Practical Tips | The Paleo Mom

Teaser Excerpt from The Paleo Approach–The Importance of Sleep

April 4, 2013 in Practical Tips, Stress and Sleep, The Paleo Approach Excerpts

There are many topics that I am researching and writing about for the book that I’ve been meaning to write about for the blog for ages (the book just gives me a firm deadline). I have decided take some of these topics (especially the more blog-sized ones) and publish them as teaser excerpts for the book (also because I think this information should be here too).

The book also contains a detailed (yet easy-to-follow) description of the components of the immune system, including a great quick reference guide to help you as you read through the book. So, when you read this section in the book, you’ll already know why modulating Th1, Th2 and Th17 cells is important and you’ll already understand the essential role that regulatory T-cells play in the immune system.

For a quick primer: Th1, Th2 and Th17 cells are subtypes of lymphocytes (white blood cells) that can be over-activated in autoimmune disease and cause damage. Regulatory T-cells are another subtype of lymphocyte that are supposed to keep all the other immune cells in check and suppress both over-activation of the immune system and autoimmunity (they tend to be deficient in autoimmune disease). Cytokines are chemical messengers of inflammation. Monocytes and neutrophils are types of white blood cell responsible for generalized inflammation (part of the innate immune system whereas B-cells and T-cells are part of the adaptive immune system). B-cells are the type of lymphocyte that produce antibodies.

So, forgive the references to Chapter 7 and page numbers with no number. While you’ll have to wait until the book is out in September to read those sections, in the meantime, please enjoy this part of Chapter 4: Lifestyle Factors That Contribute to Autoimmune Disease.

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“A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book.”

–Irish Proverb

In the last 50 years, the average amount of time that Americans sleep each night has decreased by 1.5–2 hours. That’s a staggering amount of sleep—equivalent to a full month of continuous sleep every year—that we need but are not getting. Epidemiological studies show a strong correlation between short or disturbed sleep and obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. In fact, lack of adequate sleep has been associated of increased morbidity and mortality from all causes. This means that if you consistently don’t get enough sleep, you have a much higher risk of getting sick and/or dying. Period. Studies have also evaluated the role that sleep plays in healing from specific diseases, like breast cancer, and show that the less you sleep, the less likely you are to survive.

Frankly, scientists still don’t really understand why we need sleep, why we need as much as we do, and what our bodies are actually doing while we sleep. But, it is obvious that sleep is important for human health. Studies that evaluate the physiological changes caused by not sleeping or not getting enough sleep can be very instructive in understanding just how critically important sleep is. For those with autoimmune disease, it is especially important to understand the role that sleep has in inflammation, stimulating the immune system, and regulating hormones (which themselves modulate the immune system).

Just plain old not getting enough sleep causes inflammation even in young, healthy people. A variety of studies evaluating the effects of acute sleep deprivation (typically by restricting sleep to 4 hours per night) for several consecutive days (typically 3 to 5) have shown increases in markers of inflammation and the numbers of white blood cells in the blood. Specifically, even just three consecutive nights of not enough sleep can cause increased monocytes, neutrophils and B-cells in the blood, increased proinflammatory cytokines (including cytokines known to stimulate maturation of naïve T-cells into Th1, Th2, and Th17 cells), increased C-reactive protein (a marker of inflammation), increased total cholesterol and increased low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL).

Even just one night of lost sleep (40 hours without sleep) causes inflammation in young, healthy people. Just pulling a single all-nighter dramatically increases markers of inflammation in the blood, including C-reactive protein and proinflammatory cytokines. Studies that evaluated not just sleep deprivation but also recovery after sleep restriction (with the idea of simulating a typical workweek where someone might get less sleep for 4 or 5 nights straight and then try to make up for it on the weekend) have also shown that the proinflammatory cytokine known to stimulate Th17 cell development persists for at least two days after increasing sleep to 8 hours per night, even though other markers of inflammation have recovered. This means that even if you try and “catch up” on your sleep during the weekend, the stimulation to the immune system keeps going. If you follow this stereotypical pattern of not getting enough sleep during the week and sleeping in on the weekend, you still run the risk of cumulatively causing detrimental changes in the immune system. Certainly, you can recover from lack of sleep, but it takes persistence, consistency and commitment—even during the week.

