Can Food Sensitivities Be An Obstacle To Weight Loss?
By June Konopka, MS, RD
For many people, once they know how to choose quality food, combine foods, and time foods properly during the day, they make these changes in their lives and see the results of renewed energy and weight loss. For others, however, they still can't make the changes completely, even when they know what to do and how good they feel as a result. Some can't even start, already sensing their failure. Let's look at food sensitivities as one very powerful reason for this.
Usually, when people think of food allergy, they think of skin rashes, runny noses or digestive problems. What is not commonly known is that allergic type reactions to foods can have addictive characteristics almost as strong as an alcoholic's addiction to alcohol. When a sensitive food is eaten it can create a mild lift or high in the mood. This is because the antigens created by the body to attack the food protein also release a psychoactive chemical in the brain that produces an endorphin effect. Hence, our allergic foods often become our favorite foods and we become very attached to them. Eating the food creates a further demand for more of the same substance so withdrawal symptoms are avoided and the high can be recreated.
I often suspect clients have an addictive type food allergy when they look at me in horror at the mere suggestion that they remove a particular food item from their diet, usually sugar or refined breads and pastas. They know on some level how attached and dependent they are on the substance. Another clue to food allergy is immediate fatigue, depression or other withdrawal symptoms such as foggy or muddled thinking, headaches, cravings, emotional ups and downs, and hyperactivity at the start of a new food plan. If the person goes back to old eating habits, which include the allergic food, the symptoms then disappear. A third clue is when a client is doing well on a food plan for a few weeks and suddenly starts bingeing again for no apparent reason. They have usually eaten the allergic food again, either by choice, or hidden in something such as wheat in gravy.
Helping a person locate foods they are sensitive to so they can avoid them, or having them eliminate the allergy using techniques such as N.A.E.T. will often be necessary before a healthier eating plan can be followed successfully. Removing an offending food can seem like a magic bullet for quick weight loss, since elimination of these foods can produce the release of pounds of retained water. So remember, for lasting weight loss it is still important to learn to eat high quality foods in the right combinations, and to exercise regularly.
If you are interested in information on an N.A.E.T session click here.
"Overcoming Food Cravings"
by June Konopka, MS, RD
Have you ever been in a situation where you couldn't stop eating a bag of cookies or a loaf of bread until it was gone, or had to get in your car and drive to the store in order to get a chocolate fix? If so, you know that something more than simple hunger is taking over and willpower is almost useless at this point. It is hard to deal with food cravings once they have taken over, but they can be prevented.
In preventing food cravings, it is often helpful to determine the cause. Food cravings can arise from a combination of many things, including low blood sugar levels, imbalances in the brain chemistry, high stress levels, emotional issues, insulin resistance, poor quality of food choices, irregular meals, wrong food combinations, and even food allergies and sensitivities. As my clients adjust their diets and lifestyles, these causes begin to surface and they can see clearly for the first time what is going on in their bodies and what it takes to prevent their cravings.
For example, a woman came to me complaining that she had no desire for food all day until 3 or 4 PM. At that time she would start eating, not feel satisfied, and keep eating most of the evening. She felt controlled by food, so put off eating each day until she was absolutely driven to. My suggestion that she make breakfast and lunch her main meals of the day, with adequate protein in both, didn't make sense to her at first. She feared the earlier she started eating in the day, the more she would end up eating.
What she didn't know was that our bodies release neuropeptides that make us crave carbohydrates and fats to insure that we get the fuel we need for survival and reproduction. Galanin, a neuropeptide that stimulates fat cravings, and neuropeptide Y, the carbohydrate stimulator, rise to high levels throughout the day if we do not eat. By the time 3 or 4 PM rolls around they are so high that there is no end to the hunger we may feel. In her case, her food cravings were primarily the result of improper timing of her food and a resulting chemical imbalance that was alleviated by eating earlier in the day.
For someone else, cravings may be the body's attempt to send them in search of missing nutrients. A chocolate craving, for instance, is sometimes an attempt to get more magnesium into the body. The denatured, processed foods we eat these days have left the average American deficient in calcium, chromium, copper, folic acid, magnesium, niacin, B6, vitamin E, and zinc. The result is constant snacking. My clients learn how to buy and use high quality "real foods" that will satisfy their bodies and their cravings. For those with low blood sugar problems or insulin resistance, improving the quality of their food (especially carbohydrates) is particularly important.
