foods that make you less healthy
“I am in my third round of Whole30. Rather than thinking of sugar, cookies, bread, or chocolate bars, I now think of protein, veggies, and fruits. I am now a master salad mixer, a creative whiz with the blender, and am enjoying food prep in the kitchen. I am amazed at the change and the fact that I have a very different perspective on food. I’ve lost 13 pounds, dropped a dress size or two, and feel terrific. I know I’m on the right track with the Whole30.”
—Ethel Lee-Miller, Tucson, AZ
Here is a big-picture view on why these five food groups fail our Good Food Standards, and why they’re out for the duration of your Whole30. (For a much more detailed analysis, read Chapters 8, 10, 11, and 12 in It Starts With Food.)
Slay the Sugar Dragon
Added sugars in your diet do not make you healthier . . . but you already knew that. Added sugars, whether from table sugar, honey, agave nectar, or maple syrup, do not contain the vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals that contribute to your overall health, but they do contain lots of empty calories.
Added sugar promotes overconsumption via pleasure and reward pathways in the brain. This creates an unhealthy psychological relationship with your food and creates hard-to-break habits, leading to further overconsumption and sugar “addiction.” Overconsumption leads to hormonal and metabolic dysregulation, which are inflammatory in the body, and promote disorders like insulin resistance, diabetes, and obesity. In addition, sugar disrupts the delicate balance of gut bacteria, which promotes digestive issues and inflammation in the gut.
Less Healthy
To be fair, we’re not saying there’s nothing good be found here; grains and beans contain fiber, and dairy has calcium. However, there is no vitamin, mineral, or phytonutrient that you could get from these foods that can’t be found (often in a more bioavailable form) in high-quality meats, vegetables, fruits, and natural fats . . . without the potential metabolic, digestive, and inflammatory downsides that come with these “less healthy” food groups. Read on. . . .
Artificial or “non-nutritive” sweeteners (including Splenda/sucralose, Equal/NutraSweet/aspartame, Truvia/stevia, Sweet’N Low/saccharin, xylitol, maltitol, etc.) may also promote ongoing metabolic dysfunction. In fact, studies show people who switch from real sugar to artificial sweeteners don’t lose weight or improve their hormonal balance. New research suggests some artificial sweeteners may even disrupt gut bacteria just like real sugar! And from a psychological perspective, artificial sweeteners are not a solution for banishing your sugar cravings; in fact, they only continue the cycle of craving, reward, and overconsumption.
It’s the Alcohol
Alcohol (like sugar) does not make you healthier. It is neurotoxic, which is why your brain doesn’t work quite right after a few drinks. It is a very concentrated source of calories (nearly twice as calorie-dense as sugar, gram for gram!) but contains no actual “nutrition.”
In addition, consumption of alcohol often sets us up to make poor choices*—the after-effects of which can turn one late-night pizza into a whole weekend of carb-a-palooza.
In addition, alcohol makes it harder for your body to properly control blood-sugar levels, and directly promotes changes in your intestinal lining which contributes to “leaky gut,” promoting inflammation that starts in the gut, but travels everywhere in the body.
Whether your vice is red wine, tequila, gluten-free beer, or potato vodka, the common denominator—and what makes you less healthy—is the alcohol itself.
*Poor choices with food. We’re not even going to touch those other poor choices. BACK
Not Even Whole Grains
This section is referring to grains and grain-like seeds—wheat, oats, barley, corn, rice, millet, buckwheat, quinoa, and the like. (Yes, we said rice and corn!) Both refined and whole grains promote overconsumption, which creates hormonal and metabolic disruption. They also contain inflammatory proteins (like gluten) and fermentable carbohydrates that can promote an imbalance of gut bacteria and provoke inflammation in the body.
The inflammation that starts in your gut, often causing a plethora of digestive issues, also “travels” throughout the body, as the inflammatory components of grains allow various substances to improperly cross your intestinal lining and go everywhere your bloodstream goes. This often manifests itself as things like asthma, allergies, skin conditions, fertility issues, migraines, joint pain, and other symptoms that you might never have associated with the food that you eat.
Grains also contain “anti-nutrients” called phytates or phytic acid that make valuable minerals like the calcium, magnesium, and zinc found in the grains themselves unavailable for use in your body. In part because of these phytates, all grains (even whole grains) are relatively nutrient-poor, especially compared to vegetables and fruit.
