Posted by bleauberry on August 23, 2009, at 17:57:04
In reply to How do I start?, posted by Dima on August 22, 2009, at 21:09:14
> I've had depression, social anxiety, OCD, and fatigue for as long as I can remember. Currently, I eat pretty much no vegetables or fruits. A good amount of junk food. I'm already starting to exclude sugar from my diet and I'd like to make a full diet transformation, but I don't know where to begin. I'm ready to go shopping right now for some food. Any suggestions?
Nolvas did an excellent job sharing some answers for you. Mine aren't much different.
Diet:
-Frequent small meals.
-A lot of purified water.
-Generous amounts of salt.
-Good fats...nuts, avocadoes, eggs, butter, cream, olive oil.
-Proteins...lean meats, eggs, beans.
-Fish should be infrequent due to heavy metals...they aren't a concern for healthy people or for someone eating once in a while, but when health is compromised, even small amounts of metals can accumulate due to a weak detox system.
-Veggies...lots and lots, mostly raw or slightly cooked, so as to retain their natural nutrition and enzymes. You don't want the aluminum can stuff because it has lost all its nutrition and you want to avoid aluminum.
-Fruits...at first, one a day. After a month, eat more. High in sugar, you want to keep them low at first as hidden yeast die off from sugar starvation. Best overall fruits early in the diet are the berries...raspberries, cranberries, blueberries.
-Grains...whole grains, nothing refined. If it is white, it is crap. Might as well eat cardboard.
-Fiber...veggies, grains, seeds.
-Caffeine...low or none.
-Sugars...low or none.
-Starches...low or none.
-Organic...as much as possible.Most people find that cutting down or avoiding both gluten (wheat, barley, barley malt ingredient, rye) and dairy helps them feel better.
With Lyme disease and gluten intolerance and co-infections such as Candida, my primary symptoms are depression, aches, and fatigue. My typical shopping list is full of things that help me and don't hurt me. Here is a typical list...
Produce...tomatoes, avocadoes, romaine lettuce, green leaf lettuce (both romaine and greenleaf have high nutrition...iceberg is mostly without nutrients...I like to wrap large leaves around meat and cheese for a sort of salad burrito thing, unique and good), hot peppers, bell peppers, cukes, radishes, parsley (one of the world's unsung heroes for health benefits, eat it by the mouthful once a day, it's not just for garnish), garlic (a raw clove each night is one of the world's strong antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals), carrots, celery, strawberries, a banana (too high in sugar to buy a lot), maybe an apple or pear, whatever is on sale.
I think almost half my grocery bill is in the produce department.
The isles:
Dinty Moore Beef Stew (I cheat once in a while), dark chocolate bar (85% dark, low sugar, excellent antioxidant, reduces heart attacks), frozen blueberries, frozen raspberries, potato-millet bread from Whole Foods (gluten free and the only one that tastes good), small can spinach sometimes, Red Mill's Mighty Good Hot Cereal (gluten free), Rice Chex (gluten free), Cocoa Pebbles (gluten free), bag of chopped walnuts (ingredient list is just walnuts, no chemicals), raw pumpkin seeds (I slightly roast them with a tiny bit of olive oil and lots of iodized sea salt), olive oil (the only good liquid oil), iodized sea salt (much healthier than processed salt), brown rice, gluten free flour from the natural section, cranberry juice, V8 BerrySplash juice, potato chips, corn chips.Dairy: Lactaid (lactose-free milk)
Half n half from a brand that has no hormones or antibiotics for the cows, butter, cream cheese, plain yogurt, cage-free veggie fed eggs.Meats: Whatever is on sale...mostly beefs, chicken, a little pork, non-antiibotic non-hormone free range meat when I can afford it. Fish once a month. Fish supplements, generally good, make me very depressed and cause me inflammation.
Hey, we are all different and like different stuff. If you aren't gluten free, you'll probably have on your list whole grain bread, whole grain low sugar cereals. My shopping is more difficult because anything with wheat, barley, or barley malt is off limits. I have to read every ingredient label.
This was just to give you a look at how one person who tries to eat healthy shops. It can be totally confusing unless you see an example. Notice there are some cheats in there. Gotta reward yourself here and there to stay on the wagon.
Get creative in cooking. I eat a lot of creative things like celery+cream cheese, romaine leaves wrapped around beef or chicken and cheese, hot cereal with an egg stirred into it (can't tell its there), rice with about anything, chips crunched up on salads for more crunch, plain salads, fancy salads, meat salads, nachos of all kinds imaginable on either corn or potato chips...
Hey, the thing is, experiment and have fun. Avoid the processed stuff. Avoid chemicals. Avoid sugars.
On the supplement side, I would consider these:
-A refrigerated brand of Probiotics (at least 3 billion units twice per day)
-Whole Foods Food Based One Vitamin (not a mega vitamin, good amounts of everything, natural based, lots of small amounts of extra good stuff in it)
-St Johns Wort. Whole Foods brand or Spring Valley brand (WalMart). Both have worked well for many people at a SJW forum, and me.
-Olive Leaf Extract capsules. Antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, immune booster, energy booster.
-Curcumin. Pro-energy, pro-mood, pro-immune.Just some ideas. Hope it helps. The bus you are getting off of is a clunker for mental health and energy. You are now climbing into a limosine.
poster:bleauberry
thread:913554
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20090727/msgs/913740.html