Podcast Episode #126: The Biggest Loser, Superfoods, Makeup (and No Makeup)

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Topics:
1.  Liz on a podcast with Living Well with Crystal [5:21] 2.  Texas Paleo Tour update [9:05] 3.  Paleofx update [13:30] 4.  Eat the Yolks egg-cerpt [14:09] 5.  The Biggest Loser and a word about shaming [19:38] 6.  Alternatives to “super foods” [25:54] 7.  Recurring stomach issues after an illness [32:30] 8.  Accolades to Liz, and question about sunscreen and makeup [45:05] 9.  Alternative to bleach; help with no makeup confidence [48:58] [smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/balancedbites/BB_Podcast_126.mp3″ title=”#126: The Biggest Loser, Superfoods, Makeup (and No Makeup)” artist=”Diane Sanfilippo & Liz Wolfe ” color=”00aeef” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ]

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Liz Wolfe: Hey everyone! Liz here. Welcome to episode 126 of the Balanced Bites podcast! It’s a big day in Balanced Bites podcast land, because I’m here, not with Diane, not with a special guest. No, I have taken off the training wheels, I’ve removed the bumpers, and I’m doing this episode of the podcast solo! It is just me. Diane is traipsing across California, I think, and I’m actually snowed in at the homestead, and I thought to myself, why risk the perils of a poor weather internet connection and give any potential guest a terrible time trying to maintain connectivity. Why not just go it alone? I feel a little bit like Mary Richards from the Mary Tyler Moore Show, striking off to the big city. Well, what was that, Minneapolis? {laughs} The big city. Earlier, I went outside, yes, and I did the Mary Tyler Moore tossing of the hat into the air. [singing] “You’re going to make it after all!” That was pretty good. So, would I be Mary, or Rhoda? I kind of want to be Rhoda. I’ve always wanted to be Rhoda. Or Phyllis! Actually, I’d mostly like to be Phyllis. Folks may not be aware that I’m slightly obsessed with Cloris Leachman, who is still kicking it. She was in Spanglish, she was hilarious, and she’s currently, I think, in a sitcom, playing the crazy old grandma lady. I truly thing Cloris Leachman is the funny old lady of our time. Betty White? Meh. She’s fine. But Cloris Leachman, man, she’s hilarious. Oh, and speaking of Mary Tyler Moore, by the way, my grandma went to high school with Lou Grant, I believe, or Santa Claus, from the movie Elf. Fun little fact. Alright, so if I haven’t lost you by now, please don’t go anywhere. I promise this will be fun. It’s the same format, same banter, only this time I’ll be talking to myself, which I’m surprisingly good at. I actually do that a lot. Goats and chickens are not the best conversationalists, it usually just ends up a little one sided. Anyway, before I go any further, let me just eat up a few moments here with a shout out to our sponsors. Paleo Treats, individually packaged paleo goodies, no weird or wonky ingredients, just yummy Paleo Treats, like my personal favorites, the Mustang bar and the Bandito bar. My two loves of my life right now, besides my dog and my husband. Check out paleotreats.com. Do you like how I said my dog before I said my husband? That’s…that’s, well, that’s true. Anyway, check out paleotreats.com. You can get 15% when you enter the code BALANCEDBITES at checkout. Just one word, BALANCEDBITES. Next up, Pete’s Paleo, bringing fine dining to your cave. Pete’s Paleo makes eating real food easy, by taking the work out of your meal planning and prep. It’s a great idea for those nights when you get home from the gym, if you go to the gym, those nights when you get home from carrying water buckets out to the chicken coop and it’s too late to cook, or you want to have dinner on the table fast. Forget frozen, boxed, preservative, and junk-loaded meals. Keep some Pete’s Paleo meals on hand, and dinner can be ready in a flash. Pete’s Paleo is offering our listeners a free pound of bacon with the purchase of any meal plan. So, enter the code BBLOVESBACON, all one word, at checkout with your order on petespaleo.com. And I want to say, Pete’s Paleo bacon, I never realized what bacon should be until I had Pete’s Paleo bacon, and my favorite thing to do is cube it, it comes in one big hunk, cube it up, add it to hash, it’s spectacular. Finally, Chameleon Cold-Brew, our favorite smooth, organic, fair trade caffeinated beverage. Find out where you can buy that locally by checking out their website, ChameleonColdBrew.com. Or you can get a really good discount off of your online order when you enter the code BALANCEDBITES at checkout. Again, BALANCEDBITES, one word. And I’ve actually had; well, I guess I haven’t had all of those today, but I’ve had Paleo Treats cacao now, I’ve had some Pete’s Paleo bacon, and I’ve had Chameleon Cold Brew, all within the last couple of days. Definitely staples at our house.