Sleep deprivation is also associated with increased susceptibility to infection. In fact, the less sleep you get, the more likely you are to catch the common cold. Getting adequate sleep can also protect you from infection. One study even showed that the longer the sleep duration, the lower the incidence of parasitic infections in mammals.

Inadequate sleep also has profound effects on hunger hormones and metabolism (recall that hunger hormones such as insulin, leptin, ghrelin, and cortisol are important modulators of the immune system, see page ##, ## and ##). For example, when food intake is measured following sleep deprivation (5 consecutive days of 4 hours sleep), people tend to eat substantially (20%!) more than normal. However, it doesn’t take five full days of inadequate sleep to see dramatic effects on insulin, cortisol, and leptin. One study showed that even a single night of partial sleep (4 hours) causes insulin resistance in healthy people. Another study showed that a single night of partial sleep (3 hours, in this case) caused reduced morning cortisol levels (when cortisol should be its highest) and elevated afternoon/evening cortisol (when cortisol should be gradually decreasing) and elevated morning leptin levels. This means that one night of three or four hours sleep causes insulin resistance, dysregulated cortisol and increased leptin. One late bedtime because you went to a late night movie or a party at the boss’ house. One.

Inadequate sleep has also been investigated as a possible cause of autoimmune disease. In an animal model of psoriasis, sleep deprivation caused significant increases in proinflammatory cytokines, cortisol levels, and increases in specific proteins in the skin associated with symptoms of psoriasis (like the flaking, dry, scaly skin). In an animal model of multiple sclerosis, mice subjected to sleep deprivation developed the disease earlier than mice that slept normally. Once the mice developed multiple sclerosis, sleep deprivation caused increased disease activity and pain sensitivity. Furthermore, sleep disturbances are commonly reported by people with chronic inflammatory conditions (such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, inflammatory bowel disease and asthma). Whether the sleep disturbances cause the disease or the disease causes the sleep disturbances is not well understood. However, such sleep disturbances are known to worsen the course of the disease, aggravate disease symptoms such as pain and fatigue, increase disease activity and lower quality of life. Yes, sleep is important.

So, how much sleep do you need? There is no clear answer to this. Consensus is that healthy adults need 7-10 hours of sleep per night. If you are trying to heal from an autoimmune disease, don’t be surprised if what your body needs is on the longer end of that range (say 9 to 10 hours) or even exceeding that range (some people with autoimmune disease report needing 12 hours of sleep every night to heal).

Getting enough sleep isn’t just about preventing inflammation; it’s also about repairing the body and modulating the immune system. Certainly, the process of tissue repair in the body is predominantly performed during sleep. However, an important study showed that regulatory T-cell activities follow a circadian rhythm, meaning that, just like many functions within the human body, they increase and decrease throughout the day. In healthy people, regulatory T-cells are highest in the blood at night with lowest numbers in the morning (similar to melatonin production and the opposite of cortisol). The activity of the regulatory T-cells also follows a circadian rhythm, having the highest suppressive activity during sleep and lowest in the morning. When volunteers were subjected to sleep deprivation, the suppressive activity of their regulatory T-cells was decreased (even though the actual numbers of T-cells remained the same). This implies that sleep is required for the suppressive activity of regulatory T-cells, meaning that if you want to modulate your immune system and reverse your autoimmune disease, sleep is critical.

If you have an autoimmune disease (I generally assume you do if you are reading this book) and aren’t getting 8 hours of good sleep every night, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of putting sleep on the top of your priority list. You need sleep. Now. Tonight. Every night. Seriously, stop reading and go to bed. Strategies for prioritizing sleep and what to do if you are trying to get more sleep but just can’t are discussed in Chapter 7.

