The Body Doesn't Lie (28 page)
Read The Body Doesn't Lie Online
Authors: Vicky Vlachonis
Tags: #Health & Fitness, #Pain Management, #Healing, #Medical, #Allied Health Services, #Massage Therapy
One patient of mine has his own version of this hydrotherapy: He takes a long run, then submerges his body in an ice bath, and then has a treatment with me. A bit extreme for me, but he swears by this practice!
The tummy massage is a controversial exercise among my patients. You absolutely must have your stomach massaged when you go for a treatment—otherwise you will not get the most from your lymphatic drainage. The gut needs to move. You wouldn’t believe how many stunningly gorgeous women say, “Ugh! I don’t want to touch my belly!” That attitude is exactly what this massage seeks to rectify. There should be
no
part of your body that makes you say, “Ugh,” even your stomach. Assigning tummy massage is my way of forcing you to make friends with every part of your body—especially those parts that might have caused you some embarrassment in times past. Listen to me:
Every
part of you is beautiful. If you want to work on your stomach, that’s another matter—but it still deserves your love.
Before you get dressed for the day, look in the mirror. Put your hands on your stomach and really
feel
your belly. Whether it’s flat or full, firm or fleshy, apply your hands in a warm and loving way. Now, lie on the floor with knees bent. Give your belly just a loving little rub to warm it up. Start from the right lower side, next to the right ovary, between the hip bone and pubic bone. Put fingers close together, almost in a cup, and press gently, making little circular clockwise movements. Move your fingers slightly up, and repeat over and over as you move from your lower right up to the top of your rib cage, across to your diaphragm, over to your left side, and then down. Continue in this patter, making a shape like a snail on your belly, until you finish by your belly button.
As in the earlier weeks of the program, the Radiate week addresses positive function primarily through those things that we take into our body. Changes in intake that might seem small to one person can be direly threatening to another.
One week, I had three women with the exact same pain profile: They all suffered with bladder and urinary tract infections, and they all had constipation. Furthermore, they were all anemic, were kind of pale, and had lower back pain. And all had a tendency to love their red wine.
These three women had different stories and situations, but they all had issues with trust and lack of forgiveness toward their mothers (who in each case had abandoned them emotionally in some fundamental way). Their lives were ruled by fear: Fear of being abandoned. Fear of letting go. Fear of losing control. They were all very stubborn, stuck in their ways—and all craved alcohol and the wrong foods.
Perhaps you’ve guessed this by now, but the hardest thing for all three was not releasing their pain—it was changing their diet. (“It’s the only pleasure I have left!”)
The work I do with my patients who are addicted to inflammatory foods often follows a specific pattern: They balk at the Release program but, after I give them a pep talk and remind them of the effects of poor dietary choices, leave my office determined to make it happen. In a week or two, they’re back with big smiles, bristling with energy, their tummies less bloated, their skin and hair shining brighter than in years. They’ve finally made the connection: You are what you eat. I’ve seen it happen again and again and again. Once you start avoiding all inflammatory foods, your body will enjoy and even crave the taste of healthy foods. You have begun to
radiate.
We choose the foods we eat based on one of three reasons: health, pleasure, or spirituality.
4
In a way, the Radiate component of the Positive Feedback program brings all three of these factors together into an eating program that makes your taste buds, your body, and even your soul radiate. When we remember to eat mindfully and savor every bite mindfully (or at least the first few bites), we intensify the pleasure of the food, and our lives become more radiant, too.
Now that you’ve completed the Release Meal Plan, your body has likely moved out of the inflammatory state brought on by toxic foods. You can now move into the Radiate Meal Plan (the second half of chapter 7). You’ll notice that there are many, many options and varieties in the menus and food lists. That’s because this approach to eating will be with you for the rest of your life.
One major difference between the Release and the Radiate plans is the inclusion of more lean protein in the latter, especially foods rich in omega-3s. The Radiate Meal Plan is based largely upon the Mediterranean style of eating. (Of course! I am Greek, after all.) With a focus on fresh vegetables and fruits, lean meats (especially omega-3-rich fish), whole grains, and monounsaturated fats (such as olive oil), and avoidance of refined grains and sugars, the Mediterranean approach to eating is the most balanced, anti-pain, anti-inflammatory approach you can find. (And scores of studies have proven it!)
