Monday, March 14, 2011

Chew, Chew, Chew Your Food

Some things are best left to the imagination. So, get your imagination revved up to figure out what happens when one begins to eat a minimum of two cups of cruciferous vegetables each day. Cruciferous vegies are things like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts. You got it....things that, when they are cooking, smell like a grammar school lunchroom , and can smell worse at another point in their life cycle. And they require a healthy digestive system to get them all happily processed.

I learned, via my Naturopathic doc, that I really need to chew my vegetables very thoroughly in order to avoid the unpleasant side effects of this assault on my digestive tract. Because there are enzymes in saliva that "kick start" the digestive process, there is less work for the old stomach and gut to do. So, it seems that my mother was right; I do need to eat more slowly. And, guess what! It really works! No more concern about being able to leave the privacy of my own home after a meal!

Amazingly, I find that I never get hungry between meals on this regimen, and my weight is staying steady at my "pre-cancer-diagnosis-optimum-weight." Although weight control was not at the top of my list of concerns when I decided to attempt this dietary re-make, the pleasure of eating plenty while staying slim provides great positive reinforcement for staying true to the diet. Plus, I just like the food.

In closing, here's a little ditty to help you remember this important information:
Chew, chew, chew your sprouts,
broccoli and kale;
If you chew just like a cow;
Chew it then and chew it now.
You'll not produce a gale.

5 comments:

  1. Hi Annie! I'm so happy to hear how well things are going for you. Jamil and I started on our "natural" food journey 2 1/2 years ago after he read Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food. There was a huge learning curve but 6 months into it we were chemical free as much as possible. A nice side effect was that my ADD disappeared! Imagine that... and it's still gone. I'm like a new person! Anyway, I'm so glad you're in the care of an ND. I started seeing one a year ago and learned the chewing tip among many others that helped me lose weight and feel great! Keep up the good work and I hope to make it to Winston sometime in the next year. I miss NC dearly and don't get back nearly enough.

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  2. Interestingly (and annoyingly), I recently learned that cruciferous vegetables can interfere with the absorption of thyroid hormone for hypothyroid. Which I am, of course, by virtue of having no thyroid.

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  3. Now writing poetry for your "new job" staying healthy! Love it!

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  4. PLEASE share this information with my husband. And all the boys in my house. I need a girl . . .

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