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What does “Mindful Eating” really mean and how can it help your food intolerance?

For years I put everything into what I was eating and the quality of the food without ever thinking about the words I used around food and the way I spoke to my self when I ate that food or even prepared my food. Now I truly know the power of words and thoughts and how they can effect everything you eat and how your body responds to the food on a cellular level and if it will react to it or not.

So how the hell does a word effect if you react to tomatoes or not? Well in one way it doesn’t . . . but in another way it does. By using positive words, mindful eating and affirmations daily you raise the vibration of your body and when you are vibrating at a higher frequency your body heals it self. Your cells rejuvenate faster, repair more efficiently and cope with foods better as it’s not in a state of inflammation.

So what is “Mindful Eating” it’s banded around so often in blogs, but what does it really mean?

 

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What it means is to slow down when eating and take some care over what you fuel your body with. When you are busy and running around at work or with kids or shopping, your in fight or flight mode, most of us live in this state 90% of the time. We are at a very anxious level all day and can not switch off. Then when we eat we inhale our food throwing it in our mouths. So not only do we not digest in fight or flight but also as we have eaten to fast it puts an added burden on our bodies. To digest our food we must switch back into our parasympathetic nervous system ‘repair and digest” or there is not point eating at all, as all it does is laden the body with a burden you don’t get the minerals and benefits from eating food.

wen you cook your food think about how much it went through to get to you. Thank the farmers, the animal that sacrificed it’s life, or the earth, sea or tree for providing it to you. When you have it in front of you touch, taste and smell it to start appreciating it. When you eat it, smell it to start the saliva in your mouth, which tells the brain to start activating the juices in your stomach, and prepare your body to start the digestion process. An example of the reverse of this is inhaling a burger in a few bites and that burger sitting in your stomach unable to be digested, as the body has had no warning signs it was coming. But if you cut ripe water melon and smell it and lick your fingers, your body is aware of what your about to eat and it gets excited as it pulls up that memory of eating it. You feel grateful for this watermelon and say to yourself ‘this will replenish my body and hydrate me, this is exactly what I need right now’ your body will digest this very easily.

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How you talk to yourself and feel makes a big affect on your digestion system and how the body takes nutrients to the cells too. An example of this is: ‘This food will heal me’ ‘This food is nourishing my body’ or ‘I’m so grateful for this food’.

The opposite to this is: ‘This isn’t very good for me’ ‘I shouldn’t really eat this’ or ‘I’ll have to pay for this tomorrow and have to go to the gym for 2 hours’

One is telling your body this is great food to eat and the other is saying don’t digest this it will harm you and the body will send out white blood cells to eradicate it. Now this doesn’t mean you can eat junk food with positive affirmations, as junk food is junk food at it serves no purpose in your body and causes inflammation . . . but it means not to beat yourself up when you have an indulgent healthy treat as that will be worst than the treat on the body and your everyday food should be eaten with appreciation and in a slow mindful manner. CHEW CHEW CHEW!! Oh and CHEW!

Your posture can play a part in this too up right strong and happy or slumped tired and unhappy? Choosing a positive mindset

Another level of this is: choosing the right “diet” or way of eating for your body. There are so many celebrities out there who indorse their way of life. But we have all got different bodies and our bodies all react differently to food, environment have certain genes are switched on or not. Just because it worked for that celebrity it may not be right for you. So how do you know what “diet” I hate that word . . . is right for you?

Well if you eat meat and your body feels heavy, sluggish and you feel guilt for eating an animal, then maybe that’s not right for you no matter what fade “diet” is in at the time. Or maybe you eat meat and it gives you so much energy and makes you fit and lean and you have no issue eating an animal, then maybe it is right for you.

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Your mindset when going into a new way of eating is so important. If you believe in it and feel it is right than it most likely will be right, as your mindset is in alignment. If you go into a new fade diet and you say to yourself ‘this will be a hassle’ or ‘it will be hard and I wont be able to stick to it.’ Or something I hear all the time ‘my kids wont eat that!” . . then you guessed it, it will be hard and not work as you have set your self up for failing before you started you are sending out that vibration and you and your kids will pick up on that. Go in to any thing in life with the right mindset and alignment and things will fall into place and work for you.

