Cause of Diabetes

What causes type 2 Diabetes?

While type 1 diabetes is a genetic issue where the body doesn't produce enough or any insulin, research and experience is showing that Type 2 Diabetes is a preventable and reversible illness.  The cause is insulin resistance, and insulin resistance is a result of poor dietary and activity choices. When your cells have too much fat in them, and not enough activity to burn that fat, they turn away insulin trying to get more stored in there. The receptors are literally turned off. Conventional medicine still treats the symptoms instead of the cause with medication and insulin injections, but this is a bandaid solution and does not reverse the problem.

Trying to reverse insulin resistance by lowering your carbohydrate intake may seem intuitive, but is not the only answer. Reducing sugar intake gives your insulin a break, and may reduce some of those unnecessary fat stores, but your body also needs to move,and needs plant based food for fiber, antioxidant, and complex carbs rich in macro and micro nutrients. Carbs are getting a bad rap, but we need carbohydrates! High intake of fatty foods can cause just as many issues as too much candy and soda. We need to get back to an intuitive way of eating: what makes me feel my best and what do I need to be healthy?

If you think of your body as a car and your cells as the gas tank, you are going to need to burn up the gas before putting more gas in the tank, Also if you find out you're putting bad gas in the tank you wouldn't take a pill to make more room and continue putting in bad gas. You would put in the right amounts of the right kind of gas, right? Let's take the same amount of care of our bodies as we do our cars!

End type 2 diabetes, solve the dietary problem with a better diet, not pills! 

Intuitive Eating

Wonder: what does my body need?
Whole: replace refined carbs with whole foods and eliminate excess fat
Wait: eat slowly, as you eat be mindful of what makes you feel good and when you feel satisfied
What you gain: wise food mind and healthy body

Gut neurons give insight

Pain translating to what we "think" in our gut.

In his book "The Second Brain," Michael Gershon talks about how the gut works automatically without our brains telling it what to do next, like it has its own neuron function that works in tandem with the actual brain. What our "gut neurons" are saying can tell us a lot about what we need. In reading what I imagine to be a discussion between my gut neurons, what do you think my second brain is trying to communicate to me?
Neuron 1: She's eating again, at the usual fast pace.
Neuron 2: Sounding the red alert, what's the content?
Neuron 1: Incoming particles contain red meat cells, swiss cheese, mushrooms, mayo, and some lettuce.
Neuron 2: Thrice blast it she's eating a mushroom swiss burger! Calling all troops--stomach acid, enzymes, bile, insulin--we need every available digestive aide!
Neuron 3: Sir, due to high stress levels this week we are low on stomach acid, and these particles were not chewed long enough in saliva enzymes. We are going to have to send some of this in the duodenum undigested.
Neuron 1: That will wreak havoc on the microbiome balance, where are the pancreatic enzymes?
Neuron 3: Already depleted the supply, the meal is too high in fat content for the capacity of our pancreas.
Neuron 1: Haven't we signaled to her to stop eating red meat and dairy?
Neuron 2: Sir, we have but the higher brain over rides our signals saying due to erratic and unstable insulin production we need protein to keep blood sugar levels stable. Also upstairs brain needs fat for optimal production.
Neuron 1: She's in constant pain, we need to lower stress levels in the environment in order to contend with our biological issues.
Neuron 2: Upstairs brain seems to override our signals to rest and relax more, apparently there is a steady flow of clients, troubled teenagagers, a friend moving, company in town, and her grandma to take care of.
Neuron 1: Signal extra blood flow to the brain to cause a migraine, we need to shut the system down. I'm going to be swamped with bacterial complaints tonight.
Neuron 2: copy that, setting things in action to cause migraine.
Neuron 3: 10-4, signalling fatigue.
From this imaginary gut brain conversation I hear my body signal to me that I need three things: to eat more slowly, limit the content of my fat intake but not eliminate it, and take more time to rest. Listen to your gut neurons, what are they saying you need for a wise food mind?

Food Addiction

Addiction

I have had the opportunity this summer to teach a class on addiction at two Education Conferences, and I'd like to share with you a brief nutshell of what I taught.
When does substance abuse become addiction? When it causes bio-psycho-social damage, and the person continues to use despite increasing negative consequences. In short, a person would rather risk death than give up their substance use or behavior. Their "drug of choice" has become the number one survival need, and all other meaning in life disappears in pursuit of the drug or behavior that makes them feel, no longer euphoric, but as close to normal as they can get.
This is because of the limbic system and the dopamine pleasure system. The limbic system, or mid brain, has a simple job: keep you alive and avoid pain/seek pleasure. Its not the mid brain's job to be rational or help reach long term goals, its job is to eat, defend, reproduce, and avoid pain. In a person who has an over reactive limbic system, meaning they have a hard time regulating or controlling their emotions and live in fear, stress, sadness, or anger most of every day, drugs and behaviors that create a euphoric feeling will go straight to the mid brain, and dopamine will be released in huge amounts to say "remember this for survival, its important!" (even though alcohol, pornography, and even sugar do not deserve that assignment of survival value). The brain becomes hijacked, and no amount of prefrontal cortex power will stop the person's midbrain from doing its job to keep you alive.
So addiction is a disease of choice, and the more the person uses drugs or addictive behaviors to cope, the more bio-psycho-social damage occurs, and the harder to recover. But recover they can! The brain can change, and the spirit or others can tell it what to do even if your mid brain is hijacked, it just takes external help, admission of the problem, and acceptance of pain to overcome it. No simple task. So lets avoid addiction in the first place, right?

