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1 month clean

3K views 21 replies 9 participants last post by  mpexus 
#1 ·
About a month ago I was in the hospital for a serious case of food poisoning. It was a day of puking and a week of non stop shitting.

The one positive thing it did for me was to cleanse my body of all toxins. I can no longer eat greasy , or fried foods. They physically make me feel ill. I attempted to drink coffee and stopped at half a cup. The half and half was too thick and again made me feel ill.

I used to eat a lot of fast food. Never french fries but the sandwiches. And drink 2-3 cups of coffee a day.

I am not fat but 10-15 lbs out of shape. A month ago I was always tired and bloated. Now after no coffee and no fast food, I actually feel great. People always say you are what you eat. Its true.

My food intake consists of a lot of chicken, turkey, salad, beans and granola bars. What other options are there to eat healthy?
 
#2 ·
That sucks, and I suppose turned out awesome? :lol:

Sucks that coffee makes you feel that way!

Granola bars aren't healthy. At all. It's just fiber and sugar disguised as vitamins and minerals and perceived goodness. Some people find that foods fried in nut-based oils are what gives them indigestion and issues. Foods fried in things like olive oil and lard are actually good for you. Those fats are good for the body. Please don't fall into the "fats are bad" health-camp, because humans have been ingesting animal fats for 200,000 years, and if they were bad for you, we'd find records of heart disease in the bones of our ancestors. Fun fact, we don't :)

Anyways, kudos for the new lifestyle! Really, cutting fast foods alone is an amazing accomplishment. Try to bring the coffee back in. In my own experience, milks and creams that are "ultra-pasteurized" are the ones that give me stomach problems. It's like a higher temp pasteurization that ends up breaking things down further and creating some weird chemicals in the milk. Find a good cup of coffee, and then find a good milk to add in!
 
#5 ·
Try to bring the coffee back in.
Why? I used to rely on coffee for energy ,crash and repeat. Now I feel good all day, why go back?

Yeah, I am trying to keep my food simple with limited amount of ingredients. Nuts is not something I thought about and is a great snack idea!
Granola bars; this is what I eat daily https://www.naturevalley.com/product/crunchy-bars-apple-crisp/ I do not think they are bad? My son loves them too

It feels very strange not eating or wanting fast food. It has been apart of my diet since I was a kid. Fast food would be breakfast and lunch on the weekends when I lived with my parents. Believe it or not, I actually feel happier too. Maybe thats from having energy? Who knows. Food poisoning was the best thing to happen to me.
 
#3 ·
Good for you man, I know staying clean is the hardest part. I always seem to slip up, though I can go for a long time if I'm dieting correctly. For me, low calorie and high protein with greens seems to work. Fish, steak, chicken, eggs, nuts, and tons of greens. I always keep sweet peppers in the house too in case I get munchy. When I can keep to this kind of pseudo-ketogenic diet, I feel so much better and the pounds come off.

Now if I could just stick to it!
 
#4 ·
In my experience, the big no-noes are big doses of refined sugars, limiting sodium intake and, in general, any processed foods (nitrates and nitrites).

Super simple rules, the issue is that MOST stuff Is loaded with one or all those things to either enhance/mask taste or enhance shelf life. For me, I stopped adding any of that stuff to my food (so no sugar in coffee or lemonade, no salt on eggs or potatoes, etc), and I try to stick with food with simple ingredients. Instead of potato chips or crackers, a banana or green beans. Instead of a burger, a steak and instead of bacon, pork chops. Just cutting out the amount of stuff in it before you make it and cutting down on what you put in it. :2c:

I don't love coffee either, tbh. With no sugar or cream it's okay but not my first choice. After I cut out the additives, I usually have unsweetened ice tea in them morning, which has a comparable amount of caffeine and for me, if it's chilled well, it's as refreshing as the coffee was hot.
 
#6 ·
I'm doing a PhD in food technology, so I have a bit of insight into nutrition from a scientific point of view (although I'm not a nutritionist by any means). In general you can say that it's good to avoid excess sugar, so the amount of candy, cake, soda etc you consume should be as low as possible. Fast food that doesn't fill you up while having a huge energy density is also something that's good to avoid. After that it gets more complex.