I love the gorgeous foods included in this approach—especially fruits such as pineapple, blueberries, raspberries. I love eating brown rice, with its nourishing and nutty nature. I love my walnuts, my almonds, my figs. I love goji berries. I don’t feel like it’s a
diet
thing; I feel like it’s happy food. I love these foods, not only because they’re incredibly delicious, but because they love my body back.
The only variation from the standard Mediterranean fare in my approach is that I do
not
advocate cow’s-milk dairy, nor do I include wheat, barley, and rye as acceptable grains, because of reactivity to dairy proteins and to gluten. The anti-gluten focus is still slightly controversial: Some experts believe that the only people who have problems with wheat are those with celiac disease (an autoimmune condition that causes severe reactivity to gluten) or with true gluten intolerance (which is itself a bit controversial). But I’ve seen the difference among my patients. Foods with gluten tend to cause bloating and puffiness. As soon as a patient releases gluten from her diet, the features of her face come back into focus, the redness in her skin and nose fades a bit, and her eyes are clearer and less obscured by pillowy eyelids.
The nearby tables give a range of selected Positive Feedback proteins (table 7), complex carbohydrates (table 8), and vegetables and fruits (table 9); these are the sorts of foods you’ll be consuming on the Positive Feedback Meal Plan outlined in chapter 7. If you’re feeling confident that you have a good handle on the principles of the Positive Feedback Meal Plan (which, as noted earlier, appears in both a Release and a Radiate version in the next chapter), and you’re yearning to experiment with additional foods, flip through the recipe section for inspiration (chapter 8). Alternatively, if you’ve moved beyond following a prescribed meal plan and are eager to transition to designing your own meals, use the food lists in tables 7 through 9 to help you select your favorite foods.
In general, try not to get “stuck” on any one food. A diverse diet is your best food ally. If you eat too much of any one food, you can develop a reactivity to it. Try to rotate foods as often as is practical and affordable for you. For example, alternate your snacks—one day walnuts, the next day pecans, then cashews, then walnuts, and so on.
Table 7.
Positive Feedback Proteins
POSITIVE FEEDBACK PROTEINS | SOURCES | BENEFITS |
Eggs | Organic free-range (four per week) | Rich in lutein (yolks) for brain health; high in omega-3s (with free-range having ten times as much as non-free-range) |
Goat’s-milk (and related products) | Goat’s-milk feta and mozzarella (avoid all other dairy products with the exception of live yogurt, below) | High prevalence of beneficial bacteria; good source of protein for vegetarians; good dopamine trigger (for focus and motivation) |
Lean meat | 100 percent grass-fed beef, buffalo, goat, venison (twice per week) | Lower in fat and calories than grain-fed, with additional antioxidants and omega-3s; higher in fat-burning conjugated linoleic acids and iron |
Lean poultry | Organic turkey (once or twice per week) and chicken (once per week) | High in protein, low in calories; free of bacterial infestations that plague nonorganic poultry as a result of overcrowding and overuse of antibiotics |
Live yogurt | Organic sheep’s- or goat’s-milk yogurt containing no more than 2 percent fat | Packed with probiotics to strengthen the immune system and combat leaky gut |
Nuts and seeds | Almonds, cashews, Brazil nuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts, pistachios, macadamia nuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, flaxseed, chia seeds, pecans | Rich in good fiber and omega-3s; helpful in reducing inflammation |
Oily fish | Tuna, sardines, mackerel, salmon, whitefish, monkfish, cod, red snapper (twice per week total) | Rich in omega-3s and polyunsaturated fats that reduce inflammation and improve cardiac and neurologic health |
Vegetable sources | Black-eyed peas, adzuki beans, green beans, broccoli, spinach, kale, other leafy greens | Helpful in lowering blood sugar and decreasing oxidative stress by lowering cytokines |
Complete-protein combinations | Beans and cheese; brown rice and seeds; brown rice and beans; quinoa dishes; cheese, nuts, and seeds and a variety of mixed vegetables | Capable of meeting your protein needs without meat |
Table 8.