Food Addiction
So when does eating become addiction instead of sustenance? A problem well stated is a problem half solved! And I'm afraid most people in the USA today are food addicts without even realizing it.  The hallmark of addiction--the addict simply can't see there is a problem because their brains are just trying to survive. One thing I have tried to caution my readers on is sugar intake, and Dr. Lustig does a great job of explaining why it is addictive and harmful.
What is sugar? Sugar is a combination of three molecules. These three molecules are essential to feeding animals, they are not essential to feeding us. These 3 molecules are glucose, fructose, and galactose. They will appear in food as combinations of anyone  of one of those three put together.
The combination of glucose and fructose is called sucrose, that's cane sugar beet sugar, the [white] stuff you put in coffee. When you combine glucose with galactose you get lactose or milk sugar and that is of course what you find in dairy products. Now fructose is the sweet molecule, High Fructose Corn Syrup, agave, maple syrup, or honey, [also called "fruit sugar"]. These are our caloric sweeteners and they all have one molecule of glucose and one molecule of fructose.
So different kinds of sugar will be found in different kinds of food. The question is what detriments could any of these do? Glucose is the energy of life. Every living cell burns glucose for energy. Glucose is so important if you don't consume it your body makes it.  Fructose is the molecule we seek, it's the molecule that makes sugar pleasurable and addictive. Turns out there is no biochemical reaction in the body that requires it, it is completely vestigial, and when consumed in excess it causes cellular metabolic human damage and death. In fact, fructose is metabolized in the liver exactly the same way as alcohol, and that is why children today are getting the diseases of alcohol without the alcohol because we just gave them a substitute.
Robert M Lustig explaining "What is Sugar" on the Tech Insider Website  April 12 2017

So if you have a hard time staying away from anything with fructose in it, you eat/drink compulsively despite negative consequences (overweight, feel sick/tired/constipated) its time to look in the mirror. You may be a food addict!

Food Fighters

I am a Food Fighter Have you seen Moana? The scene when Moana tells the ocean to choose someone else was how I felt at the beginning of April when I was faced with writing this newsletter again. I think many people come to that point where they feel like they are figuratively trying to hold back a river with one hand, no one else cares, and it's just not doing anything. I didn't know what more to say about wise eating. Yet I still come across those willing to carry on as a "food fighter," and I admire what they say and what they are trying to do. So today I will echo what some of them are saying. The link below is one of my favorite concise video explanations of the "sugar excess crisis" of our day. Check it out! Another person I discovered was Dr. M.K. Strydom from Zimbabwe, who wrote a book called Healing begins with Sanctification of the Heart. He included a few chapters on food and states: "Processed sugar of any kind is the first and most important substance to completely eliminate from your diet because it is fertilizer that feeds disease and impairs healing." Then he further points out that  despite it being a documented medical fact that sugar feeds disease, oncologists serve cookies and sweets in their waiting rooms, and hospital food menus include five pages of desserts. How can we change that? Well he's trying. I know who I am. I can't take the things I have learned and been given lightly. Like Moana, even if no one out there at all listens, or helps, the call is inside me, and I will keep trying to make a difference. Sugar is Killing Us Food Revolution Summit I subscribe to Dr Tom O'Bryan, and this month he is promoting this effort to inform people of wise food choices: "Once each year, my friends and colleagues, John and Ocean Robbins, bring together hundreds of thousands of people, and 24 of the top food experts on the planet, for the Food Revolution Summit. This is THE place to get the latest breaking insights about how you can unleash the power of food to fight cancer, heart disease, diabetes and dementia – and to stand up for a better world. Never before in the history of the world has safe and healthy food been a more important topic. Our lives are on the line.By taking action to get involved, you’re standing for the food revolution we all need to ensure our health and the health of future generations. I’ll see you during the Summit! Dr. Tom O’Bryan" One last thing. A friend of mine sent me the following message that made my day: "I finished your book Very well written! It's a huge change--but we are going to take it in baby steps. Thanks!" Happy to help. For more information, go to www.wisefoodmind.com