1. Liz on a podcast with Living Well with Crystal [5:21]

Alright, cool. So, since Diane isn’t here to tell us all of the exciting stuff, she’s been up to, you’ll have to settle for my updates. {laughs} I’m sorry. I’m sorry everyone. But I’ve got quite a few. First off, I wanted to tell folks about… I had an awesome podcast interview with a gal named Crystal Saltrelli. She’s at livingwellwithcrystal.com, and that interview will go out through her Living Well with Crystal newsletter. You can sign up for that at her website. Crystal is a health educator, and she’s an author who specializes in helping people with gastroparesis. It’s funny, because I don’t hear a lot from gastroparesis suffers in the paleo community. I don’t know if that’s because gastroparesis sufferers as a whole are generally unaware of this kind of real food paleo movement, or if it’s because they don’t think, they’ve been advised against eating the types of foods that we talk about on this podcast. But, gastroparesis or idiopathic gastroparesis, which is what Crystal was diagnosed with in 2004 is, I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since 2004. That is insane. Just stop it. So, it’s a condition of delayed stomach emptying. Basically, what happens is the stomach doesn’t process or empty food properly, and the electrical signals actually cause the normal person’s stomach to contract and pass food through properly, that’s compromised. And this can cause really severe nausea, pain, bloating, reflux. It’s just really uncomfortable to eat a full meal, or even a small meal. And, unfortunately, the standard treatment for gastroparesis, the standard treatment and recommendations are basically to eat processed foods, since those foods require much less of our digestive systems, and this can lead to some really severe nutrient deficiencies. It’s really interesting, because in the podcast that I recorded with Crystal, we talked about how there’s not a lot of studies on gastroparesis itself and effective treatments; however, there are studies of people with gastroparesis and the incidence of nutrient deficiencies in that population. So, it’s a huge problem. So, what Crystal has been doing is helping people live better and more healthfully with gastroparesis, and what’s interesting is that she’s now started exploring a paleo approach, and I think that’s awesome. She asked me to come on and talk about what paleo is, what I stand for. I think folks know that I’m not in any way Dogmatic Diet, you know, paleo prescription or die, not whatsoever, but she wanted to talk about what the concept and what I advocate could mean for gastroparesis sufferers. And I think, right now, we’re both kind of at the very beginning of talking about this, our community and Crystal, and talking specifically about a paleo real food approach, but Crystal has seen a lot of progress with her own condition. This is something she’s dealt with for 10 years, and she’s really exciting because to my knowledge, we don’t really have a spokesperson in the real food community who is really well versed with this issue. So, I’m really excited to see where Crystal goes with this, and to keep in touch with her in the future on it. Again, she’s at livingwellwithcrystal.com, and the interview will go out via her newsletter. I would love to hear back from folks who have dealt with gastroparesis; maybe have ideas or suggestions. My hunch is gastroparesis could improve with improved diet. There’s just not a lot of information out there. So, let’s talk it up.

2. Texas Paleo Tour update [9:05]

Alright, next up. Paleo Tour. Diane, myself, and Bill and Haley of Primal Palate will all be together in Austin, Texas, on Feb 25, 2014, and then Houston, Texas on February 26, 2014, that’s this month. That’s coming up really soon. I’ll put the link to the information about these events in the show notes, so if you think you can make it; please, please, please check it out. It is dang near impossible to get all of us in the same room at the same time. I mean, it was heck trying to get Diane and I in the same place to do the filming for our upcoming online nutrition workshop. Just because Diane is so busy, Bill and Haley are so busy, and I pretend to be so busy, so {laughs}, that’s the deal. So, I have something to say about this, and I certainly don’t want this to come off as disingenuous. But, I have had a lot of folks comment on, you know, the Paleo Tour posts that I’ve put out, and they’re asking me how we can come to Texas without going to Dallas, or when are we coming to Dallas, or when are we coming to any place within like a 6-hour radius of Austin or Houston. I’ve had people ask me when we’re coming to other cities, as well, and where I might go on my “book tour” for my book, Eat the Yolks, and I want to say, first of all, thank you so, so much for being interested in seeing me and seeing us. It means the world. I can’t even…it blows my mind that folks want to connect with me in that way, and I’m so, just, grateful and floored and excited. Of course, that said, please understand that we just can’t go everywhere. Even getting the four of us in one place for two days in a row was so close to impossible, I can’t even tell you, it almost didn’t happen. We’re going to Austin and Houston because we had some incredibly motivated people helping us to coordinate it, and the many pieces came together such that we could make those two cities work. It’s no offense to Dallas, I love Dallas. Actually, one of my husband’s and my first dates was in Dallas, that was nice. But it’s just so hard to make everybody happy, and serve everybody, and sometimes we just have to make the decision, and that’s the route we had to take. So, please, please, please, if you’re within a few hours, please consider making the trip to see us. We would be so honored to see you in either Austin or Houston. We’re just coming so far and traveling so extensively to be in those locations that we can’t do anything but ask folks in the surrounding area to meet us halfway if you possibly can. I wish I could tour every city, seriously, but another thing. My job is not “being a writer”, as much as my whole life I’ve wished my job could just be “being a writer”, {laughs} it’s not, and not only at this point is this travel not subsidized, it’s out of pocket, but I also, let’s be honest, I haven’t been paid for this book yet, and it’s a long time until I am. So, my fingers are crossed on that. Maybe, like a first book check tour is in order, I could do that. Let’s hashtag that, #firstbookcheck. No, let’s not. So, anyway, I’m going to go as many places as I possibly can. I’m going to couch surf wherever possible. I’ll go away from the husband and the homestead as much as I can, but that may not be much. So, please. If you can come see me, I’m going to do my best to make it worth everyone’s while, trying to figure out a way to maybe host some dinners, or something like that so folks get something for their trouble. Of course, I’ll sign books, and you know, give many hugs and high fives. I really do appreciate everyone so much, and I hate that folks might feel like I’m not coming somewhere because I don’t care or because I don’t think it’s important or I’m not grateful for the support. I do, and I am, but I’m only one man! How many of you tuned out just with that rant there? It’s funny, listening to myself talk, I usually very much like it. You know, especially when I do it in the mirror with my fake hairbrush as a microphone, and pretend I’m, heck let’s bring it back full circle, Ted Baxter from Mary Tyler Moore, but it’s starting to ring in my ears a little bit. And we’re just getting started!

3. Paleofx update [13:30]

So, moving right along. A few folks have also asked if I’ll be at Paleofx this year, and the answer is {eee} kind of. We have a huge event for my husband’s work. It’s a once in a lifetime event that same weekend, so my time at Paleofx will likely be a really quick in and out trip, like, 24 hours max. I’ll come in, and hopefully sign books with the victory belt crew, and soak up the Austin air again, maybe get some barbecue. Don’t tell anybody because I’m from Kansas City, but I love Austin barbecue so much. Oh so much.