Positive Feedback Complex Carbohydrates
POSITIVE FEEDBACK COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES | SOURCES | BENEFITS |
Bread | Spelt bread, yeast-free rye bread, whole-grain flourless breads | Low in gluten content |
Grains | Oats, pearl spelt | Helpful in lowering blood sugar; packed with hard-to-find soluble fiber |
Pasta | Millet and spelt pasta, soba noodles (100 percent buckwheat) | Enable pasta without the guilt! |
Rice | Organic brown, basmati, and wild rice | Contain more fiber and nutrients than white rice |
Table 9.
Positive Feedback Vegetables and Fruits
POSITIVE FEEDBACK VEGETABLES AND FRUITS | SOURCES | BENEFITS |
Green | Spinach, Swiss chard, green beans, broccoli, kale, collard greens, turnip greens, romaine, cabbage, amaranth, celery, bok choy, Brussels sprouts, quinoa, radicchio, endive, arugula, fennel, grapes, kiwis, apples, avocados, artichokes, broccoli rabe, cucumbers, pears, limes, asparagus, zucchini | Rich in lutein, potassium, vitamins C and K, and folic acid |
Orange/Yellow | Sweet potatoes, tangerines, peaches, winter squash, carrots, cantaloupe, pineapple, pumpkin, papaya, star fruit, mangoes | Rich in beta-carotene and vitamin C; support immune system, vision |
Purple/Blue | Red cabbage, purple kale, purple carrots, "blue" corn, grapes, blueberries | High in anti-aging, anticancer phytochemicals; support mental clarity |
Red | Pomegranate, grapefruit, tomato, peppers, beets, red onions, radishes, rhubarb, watermelon, strawberries, raspberries, cherries, lingonberries, figs, goji berries | Source of potent antioxidants: lycopene and anthocyanins |
White | White asparagus, garlic, cauliflower, turnips, onions, parsnips, and kohlrabi | Rich in phytochemicals and potassium; reduce cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and prevent diabetes |
After the Release stage and at the start of your Radiate work is actually the best time to test for reactivity. Pull out your Food Diary from the Reflect week and note again the foods on your list that corresponded with negative moods (lethargy, anger, irritation, weepiness) or negative physical symptoms (swelling in fingers or feet, painful muscles or joints, receding gums, headaches, lower back pain, excess gas/stomach upset, sleep disturbance). Based on how you reacted when you ate these foods the first time, are you certain you want to reintroduce them? For example, I’ve realized that I’m reactive to cruciferous vegetables, so cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage are permanently off the menu for me. Continue to listen to your body after eating. Note—and eliminate—those foods that make you feel bad.
If reaction-causing foods are among your favorites, you might nonetheless consider making a clean break now—you have the opportunity (and may have the willpower, given your current focus on healthy eating) to simply wipe them out of your life. If you want to be absolutely certain that a beloved food is at fault, try this method:
Day 1:
Eat a single serving of the food in question. Take careful notes of mood, physical symptoms, appetite, etc.
Day 2:
Without eating any more of the food in question, take careful notes of mood, physical symptoms, appetite, etc.
Day 3:
Take careful notes of mood, physical symptoms, appetite, etc.
Day 4:
Try another serving of the food. Take careful notes of mood, physical symptoms, appetite, etc.
Study these new notes. If you find many of the same descriptors on all four days, as well as many days in the original Food Diary listings—in other words, no change—chances are that your beloved food is
not
the reactivity culprit. However, if you’ve noted changes in your body and state of mind within twelve hours of eating a specific food, and those same changes are found in the corresponding spot in your Food Diary,
and
they duplicate themselves on the fourth day of your test sequence, I’m afraid you have a reactivity. To be sure, eliminate the food in question for three weeks. Then, introduce it for two days, carefully noting your symptoms. Then eliminate it again and see if you feel any different. The answer should be very clear.