What most people in the west are hugely lacking in is dietary fiber, the intake of which is really clearly associated with a reduced risk of diabetes, colorectal cancer and obesity. Fiber is good for gut function, it reduces the energy density of food (i.e. fills you up with less calories), and is food for the good bacteria in your gut. The final point is something that's received more and more attention lately, as there's now a lot of evidence that gut microbiota has a huge effect on health.

Of course, saying you should eat more fiber is a bit simplified. The type and source are also important, and it's also most likely important to get a good mix of different fibers. So a mix of wholegrain, nuts, vegetables, legumes will give you a nice mix of fiber and other nutrients. The thing with fiber is that at least part of the health benefit can come from components connected with certain fibers, like phenolic compounds, so a pure fiber might not give the same benefits as e.g. cereal bran or whole nuts.

When it comes to wholegrain cereals, the processing also has an effect on how good they are for you. If you have a very finely ground flour where the structure of the grain is totally broken down, it will give a faster blood sugar response than a more coarsely ground. Therefore when it comes to cereals, something like oat porridge made of wholegrain flakes is better than a puffed wholegrain. On the other hand, if you absolutely want to eat puffed cereals, a wholegrain one is most likely better than one made of white flour. This is also part of the reason that you can't just talk about carbs in general being good or bad, it all depends on the type and the matrix. Personally, based on the scientific literature available I'd say that eating good quality carbs as part of a varied diet is good for you. What many people forget is that cereals aren't 100% starch either, e.g. oats can contain up to 20 % protein, up to almost 10 % fat, and 10-ish % fiber - so about half of the weight of wholegrain oats is actually carbs.

When it comes to protein, eating a relatively high amount can help with weight loss because its satiety response. However, overdoing it causes stress on your kidneys so in the long term eating excess protein should be avoided

When it comes to eating or not eating animal fats, that is a bit tricky. There's epidemiological studies that indicate that vegetarian diets are healthier than meat containing diets. However, with these types of statistical studies it can be difficult to control all relevant factors and they don't reveal any mechanisms. Of course, from a environmental POV it's better to eat less meat than most people in western countries do (and eat better quality, not factory grown meat). Fish is pretty indisputably good for both health and the environment unless you eat some overfished species.
 
#8 ·
When it comes to protein, eating a relatively high amount can help with weight loss because its satiety response. However, overdoing it causes stress on your kidneys so in the long term eating excess protein should be avoided
Yikes, I have been eating chicken and/or turkey (mainly chicken) 2x a day. Is this considered to be excess?

Dietary fiber; my primary doctor tells me this every time I see him at my annual physical. Year after year I have borderline high cholesterol. Hopefully this change will help knock it down
 
#12 ·
Virtually all carbohydrates are sugar (dietary fiber is an example of something classified as a carb that is not a sugar). It's mainly divided into simple sugars (like fruits and table sugar) and complex sugars (starches such as potatoes, rice, and wheat). So, on the information printed on things in the US, if it says "45 grams of carbohydrates" and breaks that down into "15 grams of sugars," the remaining 30 grams could be completely complex sugars (such as oats). Now, oats are much more healthy than table sugar, mainly because table sugar has zero nutrients and vitamins in it, while oats (and most starches, really) have lots of nutrients and vitamins. But oats and table sugar are both sugar, just different kinds. I notice a lot of people use "carbs" to mean "starches" and oftentimes more specifically just certain kinds of starches, but that's, of course, wrong. The way some brands label it is "Carbohydrates" and "Added sugar," so all of the sugars already naturally in the food are in "Carbohydrates" and they remove the amount from that that was added into "Added sugar." I personally find that to be pretty convenient, but I like it best when they give ALL the information possible (including, for example, if 4 grams of that 45 grams of carbs is dietary fiber).

Eating foods that are high in sugar or high in fat is fine as long as you don't go overboard. You just need to do it in moderation.
 