A Cause Worth Fighting For

Fight for a Healthy Appetite "I'm happy to live in this period [because] we have been forced to a point where we're going to have to grapple with the problems that men have been trying to grapple with through history, but the demands didn't force them to do it. Survival demands that we grapple with them." I See The Promised Land By Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. April 3, 1962  A friend of mine called me last month, her daughter's anemia forcing her to grapple with the problem of nutrition, and asked if there was anything she can change in their diet to help her daughter get more nutrients and calories. Knowing some of the emotional regulation history of this little girl, I knew she was one of us who has a weaker digestive systems and the the many food corruptions of our Standard American Diet were already affecting her brain and gut so that her genetic weaknesses were amplified. However, I hesitated to give my friend advice, not wanting to overwhelm her with the daunting reality that some changes need to be made that will require time, money, and work. I gave her some general ideas, and when I hung up I realized I held back. I was not standing for a cause I know is right because it will be hard. I recalled a sermon I heard by Martin Luther King, Jr. that he gave shortly before he died at age 38, about how we as individuals need a cause worth fighting for in life, otherwise we aren't living, we are merely waiting for our death. Healthy eating is my cause worth fighting for! It has transformed my life and helped my brain and body in numerous ways, and I know it can help others. If you have come to a point where you are 'forced to grapple with the problem," remember that every struggle in history worth fighting for came with a cost, and was only accomplished through courage, sacrifice, and perseverance. That is the nature of living! "We need to recapture something that the early Christians had. They went out aglow with a radical gospel...They never allowed their actions to be shaped by the mundane patterns of this world. They were willing to sacrifice fame or fortune or life itself for a cause they knew was right. "In these days of world-wide confusion, when the forces of evil have risen to gigantic and ominous proportions, there is a dire need for men and women who will gird their courage and do battle with all their hearts, souls and minds. We need Christians who will say as John Bunyan said to his jailor when, after he had spent twelve years in jail, he was promised freedom if he would agree to quit preaching, 'I am determined, Almighty God being my help and shield, yet to suffer if frail life shall continue so long, even until the moss grow over my eyebrows, rather than to violate my faith and make a continual butchery of my conscience.' The challenge faces us today more than ever before. Be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your minds.”  Martin Luther King, Jr. "Transformed Nonconformist" Chapter II, March 1963 Now for a mini nutrition lesson. I make salmon, green beans/carrots, and brussel sprouts for breakfast because... Basic Blood Sugar Regulation Macronutrients: Calorie carrying components that make up the foods you eat. Protein, carbohydrates, and fat are three macro- nutrients. Calorie: a simple unit of measurement that indicates how much energy you can expect to derive form the macronutrients you eat Micronutrients: non-calorie-carrying components that are found in foods, i.e. vitamins, minerals, organic acids, and phytochemicals. (nourish cells and enable them to create energy and metabolize consumed macronutients with ease) Glucose: the simple sugar into which all carbohydrates you eat are broken down in your body; it is absorbed into your bloodstream during digestion Glycogen: the stored form of glucose in your liver and muscles Glucagon: the hormone responsible for signaling the release of stored glycogen into the bloodstream Insulin: actual job is to be your energy storage hormone; anabolic hormone, meaning it stimulates growth, promotes fat formation and retention, and encourages inflammation. There is a difference between helpful carbs and unhelpful carbs: Unhelpful carbs are macronutrient and calorie rich, but micronutrient poor. Helpful carbs are fibrous and micronutrient dense Refined and enriched foods are stripped of micronutrients, they have nutrients added back in but are not assimilated by the body because they are not in their natural form. Example of helpful carbs: squash, sweet potato, green apples Example of unfhelpful carbs: sugar, white bread, cereal, pasta, candy

Task vs Ego Oriented Performance Mindset

Focus on the task, not your "worth." I've been trying to help my son during his gymnastics competition season to train his mind for optimal performance, and the principles we are learning also apply to developing a Wise Food Mind. Changing eating habits is psychological as much as physical, as it can be overwhelming to know where and how to change, and daunting when you don't feel you are progressing or fall back into old habits. In a wonderful sports psychology book called "The Fearless Mind" by Craig Manning, he talks about how to train your mind to set a realistic objective, and then focus on the tasks it will take to get there (task oriented) instead of how others are better than you, or you are better than others, or how you messed up again (ego oriented). He encourages all who seek to improve their performance in anyway to say, "I can do this" during the task, and after think of three good things you achieved and one thing you can work on for continual growth. In his own words Manning explains:  "It takes time to develop good mental habits so our thoughts don't betray us at critical moments, or at least to know how to deal with unwanted thoughts that pop into our minds and not allow single thoughts to explode into crippling self doubt. "Anxiety is a normal component of our composition. We don't want to get rid of our anxiety, but we do need to learn to control it. "Research tells us that ego-oriented individuals typically have higher anxiety [as these] individuals usually set expectations that are not within their direct control. When ego-oriented individuals win, they think more of themselves; when they lose, they think less of themselves. Self worth becomes very fragile and is dependent on outcome when the outcome is often not within the direct control of the individual. Therefore, one's self-worth is contingent on variables outside one's immediate control, resulting in a significant rise in anxiety. "The most important way I have found to lower and control anxiety is through setting appropriate objectives and expectations. When we set appropriate objectives, fear has very little, if any room to exist in our daily mental processing. Focus on realistic skill sets you have direct control over that would lead to your objective, always just a little beyond your reach, motivating but not discouraging you. Setting task oriented objectives provides a mental framework where we are held accountable for what we have control over. "Once we have learned and have a deep understanding that high performance is about continual growth, the greatest battle has been won." Be confident, be positive, be realistic; make it about growth not worth. Reforming eating habits is just another way to train and discipline our minds to become the best we can be! For more information visit www.wisefoodmind.com

KEEP THE FUN IN FOOD! My brother-in-law has asked me on occasion during a family dinner or out to eat, "Heather I am surprised you are eating that." He seems to believe that I stay away from anything even remotely "bad" for me because I believe in establishing healthful food boundaries. I am careful about my intake but also careful not do deprive myself. Remember that there are drawbacks and benefits of almost any type of food, and only you can decide what drawback you need to stay away from according to your unique metabolic type. We still need to have food that is enjoyable, colorful, and brings us pleasure, or psychologically we set ourselves up for failure. I may not be able to have dessert, but I'll take the sweet potato fries!