Bollinger, T., et al., Sleep-dependent activity of T cells and regulatory T cells, Clin Exp Immunol. 2009 Feb;155(2):231-8

Bosy-Westphal, A., et al., Influence of partial sleep deprivation on energy balance and insulin sensitivity in healthy women, Obes Facts. 2008;1(5):266-73

Boudjeltia KZ, et al., Sleep restriction increases white blood cells, mainly neutrophil count, in young healthy men: a pilot study, Vasc Health Risk Manag. 2008;4(6):1467-70.

Donga, E., et al., A single night of partial sleep deprivation induces insulin resistance in multiple metabolic pathways in healthy subjects, J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2010 Jun;95(6):2963-8.

Frey, D.J., et al., The effects of 40 hours of total sleep deprivation on inflammatory markers in healthy young adults, Brain Behav Immun. 2007 Nov;21(8):1050-7

Heslop, P., et al., Sleep duration and mortality: The effect of short or long sleep duration on cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in working men and women, Sleep Med. 2002 Jul;3(4):305-14.

Hirotsu, C., et al., Sleep loss and cytokines levels in an experimental model of psoriasis, PLoS One. 2012;7(11)

Lehrer S, et al., Insufficient sleep associated with increased breast cancer mortality, Sleep Med. 2013 Mar 4 pii: S1389-9457(12)00384-X. doi: 10.1016/j.sleep.2012.10.012. [Epub ahead of print]

Lucassen EA, et al., Interacting epidemics? Sleep curtailment, insulin resistance, and obesity, Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2012 Aug;1264(1):110-34

Meier-Ewert HK, et al., Effect of sleep loss on C-reactive protein, an inflammatory marker of cardiovascular risk, J Am Coll Cardiol. 2004 Feb 18;43(4):678-83.

Palma, B.D., et al., Effects of sleep deprivation on the development of autoimmune disease in an experimental model of systemic lupus erythematosus, Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2006 Nov;291(5):R1527-32.

Palma, B.D. & Tufik, S., Increased disease activity is associated with altered sleep architecture in an experimental model of systemic lupus erythematosus, Sleep. 2010 Sep;33(9):1244-8.

Ranjbaran, Z., et al., The relevance of sleep abnormalities to chronic inflammatory conditions, Inflamm Res. 2007 Feb;56(2):51-7.

Reynolds AC, et al., Impact of five nights of sleep restriction on glucose metabolism, leptin and testosterone in young adult men, PLoS One. 2012;7(7)

van Leeuwen WM, et al., Sleep restriction increases the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases by augmenting proinflammatory responses through IL-17 and CRP, PLoS One. 2009;4(2)

Tags: activity, arthritis, autoimmune, cortisol, cytokine, function, ghrelin, hormone, hunger, immune, inflammation, insulin, late night, leptin, lupus, lymphocyte, multiple, partial sleep, psoriasis, regulatory, resistance, sclerosis, sensitivity, Sleep, Stress, T-cell, Th1, Th17, Th2, the paleo approach, tolerance
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“But I’m Bored of My Paleo Meals!”

September 20, 2012 in Practical Tips, Practical Tips

Are you bored of your paleo meals? Do you feel limited in the variety that you can eat? You could always do what I did: start your own recipe blog to apply external pressure to be inventive in the kitchen (2-3 new recipes a week is hard, y’all!). Or you could just try something new! Find a new recipe, buy some new ingredients, try out some new cooking techniques! Try something that sounds strange to you that is out of the sphere of what you normally cook. If you are bored of what you are eating, challenge yourself to go beyond your comfort zone! And this doesn’t need to be hard, time consuming or expensive (it’s all in the recipe you choose to try). Maybe you don’t think you’re bored, but you still find yourself eating the same easy meals over and over again? Trying some new recipes can be incredibly rejuvenating!