4. Eat the Yolks egg-cerpt [14:09]

Alright. So, onto a really important topic, and that is my book! Woot, woot. I guess we’ve already been talking about that, pretty much this whole time, but hey, this is a little more specific. Eat the Yolks releases officially on February 25th, yay! And please, when you get your books, take a picture and hashtag #EattheYolks. Tag me if you can. My favorite thing in the world is all these amazing pictures folks are taking with their prerelease copies. Photos with their pets and their fur babies, especially. I’ll have to put an album up on Facebook of all those amazing Instagram pictures. They crack me up. Tears rolling down my face at my friend Kristen from Living Loving Paleo. She dressed her dog up in a scarf and spectacles with a little glass of tea. It was too funny. And then my friend Hayley, from Health Starts in the Kitchen, her dog {laughs} Hercules is probably the most amazing dog in the world, and the most well behaved. Had him sitting up in the chair with the book in his mouth, just looking stoic and like a gentleman and a scholar, and it was just fabulous. So, when you get that book, tag me, #eattheyolks, be silly with it, the whole bit. Instagram it, Tweet it, Facebook quotes that you like, whatever you want to do. I’m not going to be mad if you quote a whole damn page up on the interwebz. Keep in touch on it, because I want to know what you think. And within the next week, I’ll be doing a huge giveaway for those who did preorder, so keep an eye out for that also. I want you to know that there is a minor error on page 28. I about had a heart attack when I saw it. It was an innocent mistake, after months and months of intensive edits, finding that was literally like a stake in my cold, lifeless heart. So, please forgive that. I promise, it does not speak to the quality of the book as a whole, but if I could just head off the folks who are going to very sweetly let me know about that little issue on page 28, you don’t need to worry about it, I know about it already. I’ve shed my tears over it. The reprint will be fixed, but it’s not that big of a deal, you might not even notice it. But, just so you know, it’s there, I’m aware of it. I do apologize, again, if I see you in person, I’ll give you extra hugs and high fives for overlooking it and recommending the book to your friends despite that. Ok, now, a reminder Eat the Yolks isn’t just about eggs, it’s about all of the silly, dumb, goofy, sad myths we’ve been fed about nutrition for way too long. It gives context about how the heck we got here. I know, for me, when I first got into the paleo thing, I was like, ok this is working, but aren’t I going to get heart disease from eating all these egg yolks, and cancer from eating all the animal protein, and aren’t I going to stop pooping if I don’t eat fiber from whole grains. Alright, cool if that’s not true, but if it’s really not true, then how the heck did we get here in the first place? And that’s really what Eat the Yolks is about. So, with that said, as you’ve come to expect, I’ll now read a little egg-cerpt from the book. Let me pull that up here. This is from the chapter on nutrients. And this is about vitamin A versus beta carotene, and really getting nutrients from animals versus plants, and so on. Here we go. “Beta carotene is termed a vitamin A precursor because it can, in some circumstances, through a serious of chemical conversions within the human body, be converted into true vitamin A. This was apparently good enough for the FDA to consider them equal. Unfortunately, it’s not good enough for our bodies. Until the conversion happens, they are entirely different nutrients. Worse, the body’s beta carotene conversion ratio is poor, and thyroid issues, stress, and a nutrient-poor diet, which is, let’s be honest, the standard American diet, can all interfere with this conversion. At best, it takes as many as 6 units of beta carotene to create one unit of vitamin A. Imagine that someone gives you 6 adorable puppies, and then says you can only keep 1. See? It’s sad.” And scene. That’s that. Oh, also, for those who might be interested. Thanks to the encouragement of some folks who listen to this podcast, I actually will be reading the audio version of Eat the Yolks. That’s a little ways in the future, I have to carve out some time to do that, and get all set up with, you know, a studio and actually recording that. But I will be reading the audio version myself, and I know, you know, this podcast is just a taste of what it must feel like to listen to me talk for hours at a time. Many, many apologies, of course. But, if you can, of course don’t wait for the audio version to come out. Presales and sales of the print book are incredibly important in keeping this book in front of people, and hopefully if the book continues to do well, I will be able to have the actual audio book and kindle book start out with a bang, get it in front of the people who actually chose what books get front billing, front page, and all that. So, if you can stand to spend the money on the actual book itself, I would be incredibly, unspeakably grateful. So thank you for that.