The food it self is vibrational and a plant just picked or a fruit just picked will have a high vibration that will help to keep your body vibrating at a high level and running efficiently. If you choose food that is void of vibrations and a dead food like an over cooked burger which hold no life force in it at all. All it will do is dull your body’s energy and flow of life force, over time this plays its price on your body and inflammation and disease.

So is it mambo jumbo or scientific fact? Try it and see! Think about the way you talk to your body and how you feel when you eat a food and they way you talk to your self after eating a food and see if you can twist it positively and see any changes. I used this to overcome my fear of food as so many foods I used to react to. I just kept saying before I ate a food ‘oh I will react to this’ and low and behold I did! When I started to say ‘I love this food and I’m going to eat it and have fun and be relaxed’ suddenly foods I couldn’t eat caused me no problem. Even some foods I eat everyday might cause a reaction if I’m in the wrong mindset as my conscious ego pops up and says ‘oh don’t eat that your eyes will come up’ NO NO NO they won’t hahahah!

Positively and positive words raise Serotonin and reduces Histamine in the body. Help regulate the glands and lowers the white blood count. I.e. inflammation!

So how do you actually eat mindfully?

You need to prepare your body for food. Shovelling food into the body and not chewing properly stops digestion and if the body is working hard on digestion it will take energy away from other functions and you will feel sluggish and tired and bloated after you eat . . . (Christmas dinner anyone?). You are supposed to feel energised and light after food. If you are not re think the food you are eating!

So do the following before you eat always!

  • Take 10 deep belly breaths
  • Be grateful for the food
  • Smell your food
  • Touch your food
  • Thank the farmers or who ever made it for you

By this stage your mouth will be watering sending signals to the gut to start the digestive juices and the enzymes that are needed to break down the food. Digestion starts in the mouth!

CHEW CHEW CHEW CHEW CHEW 30 times each mouthful!

  • Savour each mouthful
  • Thank your body for digesting this food.
  • Be grateful for how lucky you are for having great food and the time to eat it-if you have not got time to eat re think your priorities and work on the balance in your life like what we spoke about earlier.

The other side to mindful eating is knowing where your food comes from and looking after the planet.

  • How was it raised and killed?
  • What part of the world did it come from?
  • What has it been through to get here?
  • What the life force or vibration of this food?
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Understanding Food Intolerances and Allergies.

Understanding why yourself or your child has started to react to a food you have eaten for along time and out of the blue can be frustrating and confusing.

Over the years and through lots of experience I have leant not to demonise that one food like the tomato or strawberry to name 2 of the worst culprits. But to indentify why you or your child is having that reaction.

I like to imagine the nervous system like a pot a big shiny pot. Once that pot is full it starts to overflow. Bubble and spit and boil over. What’s it over flowing with? Toxins, chemicals in the home and personal beauty products, processed foods, sugar, alcohol, gluten, additives, E-numbers, preservatives, stress, lack of sleep, over exercising or lack of exercise . . . If you remove some ingredients, the pot will calm down and simmer along nicely again.