So, where do you find new recipes to try? There’s a growing collection of paleo cookbooks out there, each with its own signature style (Make It Paleo, Paleo Comfort Foods, Eat Like A Dinosaur, The Paleo Diet Cookbook, Well Fed, Weeknight Paleo, Paleo Indulgences, Primal Blueprint Cookbook, Everyday Paleo, Everyday Paleo Family Cookbook, Primal Blueprint Quick and Easy Meals, Paleo Slow Cooking, The Paleo Slow Cooker and dozens more) and information books that contain recipes (Practical Paleo, It Starts With Food, The Paleo Solution, etc.). These are the best sources for tried and true paleo recipes.

There’s also dozens of fantastic paleo recipe blogs where you can find new recipes to try for free (I started trying to make a list and then realized how futile that is, but I will do a compilation of my favorite paleo blogs at some point in the not too distant future). There are also a few fabulous paleo recipe sharing sites which offer a selection of recipes from many different bloggers and are generally updated daily or even several times per day (chowstalker.com, dessertstalker.com, thefoodee.com, and fastpaleo.com). Joining pinterest is also a great way to browse recipes from many different bloggers and catalog them for your future use.

What should you look for when choosing a new recipe? Well, if there are any ingredients you can’t eat due to food sensitivities or personal reasons, don’t pick a recipe that uses them. If a recipe includes ingredients you know will be tough to find in stores or markets near you, then that’s probably not a great choice either. If a recipe uses an ingredient that you know you vehemently detest, that’s definitely not a good one for you. But, do pick recipes that use techniques you’ve been wanting to try, that pair ingredients you like but have never had at the same time before, that treat an ingredient you cook with regularly in a new way, and that just plain old look tasty to you. If you think the recipe will be more time consuming than what you can usually manage during the week, save it for the weekend. Give yourself a little more time than you normally think you would need for a new recipe too. Also, if you are unsure of liking a recipe, don’t make a huge batch. There’s nothing worse than leftovers of something you didn’t like.

What are other ways to get inspired? I go to a Farmer’s Market most weekends. My rule is that if I have never seen it before (and it’s paleo), I buy it. I’ve become very fond of some new greens this way (sweet potato greens, sorrel, and mizuna) and have also broadened my squash horizons (hello spaghetti squash, where have you been all my life?!). I’ve also become known as the person who buys weird stuff from my local grass-fed meat farmer, who recently sold me 25 pounds of grass-fed beef cheek (yep, that is the muscle in the cheek from the cow’s head) for only $2/pound (and guess what? Beef cheek is awesome!). I also discovered how mild lamb’s liver is this way and how delicious heart meat is! You don’t need to go to these extremes. You may find some new vegetable in your local grocery store. Take it home and google it and you will likely find a few different recipes to try. When in doubt, add bacon. Cook something you normally eat raw or eat something raw that your normally cook. Another great way to find inspiration is to eat foods you wouldn’t normally cook at home when you go out to eat. Sometimes knowing that you enjoyed an ingredient at a restaurant makes it much less intimidating to try and cook at home!

Think outside the box. Trying a new recipe for supper isn’t as hard as trying something new for breakfast or lunch, but sometimes breakfast and lunch are the meals we find ourselves in the biggest repetition ruts. I think this is because it’s so much harder to find time to prepare these meals. Maybe try something new on the weekend (then after you’ve made it a few times, it might be easier to prepare mid-week). Or try a new breakfast where you can do food preparation the night before. Try something completely different for these meals. If you always eat eggs for breakfast, maybe try a pork chop? Maybe you just exchange one item for another. If you always pack a garden salad with meat leftover from the previous night’s supper for lunch, maybe switch out your veggies or your dressing. Maybe add some fruit, some herbs or some nuts. And if leftovers are one of your Go To breakfast and lunch options, then just trying new recipes at supper will add some variety!

You don’t need to try a new recipe every night. I find trying new recipes to be more stressful than making something I’ve made a hundred times before. And it’s terrible when I don’t really like the finished product (and then I start thinking about all the ways I know I like those ingredients… grumble). But it’s so fantastic when it works! Make a goal for yourself. Maybe one new recipe each week? We call it “New Food Night”. Even just adding a handful of new recipes to your rotation may remedy the boredom situation.

