You know a severe food intolerances can make you sick, but did you know a mild variety could be sabotaging your health and sending your scales the wrong way too?
One groundbreaking new program, The Virgin Diet, explains why eating all the traditional ‘diet’ foods – low-fat yogurt, egg-whites, whole-grains, tofu – could be causing bloating, breakouts, headaches, and stubborn weight gain.
We got in touch with JJ Virgin – nutrition and fitness expert and author of The Virgin Diet – to find out more about how food intolerances could be holding you back.
RESCU: Why do you think food intolerance is more prevalent nowadays?
JJ Virgin: First of all there is a growing awareness of food intolerance. Secondly, the biggest provoker of food intolerances is stress and we seem to be more stressed than ever. And thirdly, eating the same hi – FI foods daily sets you up for food intolerance and our increased reliance on processed foods has increased our daily consumption of these foods.
RESCU: How does food sensitivity affect our weight?
JJ Virgin: Ultimately, whether the food intolerance is hormonal, genetic or immune driven the end result is increased inflammation which is an independent risk factor for obesity.
Also we start to crave the very foods that are hurting us which can cause us to overeat. And food intolerance can raise cortisol which causes you to lay more fat down around your waist and makes it harder for you to burn it off.
Higher sugar/starch foods including gluten, corn and sugar can raise insulin and keep it higher longer which shuts down fat burning.
RESCU: How can we identify food sensitivity?
JJ Virgin: I used to do a lot of IGG Food sensitivity testing to find food intolerance but there are multiple ways you can react to foods including genetic (inc. celiac disease and lactose intolerance), hormonal (insulin, leptin or cortisol resistance) or immune (including delayed food sensitivities).
I found that the very best test was to simply pull the most common culprits out for 3 weeks and then rechallenge the body to see how it handles them.
There are common symptoms of food intolerance and quite often these are things that we have come to believe are just the normal by product of aging, or “just normal for me” including joint pain, gas and bloating, fatigue, brain fog, moodiness and skin issues.
RESCU: What are the common culprit foods related to intolerance?
JJ Virgin: The most common foods are gluten, soy, corn, eggs, dairy, peanuts and sugar/artificial sweeteners.
RESCU: You previously suffered from skin issues which you managed with a healthy diet, tell us about this?
JJ Virgin: Honestly, I tried everything to get my skin to clear up – top dermatologists, three rounds of accutane, lasers, antibiotics, ointments and nothing ever resolved it. When I cut out the dairy 100% it cleared up within days.
RESCU: What are some of the biggest weight loss myths?
JJ Virgin: That in order to lose weight you have to cut calories and exercise more. Yes calories do count but where they come from counts more. Your body is not a bank account, it’s a chemistry lab and food is information.
You must make sure that the food you are eating is telling your body to reduce inflammation, burn fat and slow down the aging process.
The Virgin Diet is available for purchase from www.harlequinbooks.com.au or at all good book stores nationally for the RRP AU $22.99.