PUSH: Persist Until Something Happens

Persistence makes Perfect

My husband decided it was high time we did something about the hard water deposits building up on our bathroom faucet, so he did some research about baking soda and vinegar treatments. He followed the instructions on the ratio and application, let it sit a while and then scrubbed and scrubbed...and not much happened. It removed a little but not much. He was discouraged, but he decided since it did do something, he would try again. He let the vinegar and baking soda sit on it for much longer the second time and scrubbed again. More removed. He decided to let it sit for 24 hours and try again. Each time a little more came off until after a few days, the faucet looked like new.

No one wants to spend three days on cleaning a bathroom sink. We get our handy clorox wipes out and 10 minutes later declare the bathroom clean. This effort does nothing for the hard mineral build-up in the sinks and dirty grease build-up in the bathtub. We have to let it soak and then scrub. With persistence it will look like new!

You can probably guess where I'm going with this! It's an analogy for our intake. With so many food corruptions out there, our bodies can accrue a build-up of fat cells, unhealthy bacteria, and toxins. The result is bloating, gas, heartburn, at best, liver/kidney disease, diabetes, and heart disease at worst. The fatigue and weight gain make life inconvenient, but chronic disease makes life unendurable. Just like the hard water deposit build-up, we won't want to do the work to make it better, and it will take time and persistence in order to get back to our ideal health.

But you can be like new again! If we apply the same principle of patience and persistence my husband used in cleaning the faucet to our intake, eventually every function of our body can be restored. First identify the problem (every body is different), maybe its too much soda intake. Second, soak your body in healthful foods, make sure you are getting whole, nutrient dense meals three times a day so you have healthful eating habits in place.Third, scrub out the bad foods, aka stop drinking soda. Wait, repeat. Don't get discouraged if nothing seems to be happening at first, keep applying the treatment. Its a miracle you can make happen, but it's a miracle that takes time. I did it and so can you. Look better, feel better, live better!

Neuroplasticity is the concept that the brain is changeable and even when damaged, can regain function in almost any capacity. We used to believe that the brain was like a machine, fixed in its functions, and when damaged could never be regenerated. Research in the last 30 years has proven this idea false, and modern brain science, psychotherapy, and medicine is now practicing on the belief that the brain can change and recover.

This is good news for people who have been stuck in a certain habit and want to change the way they do things. It's also bad news for people who have habits because they have literally trained their brain to change in ways that enforce that behavior. If you want to change a habit or recover from a brain injury you have to do exercises on a regular basis that will enforce neural pathways to think and behave in different ways. A stroke victim has to use the hand on the side of the body that was unresponsive in order to stimulate and develop pathways in the brain that will make motor function possible again.

A person who has a habit of eating unhealthful foods has to practice eating more healthful foods in order to develop a taste and tolerance for it, and eventually it may even become enjoyable and something you crave. 
It is a deliberate effort to change the brain. You are not going to "feel like" changing eating habits, and sometimes only a health crisis is what will motivate people to change. Before you have a crisis, deliberately incorporate exercises or practice that will change how you think about food, how you eat food, and ultimately your diet lifestyle. It's never too late to change.
For more information on how to develop a healthful eating lifestyle, read Wise Food Mind or visit www.wisefoodmind.com.

Self Regulation in Children

For the next generation.

I attended a mental health seminar called "Self Regulation in Children" this last month, the second conference of its kind I've paid for to learn how to better help my children/adolescent clients. As in the last one I saw, the presenter at this conference emphasized the importance of a healthful diet in regulating moods and behaviors in our children. "Three times a day," she said, "kids need to be filling the 'food plate' (pictured above) recommended by Department of Agriculture" (choosemyplate.gov). Three times a day! Most kids don't fill it even once.

I asked her how she recommends this to clients, because getting parents to change food habits it is the single hardest thing for me do. I can sometimes convince them to change their breakfast to include protein, but some can't even do that. Since I am a mental health expert not a nutritionist, I can't demand it be a part of treatment. (If only there were studies that show a healthful diet in combination with mental health intervention provides best results.) This presenter said if she sees a big problem and the clients don't change, she tells them, "Call me when your ready." She knows having donuts and soda before a session interferes with treatment!  Most experts in mental health know it too, that's why it keeps coming up.

Its hard, there are days I wish I didn't have to get up and make breakfast, but I know if my kids get a good start on their metabolism first thing in the morning they will have better self regulation in all aspects of their lives. Are you with me parents? Let's fill the plate!

Testimonial from a young mother: 
"It's the little things that make great things. Today I realized that I am free from my addiction to cold cereal. I used to love cereal and couldn't imagine being happy without it. When I started my health journey, I stopped eating it for breakfast but would still eat it as a treat. But now I have no desire for it. I am so happy, and I am happy to give my daughter a good start at life. The only time she eats cereal is if we are in a rush (or at grandma's lol), and I am happy to see that by having her eat whole food from the start has helped her crave whole food. I know I still have a ways to go but this little victory made me happy and I wanted to share."