If you are interested in nutritional counseling because of food craving issues, hypoglycemia, or weight gain, check the schedule of classes for the next weight loss class or make an appointment for a private nutritional consultation.
A New Approach to Weight Loss
By June Konopka, MS, RD
This is the time of year when I see many people who are interested in losing weight. Most of these people will tell me they know what they should eat, but just don't do it, blaming their failed attempts at maintaining low-fat diets on lack of willpower. I think the blame in many cases is being misplaced. A major part of the problem may be the low fat diets themselves.
In the last 10 years research has been uncovering the role of insulin in weight gain, but the information has been slow in reaching the public. Insulin is a hormone released by the pancreas whenever carbohydrates are eaten, and in lesser amounts when proteins are eaten. One of its jobs in the body is to stimulate cells to open up and allow glucose (which has been broken down from the carbohydrates we eat) to enter the cells and be used for energy. Therefore, whenever we eat carbohydrates, our blood glucose rises and insulin is released in response to this glucose rise. The thing most people aren't aware of is that insulin's presence in the blood also tells the body not to burn fat and to move any fat in the blood into storage.
How does this relate to low-fat diets? Almost any label bragging to be a low-fat product can give us a clue. When fat is removed from a normally high fat food, sugar is often added. A good example of this is non-fat salad dressings, or the low-fat cookie. The amount of carbohydrate tends to increase in the diet when we reduce the fat. Even complex carbohydrates like pasta will raise glucose levels and therefore insulin levels in the blood, especially if they are made from a refined flour stripped of its fiber. Currently in the U.S., the average person eats 50% of his/her calories as sugar and white flour. This creates high peaks of insulin levels all day long. These high levels of insulin discourage fat burning and result in low blood sugar, a set-up for cravings for sweets and caffeine.
So when clients tell me they have trouble staying on a low-fat diet, I suggest to them that maybe their bodies are trying to tell them something. A new and better approach to weight loss that I like to teach focuses on using high quality unprocessed whole foods. When these are eaten at the right time of the day and in the right combinations, the result is maximum satisfaction, reduced cravings, and more even insulin levels. This promotes the burning of fat as well as more energy and vitality. Restricting calories or limiting a major food component, such as fats or carbohydrates, is often used to force the body to loss weight, but may have long term health effects and/or impermanent results. These methods aren't necessary when the quality, the timing, and the combining of food is understood and incorporated into our daily eating habits.
If you are interested in pursuing this type of approach to weight loss, check the schedule of classes for the next weight loss class or make an appointment for a private nutritional consultation.
Ayurvedic Nutrition By June Konopka, MS, RD
When I first started studying Ayurveda in 1980, I began by sending away to India for a mail order book on the subject. It had loose bindings that began falling apart the minute I opened it, and was full of Sanskrit words that I was expected to understand since no explanations or translations were offered. Luckily, I was not discouraged and kept on with my interest. Since that time, the knowledge contained in Ayurveda has become one of my most used tools in keeping myself healthy and happy over the years.
For those who have not heard of Ayurveda, it is an ancient form of medicine from India. It is probably the world's oldest and most comprehensive system of health care and is recognized by the World Health Organization as an effective traditional form of medicine. Ayurveda means "science" or "knowledge" about life. It is a part of the Vedas, which makes this knowledge a part of our own internalized consciousness and available to anyone whose consciousness is fully awake.
The goal of Ayurveda is to create both physical and psychological balance in life. It has many facets to it including meditation, herbs, sound therapy, tonics, rejuvenation therapies, yoga, astrology, and nutrition……all to help us maintain balance. Since all of us have different bodies with unique patterns of intelligence operating, we all need different foods, activities, and therapies to restore balance.
As a nutritionist, Ayurveda was a great relief to me, since I finally understood why there were so many differing views about the "right" way to eat. It explained why some people flourish on certain foods and others do poorly on the same foods. Each of us has a unique blend of three governing intelligences, or doshas, called Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. These same doshas are also found in ourfoods. When we eat foods with a combination of doshas that complement our doshas we tend to stay in balance more easily. For example, a person with a Vata body type, which is light, dry, and cold, would be better off choosing foods that are more Kapha and Pitta in nature. That means foods that are wet, warm, and oily. Ayurveda teaches you to understand yourself, what your needs are, and where to find the qualities you need in foods. It is also possible to eat an Ayurvedic diet and at the same time follow healthy eating guidelines from our own Western scientific orientation.
If you are interested in learning about the foods best for your body type, call June at (970)223-0577 to schedule a nutritional consultation.