#13 ·
Virtually all carbohydrates are sugar (dietary fiber is an example of something classified as a carb that is not a sugar). It's mainly divided into simple sugars (like fruits and table sugar) and complex sugars (starches such as potatoes, rice, and wheat).
Yeah, starch is a polymer (polysaccharide) of glucose (a monosaccharide). Usually when you talk about sugars, you refer to monosaccharides (like glucose and fructose) and disaccharides (e.g. sucrose, which is a combination of glucose and fructose, or lactose, a combination of glucose and galactose). These give a very quick glucose response in the body. Starch chains are then significantly longer and take longer to be released, because the amylase enzymes take a while to break them down into glucose. This can also be quicker or slower depending on the structure of the starch and how it's been treated. There are even resistant starches that aren't broken down at all by the human digestive enzymes, and basically work as fiber. Generally however, a pure starch will be release quite quickly.

Now, oats are much more healthy than table sugar, mainly because table sugar has zero nutrients and vitamins in it, while oats (and most starches, really) have lots of nutrients and vitamins. But oats and table sugar are both sugar, just different kinds
Oat starch is composed of glucose, yes. About 50-60 % of oats is starch, the rest is fiber, protein and fat. Partly because of the structure of starch and partly because of the other components, the release of glucose into the blood is much, much lower in wholegrain oat than for pure glucose.

One way to measure this is the so called glycaemic index, where pure glucose is the reference (i.e. 100). Oat porridge from steel cut or rolled oats has a GI around 50 which is considered low GI, which means it gives a sustained release of glucose during a long time, instead of giving a sharp peak quickly. White bread or potatoes can have a GI of over 70 which means they give a much quicker increase in blood glucose than oats (or other high fiber foods such as beans for example). The quick, sharp glucose peak that you get from eating high GI foods causes a high amount of insulin to be released in order to regulate the glucose level in the blood, which then causes the blood sugar levels to sink quickly. Like I wrote earlier, how the flour is ground also affects this, so there are wholegrain breads that have almost as high GI as white breads, while other wholegrain breads have much lower GI. Most likely if you have a very airy, soft and fluffy wholegrain bread it will have higher GI than a dense, coarse and hard wholegrain bread.
 
#15 ·
We started eating really clean a little over a year ago, cut out just about everything that wasn't consumed by people prior to the industrial revolution (i.e. all the processed, GMO garbage), and collectively my wife son and I dropped about 120lbs so far. I was having major inflammation issues - all gone. I feel better than I have in 10 years. I was also battling "brain fog" that was increasing like crazy - I honestly thought my IQ was dropping like a rock and couldn't figure out why. Since we began eating clean, it's totally cleared up.

My son was pudgy, out of breath and lethargic. Now, he's slim, as energetic as any other 10 year old and enjoying life more. My wife had the most miraculous changes, and is now in the best shape she's been in since High School.

Our journey started with watching this: https://www.netflix.com/title/80238655 which then took us down a rabbit hole of months of research that blew my mind. The processed food we're sold in the west causes untold amounts of diseases, disorders and cancers. The drugs people in the west are increasingly prescribed to combat these things are only band-aids and don't actually treat the cause. The scary part: the processed food companies and drug manufacturers are all owned by the same people who are profiting by selling us food that makes us sick, then drugs that treat those food-induced symptoms but don't really get us healthy. It's insidious. And, worse, in order to keep you from learning the truth, they go to great lengths to spread all sorts of misinformation, up to and including changing the names of sugar on ingredient labels to keep us from knowing we're ingesting poison.

Processed sugar is more addictive than cocaine. It also feeds cancer, has no business in the human body, serves no real purpose and makes up a high percentage of the ingredient list in nearly everything. From pickles, to salad dressing to chicken nuggets, hot dogs, "boxed meals" ala Noodle-Roni or Hamburger Helper sorts of things, the added sugars are off the charts. One estimate from a dietary research organization in Australia found that over 80% of the food in a western grocery store has unneeded, added sugar in multiple forms, to make the food more addictive so we will buy more.

When I was a kid (yes that WAS a long time ago :lol: ) cancer was on "old-people" disease. I now have multiple friends who's school aged children have it. And, how do their doctor's handle it? By prescribing drugs that produce radical health-damaging side-effects with little to no hope of actually curing the problem. Take your sick animal to the vet and the first thing they ask is "what are you feeding them?" When was the last time your doctor asked you that?

