The Best Diet? The Princess Bride's "Battle of Wits" scene answers it clearly.
“Quod ali cibus est aliis fuat acre venenum.”
In the first century BC, Titas Lucretius spoke of the first nutritional guidelines. These wise words have been ignored by our FDA, large food industry conglomerates, and our esteemed health professionals. What were those wise words you ask?
"One man's meat is another man's poison"
Yeah, yeah you say.... He was actually a philosopher and he may not have meant what I think he meant. Regardless, he is correct. Literature has been published by the train loads suggesting that many chronic illnesses and non clinical ailments are associated everyday normal foods. The U.S. Center for Disease Control reports that 90% of food sensitivities are associated these 8 common foods (1):
Cow's Milk
Hen Eggs
Tree Nuts & Peanuts
Soy
Wheat
Fatty Fish
Crustacean Shellfish
Yet, how many of use eat these with no problem, little problem, some problem, or all out problem?
Harvard's Medical Publications has cited refined carbohydrates, fried foods, soda, red meat and processed meats, margarine and lard as inflammatory inducing foods as well (2). Sugar and High Fructose Corn Syrup are only a simple PubMed search away from being implicated to obesity, cardiovascular disease, irritable bowel syndrome, diabetes, ADHD/ADD, diabetes, auto-immune disorders, joint inflammation, microbe dysbiosis, and further sugar addiction just to name a few lovely things sugar does for us. Interestingly, all the foods listed so far are literally staples in everyday meals.
Uh wait...a minute......what is PubMed you ask? PubMed is the U.S. Library of Medicine. Where geeks like me go to find medical research. Anyone can gander at bazillions of article abstracts and a lot of articles.
Honestly, I can go on for hours and list all the foods that our society has been eating that is slowly causing havoc to our bodies. Post World War II, millions of people left rural land for the big city. Houses were built row by row, bread winners went off to these fancy corporate jobs, kids were sent to these learning centers all day, and the bread makers stayed home to shop at stores where our food began to line up row by row. What has happened since then? Well, in short, chronic diseases have risen, obesity is on the rise, 50% percent of us are on one drug with 70% on two. Children's allergy related diagnoses and obesity rates hit records each year.
Keep patient as I digress a bit more. Post WWII was the start of what I call The Industrialized-Agricultural Diet. We went from eating food that spoiled in days, not weeks. In soil that was nutrient rich and did not need Monsanto additives for artificial soil composition. Our game food was wild, not needing antibiotics, growth hormones, and they roamed. It was legal to buy non pasteurized diary and eggs. In short, we ate very nutrient dense food that contained enzymes, had cleansing properties, and were free of damaging compounds. The food contained uninterrupted fatty acids for hormone balance and important body processes. Wheat proteins were passed out the bowel and not absorbed.
AS APPOSED TO TODAY'S FOOD LIKE SUBSTANCES GUIDED BY POOR NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION.
This era was the start of the processed food movement. Hella popular today is the phrase, "Processed Food". Yet misunderstood. It does not mean just packaged. It means chemically derived or chemically manipulated. It's the use of man made chemicals in the processing of foods, manufacturing of foods, added to foods, or all three. Oh, and so produce doesn't spoil before it gets to the grocery store to sit for a couple weeks? It's radiated and genetically modified for shelf life. Don't get me started on T.V. dinners, fast food, and microwaves!!!! Short to the point, we no longer eat food. We eat food like substances. Yes, anything in a box, bag, can, package, and usually frozen is processed. It's unlikely that produce has significant nutritional density either. Processed foods is a man made manipulation of what most of use eat - and with our blinders on, in denial, most of us are eating chemically derived meals.
But wait you say........we have experts that "enlighten" us on what is healthy.
Oh, do we, I say?
We have the FDA & USDA Food Guidelines; The New Bestseller Diet That Beats The Last Bestseller Diet Book; Blog After Blog On What So and So Does To Be Super Lean and Mean; Organic; Non-GM0; Gluten Free; Free Range; That Famous T.V. Show Doc With The Latest and Greats; That Chase A Dinasore Craze Diet....blah blah blah.
THEN WHY ARE WE ALL NOT HEALTHY AND NOT NEEDING TO READ THIS BECAUSE IT DOESN'T RESONATE?
An allergy is an all out, recognizable symptom. A food sensitivity is often an unrecognizable hidden stressor causing further physiological damage. Food sensitivities are one of the contributors to chronic inflammation and inflammation has been linked to many chronic diseases. Food sensitivity testing is one of the most overlook diagnostic tools available to clinicians. Next time you go to your doctor, complain about one or all of the following: fatigue, migraines, moodiness, brain fog, heartburn, joint pain, acne, bloating and gas. I am confident that a Food Mediator Release Test will not be on the list of ideas. Yet, these are leading ailments suffered from people with unrecognized food sensitivities (4).
Therefore, what would Titus Lucretius suggest? A Food Mediatory Release Test to separate what may be your meat versus your poison. Results from these tests help pinpoint dietary contributors to inflammation, at an individual level. A common feature of all diet induced inflammatory responses are the release of innate immune responders like histamines, cytokines, leukotrienes, prostaglandins, etc., from white blood cells. Anytime a white blood cell releases a mediator it is in response to defend against an antigen (bad guy). Ah HA!!!! One man's meat is another man's poison. Sometimes a common food can be bad guy. Mediator Release Tests compare a persons serum blood responses to various foods to identify immune responses. Thus providing specific dietary approaches to lessen the likelihood of chronic inflammation associated to common complains. How would a customized shopping list of non-inflammatory foods help you?
When is the last time you had to keep clearing your throat shortly after the meal? How about dry skin or eyes? Acne? Irritability? Fatigue? Are you suffering from gut dysfunction? Low cortisol? Even cravings for certain foods? All are linked to food sensitivities and inflammation. And it can be one link to hidden stressors that correlate to complaints you had for years.
Mediator Release Testing is a cornerstone of my approach, in both therapy and functional medicine coaching, in uncovering root causes of chronic inflammation, gut dysfunctions, and other complaints. Register for your FREE consultation.
The Worlds Healthiest Foods, whfoods.org
Harvard's Women's Health Watch; Oct 26, 2015
www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/best-diet-quality-counts/
A Critical Review of IgG Immunoglobulins in Food Allergy - Implications in Systemic Health. USO BioTek Laboratories: Suen, R. & Gordon, S. 2003.