5. The Biggest Loser and a word about shaming [19:38]

Alright, very good. I think it is about time to move on to questions. Let’s begin… ok. So this is less a specific question, but something I wanted to address. I’ve been asked for my comments on the recent controversy on The Biggest Loser with regards to the winner having lost an extreme amount of weight and looking “anorexic”. Now, this is a really, really, really delicate topic. I personally do not watch that show. I used to; I do not anymore, because despite, you know, the integration of some fun, Crossfit exercise by trainer Bob, who I like, I absolutely do not think for a moment that the manner in which those contestants lose weight, even with their, you know, public proclamations from the producers of that show about having every contestant monitored closely by doctors, etc, etc, I absolutely do not think that the manner in which the weight loss is achieved on that show is healthy in any way, shape, or form. However, a healthier approach would never garner ratings, that’s just a fact. I know this, because there used to be a show on, I don’t remember if it was TLC or something where people lost weight slowly and healthfully with copious amounts of emotional support from a compassionate trainer, and guess how long that lasted? That lasted about half a season. It’s gone, it’s forgotten; buh-bye. The Biggest Loser is about ratings first, that’s pretty clear, and the contestants aren’t even contestants. In my opinion, they are potential casualties. And that’s a fact. As far as the most recent winner, and whether she used unhealthy strategies to lose extreme amounts of weight, and whether she is or is not anorexic or displaying characteristic signs of anorexia is not something I have a single clue about. I reserve comment on that as much as possible, because I don’t know. First off, the word anorexic is not to be taken lightly. It is not a joke. It’s not an insult to be thrown around to prove a point about The Biggest Loser. I wish this contestant the best, of course I do, and I hope she settles into a truly healthy routine. I hope she has a healthy, and happy, and a bright, shining life. The few shots that I saw of her, I noticed her smile, and her happiness more so than I noticed what her arms looked like, but then again, like I said, I don’t watch the show, and I didn’t really see what she looks like, what she doesn’t look like. I hope that if there’s some disease hiding in the wings, like anorexia, that she gets the help that she needs. But, here’s the thing. This is what came to mind with all of this discussion that I saw on social media about this issue. The issue of shaming. Shaming is not helping anybody. My friend Kendall, from Primal Balance, she’s one of the first people that I really heard talking about what shaming is, and really kind of giving a voice to the concept that shaming is just this insidious tendency in a lot of health oriented communities. We think that calling someone out for a perceived disease or an issue or a failing or shortcoming or whatever is in some way productive. And I’ve seen this a ton of times, people are just waiting in the wing, you know, waiting to be outraged over something. And often times that outrage ends in the shaming of someone who, like this contestant likely was, is just doing their best. And I don’t know that it’s productive. I don’t know that, you know, it’s true, this kind of self righteous idea that we’re calling somebody out for their own good. Because that very quickly, there’s a thin line between saying what needs to be said and really shaming somebody. So, what usually happens with shame like that, the target of that shame, and you know, though people say they are targeting The Biggest Loser, much of that shame is really landing, I think, squarely on this contestant. People that are shamed will often just kind of retreat further into those same behaviors. It is important that we talk about this type of stuff, but you know, we need to be aware I think that our dialog doesn’t turn to shaming of a person who is just doing their best. I mean, really shaming is just a really prevalent thing, and I do think it’s time that we talked about it a little bit more. I’m guilty of it; I’ve certainly done it before. Maybe some lighter interpretations of this issue, treat shaming. Cardio shaming. Crossfit shaming. Vegan shaming. So many of us, me included, are too quick to point fingers at something we perceive as wrong without regard for whether that’s the most constructive strategy in the first place. I just, it’s not helpful or healthy to worry about what somebody else to whom you have no personal connection or ability to reach out in person, one to one to help that person, it doesn’t help. So, that’s my little rant on shaming. Treat shaming; I get that all the time. People just get horrified at the prospect of having a grain-free treat, or even having a grain-free treat recipe on my blog. Diane’s taken a lot of flak for having, you know, treat-ish recipes in her books. And you know what? Get over it. It might not be right for you, and heck, it might not even be right for the person doing it, but it’s nobody’s business. Period. It’s not my business if somebody lives on paleo treats, and it’s not anybody else’s business if I had, you know, three grain-free brownies the other day while watching the New Girl. Nobody’s beeswax. And, you know, like I said, it’s totally possible that I’m being a hypocrite here. I try to watch out for that, but I’m sure I do some, you know, shaming of others at times. And maybe I’m shame shaming right now. I don’t know. Open to your thoughts on that, for sure. Anywho. Those are my thoughts on The Biggest Loser, and the controversy with that. Admittedly, I’m not well informed on the whole situation, because I don’t watch the show. But that’s what I got.

6. Alternatives to “super foods” [25:54]

Alrighty. So, here is our first actual question, and this one is from Sarah. “Recently you mentioned the safe starter paleo foods, and how they are lacking vital nutrients, which got me thinking. I don’t like a lot of the super foods. I can’t stand fish or organ meats, no avocado or olives. I do eat a lot of veggies and meat, chicken, pork, beef, and some turkey. I take fish oil due to the lack of any fish or seafood. What else am I missing; what foods could I eat that I’ll actually eat to add critical nutrients?” And, I’m thinking maybe Diane will want to come back and weigh in on this at some point, because I think our approaches would probably be slightly different. My answer to this is, I just don’t know. I don’t know that it’s possible to get those critical nutrients from sources other than those wherein they naturally come. You know, I would love to say, ‘hey, if you don’t like fish, take fish oil.’ Or, ‘hey, if you don’t like organ meats, you know, take a whatever supplement,’ but I just don’t think it works that way. And that is precisely why I’ve forced myself over time to at least establish a bit of regard for those foods. The good thing about the super foods is that you really don’t need to eat them all the time. You really don’t. Like, if you want to just get down a can of smoked sardines once or twice a week, do what I do and blend up some liver into a little smoothie shot, that type of thing. Hide some liver in meatballs. I think you just have to kick that idea around, and make it work eventually. Because truly, what I’ve seen, the research that I’ve done, and leading up to writing Eat the Yolks, what I realized was, our biological requirement for nutrients just happens to be pretty closely in line to the way those nutrients occur in nutrient-dense super foods free eating. So, taking a serving of fish oil frequently might actually be slightly problematic versus just relying on things like oysters, grass-fed beef, which does contain some omega-3 to a lesser degree, a little cod liver oil here and there, which is more of a concentrated super food than it is an isolated supplement, which is what omega-3 fish oil supplements really are. I feel like it’s just much more in line with our biological requirement for those nutrients, because, you know what a lot of the research that I’ve read from Chris Masterjohn that he’s brought to light, and that has been preserved thanks to the Price-Pottenger nutrition foundation is that the human biological requirement for polyunsaturated fats is really low. And you know, I might be confusing polyunsaturates as a whole, for example, what you might get from canola oil with fish oil, I’m not sure. I’m doing my best to distill a ton of varied information into one kind of takeaway point, but I just don’t know that it’s there. And I want to be compassionate and say, ‘hey, you can replace all of these things really easily,’ but I just don’t think you can. So, here’s what I would probably do, if I was Sarah. I would just kick around these ideas. I, my God so many times in my life I’ve said I can’t stand fish! If somebody suggested to me that I should eat liver, even 4 or 5 years ago, I would have laughed in your face. I would have snuck into your room at night and cut off your hair, like, Jan Brady style. Because it was such a ridiculous idea to me, and disgusting. But over time, you know, you just kind of come around. Now, I think that the strategy of maybe hiding these things in other foods is a good way to start. Maybe grinding up some liver and putting that in chili or meatballs, just a tiny bit. Like I said, getting some smoked sardines or smoked oysters, which really don’t taste like seafood at all. They don’t taste fishy. Getting those in once a week, or once a month, and that, who knows, could lead to a more frequent habit of eating those things. What else? Golly. There is, you know, if you really wanted to have, people ask about juice plus and they ask about super green type supplements now and then, and eh, maybe there’s some value to those for some people, but there are very few brands that are really doing it right. I think that, let’s see, I think it’s Pure Synergy, let me look that up. Pure Synergy is a company that I think has a really good product, kind of a green drink type product. This green drink doesn’t have retinol, it doesn’t have vitamin D, which you can get from egg yolks, by the way, if you like egg yolks. Who doesn’t? Who doesn’t eat the yolks? That doesn’t have those animal derived nutrients that are really critical, it doesn’t have omega-3, but it does have some good, organic, “Super foods”. I hate applying that word to green drinks, but if you wanted to add that, I think that could potentially add a healthful component to this whole thing, but in the end, there really is no work-around. I truly wish there was, because today I was really not in the mood for sardines. I usually love them, but wasn’t really in the mood for it, but they are what I had, and you know, to this point I’m glad that I’m used to eating them. So that’s my take on that, Sarah. I apologize. I have no better solution. Just be patient. Everybody. We should all just be as patient as we can with ourselves. It’s tough to overcome decades of conditioning just because somebody like me says that sardines are good for you. I get it. It’s not an easy thing. And also; don’t worry too much. You know, taking out the seed oils and the crappy refined processed grains, I’m telling you, it’s 99% of the battle. And that’s a lot of what my book is about. It’s a ton of what Eat the Yolks is about. Just getting rid of the industrial processed crap. Once we do that, our bodies actually have a much easier time say, converting beta carotene into true vitamin A in our bodies. Or, converting alpha linolenic acid from plants into true omega-3. So, you never know. Give your body the best chance you can, do what you can, when you can.

