Unit 4: Special Dietary Requirements
The Mediterranean Diet is evidenced to improve cardiovascular function, blood sugar management, and healthy aging.
It includes high amounts of plant-based foods and lower amounts of animal products + includes healthy fats.
When we support our thyroid gland, we support so many systems in our body. Our thyroid governs our metabolism, our thermostat, and our body’s ability to thrive.
This list is not exhaustive and highlights some great examples of foods for thyroid wellness. It doesn’t consider any specific dietary concerns such as food intolerances or allergies. To be used as a guide which is to be expanded upon.
Ideally, we want a broad and varied diet, and as a start thread these foods through to see if they’re a good fit for your dietary blueprint.
Here’s a downloadable list of thyroid wellness foods with their health benefits. See how you go about making these into your meal creations.
MEGAN’S TIP
Aim for 1.5 – 2 g of protein per day for healthy tissue and repair.
However ensure this is not all meat! Need help? Ask me!
HERE’S A HELPFUL GUIDE FOR YOU TO DOWNLOAD
Often these are all grouped into one, however, it’s the Yeasts and Moulds which are the two major groups collectively called FUNGI.
Our gut microbiome contains multiple different species and subtypes of fungi. Only when out of balance or overgrown they may cause infection and negative signs and symptoms.
Candida albicans is a common yeast infection that may occur where there’s an overgrowth. Typical foods that cause candida to thrive are fermented foods, alcohol, sugar and processed ‘white’ foods.
The first determinant of any fungi infection is finding the source. Fungi infections or imbalances are typically born from your diet, however, may also be born through your home or work environment, especially if you have water damage. If you have a suspicion of this, we can work thoroughly together in our private session to determine the presence and root cause.
Here’s a helpful dietary guide if you have a yeast infection.
This shopping list is not exhaustive and highlights those foods that will help to prevent an imbalance of yeasts within your digestive tract. Depending on the extent of the imbalance will depend on how strictly you adhere to this. Ideally 80/20 rule and keeping out the obvious high-sugar items that fuel yeasts, moulds and fungi.
HERE’S A SHOPPING LIST FOR YOU TO DOWNLOAD
What’s all the fuss about FODMAP’s?
After phase 1: Clarity Through Investigation, you may have been recommended a low FODMAP diet.
This section is specifically for you during your gut healing phase.
Here’s an overview:
The typical symptoms from high FODMAP foods in certain circumstances are suffering from excessive bloating within half an hour after eating, burping, reflux, nausea, or even pain. Hence it can be highly beneficial to commence a LOW FODMAP diet for a specified period of time. This is advantageous, especially with the diagnosis of suspicion of Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO). But don’t worry, because FODMAPs isn’t a diet for life!
FODMAPs is an acronym that stands for groups of short chain carbohydrates (or sugars).
The short chain carbohydrates (or sugars) occur naturally in many carbohydrate containing foods including fruits and vegetables. In some individuals these sugars are poorly absorbed by the gut and give rise to digestive issues as mentioned.
FODMAP foods like dairy and wheat can aggravate other digestive issues and gut infections. Hence, the root cause of your digestive distress should be the focus, rather than just avoiding essentially beneficial FODMAP foods for long periods of time.
The acronym stands for:
- Fermentable – the process where the gut bacteria ferment undigested carbohydrates to produce ‘wind’
- Oligosaccharides – fructans & GOS found in foods such as wheat, rye, onions, garlic, legumes and pulses
- Diasaccharides – lactose found in dairy like milk, soft cheeses and yoghurt
- Monosaccharides – fructose found in honey, apples, high fructose corn syrups
- Polyols – sorbitol and mannitol found in some fruit and vegetables and used as artificial sweeteners.
HERE’S A HELPFUL LOW-FODMAP FOOD GROUP GUIDE
HELPFUL RESOURCES:
What is the best dietary pattern to prevent chronic disease and why!
We’ve grown up hearing that chant! “EAT YOUR VEGES” or “EAT YOUR GREENS”! Well, it’s not too far from the truth. Our ‘Western’ style diet with staples such as wheat, dairy, meat, and processed or packaged food (what I call ‘laboratory’ food), not to mention all the sugar in all of its glorious forms is making our bodies sick.
It’s not just about the type of food, but moreover the amount of ‘bad’ food eaten relative to ‘good’ food eaten.
It’s no surprise then that chronic disease is on the rise.
Here is an example of one of those chronic diseases.
“Approximately 10 million men and women in the U.S. have osteoporosis, predicted to rise to more than 14 million by 2020”
Peak bone mass is reached at age 30, and then starts to decline, surely but steadily. The onset of osteopenia and osteoporosis is becoming more prevalent in our society. There are many factors to consider for osteoporosis, including genetics, resistance training, and hormones, but one of the contributing factors is our diet.
To illustrate, here is a simplistic example: our innate biochemistry intelligence is having to ‘buffer’ the acidic load in our tissues by drawing minerals from our bones – namely calcium to help maintain the right pH that is required in the blood for our body to function. What happens is, over time, the bones are gradually becoming more brittle to buffer the acidity caused by our diet!
Other chronic diseases that are on the rise in our society include:
- Type 2 diabetes
- Cardiovascular disease
- Metabolic Syndrome
- Autoimmune diseases – Celiac, Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Fibromyalgia, Lupus-like conditions, Rosacea, etc., etc., etc.
How can diet help?
The key is to have a predominantly alkaline diet!
Too much of the wrong type of food has been linked to the rise in chronic diseases. Generally speaking, a diet low in fresh whole foods such as fruits and vegetables relative to packaged or processed food or ‘Western’ dietary staples such as wheat and dairy creates more acidity in the body.
Tissue acidity is a contributing factor to the inflammation of areas in the body such as the arteries, joints, and our intestinal membrane. Further, molecules within ‘acidic’ foods such as gluten (for example) may in some individuals cause disruptions to the immune system giving rise to autoimmune diseases.
There are many other contributors to tissue acidity other than diet! As humans, we are naturally acid producers. For example, stress is also a major cause of tissue acidity. Over-exercising is another! By making informed choices about the food we choose to eat will absolutely help to lessen the burden on our bodies and help to promote great health. This is why it is important to adopt a healthy alkaline-based diet. Without getting too caught up in the numbers, by adopting a predominantly alkaline diet you are predominantly eating…fruits and vegetables
HERE’S A USEFUL DIETARY PATTERN TO REDUCE INFLAMMATION