We went down the path of eliminating most foods on the RPAH Elimination Diet and running around like head less chickens panicking about if the kids had eaten a carrot, which was medium on the RPAH Salicylates list. This panic in it’s self was not helping. So learn from my experience. Yes you have to eliminate a few food groups and temporally remove trigger foods and toxins but the most important thing to do is to learn why it’s happening and to remove those items but then repair the body. All food intolerances, out of character behavioural issues and skin reactions are a symptom of the gut. Repair the gut and the symptom will calm down. Remove the foods, limit your triggers but faller to repair the gut or underlying problem will mean you are chasing your tail for many years blaming eggs, nuts or nigh shades. For me I blamed dark raw chocolate, when really it was the stress that leads me to eat chocolate as when I eat chocolate without stress my body copes with it just fine. With my son he can cope with nuts but only when life is calm for him. If there is stress from a new school term, or daddy is away for a while then his pot rises and his body reacts to more things and I can’t give him as many foods as his nervous system is heightened. So instead we steer clear of his trigger foods until he is calm. Then he copes just fine as his pot is very low. What comes first the reaction or the food or both we will never know. Stress plays a big part in gut damage and why you may be reacting. Practice mindful eating. Chew your food. Turn your TV off and focus on sitting straight and enjoy your food that is nourishing your body. Example. I can’t eat nightshades very often. So if I make a 5 minutes tomato and capsicum omelette, eat fast then rush to get out the door whilst screaming at the kids to hurry up we are late . . .and not digest it properly I will react. But If I’m out to dinner with friends and I have nightshades on my plate, as I am calm and happy my body copes with it better. Again how full is your pot depends on what you can cope with.

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REMOVE-REPAIR-RE-TRY

So where to start?

Firstly before I go on to show you the best paths to take and how to tackle what must seem like mind field too most.

I must explain the damage Antihistamines, pain killers, Steroids and Anti-fungal or Antibiotics can do on an already weakened under attack Immune system and a nervous system that is over flowing (remember the pot). These are suppressing the symptoms so putting a big lid on that pot that is boiling over. Well we have all done that whilst cooking and what happens? it still over flows and splits worst, often making more mess and not fixing the issue. You have to turn down the heat to stop it and remove some ingredients. By using antihistamines and steroid creams you are pushing it down and it will come out another way and worst. So what was a skin rash might come back as a chest infection or earache. Keep suppressing that with more medication without looking at the cause, it will come out in an asthma attack lets say or a headache because you body is no longer getting the minerals it needs because of holes in the gut lining and food particles are being attacked in the blood stream and your brain is being starved. Keep going with more medication and it comes out as something worst and so on till you get a really nasty problems. So please don’t use a short-term fix, look at the real reason and repair the gut.

There are natural herbs and foods that are antihistamines that work brilliantly to calm your body’s reactions whilst you fix your body. Also you could use Homeopathy, but not synthetic drugs.

An allergy is something your often born with an your reaction is acute or deadly an Intolerance is something you can calm and change with diet and lifestyle. Although I have seen many people over come lifelong Allergies to nuts and pollen through healing their gut that they were born with. But most doctors will tell you that is impossible.

Healing and repairing diets to work towards adapting in your family would be:

A 100%raw food diet low in fats high in carbohydrates and fruits, melons, berries and nuts and seeds and free from anything else.

These are not quick fixes but lifestyle changes that will mean you can change your outcome and stop a life of needing creams, medication and avoiding foods.

No sugar coating: You must eliminate all (MSG), preservatives, additives, flavour enhancers, gums, vegetable proteins (TVP) E-numbers, food acids, thickening agents, sugars and fake processed foods including soy bi-products like dairy milks, soy lecithin in chocolate, chocolate, caffeine , alcohol ect and trans fats and all oils. (Real food only not from a packet)

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Understanding the main chemical and allergy food groups:

Salicylates: this big word is a plant chemical found naturally organic or non organic fruit like strawberries and vegetables like tomatoes and eggplant, honey, spices, teas, coffee, yeast and products which use them like laundry powder, aspirin, perfumes, toothpaste, cleaning products.

Amines: this is from the breakdown of proteins. Amines levels increase in meats and fish and cheese that is char grilled, aged or matured and in fruits and vegetables that are very ripe like bananas, olives, and avocado. Or concentrated sauces like tomatoes sauce, fruit juices, chocolate, flavoured spreads, jams and fermented foods.

Glutamate: this is an amino acid that is an essential building block of all proteins and is found in most naturally foods. In its natural state away from protein it is used to enhance flavour in foods like cheese, tomato, stock cubes, spreads, soy sauce, yeast extract. Like amines they naturally accrue in ripe fruits, so as the proteins in the fruit break down they appear.