Greed is truly killing us all.
 
#16 ·
When I was a kid (yes that WAS a long time ago :lol: ) cancer was on "old-people" disease. I now have multiple friends who's school aged children have it. And, how do their doctor's handle it? By prescribing drugs that produce radical health-damaging side-effects with little to no hope of actually curing the problem. Take your sick animal to the vet and the first thing they ask is "what are you feeding them?" When was the last time your doctor asked you that?
Changing your diet won't cure cancer, cancer medication in many cases can cure it, or if it can't it can often extend the patient's life. A family friend was diagnosed with breast cancer in her thirties and while the treatments never cured her, she at least lived to see her kids grow up (died at 60). Her mother died at 37 of the same type of cancer because they didn't have effective treatments at that time yet. There are horrible examples of people who have tried to combat cancer by just changing their diet - pretty much 100% of them died. A good diet, enough exercise, not smoking, low alcohol consumption and healthy body weight reduces the risk of cancer though. And I agtree that doctor's should definitely be asking parents what they are feeding their kids and if they are exercising if an obese child shows up at their office, because cardiovascular disease, cancer etc. are strongly correlated with obesity.

However, in Finland at least the age corrected cancer rates haven't increased since the 1950's (when statistics started being gathered) and the mortality has been reduced dramatically. Basically only a few cancers are a death sentence anymore, e.g. pancreatic cancer and some stomach cancers. For most of the cancers that you get symptoms from before it's too late, succesful treatment is nowadays quite likely.
 
#19 ·
Tight work!

We've been on a whole food/plant based diet for a little over a year now. Occasionally I'll pig out and get some Beyond Sausages (the hot Italian ones are ridiculously good) or pick up an Impossible Whopper at BK, but I generally feel it immediately after. I got my first blood test in over 20 years about 3 months ago and my doctor almost shit his pants, every number was perfect. He suggested the blood test because he was curious if my iron levels were high enough and frankly, I was as well. I do take a supplement because I started noticing some skin issues that I think were the result of a lack of zinc/copper. I picked up a multi-vitamin specifically made for vegans at Whole Foods and within a week the dry skin went away.

We're constantly trying out new recipes to keep things exciting. Some of the best stuff has been the easiest to make, like this sweet potato Mexican dish. Steamed sweet potatoes, corn, black beans, tomatoes, cilantro and the juice from 2 limes. Mix all that until it the sweet potato breaks down a bit and starts mixing with everything and serve it over a bowl of raw spinach. Takes about 15 minutes to make and I inhale that stuff.

I use the challenge22.com website to find recipe ideas a lot, it's all vegan stuff but I've found a few on there that have been pretty good. Allrecipes.com is another one I use a lot.

Occasionally I get frustrated with the extra steps it takes to get healthy food in my body, when I'm dead tired and the last thing I want to do is cook, never mind making sure every item is non-processed/organic, so we started planning our meals out on Sundays when we do all the shopping. Just doing that made our lives so much easier and we ended up saving a ton of money because it took out the "It's 8pm and I have no clue what to make for dinner, let's just order some veggie sushi" nights.
 
#20 ·
I stopped eating animals on January 1st. I'm not a Vegan by any means but I can consider myself a vegetarian for now. I love Cheese and Butter and Eggs too much to get rid of them so fast. Also stopped eating cookies and cakes by 90% and lowered Carbs a lot(Bread, Pastas) and also much less Cheese and Butter, Yogurts (even Soy ones that are filled with sugar). Dont eat processed food anymore, so no frozen Pizzas and similar stuff.

Reduced the amount of food I was eating and almost stopped eating fruits at night (too much sugar). After 3-4 weeks I stopped being hungry all the time and now if I try to eat same quantities as before I get to so full up that I hate the feeling of being "bloated".

I lost 7-8 kilos (16-17 pounds?) without any exercise so far and I'm very happy about it.. But i'm not really following a diet and since i'm going on a work break I need to seek counsel from a proper Nutritionist before I do something that can really hurt myself and of course go hit the gym as well.
 
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