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You Are What You Eat

By Chay on

You Are What You Eat

We’ve heard the saying “You are what you eat.”, but it really is so true. From a molecular standpoint you are absorbing and becoming everything you digest. This can be a beautiful thing if your diet is alive and clean, but if it’s not, disease and disorders can run rampant. What I mean by alive and clean food, I’m referring to a diet full of raw fruits, veggies and fermented things in order to keep the body in balance.

protein peppermint plants vegan river outside green mint almond tofu
Protein Peppermint

A short synopsis of how our bodies work and process food:

It’s been a while since most of us learned specifically about how the body process the food we eat, so here’s a quick refresher.

Step 1: By chewing food, you release saliva filled with enzymes that help initiate the breakdown of food.

Step 2: Food reaches the stomach and is broken down by stomach acid and bacteria.

Side note- If the body becomes too acidic, you might get heartburn or acid reflux as the food hits the stomach. A simple cure for this is to drink water with a fresh lemon or lime wedge in it.

Step 3: The food then sends a signal to the gallbladder, which stores and secretes bile produced by the liver to digest all fats. The pancreas also secretes insulin directly into the bloodstream to help balance glucose levels from eating starches/sugars.

Step 4: Now the goop travels down the small intestine and large intestine, which have little fingers called villi that absorb the nutrients in the food and transfer it directly into the bloodstream. After the nutrients hit the bloodstream, they travel to the appropriate organ that’s in need of said nutrients.  

Step 5: All other food passes into the large intestine/colon before exiting. The colon is there to reabsorb remaining fluids and some nutrients. It also is lined with bacteria that helps it keep a healthy balance while passing along the digested food.

Step 6: Poopin Time!

The star players in above’s game are bacteria and insulin.

Enzymes and bacteria are at the forefront of a healthy immune system that supports proper cellular health. The more enzymes you have, the quicker the cells of the body are able to regenerate and reproduce. Enzymes act as a catalyst for the biochemical reactions of the body to occur. Fundamentally, enzymes help in the transferring of vitamins and minerals throughout the body. 

Moving on to the topic of insulin. Insulin is a hormone, that when the body works properly, is secreted by the pancreas and regulates glucose levels in the bloodstream. However, for someone with Type 2 Diabetes or Insulin Resistance, it works much differently. 

If there is Insulin Resistance, this is the result of over-saturating the body with sugars for a prolonged period of time. Usually this takes many years. After there is insulin resistance within the cells of the body, the blood stream becomes over-saturated with glucose. Then the pancreas can’t keep up with producing enough insulin to keep the blood glucose levels at normal. When there is not enough insulin produced, the blood glucose levels rise and Type 2 Diabetes is the result. This is why most Type 2 Diabetics take insulin injections multiple times a day in order to artificially bring the blood glucose levels down.

So how do we keep our bodies filled with beneficial enzymes and bacteria?

If the body gets live food through fruits and veggies, it can feed the cells the proper nutrients so that they can use the enzymes and probiotics that keep you healthy. By consuming green smoothies, salads, and fermented things such as Sauerkraut (not canned), Kimchi, fermented Nut Cheeses (Almond Cheese Spread Recipe), Kombucha, as well as enzyme and probiotic supplements, they will help replenish the gut’s bacteria naturally.

This brings me to another topic of discussion; ORAC Values.

ORAC stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity. Oxygen radicals are commonly referred to as “free-radicals”, which cause “oxidation” or damage to the body’s cells. This oxidation occurs when there is an imbalance of antioxidants to free-radical ratio. Fresh fruits and vegetables carry the ability to absorb those free radicals!. This is done through a high count of antioxidants found in the fruit or veggie.

See, fruits and veggies are SO RAD!

How do antioxidants work in the body?

So you eat a piece of fruit, such as a blueberry, that has an ORAC value of 4669 (according to USDA Database for the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) of Selected Foods 2010). Blueberries have what is considered a high ORAC value – meaning they have a lot of antioxidants, however the ORAC value of something may not be comparable to another’s ORAC value. Different fruits and veggies have different mineral and vitamin content, so what might be fantastic about an orange isn’t necessarily going to be comparable to what an apple has to offer.

That information aside, how the heck does all this make you not get sick? Free-radicals are unstable molecules that cause the cell to become damaged, and effectively useless.  Antioxidants, (when the body has plenty to go around) are broken down and release an electron that the cell grabs ahold of to complete itself, or in other words heal itself. However, when the body has very little or no beneficial nutrients to pull these electrons from, the cells become useless. They no longer are able to create a healing force for the body to combat disease with.

How much processed/refined sugar can the body handle in a day?

The body is only able to properly process less than 5% of your daily caloric intake of sugar per day. This includes any sugar, whether it be fruits or cookies. For example; If I consume 1500 calories a day, my body can healthily metabolize 19 grams of sugar per day. 

Anything that has sweetener or simple carbohydrates in it triggers a high insulin response. This response happens the same way with alternative sweeteners as well. 

One way to choose a slower insulin response is to look for extra fiber. This helps the blood glucose levels not spike as hard and so the pancreas doesn’t have to work overtime. 

For example, when you eat a banana, there are about 14g of sugar packed in that tasty treat. However, it’s paired with approximately 3g of fiber, which turns out to be 12% of your daily fiber. This is no coincidence. Nature knows what it’s doing. Due to the high fiber content, it takes the body a while to digest it, therefore the blood glucose levels don’t spike. This goes across the board of foods. Not only does this apply to sugars, but also carbohydrates without high fiber that turn into readily available energy a.k.a. sugar.

A side note to sugar is that it also causes inflammation. People with fibromyalgia, arthritis, migraines, or any form of pain should not consume more than 5% of  sugar per day in order to reduce or maybe even reverse their symptoms. As always, moderation is key and read those labels! You have the choice to make better decisions!

How to help control gas and bloating on a plant-based diet.

When first switching over to a plant-based diet you may start to have quite a bit of bloating and excess gas. This is caused by the body digesting foods with lots of fiber content, but not enough enzymes to fully break it down. This can be a super uncomfortable process, but can be alleviated with the help of live cultures! I DO NOT suggest yogurt. There is way too much sugar put in pre-packaged yogurt that ends up doing as much harm to your body as good. One of the easiest ways to get live cultures is through fermented foods. Check out this Cashew Cheese Spread recipe for a healthy dose of live cultures!

The highest amount of live cultures that are readily available are:

To highlight on Kombucha for a minute;  Kombucha is a drink made from a scoby (live culture) paired with vinegar, tea and sugar (for the scoby to feed on) and allowed to ferment for weeks. As the scoby eats the sugars, the drink becomes naturally fizzy and different juices are added to give added flavors. Be careful though, some companies make them with loads of sugar.

Just always read your labels. Always.

Always.

Nuts.com is a great place to pick up bulk food items. Even with shipping, a lot of times ordering directly from Nuts.com will save you a bit of money!