Your Foundation for Enjoying a Healthy Lifestyle (Part 2)

1. Sugar

High sugar consumption will cause an overgrowth of harmful gut bacteria, leading to digestive problems, yeast infections, weight gain and many chronic diseases.

The best way to find out if any of the following sugars are the cause of your digestive symptoms is to eliminate it from your diet for 7 to 10 days:

1. Sucrose (cane sugar)
2. Lactose (dairy products)
3. Fructose (high fructose corn syrup)

Highly processed junk foods and sweet beverages contain high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) which causes weight gain, diabetes, inflammation and digestive issues.

2. Processed foods and refined junk foods

The reason processed foods and fast foods cause digestive issues is that they contain harmful chemicals: preservatives, food additives, artificial colours, chemical flavourings, artificial sweeteners, phthalates, trans fats, hydrogenated fats, genetically modified food and a massive amount of calories. They provide no fibre or nutritional value.

Consuming foods with artificial substances can cause gastric upsets, weight gain, diabetes, auto-immune diseases, heart diseases and obesity.

The foods in this category are:

• Dairy products – milk, custard, creams, yoghurt, cheese, dips
• High fructose corn syrup
• Ready-made meals
• Packaged foods
• Confectionary
• Chocolates
• Greasy and fried foods
• Biscuits, cakes, pastries
• Burgers
• Pizzas

3. Processed vegetable oils

Processed vegetable oils include soybean, canola, rapeseed, corn, sunflower, safflower, peanut, grapeseed, rice bran and cottonseed.

These vegetable oils, margarine, shortenings and fake butter are high in trans fats, which are high in omega 6-fatty acids. These vegetable oils increase inflammation in your digestive system.

The best oils for health are cold pressed, organic, without additives and single origin local varieties.

4. Refined grains

Refined grains include white bread, white rice, white pasta and white noodles.

They have low fibre and nutrition value because the bran and germ (the high fibre content) are removed in the refining process of these grains.

The lack of fibre content of the fined carbohydrates causes gastric upsets, irritable bowel, and constipation and is also linked to diverticulitis (an inflammation of the digestive tract).

5. Gluten

Gluten is a protein found in certain whole grains, such as wheat, rye, barley, triticale, spelt, Kamut, bulgar, and products like semolina, couscous, and some oats (if processed on the same machinery as the other grains).

If you consume gluten regularly, and in massive amounts, it affects the absorption of nutrients from food and causes inflammation and damage to the small intestine lining. Boost your gut health by enjoying fruits in between meals, not cookies and cakes.

The symptoms include bloating, diarrhoea, vomiting, headaches, malnutrition, fat malabsorption, abdominal pain, and even osteoporosis.

6. Alcoholic drinks (beer, wine, spirits)

Alcohol is a digestive system irritant. Regular consumption of alcohol causes damage and inflammation to the small intestine wall, gastric upsets, leaky-gut, allergic reactions and increases the risk of cancer.

7. Foods and Spices

Some foods and spices cause digestive issues:

• Hot peppers
• Black pepper
• Chillies, chilli peppers
• Garlic
• Raw onions
• Citrus fruits
• Tomatoes and eggplant
• Dairy milk
• Spices such as ginger, cloves, cinnamon, caraway, allspice
• Vinegar and fermented products
• Baking soda and baking powder

8. Cigarettes and nicotine

You’ve probably heard about the dangers of smoking. Here’s why it causes your body so much harm:

• Smoking adds large amounts of toxins to your body. And it increases oxidative stress in your toxin filter, your liver.
• Smoking also causes chromosome damage, which is a long-term issue.
• Smoking upsets the acid production in your body
• Smoking impacts your entire digestive tract by damaging the protection of the digestive lining
• Smoking increases your chances of ulcers and cancers.

9. Caffeine

Although caffeine elevates your mood, it also raises the stress hormones – cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones cause an increased heart rate that boosts your energy for a short time while reducing the blood supply to your intestines. The result is that caffeine slows your digestion process.

Caffeine is acidic and can cause headaches, lethargy, ulcers, gastritis, and an upset stomach as well as aggravate digestive conditions like irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn’s disease.

Your favourite coffee, tea, green tea, guarana, cacao, chocolates, protein products, candy bars, lollies, ice cream, yoghurt, sodas/soft drinks, energy drinks, vitamin drinks, fancy water and hot chocolate, contain caffeine.