7. Recurring stomach issues after an illness [32:30]

This next question is from Mallory. “I’m looking for answers to my chronically occurring diarrhea. I’ve never had this problem in my life. On December 21st, I contracted a stomach virus, last year, mostly diarrhea, a little vomiting. Since this illness, it’s like my stomach has never recovered. For about a week after feeling better, by Christmas day, I had no diarrhea, but bowels weren’t regular. Then, around New Years’ is when the recurring diarrhea started. I went a week where I had several episodes every day, mostly in the morning and afternoon, then after reducing my diet to basically white protein, chicken and turkey, no beef, sweet potatoes and fresh fruit and applesauce, the diarrhea stopped and I became a bit constipated. After a few days of this, I felt more adventurous, so I added fresh greens and nuts/almond butter back into my diet. After about 4 days the watery, smelly diarrhea returned. That carried on for several days, then it stopped after I went back to the bland diet. After about a week of eating that diet, I tried fresh lettuce sprinkled with apple cider vinegar. Everything was fine. The next day, I tried cooked Brussels sprouts with olive oil and salt and pepper for dinner; fine. I had that again the next day for lunch, and 3 hours later the diarrhea was back with a vengeance. I’m at my wits end. It’s either diarrhea or constipation, when before I was regular. I would sometimes have constipation problems, but drinking a green smoothie a day regulated me, but never had diarrhea problems. See below for my information about my health background.” Mallory has been mostly gluten free since January 2012. “I would occasionally cheat, but would have adverse stomach reactions. I have not been tested for celiac or gluten sensitivity, but I do not have either celiac gene. However, I know for sure that I’m intolerant of gluten because of my symptoms. I’ve not had any grains since January 5, 2014 because they seem to bother me after having the stomach virus, so I’m paleo now. I’m also dairy intolerant and allergic to casein. If I eat nuts and eggs too often, they bother my stomach. I also cannot handle much acidic food, so I’ve been avoiding tomatoes, oranges, and the like for about the past year. This past month I’m suddenly sensitive to nightshades. After eating a red potato and also bell peppers, my skin where I was having eczema would get really itchy. So, I’m avoiding nightshades currently. I’m also now avoiding greens because they seem to give me diarrhea, even cooked. I’m 5 feet tall, and between 100-102 pounds. Normal for me is 110, but I have not weighed that for a while. I used to have acne, but being grain free seems to have cleared that up. I caved last week and got a prescription cream from the doc for the eczema on my hands. I take a daily probiotic, and have added in more probiotic foods, like fermented coconut water and coconut yogurt this week, the first week of February. I used to take bioavailable vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids, but I stopped those for the most part at the beginning of January 2014. Whenever I feel icky in my stomach, I take a few drops under my tongue of an essential oil blend for the stomach, which helps, but it does not stop diarrhea once it’s started. I have not been working out much lately, because I have a very hectic schedule, and also sometimes feel weak. I’m also under a lot of stress. My husband has been deployed to Afghanistan since June. His dad had a massive heart attack in July, which was a huge stress on the family and myself. I began experiencing exhaustive fatigue and brain fog after dealing with his dad’s heart attack, but I got rid of the fatigue and brain fog after doing a liver cleanse and started with good vitamins and using essential oils, so that’s not a problem anymore. I’m also planning our church wedding, honeymoon, and move to a new military installation this spring, not to mention working 40 hours a week at a job I hate and doing extra money-making ventures on the side to pay down massive student loans. My husband suffers with PTSD and TBI from his first deployment in 2011-2012, so that’s another life stressor that we’ve dealt with for about 2 years. I like to be in control, and I get really stressed when things don’t go as planned, and I also do not take much “me time”. I also have not been getting enough sleep for over 2 years. 4-6 hours per night has probably been the average. The past couple of weeks, I’ve made more of an effort to let go, and also to get 6-8 hours of sleep a night. I was hoping that would cure the diarrhea, but it seems it hasn’t. I’ve seen my D.O., and I’m waiting on a referral to be approved to see a gastroenterologist, but I’m really, really discouraged. I’ve always considered myself to be healthy other than bad year-round allergies and a posterior spinal fusion at age 13. I’m now 27. A little over a year ago, I went to the hospital with severe stomach pains, and the doctor said it was either GERD or a peptic ulcer. I was just tested for H. pylori, but it was negative. My thyroid, kidneys, liver, and blood sugar numbers couldn’t be better. On paper, I’m perfectly healthy, but my body is clearly not acting healthy. I love your podcast. I recently found it, and I’m so glad. Can you offer any suggestions. Thank you so, so much.” Mallory. Long question, and I’m going to do my best to address the different parts of this question, but I wanted to answer this because truly I feel for you so much in my heart. The first time that I read through this question, I was in tears because, you know, I am married to the military, and to a degree I can understand some of what you’ve gone through, although, you know I’ve been really lucky in our journey so far. I just want you to know how much I feel for you. I think that you know from the way you phrased this question that there is a level of stress here that is exacerbating, if not causing, your physical experience. And, knowing the epidemic of PTSD