On a side note, one of my subscribers saw me at a catered lunch and saw to it that I got a plate of chicken without sauce and strawberries for dessert. It filled me with joy and gratitude that he knew how much it means to me to keep my food boundaries. He "got my back." And I've got yours!

For more information on how to create a wise food mind for life, visit www.wisefoodmind.com

The Avoidance Cycle

Facing Pain

I recently read a great article by Peter Howell called "Emotion and Addiction" that encapsulated what I've tried to learn and teach my clients and children for the past 10 years: avoiding negative emotions only leads to more problems instead of solving the problem. (Excerpt to the right, or follow this link for full article .) And he uses comfort food as an example of avoidance! Yet another reason to have a Wise Food Mind.

Howell refers to our tendency to turn to comfort food in order to avoid or escape distressing feelings. He states, "It is natural for us to seek to reduce suffering, but how we do so is key. Escaping from or suppressing painful feelings in unhealthy ways usually provides limited relief and certainly does not solve the problems that trigger such feelings. I suggest that we learn to approach our suffering and deal directly with painful feelings rather than escape from them in unhealthy ways."  If you look at the diagram above you can see the trap we get caught in when we avoid or mask a problem with pleasure or avoidance, or even when we distract ourselves, instead of facing the pain. How do we face it? Could be to talk to someone you are avoiding, to do exercise even though it hurts, or to admit you're wrong and accept correction. Turning to food can lead to a pattern of avoiding pain, and while not considered a clinical addiction or substance abuse, this tendency serves the same purpose for you as drugs/pornography/food does for those who have addictions.
 
Food is designed to be pleasurable and when eaten to provide health and nourishment can provide satisfaction and enjoyment. So it's natural to turn to it when you don't feel right and I have done so myself many times. But now when I'm struggling with something and find myself turning to the fridge, I pause. Is this undermining my ability to handle difficult emotions?

I believe one of life's greatest tests is learning how and when we need to face pain and build endurance rather than give in to our natural tendency to avoid/escape pain and seek pleasure. Of course we don't want to deliberately seek out pain in order to prove our character, but the test to gently accept discomfort in order to face a problem comes to all, and when done with courage and prayer can increase our capacity to endure problems with less pain. The best way to accept pain? Turn to the Lord and accept His will for your life, and humbly do what you need to do. The next time an issue comes up you will have the strength to face it with less distress.

Regarding the Word of Wisdom, President Boyd K. Packer explained: 'There are many habit-forming, addictive things that one can drink or chew or inhale or inject which injure both body and spirit which are not mentioned in the revelation. Everything harmful is not specifically listed.' We each have a responsibility to learn the do’s and don’ts of healthy living that are not necessarily spelled out in the Word of Wisdom.
I believe that Satan understands the processes that make the natural man susceptible to the enslavement of compulsive behaviors and addictions. the misuse of food to manage stress and emotional pain can operate like an addiction,
"Although food is not addictive in and of itself, certain patterns of eating can become like an addiction. Consuming sweet, fatty, or salty foods (or any combination of these) may help us avoid, escape from, or suppress painful emotions. Such foods function to relieve our stress by activating pleasure pathways in the brain.
"Most of us engage in comfort eating at times, but the consequences of using food to cope with the stresses of life are complex and can be serious. The numerous adverse consequences of persistent overeating include weight gain, self-image concerns, lethargy, reduced concentration, an imbalanced diet, harmful weight-loss practices, reduced mobility, spiritual numbing, and diabetes.
"The Lord revealed, 'In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation' (D&C 89:4). Multi-billion-dollar industries seek to entice us to use foods for purposes and in quantities that are unhealthy. Counter to what many corporations want, the Lord counsels us to use certain substances with 'prudence' and 'sparingly' (D&C 89:11, 12)."
“Emotion and Addiction” by Peter L Howell, October 2016 Ensign

September Wise Food Mind newsletter

Back to school

With school starting, one of the preparations on our checklist to do before the first day was a visit to the dentist. Each member of our family took a turn, and we are all happy to report that none of us has any tooth decay, gum disease or cavities! The dentist said to me in particular, "You obviously take care of yourself, and I don't just mean brushing and flossing." He went on to describe how healthy living and eating contribute to tooth vitality, he even got into a discussion about the benefits of limiting sugar intake. Ha ha, talk about preaching to the choir!
Virtue is defined as "a good or moral quality or ability." In the scriptures prophets exhort us to be diligent in developing faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity. (2 Peter 1:4-8, D&C 4:5-6) so we can "escape the corruption that is in the world." Virtue includes moral cleanliness, uplifting thoughts, and "conforming one's life to moral and ethical principles" of any kind. Taking care of your physical and mental health I believe is part of living a life of virtue.
My kids got up late in the summer, opted not to have the breakfast I had made earlier that morning, and sometimes ate convenience foods. Now that school has begun they have to raise the bar of their performance. I have taught them the importance of having a healthy start so they can have optimism, resilience, and stamina. Thankfully they course corrected (somewhat as a surprise to me), they get up and eat what I make without complaining, and even seem to appreciate the breakfast I make. Never too late to strive to live a virtuous life.
Whatever stage of life you are in, take a "virtue" inventory of your eating. Be diligent to avoid corruption. I choose to get up every week day at 5:30 so I can have a healthy meal on the table by6:45 am, how do you choose to live a food life of virtue?