Fructose: this is simple sugar found in fruits and vegetables and natural sweeteners like honey and maple syrup. Fructose when eating as a whole piece of fruit can be absorbed well because it has the fibre to go with it. When you have it as a fruit syrup or juice without the fibre or as dried fruit, which is concentrated. It can ferment in the large bowel causing gas and an over production of bad bacteria. Fructose is not a problem for most if it’s eaten as a whole fruit and in small amounts of local organic in season fruit. The problem arises when a cold climate person eats lots of tropical fruits, juices and dried fruits. (Example 1 box of sultans contain up to 50 grapes or 1 roll up contains 7 serves of fruit and often sulphur and sugar is added) fruit juice is pure sugar to the body and it spikes your hormones gives you short term energy without any of the goodness to feed your body. Eat fruit as a whole piece of fruit.

Lactose: this is the natural sugar found in milk. Its a compound sugar made up of glucose and galactose and can not be absorbed until its been digested by the enzyme Lactase in the small bowel. Which if you don’t have that enzyme you cannot digest it.

Gluten: if you have reaction to gluten you might have Coeliac Disease and before removing it you should be tested. For others it may be an intolerance and once others food have been removed and replaced with organic, unprocessed grains that have been stored properly, soaked and prepared properly you may be able to cope with it. But that does not mean shop brought cookies, cakes and breads that means homemade fermented grains or homemade sourdough using traditional methods. For me I cannot cope with grains yet as I still have gut healing to do. This should be one of the last foods to replace.

Histamines: is a chemical, which occurs naturally in certain foods. This is also one of the chemicals that is released in the body as part of an allergic reaction, causing the typical itching, sneezing, wheezing and swelling allergy symptoms. We all have an enzyme which breaks down any histamine that we absorb from a histamine-containing food. When we eat a food, which contains histamine, it does not affect us. However, some people have a low level of this enzyme. When they eat too many histamine-rich foods they may suffer ‘allergy-like’ symptoms such as headaches, rashes, itching, diarrhoea, and vomiting or abdominal pain. This is called histamine intolerance. Foods that are high are. Champagne, wine, beer, cider and other fermented drinks and spirits, sauerkraut and other pickled foods., tofu and soya sauce, aged foods like cheese and meats, mushrooms, tinned fish, sausages and other processed meats (ham, salami, gammon, bacon) mushrooms, dried fruit, seeds, nuts, yeast extract, yeast, chocolate, cocoa, cola.

Check out more information on:

http://fedup.com.au

This is a chart I used back when I was working out what we were reacting too. It may help you too. Fill it in with your symptoms and your triggers.

Symptoms Gluten Dairy Soy Corn Eggs Nuts Citrus Chocolate Sugar High Salicylates High Amine
Bloating
Headache
Joint pain
Rash
Hot flush
Mood changes
Anxiety
Depression
Your symptom

 Change the column names to suit your symptoms and foods.

Getting started.

I recommend eliminating all trigger foods like dairy, eggs, nuts, soy, gluten, and sugar for 3 weeks to allow your pot to empty. Drinking water away from food and also removing toxins from your home and turning to natural products to clean and wash clothes and avoiding as many outside toxins as you can. As I said earlier ‘No Sugar coating!’

Once you have made it through the 3 weeks without any slip-ups reintroduce one food at a time eating that food at least twice a day for two days using the chart to observe your symptoms.

If you have symptoms like a rash, brain fog, fatigue or a digestive reaction remove it again and write it on the chart. If you are fine with the food you can keep eating it.

Once the reaction has past what a day and start on the next food.

A note about Gluten if you react to it in any way bloating, headache, rash, bowel changes you may need to keep it out until your gut heals.

You can’t be part time gluten free as it takes up to 3 weeks and in some cases 3 months to remove the particles from the intestinal tract. So no cheating on the weekends if you want to be symptom free!

Be patient, as it will take time to reintroduce the foods back watching for reacting and not adding the ones you react to until you have done the gut repairing.

REMOVE-REPAIR-RE-TRY

Look at my Gut healing protocol or contact me to take you through the process of healing.

 Good luck finding your triggers guys!

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