Let me be frank. Many times throughout this journey I have knowingly chosen to see food through the tinted glass of denial, because the things I learn about my body through this program has left me aghast at the things I’ve been eating my entire life.
In week three, for instance, I learned the hard truths behind the hot meals that have always comforted me and about my true love – bread.
I’ll get to this in a bit.
Last week, my live lesson with Jon was about Digestions and Toxins. “Digestion is just a tube that starts from your mouth and ends at your anus”, stated Jon. No point romanticizing hard facts, no?
But there’s room for surprise. He moves on to call Digestive Enzymes and Friendly Bacteria – which are produced by the pancreas – my two “best friends”. Digestive enzymes, in case you have forgotten (as I did), break down the food I eat in my stomach, while friendly bacteria stimulate the production of antibodies in my blood and helps me deal with toxins and incompletely digested protein.
Basically, keeping these two friends active and multiplying results in a good digestive system and ultimately – a healthy immune system.
So let me tell you how I’ve been sabotaging my two best friends by eating food I thought were right for me. Okay so I knew they weren’t entirely right – but I had no idea they were completely wrong.
Hot Plates, Bad Mates
As we cook food, it is being molecularly altered. The only other time I have been fascinated by the word “molecular” was when it was related to high-end gastronomy.
In this case – it’s not very classy. Proteins that get burnt from overcooking means that our bodies can’t digest them as proteins. Burnt fat become rancid after you cook them, changing into hard fat that coats the cell wall in a very rigid form that blocks out entry from hormones.
The worst part? Hot food could cause a Leaky Gut Syndrome. When hot food burns and damages the intestinal wall, it allows toxins and undigested nutrients to leak into the bloodstream, wreaking havoc in your immune system. Not only that – hot food also destroys digestive enzymes and friendly bacteria, and causes disorders such as chronic pancreatitis and irritable bowel syndromes.
Your body can’t break bread with you.
Another villain in play behind a leaky gut is also processed foods. We process food so that it can be resistant to bacteria and have a longer shelf life. But what we don’t drill into our heads enough is that by making it bacteria proof on the shelf, we are also making it bacteria proof to the friendly ones inside our stomach. The ones that are supposed to break down these foods and help you digest them.
A horror story – nutrition consultant Karen Hanrahan kept a hamburger for 12 years to illustrate its nonexistent ability to decay, and aside from having a very odd smell, it didn’t change much in appearance.
According to food and farming specialist Weston Price, there are 20 different fungicides, insecticides and chemicals in the making of wheat bread. And that’s just the seeds. Then the grains are processed and stripped of all its nutrients because that’s what bacteria eats. This means that the bacterias in my stomach aren’t gonna eat it either. So the bread becomes this abandoned, toxic ball of waste inside me, and all that’s left… is sugar.
“Sugar and a gluey substance called gluten,” added Jon, which is in most wheat breads and grains. “Gluten is just a glue that clogs up your system.” He goes on to tell the story of how his daughter mixed corn starch (a form of wheat gluten) and water to make glue for her school project.
So yes, I may have a leaky gut, and I’ve been having glue for breakfast for the past 29 years.
The Solution
Is simple. Simpler said than done, yes – but not hard to do. Jon highly recommends at least two portions of salads with your meals a day. Fresh, green and leafy salads that have digestive enzymes and friendly bacteria (my new best friends), fill the stomach and detoxify the body.
He also suggests that we start juicing – more vegetables, less fruit. “You want to have the right proportions. You don’t want to juice too much fruit or carrots or beets because it’s going to be too sweet. It takes all the fiber out and it just leaves the juice full of sugar,” he reminded. “The key with juicing is that you want it to be 60-70% green.”
Here’s to greener pastures in my fourth week, and praying that I’ll find time to hit the grocery store and stock up on fresh foods instead of relying on the greasy cafes around the office!
Tania is currently testing out the Gabriel Code Body Transformation Journey, a 6-week course designed by Jon Gabriel, creator of the revolutionary mind-based weight loss program The Gabriel Method. Read her other journal entries on her personal journey towards reprogramming her body for healthy weight loss here.