Remember that you can go to my websitewww.wisefoodmind.com and click on the recipe tab to direct you to a link that has all my simple healthy recipes on a shared PDF file.

I want to emphasize the importance of learning how to cook healthy whole foods from scratch, even if you don't eat that way for every meal. Knowing how much work goes into making food healthy and palatable gives us more appreciation for what we eat.

I like to have a mix of the old ways and the new ways--I use convenience foods when I can and whole organic foods when I can. For example, I have a lot of organic garden grown tomatoes and basil, so I make my own marinara, but I use store bought garlic, onions, other dry spices, and chicken stock. I make my own gluten free pizza crust, but I make it from a reputable GF Flour company's box mix. I am a strong advocate of taking advantage of the ways food preparation has been made easier in our day, as long as you maintain your personal food boundaries and optimal diet lifestyle.

For more information on how to eat clean for life, read Wise Food Mind available on Amazon.com or by clicking on the website link above.

Clean vessels

Clean Room Analogy

Definition of the word ROOM: space or extent, especially unoccupied or unobstructed space for a particular purpose. Origin: Old English RUM, "space" (extent or time) "scope" or "opportunity," original sense preserved in "clear space for oneself." 
Living healthfully is like being asked to clean your room, it's not always easy or fun, but there is a reason we are asked to do it. I have to re-learn this reason sometimes!
In June I started feeling defeated in several aspects of my life. I felt like I was pulling the ox out of the mire just to have it fall right back into the mire when I turned my back. If I left things messy they stayed messy, if I cleaned up, it didn't stay clean! For various reasons, I set myself up for feeling "what is the point?" I was tired of the struggle and I was done pretending I could make a difference in the universe. Exercise became sporadic, I didn't want to plan or prepare anything, cleaning minimal, prayers were laced with a "Whatever you want God" attitude. I didn't want to promote my book anymore, I didn't even want to know how to clean up eating habits to improve mental and physical health. As I have already learned, this makes life difficult. My moods were harder to control, relationships were strained, and that familiar feeling of depression started to set in.
Mid June I decided to check back into life and try again. Someone reminded me that one of my talents happens to be organizing and cleaning quickly. I know for some this is incredibly hard. For me it doesn't take a whole lot of mental energy for which I am grateful. But even I was discouraged and disgusted that "cleaning" never ends. Not just cleaning our room, cleaning our space, extent, scope, and opportunity. This includes exercise, healthy eating, hygiene, watching our words, thoughts, and actions, and making your bed once in while! All this is about "clearing space for oneself." Today I am writing my newsletter to clean up! We each have a particular purpose, in order to achieve that we get up every day and clean. If you check out like I did, check back in. Don't give up my friends! Even if we died tomorrow, we will have lived our last day on earth feeling clean, free, accomplished, and at peace that we have been careful with the small space we have been given on this Earth.
To learn how you can clean up your eating habits for life, visit www.wisefoodmind.com

Just like exercise and eating healthful foods cleans our bodies, practicing good "spiritual hygiene" cleans our souls. The acronym CPR illustrates this importance. Instead of jump starting your heart with cardiopulmonary resuscitation, spiritual CPR jump starts your spirit with Church, Prayer, and Reading the scriptures. Like cleaning your room, if you do it every day, a little effort keeps it clean. However, if you go too long without CPR, your spirit suffers and it will take much more effort to get it clean again. 
I have a strong testimony that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. When I am discouraged by the weight of life's problems, my testimony lifts my soul again. I don't know how many times I have had to have this reminder--thousands of times perhaps! Every time I've struggled, if I calm myself a little then the Spirit can bring Heaven's view into mind, and I feel hope again. I attribute this to CPR. I consistently go to church, say my prayers, and read my scriptures. This sustains my forgetful, weak and emotional brain so I can remember my Savior, see the tender mercies of the Lord, and trust Heavenly Father that He is always with me and all His children.
As much as I believe sound eating and exercise and mental health practices will help you through your life, I know that the ultimate answer is the Gospel. I could be a victim of an accident or trauma, I may lose my ability to think and work, my health will eventually go, and death is the end for us all. I find comfort, peace, and joy in the knowledge that Christ has made it possible that when my suffering is ended, I will enter into the rest of the Lord. Healthy eating just helps me access the Spirit so I remember it more often.

Wise Emergency Perparedness

Processed food is generally what is stored for emergencies...

I revamped my emergency supply of food in our 72 hour kits this week. As I threw out the hot chocolate and Ramen noodles from my 2013 kits, and I realized if I (prediabetic and gluten intolerant) had relied on that food supply for three days it may have done the opposite of keep me alive. Yet we still need to be prepared and self reliant! I had to find some options that would be much easier on my system than fruit drinks and ritz crackers. 

