I initially found it very interesting when I began going through these rules...so I'm going to comment on each one of her rules from pages 246 and 247:
"Although it is ultimately up to you, I recommend avoiding any food you reacted to during your food reintroduction at the end of your detox diet 80 to 100 percent of the time."
My experience has always been to eliminate, unless I can't-so that would be the 0-20% of the time...I have had to accumulate enough yuck reactions to be willing to stop in my tracks and avoid the food-so if I've declined something at your house-please don't take offence-I'm confident it was delicious and well-prepared. It's tough to reject people's offerings of food, without hurting feelings, but I console myself with the fact that they likely wouldn't want me to hurt and be incapacitated for 2 to 3 days...
100% of the time, avoid processed meats and luncheon meats, which are high in chemicals linked to cancer, instead look for natural options...
This one can be tough, but I've done it for years. It helps that I never really loved them, but...still, I haven't given them to the kids. For years, I've had the odd fire-roasted weiner, and then paid heavily-usually vomiting lightly until it's gone. It's the same with bacon, though I will still cook it-but as I've confessed to before, I pick off all fat and gristle... It's a 'vote with your wallet' kind of issue; if consumers establish that there is a market for more natural meats, they will appear--and indeed, they have in Canada...there's a "naturals" line, free from fillers and gluten, and they all taste great. I've also roasted chicken and the kids love that for lunches, same with beef, same with meatballs. I do this, in part, because Jeff's mom died very young from breast cancer, and I'm thinking that eliminating anything that could cause it is a smart move not only for Jeff, but for his offspring as well-who are also mine...The other reason is that I rarely argue with established science-and what I recall of the published studies says the nitrates, nitrites, and sulphites can cause cancerous tumours--so if I can do without those chemical-I will!
80% of the time, white flour, white rice, enriched flour, refined flour, white sugar, white potatoes...
I follow this quite well, and usually do better than the 80%. The kids, honestly, don't love the brown rice and always, always ask for white the next time, for which my reply is usually "Hmmm...brown rice is really good for you though..."
100% of the time, avoid harmful fats - trans fatter acids (hydrogenated oils, partially hydrogenated oils, shortening, margarine) and unhealthy inflammatory fats such as cottonseed oil, vegetable oil, palm oil.
This is a snap for me, because I don't eat much processed food at all...I cook with olive oil and butter, and when I bake whole wheat bread for the family who can eat it, I use sunflower, which comes up later, but I use it very infrequently.
80% of the time, avoid peanuts, unless they're organic and aflatoxin free (aflatoxin is linked to cancer).
No problem with the kids' anaphylactic allergy--I've not had a peanut in years...the task is helping them avoid peanuts-every moment, of every day...
80% of the time, avoid the saturated fats in full-fat dairy products and red meats, and limit safflower and sunflower oils, which may become inflammatory if consumed in excess...
This is just too easy-with my intolerance of dairy, and the very infrequent steak that I enjoy greatly from time to time.
100% of the time, avoid the appetite cranking fructose-sweetened foods or foods containing high-fructose corn syrup.
This is more difficult here...because there is hardly a juice here that doesn't have added fructose...There's Tropicana, and we drink that 1/3 watered down. The only time the kids get pop is ginger ale...or vacations and I am trying harder to get them out of that habit. With all the moving we've done, and all the interim stays in hotels and restaurant meals, there's a habit of soda we're breaking...because we were only certain of the safety of the sodas in bottle, so they were overdosed with it. We're doing better...
100% avoidance of aspartame and artificial sweeteners that cause cravings and overeating...
And all kinds of other bad stuff I've experienced-like headaches and digestive upset. I posted a lengthy one on this at Sweeteners-are-old-news.
80% avoidance of large fish known to be high in mercury, including shark fish, tuna, shark, and sole - with more information at www.seachoice.org with the addition of avoiding farmed salmon all the time...because they have toxins due to the process.
I actually take this one a little further...because I feel obligated to eat only sustainably caught seafood as well, for the health of the fish populations as well as my own! Having lived in Vancouver, and holding a membership to the aquarium...I also like the www.oceanwise.ca site. Salmon farms mess with the processes and life cycles of wild salmon, and are a real threat to wild populations.
100% of the time, avoid foods containing harmful colouring, preservatives, sulphites and nitrites.
This is an interesting one to discuss. One Halloween, the kids were squirrel-y, agitated, reactive, and no where near their normal selves. We though perhaps too much sugar...and carried on feeling more aware. The real villain though, was the colouring...we didn't say anything to them, and on a perfectly fine and ordinary day (controls...we're both scientists after all), we let them eat Skittles at a movie. They were spun out again, and not in a fun, energetic way, but more like Lord of the Flies...no more o'that thanks!
80% of the time, avoid raisins and dates because they are so high in sugar, unless they're in small quantity combined with a protein, like in a smoothie, for example.
This ones seems minor to me...I don't know a single person who would eat more than 10 raisins at a time anyway!
As often as possible, avoid the non-organic, and spring for the organic chicken, turkey, pork and beef.
I like this one, because as a biologist, I am aware of how animals's bodies concentrate chemicals from whatever they are eating in fat or muscle tissue...so if the animals are on pesticide or herbicidally treated foods, I would be consuming a more concentrated does than the animal did...much of it might be safe, but I'm sensitive, so I prefer to go without, and the kids are young, so I prefer they go without as well.
80% of the time, avoid non-organic coffee, stick to one cup per day to prevent sleep interruption...decaf is alright, as long as it's swiss water processed...
I plan to radically increase my consumption to one cup per day--with pleasure! I do like the organics, as they seem to be more carefully processed. It's a treat that has been recommended by many health practitioners and the study I recall shows that women who drink a cup of coffee each day are less depressed than those who don't--now...could it be that getting together for a coffee promotes the connection and socializing time that makes us feel better, or is it the coffee itself? Conclusion-who cares! We like coffee.
This particular post is a lot about avoidance, and that could lead to feeling deprived; but I truly don't see it that way. If I'm walking down the street and have the option of ringing my head off a sign post, or ducking---I'll duck. I wouldn't feel deprived of the opportunity to 'enjoy' the impact and deal with the headaches it caused... When it comes to food, it's a balancing act for me, between not taking in the foods that don't work for me, and focusing more on the ones that help me to be healthy.
Cheers and chao!
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