What about finding variety for very restricted diets like the AIP? Yes, it’s harder to find new recipes when following very strict elimination diets like GAPS intro or the Autoimmune Protocol. But it’s not impossible. I have stolen Stacy’s idea (www.paleoparents.com) and have started a pinterest board just for AIP-friendly recipes from other sites (my AIP-friendly recipes have their own tab under the recipes menu). Between our two boards, hopefully you will find something to inspire you.

What if the kids (or you) don’t like the new recipe? If I don’t like a new recipe I’ve tried, I typically eat it anyway and chalk it up to experience. But, it can be very stressful if my kids don’t like a new recipe (especially if I know it doesn’t taste good). I often experiment with new recipes when I know I have some leftovers in the fridge for the kids “just in case”. If I don’t end up needing the leftovers, they become lunch for someone the next day. It helps ease the stress if my kids refuse to eat. If you just really can’t stomach what you made, then don’t eat it. It’s okay. Scramble yourself a couple of eggs and try something different next time. But I have to admit that the number of times we haven’t liked a new recipe are fairly small.

What if you don’t like cooking or don’t feel like you’re good at it? Well, practice makes perfect. And eating yummier food may make you enjoy the process of making it more. But, if you really don’t enjoy cooking, maybe you can find variety in some other ways. Maybe it’s just as simple as combining foods differently than normal (maybe you always eat steamed broccoli when you have chicken, so tonight you can try Brussels sprouts instead). Maybe it’s just a question of mixing up the types of greens and veggies in your salads or buying a rotisserie chicken from the deli with a different spice mixture.

Enjoy the adventure! Trying new recipes is supposed to be fun. It’s supposed to liven up your meals and expand your food horizons. If you are finding that you don’t enjoy the new foods you are making (either because they just don’t taste good or because you find the time and energy to make them to be too demanding), then stop and take a step backward. Maybe one new recipe a week is too many. Maybe you need to choose recipes that are more similar to foods you already make. On the other end of the spectrum, if you find yourself loving “New Food Night”, then maybe you’re ready to take the next step. Maybe you’re ready to try more new recipes more often. Maybe you’re ready to experiment. Maybe you’re even ready to start your own paleo recipe blog… just kidding.

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Guest Post by Dr. Kellie Ferguson: Food Sensitivity Testing – Let’s Talk About Your Options!

September 6, 2012 in Alternative Therapies, Alternative Therapies, Beyond Paleo, Practical Tips

Allow me to introduce Dr. Kellie Ferguson, N.D., a Naturopathic Physician in British Columbia, Canada. Kellie is actually a very old friend of mine–we went to high school together! But don’t worry; neither one of us remembers high school so no embarrassing stories can be told. I asked Kellie to give an overview of food sensitivity testing since this is so relevant for anyone battling autoimmune conditions, non-autoimmune skin conditions, gastrointestinal disease, and allergies. It is a particularly important option to consider for anyone following the autoimmune protocol and not seeing improvement. You can read more about Kellie’s practice at her website www.koruhealth.com and her blog www.koruhealth.blogspot.ca.

As promised in my last guest post, today I’ll give you a little more information about testing for Food Sensitivities. Just to backtrack a little, food sensitivities happen when the body reacts to proteins in specific foods and the immune system is activated by those proteins in much the same way as it is activated by proteins on bacteria. A reaction is mounted by the immune system and can cause inflammation both at the gut level and systemically throughout the whole body. Because of the complexity of the immune reaction, food sensitivities are often one of the key underlying triggers for many different complaints. I almost always think about them when dealing with three key complaints including: skin conditions like eczema or psoriasis, GI upset including anything from heartburn to diarrhea, and behavior difficulties in kids (ADHD, temper or Autism Spectrum Disorder). Also, many people with autoimmune disorders, arthritis or migraine benefit from knowing if there are any food triggers aggravating their symptoms.