Changing my eating lifestyle resulted in restoring my health, I don't want to undo that because there is no grocery store available. If I had to rely on my garden, chickens, and food storage in some kind of economic crisis I would be OK, but the food I was taught to include in a "72 hour emergency kit' you grab in a hurry was completely outside my food boundaries.

If you are sugar or gluten free, emergency food storage can pose a problem. You can't make your own granola bars and expect them to last 2 years in a ziplock. You will have to bend some of your food rules about intaking preservatives and traces of sugar--these are the very ingredients that keep things storable.  Though you may not be able to go completely sugar free, there is a way to get a little more whole food! In the 72 hour kit case, I'm grateful that there are many options so I can stay safe.

I wanted to share my "new and improved 72 hour kit" in case its time for you to revamp yours. Safeguard health, especially in an emergency!

This 72 hour meal kit includes a gluten free, high protein options that will store for up to 2 years. (Click on food item to see website of brand.) 3 of each: oatmeal, raisin box, beef jerky, apple sauce, tuna pouch, GF crackers, nuts, granola bar 1 dehydrated Mountain House Meal (similar to an MRE) Vitamins and medicine as needed Other items to consider putting in your 72 hour kit include 1 gallon water per 72 hour kit Water filter Misc survival items such as toilet paper, bandaids, flashlight, knife, etc. 1 backpack for storage Consider what William Dufty in his book "Sugar Blues" said when preparing your kits, it will keep you checking labels for the very best options. "Refined sugar is lethal when ingested by humans because it drains and leeches the body of precious vitamins and minerals through the demand its digestion, detoxification, and elimination make upon one’s entire system...Sugar taken every day produces a continuously over acid condition, and more and more minerals are required from deep in the body to rectify the imbalance. "As a steady diet, sugar is WORSE than nothing. Plain water can keep you alive for quite some time. Sugar and water can kill you."

The harder right

The quote "may you ever choose the harder right, rather than the easier wrong" by President Monson this past conference has been circulating social media. It stood out to me as well, as it has been a motto of mine for a few years now.
I've buried my head in the sand somewhat sharing information with others because it is hard to ask people to choose the harder right. Allow me to share with you one of my deep sorrows.
As I've changed my eating habits and those of my children, one of my kids has struggled. This child's brain find's meaning in life when there is joy, fun and pleasure, and has difficulty with willpower, is prone to impulsivity, and is a vulnerable teenager. She was trained for the most part of her life to enjoy cereal, sticky buns, candy bars, ice cream, cake, brownies, and cookies on a regular basis. As I have stripped her food life of all this vibrancy, in an effort to help her avoid depression, anxiety, anger, and digestive health problems, I have inadvertently created a very bleak, joyless, hopeless food world, where she not only feels pain or indifference about the food she eats, but guilt, shame and anger about food she enjoys. Sometimes she is brave and positive, other times it's hard for her.
My other kids have brains with enough foresight and willpower to understand that sometimes food doesn't have to be the most wonderful tasting thing ever, they eat and are grateful their bellies are full, and they look forward to their splurge times when they can enjoy more exciting food. But for this other child, there is too much of a drive to have pleasure now to take any comfort in the thought of facing whole foods. Unfortunately, she has lost her appetite for food in general, developed a mild depression, and searches for pleasurable foods outside the home.
Her emotional dysregulation this year has caused her great unhappiness, loss of pleasure in other things she used to find pleasure in, and many physical discomforts (headaches, ulcers, neck and back pain, etc.) Add this to her already present difficulties with executive functioning skills, and being in junior high with all its lovely social pressures and indifferent teachers, and you have one miserable child.
I have suffered long with her, trying to give her other things to compensate like quality time and exercise options, using as much patience and not personalizing her pain as much as I can, pushing as many of my food boundaries as I dare in order to make sure she has some pleasure in eating and her blood sugar stays stable.
Then I watched General Conference, heard the prophet plead with us to chose the harder right, and felt renewed hope. I remembered God's ways are higher than our ways, we are here to learn patience, refine our spirits, and develop trust. It's ok for me to ask my children and others to practice obedience and sacrifice, "there is great purpose in our struggle in life" (Elder Packer).
But what really helped me come back to life in my efforts was when I watched "Zootopia." Judy the Bunny cop wanted to make things better in the world, and instead, because of her diligent efforts things got worse. She became disillusioned and apathetic. In the same way, absorbing my child's sadness, empathizing with her pain, and bearing her anger has put me in a apathetic place. I tried to help change our eating world so she could avoid depression and physical pain, and it seems I made things worse. I flatlined in my desire to share the "good news" that you can do something to prevent and even heal mental and physical ailments in our day. I don't want to suck the fun and joy out of life, if you are happier with a donut in your hands and a soda straw in your lips, I'd rather have you be happy and sick than healthy and miserable. When Judy found the real source of the problem and she renewed her efforts to make it right.
The real source of the problem is our natural man tendency to avoid pain. I used to be the same way, sweets helped me cope, made me feel great, I could face the work and pain with my sugary sweetness by my side. But it took from me my health, my emotional stability, and gave me more pain later. When I asked God to heal me, He asked me to get rid of sugar. For the early saints it was alcohol, coffee, tea and tobacco. For you it may be something else. I'm sure it gave God just as much sorrow to see me withdraw from the vibrant sweetness as it did for me to watch my kids miss it. He knows in the long run avoiding excess sugar was right for me for many reasons.
Right is hard, wrong is easy, but right is still right, and wrong is still wrong. During my child's developmental years while her brain is still developing and her willpower isn't as strong, she will be prone to depression, but if her brain develops more willpower, more coping tools besides food and immediate pleasure, more knowledge about he connection between intake and health, it will be worth it. I'm grateful she is enduring the sadness now while I am here to support her rather than as a young mother, or when I'm gone.
We and our children will be stronger if we are wise about our food intake. When we stress-eat, feed cravings, use food to cope, and impulsively eat what we want when we want it, not only are we compromising our health, we are doing our brains, characters, and spirits no favors. I keep at it because I love my daughter. I'm not alone in imploring my children and everyone, chose the harder right, not the easier wrong.