and what spouses deal with, I want you to know how much compassion I feel for this situation, and I hope with all my heart that one day we will develop some way or some protocol or some road map for people who are dealing with PTSD, because that’s the hardest thing in the world. It’s not impossible; there is absolutely a light at the end of the tunnel that you’re in right now, but I want you to know that you are by no means alone. I’m sure that you know that, but my heart goes out to you, and I’m here for you. So, what I really feel like is needed here is a set of ideas to go with. I don’t want to say a list of rules, or of yes-no foods, not at all. But I feel like when you’re trying to figure out what’s going on with your own body, it can feel so random. You know, you notice that you don’t tolerate nightshades, and you don’t tolerate eggs, and you don’t tolerate this, that, and the other, and what to do, what to do. Sometimes, you just need something to explore that maybe covers those bases that already exists. One thing that I think would be worth looking into is Paul Jaminet’s Perfect Health Diet, as well as the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. The Specific Carbohydrate Diet is what brought Danielle Walker, from Against All Grain, the book Against All Grain and the blog Against All Grain, back from literally the brink of death. And, I think at some point when you got this infection, or whatever it was that happened around Christmas time, it left some destruction in its wake after which, whatever you ate started to interact with this new terrain, and started to really affect you physically. So, this is, you know, not necessarily the fault of the food. It’s probably the fault of the terrain and what’s going on internally in your digestive landscape. I honestly don’t know that doctors or gastroenterologists to this point truly understand that. And I understand why, it’s because they’re mired in patients and paperwork. But, we’re talking about this as holistic practitioners, and you know, sometimes we’re kind of relegated to the fringe because the things we talk about are not, at this point, necessarily validated in the medical mainstream. You know, nobody’s getting E-mail blasts from medscape about leaky gut. And that’s unfortunate because there is science on this, and there are studies, and there is literature available, but it’s just not well known. It hasn’t made its way to the general practitioners, or even the specialists yet. And that’s unfortunate. But, I really want to stress that you must continue to work to take control of what’s going on with you. And, it’s clear that having a personality that is prone to stress, that is prone to wanting to control things, and being completely out of control is probably going to make this 90% worse. Now, I don’t say that to stress you out further. I say that, because I think this is an opportunity to understand that you can exert control by shifting how you perceive the situation. That may not feel like enough, but it’s what I got. What I know is that I’m here for you, that many of us are trying to figure this stuff out, that you’re not a medical mystery or a case that’s doomed to feel this way permanently. There is a solution out there. Being aware of your symptoms, what causes them, and when they flare up is how you’re going to get from the problem to the solution. So, like I said, looking into Paul Jaminet’s work, as well as the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, I think is going to be a really good place to start. Something to remember is that when you’ve gone through some trauma, as you have, both emotionally with what you’re dealing with as a military person, as well as the trauma that your digestive system endured because of whatever it was that you contracted over Christmas, the recovery period may be fairly long. But, it can be done. You may not be able to reintroduce foods within several weeks, several months, or maybe even a year. It may be that you have to figure out what foods you can tolerate on a gut healing protocol, something like Specific Carbohydrate Diet, and go with that for a long period of time. As much as I think restrictive diets can cause stress, I also think in situations like this, they can alleviate a lot of stress. To know exactly what you’re going to be eating and why you’re eating it, and what the end game is, I think can inspire a lot of patience and a lot of compassion for one’s self that maybe wasn’t there in the past. So, I want to just make sure you know that we’re here for you, I understand what you’re going through, and also that there’s definitely light at the end of this tunnel. I know it seems confusion now, but don’t look at it like that. Right now you’re just figuring out what the puzzle pieces are, and you’re putting them together. And do keep in touch with how you do. Trust your gut; bad pun, but trust your gut on this, because as you see more doctors, it may be that they suggest things that, you know, they thing are helpful or are the standard of care but that doesn’t mean that you have to stop your search for the truth. So, have faith in what you’re observing in yourself and what you feel is right for you, and move forward with that, as well. Of course, along with the advice of your doctor, like we say at the beginning of this podcast, that’s really, really important, but just don’t lose faith in yourself. Because nobody knows you better than you. And to me, it seems like you’ve got a really incisive manner, where you’re really; don’t go to the point where you’re overanalyzing everything. That’s kind of the tipping point, and that’s clearly the tendency here. But, to a point, evaluating your trigger foods and being aware of what’s going on and when is a huge strength. But from there, please just take a deep breath and know that this will get figured out. But it is going to take time. So, deep breath, breathe in, breathe out, listen to the rest of the podcast if you need help sleeping. They’ll put you to sleep, don’t you worry.