So we know it’s important to check for food sensitivities but how do you do it? There are three different testing choices available to identify food sensitivities. Please note, that food sensitivities are very different from food allergies and the following testing methods are not adequate to diagnose food allergies. The gold standard is a physician controlled Elimination and Challenge test. In this case, we limit the diet to a very restricted set of hypo-allergenic foods (usually foods that are outside the normal diet) for a good period of time (usually 3-6 weeks) and then challenge with each food, generally in a medically controlled environment. The goal is to allow the body a chance to heal up as we take away any provoking foods and then we slowly add each single food type one at a time and gauge for reactions. For example, we might do our elimination for 3 weeks and eat only lamb, pear and brown rice, then introduce dairy products for a few days while we watch for skin or tummy symptoms. This type of diet needs a lot of planning and commitment and, because the elimination diet is so limited, it should not be done without the supervision of a qualified practitioner. It should be mentioned that challenging with foods can cause quite pronounced reactions with asthma or serious autoimmune conditions and should be done exceptionally carefully (and only with medical supervision).

The next type of testing is called EAV testing, which is also known as Biomeridian or VEGA testing. This testing uses an electronic tool to evaluate the energy in specific acupuncture meridians and how that energy reacts when challenged with foods. It sounds a little odd but is really very effective for many complaints. The advantage to this is that it can be done quickly and in-office and is non invasive. It does require that the patient be able to sit relatively still for a period of time, so it can be difficult with younger kids or kids with restlessness/hyperactivity. It is also fairly specialized and difficult to do well, so I always suggest asking lots of questions of the practitioner first. A variation of this type of testing is called muscle energy testing, which measures muscle strength when foods or supplements are held close to the body. Both types of testing measure the body’s energetic reaction to the foods. Muscle energy testing is quick and easy but can be easily manipulated by the tester or the patient (as can EAV testing, though to a lesser degree). It is really important that the tester be really careful not to allow his or her bias to influence the results. This is partly why this type of energetic testing isn’t well accepted by conventional medical practitioners.

The last type of testing, and the only one that can allow us some information about food allergies, is called ELISA testing. ELISA testing measures how much (if any) of an antibody (immune) reaction there are to specific food proteins. Before we get into the specifics of this test it’s worth talking a little about the different types of antibodies and their immune reactions. Antibodies are little proteins, made by the immune system, that tag and attach to foreign proteins (food proteins, bacterial, viral or parasite proteins) and signal for inflammatory or other immune processes. There are several classes of antibodies but there are only three that are relevant for food testing. IgG is the most commonly tested antibody for food sensitivities since is the most abundant and long lasting antibody. Total IgG is used to give a broad view of the overall immune sensitivity reaction, however any positive results need to be interpreted given the individual and the diet and target symptoms as there are often many mild positive reactions that do not provoke symptoms. IgE is specific to allergy reactions but not sensitivities. IgE proteins have a very short life and are much more difficult to test, so the number of foods tested is generally limited to most common allergens and must be done through a blood draw. IgE testing is sometimes done with a slightly different test called a RAST test. This test is almost identical to ELISA but has a slightly different procedure in the testing laboratory. The final antibody that can be relevant is IgA. IgA is the only antibody that gets secreted into the digestive fluids and so is very specific to digestive sensitivity symptoms. It is possible to have IgG be negative for some food reactions but positive IgA or vica versa. Your Naturopathic Physician should be able to discuss all the testing options and help you to choose the best type or combination of testing for your symptoms and budget.

There are many lab companies in North America that offer antibody testing and they have widely variable pricing and reliability of their tests. Most have different food lists available that can be chosen specific for the patient’s needs (ie. vegetarian panels or specific IgE, IgG or IgA tests). This testing does require a blood sample, and depending on the type of tests, it is either with an arm drawn sample or a dried blood spot taken using a finger stick. Most kids find the finger prick quick and easy enough that they don’t complain… at least not much.