Pass on the Peanuts (and Beans, and Soy)
Legumes (beans, peas, lentils, soy, and peanuts) have similar issues as those with grains. First, they are generally nutrient-poor when compared to vegetables and fruit. In addition, they contain anti-nutrients (phytates) that can’t be completely neutralized by usual preparation methods of prolonged soaking and rinsing, cooking, sprouting, or fermenting. These anti-nutrients rob the body of valuable minerals, and if cooked improperly, could even cause damage to your intestinal lining and provoke systemic inflammation.
More significantly, legumes also contain fermentable carbohydrates that can disrupt your gut bacteria, and commonly cause gas, bloating, cramps, pain, and other digestive issues when consumed.
Another concern, specific to soybeans and even more so with processed soy products, is the content of compounds that behave like estrogen (that female sex hormone) in the human body. These compounds, classified as phytoestrogens or isoflavones, bind to and stimulate (or in some tissues, block) estrogen receptors. And while the overall research on soy products is inconsistent, in our view there are some alarming issues related to the consumption of soy and soy products. We think you shouldn’t mess with your delicate sex hormone balance, and ingesting phytoestrogens in an unknown “dose” via soy products does just that.
Finally, peanuts are especially problematic, as they contain proteins (called lectins) that are resistant to digestion. These lectins can cross into our bloodstream, and promote inflammation anywhere and everywhere in the body. These lectins may be why the incidence of peanut allergies are so prevalent today.
Milk (and Cheese, and Yogurt) Don’t Do a Body Good
Dairy (from cow, sheep, and goat’s milk) contains factors designed to help little mammals (like calves and human infants) grow fast. But the growth factors found in milk and milk products, along with some immune factors and inflammatory proteins, may not do our adult bodies any good.
The carbohydrate portion of milk (lactose) together with the milk proteins produce a surprisingly high insulin response, which could be inflammatory in our bodies and further promotes disorders like obesity and diabetes. In addition, high levels of insulin along with other dairy growth factors promote unregulated cell growth. (Makes sense if you are a calf trying to triple your body weight in a matter of months, but not so much sense for us human adults.) In fact, unregulated cell growth is the underlying cause of cancer (the uncontrolled reproduction of mutated cells), and is why, in some studies, dairy consumption has been shown to be associated with some types of hormonally driven cancers.
Dairy proteins can also be inflammatory in the body (especially casein, which is concentrated in cheese), and have been associated with an increased risk of autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. Finally, immune factors and hormones in the milk proteins can cross-react with our immune system, leading milk drinkers to report a worsening of their seasonal allergies, asthma, acne, and other related conditions.
The Wrap-Up
Now, hear us clearly. We’re not saying these foods are “bad.” There is no morality when it comes to food—foods aren’t bad or good, and you’re not bad or good for eating (or avoiding) them. We’re not even saying these foods are bad for you. We don’t know that yet.
The thing is, neither do you.
Until you eliminate these foods, you won’t know how these foods have been impacting how you look, feel, or live. Is dairy making you stuffy or wheezy? Are grains making you bloated or sad? Is your diet in general what’s keeping you in chronic pain, making your joints swollen, or harming your thyroid?
Science suggests they could be, but the truth is, you don’t know. But you can, in just 30 days. Commit to pushing these foods off your plate completely for the next month. Not one bite, not one sip, not one taste. Give your body a chance to restore its natural balance, heal, and recover. Give your brain a chance to change your tastes, create new habits, and find new rewards. Pay attention. See what changes. Take good notes. Be brutally honest.
At the end of the 30 days, you’ll reintroduce these foods one at a time, carefully, systematically, evaluating if or how they push you off your healthy balance. Pay attention. See what changes. Take good notes. Be brutally honest.
Now you know.
In just a few weeks, you’ve figured out what mainstream media, other diets, nutrition coaches, even your own medical doctors haven’t been able to give you—the perfect diet for you. The diet that feels sustainable, satisfying, deliciously freeing. The diet that keeps you looking and feeling your best, while still enjoying less healthy foods when, where, and how often you choose. The diet that was specifically created for you, because through our protocol, your awareness, and your determination, you created it.
Now that is food freedom.
And now, you’re ready for the Whole30.