8. Accolades to Liz, and question about sunscreen and makeup [45:05]

Next up. This is from Bevin. “I wrote in a while ago about aging skin and want to give “Skinista” Liz a bit of feedback on her unparalleled advice. At work the other day, a woman said to me, ‘wow, your skin looks really good, what do you?’ Shock, flattery, wonderment, so many good emotions flooded through me and I need to thank Liz. In the past, I’ve felt like a 34 -year-old with a 50 -year-old’s skin. I took Liz’s suggestions and started hitting the cod liver oil {laughs} with the same unbridled passion I’ve had for tequila on a good night, got me some mutton tallow and have been smearing that on, and eat a ton of grass-fed gelatin. The result has been even skin with the disappearance of many fine lines. I’m 34, but my years of sun had been catching up with me. Thank you so much. Cheers to real food, and Liz.” Of course, I added this question in because I wanted to read accolades to myself on the podcast. Onto Bevin’s question. “What do you use/make for sunscreen? I think you’ve mentioned zinc, etc, but which brand and recipe. Have you heard of this news that mineral makeup or sunscreen can actually damage cells?” Ok, so to the question about makeup and sunscreen actually damaging the cells. I’ve heard the rumblings. I think it’s by no means impossible, but I also think, you know, the things that I tend to worry about the most are the things that we do every day. So, people that use makeup every single day, and have it on their face all day every day, I think is a potential concern. I don’t wear makeup all that often. When I do, I use mineral makeup that I have some great faith in. Or I use the makeup from 100% pure that is generally just plant extracts. I’m not saying that’s completely safe, but it’s 1000 times better than what is on most drugstore shelves. And, to that point, I guess it’s a calculate risk. Sunscreen wise, I’ve read a lot about how conventional sunscreen, particularly, I believe, retinyl palmitate, which they use in most conventional sunscreens as well as some of the other chemicals in these sunscreens that we can buy at Walgreen’s and CVS; when they come into contact with UV light, they can actually create, I guess, carcinogenic byproducts. Something like that. And that danger is real. So, I write about this a bit in Eat the Yolks, about the myths and the truths about sun exposure and sun screen, etc. I really think your only options with regards to sun protection are either the physical sun blocks, which are like badger balm, zinc based sunscreens that are actually white when you put them on, or covering up with clothing. Getting some shade. That’s about it. I really, to me, the trade off of using conventional sunscreens day in and day out is not worth it. I’d rather wear a wide-brimmed hat and look like a nerd than use those products. So that’s my take on that. Badger balm is the sunscreen that I’ve used in the past when I know I’m going to be out getting exposed to the sun without being able to get under some shade or under a hat, or whatever. So, that’s my preference. Other than that, that’s pretty much what I’ve got to say about sunscreen. But, recently in the E-mail Monday that just went out this Monday, I actually did a little sneak peak of the vitamin D section from Eat the Yolks, so when you sign up for E-mail Monday, which is just my E-mail newsletter, you actually will get access to the archives. So, if you want to read that section, that preview, sign up for E-mail Monday and get access to those archives, and you’ll be able to read exactly what I put up there for more information.

