated) recommend 70% effort in whatever practice you adopt.
These lower and healthier fat and whole and natural food comprised dietary practices already form the basis of a Mediterranean and most Asian diets. But I’m certain your favorite cuisine or cuisines, really any cuisine can be adapted to incorporate the fundamental pointers recommended in this blog. Because I like cajun and creole cuisine (often considered pretty indulgent) I’ve inserted a link to an article that outlines a traditional recipe that is intrinsically healthy and as you can imagine, super flavorful which contains additional links for variations on this recipe including a vegan iteration.
I’ve even made healthy muffulettas, not the easiest as an AB blood type but well worth the minimum as it turns out effort. Heck I’m even up for taking a stab at healthy whole grain baked beignets.
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