It's Monday and that means food shopping, chopping, cooking, aching back and throbbing feet.
Exciting times!
This weeks menu will include:
Turkey and fauxtatoes (mashed cauliflower)
Pork loin and green beans
Grilled chicken and salad
Chicken soup
Butternut squash soup
Fried (in coconut oil) chicken and green beans
Carne Asada and sauteed peppers and onions
Bacon
Hard boiled eggs
Scambled eggs
Coconut ice-cream
Coconut cowboy cookies
I will throw some bacon into as many dishes as is possible since my friend Sarah says that makes everything that much more exciting. ;)
I meant to take my camera with me this morning so I could do "baking day in photos", but I forgot, so that will be a project for next week. Speaking of cameras, Tom was super sweet and bought me a DLSR camera as a surprise! It is really amazing, but I have no clue on how to use it, so I may have to wait for the Summer to take the really awesome pictures.
So I've discovered that ingesting corn syrup causes me to become fairly depressed. And the depression lasts for about two days. How did I discover this, you ask? A few weeks ago I decided I wanted to try having a Coke. I really wanted one, and the first two or three sips were really, really delicious! but after a few sips I found it tasted... well, icky, so I tossed it. About two hours later I was really sad and angry even though there was no reason for it. This lasted all night and the whole of the next day. I tried to drown myself with water in hopes it would push out the HFCS (high fructose corn syrup). It took a whole lotta water, let me tell you.
I suppose some people would say "that little amount [about 4oz) couldn't cause that!" and maybe they're right, but I hadn't had that problem since GP and I haven't had it since. The HFCS is the only thing I had eaten differently.
Anyway, I'm scared to death to have anymore of it, so I suppose my little experiment was a good thing! I did buy a Mexican Coke (coca cola made with real sugar) today, and I'm going to drink it on my birthday next week. Yumm
This whole thing got me wondering if other Primalist (or Paleoist) have similar reactions to "bad foods/ingredients"?
That actually makes a lot of sense. It isn't necessarily HFCS, rather it is any fructose in high concentration. I bet the same thing would happen if you ate a whole bag of fruit or used a few tablespoons of agave nectar. Fructose tends to cause a pretty intense spike in cortisol levels, which in turn can cause symptoms of depression (esp. in those who have normal cortisol levels).
ReplyDeleteSome people have come to the conclusion that all fructose should be avoided at all times due to the fact that it spikes cortisol, can cause insulin resistance and can lead to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (due to its being entirely metabolized by the liver). However, I am not one of those people. I think that fructose intake should surely be limited, but that there is no compelling evidence that it should be completely eliminated. For instance, I told you to eat a piece of fruit everyday to help increase your hunger response. Well, I told you this because of fructose's affect on leptin response, which helps to tell your body when to eat and when to store/burn fat. This was certainly a beneficial response to fructose that outweighed any possible negative effects (i.e. the dose was extremely low).
I don't think that there is a single food on the planet that doesn't have both positive and negative traits. As with anything, you must weigh the good against the bad. With fructose-containing foods, I would certainly exercise caution and would advise against consuming them in large amounts, however, I would also realize that fructose in small doses can be beneficial, as well.
BTW, the Coke with the real sugar may or may not have the same response. The reason being is that table sugar is composed of sucrose, which itself is 50% glucose and 50% fructose. If you compare this to the HFCS used in soft drinks (which is 55% fructose), there really isn't much difference in fructose content. However, there are some studies that say that there are metabolic differences between table sugar and HFCS. So, it will be interesting to see what your response is, because both are pretty hefty doses of fructose to have in a single sitting.
ReplyDeleteYes. Eating sugar and wheat makes my insecure and depressed now that I don't eat it very often. Cheat days are not that good. It seems to pass for me by the next day.
ReplyDeleteI have a gluten intolerance and experience extreme discomfort for 24 hours after eating gluten. That's enough to convince me to limit my intake.
ReplyDeleteMy keratosis pilarsis (chicken skin on my arms) cleared up after going off wheat and sugar. Now if I eat them over the course of a few days, it comes back. I also sometimes get itchiness on my legs from 'cheating.'
ReplyDeleteAnything containing soy. It's like you're stabbing me in the gut. I can do fermented soy in very small amounts, but it's what got me GP in the first place, so for that I'm greatful. Of course all my Veggie friends think I'm crazy ... "Soy is good for you, that juicy steak is going to kill you!" Amazing what food can do to your body.
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