9. Alternative to bleach; help with no makeup confidence [48:58]

Alright. This should be, I believe, the final question. Help with no makeup confidence. This is from Grace. “Hello Diane and Liz! I want to start off by telling y’all that you are amazing ladies, and fabulous role models. I love your honest, compassionate podcast, and can’t tell you how much your entertaining discussions have helped me. I’m a 22-year-old registered nurse on a Med Surg Oncology floor at the Ohio State University Medical Center. I graduated in May, and started my new job in August. Making the transition from nursing student to nurse has been very difficult, and you two helped me tremendously with my struggles. Your podcast is always full of wisdom about what really matters in life. I’ve been stressed enough since my job started that I could have fallen back into some unhealthy habits; binge eating and mindless TV watching have always been my favorite coping methods.” Hey, there was a Shahs of Sunset marathon on recently, and it was all I could do not to watch it, so Grace, I understand. “You two have helped me stay focused on self care and self love, so instead of numbing myself with food and screen time, I’ve been walking, cooking, journaling, and spending meaningful time with the people I love. Thank you for your time, your empathy, and your lovely message about health, life, and love. My questions are about body care, which is something I’ve become mildly obsessed with over the past 6 months. I love the oil cleansing method, I’m a diligent dry brusher, and my nightly coconut oil massages are a treat I savor after a long 12-hour day. I use the primal life organics dirty poo hair wash once or twice a week, and I make my own hair gel and hair spray.” By the way folks, there’s an amazing hair gel recipe on the Skintervention guide blog that Alyssa from Truth Butter came up with. Fantastic. Little side note. “I no longer use soap on my body, just some Dr. Bronner’s and coconut milk to shave. Baking soda has crept into every aspect of my existence. Seriously, how was I so ignorant about what a miracle baking soda is. {laughs} My bathroom looks like an apothecary, and that’s the way I like it. I love my new routine, and happily blabber to all my friends about how coconut oil has changed my life. I’m a really cool friend, obviously.” Hey, I would be your friend, Grace. {laughs} I would be your friend. “I feel like I’ve made tremendous progress cleaning up my skin care routine, but there are some products and practices I can’t seem to let go of. The first is my facial bleach. I have a little bit of a moustache problem. There is some fine hair on my upper lip that gets quite dark in the winter. In the summer, I’m usually outside enough that the sun bleaches my little baby hairs, and makes them less noticeable, but in the winter of Ohio, these hairs get dark and look downright manly. I hate tweezing these hairs, and I find bleaching the best way to make them disappear. Do you know of a safer, more skin friendly solution to bleach hair with? So far, I’ve been unable to let go of my Sally Hanson bleach.” I’ll answer that question first. I honestly wouldn’t worry about the bleach too much. I get that there are some problems with bleach, and bleach production, etc, etc, but like I said in the earlier question, I think I am most worried about the stuff that folks do day in and day out, all day every day. So, a little bleach on your body for a few minutes at a time now and then, I think is fine. Now, do make sure that, you know, there’s not something else going on. I’ve talked about in the podcast before about how I was sprouting hairs on my jaw line and on my neck. If you start to see that, then hormonally there’s probably something odd going on. But, I’ve been there, I remember on the way to my wedding rehearsal dinner, I looked in the mirror and basically noticed that I looked a little bit like Charlie Chaplin, and I was like, what the heck? When did this happen? So I get it. It’s not fun. Bleach those babies. A little too much information, but hey, I’m sharing, might as well over share. Alright, the next question is. “My makeup is another crutch I’ve been unable to let go of. Liz, I’ve heard you say that you used to walk around with full coverage foundation on. How were you able to let go of that? I’ve tried foundations from Gabriel cosmetics, as well as 100% pure, but I always go back to my Lancôme. I would love to be one of those girls who just doesn’t wear foundation, but I don’t feel like I’ll ever have the confidence to pull that off. I see so many flaws with my skin, and if it’s bare, I feel naked, exposed, and ugly. Can you speak more about your no makeup confidence? I love that in the Skintervention guide the first thing you wrote about makeup is that it is not necessary. I love that sentiment, but I don’t believe. I do not feel beautiful without my makeup on.” Alright. I want to address this. You are beautiful without your makeup on. Period. I don’t know how to better express that, and quite honestly, it took me saying that and repeating that to myself many, many times to really grasp the truth of it, and when I finally was like, ‘Yeah! Hell yeah!’ it was pretty freeing. For the longest time, you could not have paid me to go out in public without having been showered, well, maybe not showered, but, ok there are two things that I’ve always hung onto my entire life. Because, you know, in 5th grade, I was a nerd with bad bangs, bad teeth, and glasses. I got contacts for my birthday or for Christmas, and from that point forward, I would not be caught dead in my glasses. I just wouldn’t. That, my glasses, and makeup were things that I never thought that I would be able to let go of. Period. These days, I hardly ever wear my contacts. I’m in my glasses all the time. I like to kind of let my eyeballs breathe, go figure that’s actually really important, not something I really realized before, but it is. So now, you know, I sit here talking to you with {laughs} no makeup on, with my glasses on, hair is probably four or five days in without a wash, and you know, I’m feeling pretty good about it. Really, it just has to do with faking it until you make it. It was one of those things where I realized that nothing was going to make it easier other than just deciding it was easier. So there you go. I mean, we’re all works of incredible art. And you know what, makeup is fun sometimes. I’ve always thought of makeup as like, art on a person, and that’s something that I think is really fun about makeup. But, you’ll never let go unless you let go. Just try it. You know, put makeup on less of your face. You know, do a little bit less every day. And go to work like that. I would pay you, like literally, bet you a million bucks that not only will nobody notice, but if they do notice, they will notice it for positive reasons and not negative reasons. So, there you go. Alright, the final question that she has, “how do you wash your oil cleansing wash cloths? In the washing machine, or with some Dr. Bronner’s in the sink? Also, does it freak you out to use unfiltered water to clean your face? I’ve quite drinking tap water but does it matter that I still use it to cleanse my skin? Thank you so much for any guidance. You guys are amazing and I admire the passion with which you live your lives.” I wash my oil cleansing wash cloths with Dr. Bronner’s in the sink. They still retain a little bit of a musty oil smell, so I always wash them separately. I don’t wash them with my other clothes. So, generally, for a week or so, I’ll just use the Dr. Bronner’s, and then every couple of weeks I’ll toss the cloths in the washing machine by themselves. And you know, it does actually freak me out a little bit to use unfiltered water to clean my face here at my house. At our old place, the water smelled ok. Here, the unfiltered water does not smell good, and yeah it freaks me out. Add that to a couple of anecdotal experiences I’ve discussed with folks who actually started using different quality water, or installed a high quality whole house water filter, and it actually changed the health of their skin, and I do get a little bit freaked out about it. There’s not a whole lot I can do about it at this point. We don’t have a whole house water filter. I do, you know, shower less frequently or wash my hair less frequently than I used to, so…it’s not ideal, but it is what it is. When I do the oil cleansing method, however, what I’ll do, is I’ll put a small pot of filtered water on the stove, warm it up on the stove, and just soak my washcloth in that. So, I do what I can where I can. I don’t know that it’s enough to make a difference, but you know. That’s a place that I can actually make a difference, and so I do it. We drink filtered water and I wash my face with filtered water. Hopefully soon we’ll have a water filter in the house that we can actually use for the shower. But, you know, I wouldn’t worry about too, too much unless there’s something going on that’s really stumping you. Cool.

So, I believe that is the last question. Can you believe that I made it through an entire podcast by myself? I don’t even know what to say. So, let’s see that will conclude episode 126. We’ll be back next week with either questions or another interview. I know we’ve got Terry Wahls coming up here pretty soon, and a few others as well. There are some amazing books that have come out recently. If I may remind you that The Ancestral Table, by the domestic man, Russ Crandall, is now out. It’s a phenomenal cookbook. It totally embodies my personal dietary values, so if you relate with what I say on the podcast, that’s definitely something to check out. Fabulous cookbook. If you’ve been enjoying the podcast, help us spread the word by leaving a review in iTunes. Until next week, you can find Diane at http://blog.balancedbites.com/. You can find me, Liz, at http://cavegirleats.com/, soon to be realfoodliz.com. Thanks for listening.

Cheers!
Diane & Liz