For patients coming into my office, I always suggest we discuss their complaints and talk about the testing options to figure out which, if any, is the best choice. The best option might depend on your financial situation, time goals and the condition itself. Most Naturopathic Physicians have done a good investigation into the testing options available in your area and can give you good guidance. It also takes experience and finesse to decide how to incorporate the results into a reasonable diet plan, which licensed Naturopathic Physicians will have. Most testing methods will show that there are many reactions, most of which are fairly mild. It’s not reasonable or necessary to completely eliminate all those items. The practitioner’s experience will help to show which foods are not generally significant triggers and which can be common suspects and how to tell the difference. Reactions that are really strong should be avoided completely. Other food reactions are mild but cumulative and their symptoms will depend on the amount and frequency of their exposures. Eating small amounts of those foods only a couple of times a week won’t be an issue but a big serving or using it as a staple in your diet will start to trigger symptoms. I generally start with IgG finger stick testing, as the company I use has excellent pricing and turn-around time and has a choice for an expanded panel with many extra spices and foods. I find that this provides the most information at a reasonable cost and can be interpreted well given the patient history and symptoms.

To find a Naturopathic Physician in Canada go to http://www.cand.ca/index.php?findnd&L=0 to find one in the US try http://www.naturopathic.org/AF_MemberDirectory.asp?version=1 . If you have any questions or comments please feel free to email or post via my blog, where you can also find more tips about current news topics, allergies, Autism and other Naturopathic topics.

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TPM Tidbit: How I Get Back On Track

July 31, 2012 in Food Issues, Practical Tips, TPM Tidbits

With the stress and sleep deprivation of last week (along with being displaced from my home for four days), I fell off the sugar wagon. I found myself eating banana chips, much more fruit than normal, and fairly excessive quantities of chocolate (and more semi-sweet chocolate as opposed to just sticking with my normal 80%). At least I had the sense to stay soy-free and dairy-free (and I don’t touch grains with a 12-foot pole, so that wasn’t an issue either). I also ate more coconut and macadamias (which I’m typically okay with in small quantities, but I had enough last week that I’m sure they contributed to my current lichen planus flare). Yes, I’m pretty sure the last thing my body needed while still recovering from the Great Tomato Debacle was a high carb week of near constant snacking (I have learned through much trial and error that snacking does not work for me since I find it very difficult to stop eating).

So, now I am reigning in the bad habits and getting back on track. My tried and true strategy for doing this has three components. First, I eat enormous meals with tons of healthy protein, omega-3 and monounsaturated fats (fish and avocado), and tons of non-starchy veggies and a little fruit (the goal isn’t to go crazy low carb which tends to shock my system after a bad week). I eat until I can barely move. Yesterday, my breakfast consisted of 2 whole kippers (smoked herring), about 1 cup of leftover cauliflower rice, about 1 cup of braised spinach and a peach. My lunch consisted of a large slice of homemade grass-fed beef liver pate served on half of a large English cucumber, sliced, carrot sticks, and another peach (I got these amazing organic peaches at the Farmer’s Market on Saturday). Supper consisted of half a grilled avocado, a large grass-fed beef hamburger patty, about 1 ½ cups of sautéed mushrooms and onion, 1 cup sautéed sweet potato greens (another Market find), carrot sticks, kombucha and chocolate avocado pudding for dessert (very little honey to sweeten and a whole avocado, recipe from Practical Paleo). Yep, BIG meals. But, they keep me satisfied until the next meal and after 2 or 3 days, I will be able to scale back a little and still avoid snacking (note, that it’s common for me to gain weight with a bad week but lose it quickly even with this quantity of food). I took 2g L-glutaminebetween meals and made sure I took my Vitamin-D3this morning. I drank tea and lots of water between meals. The other two components of my strategy are to make sure I get to my yoga classes and/or go for a walk (part of keeping busy between meals) and, very importantly, go to bed early.

Stress and sleep deprivation are a killer combination for me and it is typical for me to relax my eating habits as a result. I always try and pull it together as quickly as I can and this is what works for me. It’s been two days and I feel back on track already.

Tags: binge, carbs, on track, recovery, Sugar, TPM Tidbit
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