Safeguard marriage through small and simple efforts

In marriage counseling, I have found that having a sound mind is very important in creating a sound relationship. People with impulse control problems have more problems with honesty, reliability, and communication. It takes a certain ability to put your own agenda on hold to think about the needs of your spouse in order to live by the healthy laws of relationship physics. I've found that protecting your health through guarding your diet can also help your marriage.

Sadly, one of my couples recently decided to get divorced after many session and over a year trying to make it work, and part of the reason is one of the spouses couldn't muster up the willpower and discipline to do the small things like exercise and eat healthy. There were other issues as well, but these small and simple efforts, what Dr. McGonigal calls "miracle cures," would have enhanced this client's ability to be the person they wanted to be rather than being pulled by emotional and environmental forces. Safeguard your marriage by safeguarding your willpower.

Life can be confusing when you are hurt by the dishonest, emotional, and impulsive decisions of others. My client asked me how I knew there was a God since it seems like our physical brains control our fate. I know it is our Spirits that control our cells, our neurons, and our wills, not our brains; however, our brains are subject to dysfunction and can limit us immensely. An optimal working brain, with a sound circuitry and fully developed prefrontal cortex, is a great blessing and gives us the opportunity to be what our Spirits (who we really are) want us to be. The greater your brain function, the greater your will power, the more agency you have, and the more responsible you will be for your choices. Protect your brain to give your Spirit power.
"God created it, Jesus died for it, your Spirit lives in it, let's take care of it." --quote by Rick Warren (referring to our bodies)

Read Wise Food Mind to learn how to take care of your body through overcoming food corruptions for life.
www.wisefoodmind.com

Sugar and Willpower

In doing some research on willpower and how to decrease impulsivity for my ADHD clients, I came upon some interesting information about sugar and its relation to willpower. Of course I have to share it! This quote was spoken in a lecture by Dr. Kelly McGonigal, PhD, a psychology instructor at Stanford, who has written a book called "The Willpower Instinct." Here's what she says:

"Some of the early studies coming out a few years ago suggested that when we exert willpower, it uses so much more energy in the brain than our typical tasks you can see a drop in circulating blood glucose levels...which suggest that the brain is using a real source of energy – or your brain is using up energy--in order to resist temptation or to focus your attention.

One of the ideas that came out of some of this research: willpower is depletable. It’s so easily depletable that you get a temporary drop in your willpower reserve each time you use your willpower. Now, some of the studies that have come out more recently are suggesting that the relationship between blood sugar and willpower is a little bit more complicated than just thinking, Well, I’m going to mainline sugar to make sure I’ve got lots of energy so that my brain won’t get tired, which is how some of this got interpreted initially. 

It seems that the brain monitors fluctuations in blood glucose, and what your brain likes is a steady state of blood glucose. If the brain feels comfortable that you have a steady state of energy, it is comfortable using the energy required to control impulses or focus your attention. The brain doesn’t like big spikes and drops in blood sugar. 

There’s some interesting research suggesting that your brain gets kind of stingy when it doesn’t trust a stable energy supply, so it will be reluctant to use systems of the brain that require more energy. With this more evolved way of thinking about the relationship between sugar and willpower, the best thing you can do is eat a diet that gives you a steady supply of blood sugar.

My students, when they heard the original studies, were thinking, Great,I’ll just eat candy before I need willpower, which of course is not going to make your brain feel very good about its stable blood sugar supply. It seems to be pretty important to eat on a regular basis and eat the kind of diet that’s going to give us a steady state of energy levels that help us be our best selves with the best kind of willpower reserve." 

Dr McGonigal starts the lecture by reminding us that willpower is controlled by the prefrontal cortex and helps us control that mid-brain where emotions tell us to seek gratification and avoid pain right now. Our willpower is part of our logical brain. There is a brain-gut connection once again with how efficiently our brain functions and our diet. The research Dr. McGonigal cites above goes along with the idea that mood follows blood glucose: when you eat foods that help you stabilize and balance blood glucose, like whole foods, you are able to stabilize and balance your prefrontal cortex's ability to manage that emotional brain. 
What foods stabilize blood glucose again? That's right, whole foods! Protein, complex carbohydrates, and unprocessed, uncorrupted food. Eat food as close to the way God created it in the first place.