The Virgin Diet (10 page)

Another great thing about grass-fed cows is that both their meat and their milk have a different essential fatty acid blend. In fact, it’s an ideal blend, with 5 times more conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). CLA is a great fatty acid that helps you burn off belly fat and may reduce the risk of cancer. Grass-fed raw cow’s milk is also high in beta-carotene, vitamin A and vitamin E. With pasture-fed cows, you will see rich, yellow dairy products. This is because of the carotenoids, the same ingredient that gives carrots and squash their brilliant golden color.

That said, most of those good ingredients will be destroyed when you pasteurize the milk. Basically, you’re left with fat, sugar and some vitamins and minerals—but not nearly as many as our ancestors got when
they
drank milk.

WHERE DAIRY HIDES

Butter and many margarines

Chocolate (except some dark chocolate products)

Cottage cheese

Cow’s, goat’s and sheep’s milk, yogurts and cheeses

Cream, sour cream, half-and-half and whipped cream Cream soups and chowders

Creamy cheese or butter sauces (often served on vegetables and meats)

Creamy soups and sauces

Ice cream

Macaroni and cheese

Many baked goods (bread, crackers and desserts)

Many baking mixes and pancake mix

Many canned foods (e.g., soups, spaghetti and ravioli)

Many salad dressings (e.g., ranch, blue cheese, creamy and Caesar)

Mashed potatoes (often prepared with butter and/or milk)

Shakes and hot chocolate mixes and drinks

Whey protein powder

DAIRY MAY BE LISTED ON LABELS AS:

Butter or artificial butter flavor

Buttermilk or buttermilk solids

Casein, caseinate or sodium caseinate

Cheese, cream cheese or cottage cheese

Lactose or lactalbumin

Milk, milk solids or nonfat milk solids

Whey

Yogurt or kefir

Instead of regular butter, you can enjoy ghee, or clarified butter, ideally from grass-fed cows. Because ghee has no milk solids, you can have it even in Cycle 1.

You should also discover the wonders of coconut milk. If we would all just trade cows for coconuts, I think we’d be a lot better off! I am a huge fan of coconut, which is one of my favorite superfoods. You can sub in
coconut milk for regular milk any time, and you can find commercially packaged coconut creamer and coconut yogurt. Another great alternative is to make coconut kefir or coconut ice cream using xylitol. I’ve included a kefir starter kit information in the Resources section on my website. Also, see page 281 for an amazing recipe for coconut ice cream that you can even enjoy in Cycle 1. Be aware, however, that this treat is
really
high in calories, so don’t overdo it. A ½-cup serving counts as 2 servings of fat.

• Soy milk.
  Absolutely not. If you want to know why, turn to
  Chapter 4
  . There is
  no
  joy in soy!
  
• Rice, almond and hemp milks.
  These aren’t terrible, and in a pinch, I suppose you can have a bit here and there—say, you are in a health-food restaurant and want to throw some in your coffee or tea. Generally, though, I prefer coconut milk because it has far more nutritional value. Rice and hemp milks can have a lot of sugar, and even the sugar-free versions are loaded with carbohydrates. I don’t see any nutrient value to offset this, so you’re way better off with my friend the coconut. However, if you really don’t like or can’t find coconut milk, my fallback is unsweetened almond milk.
  

Now, if you are a die-hard dairy lover, I have some very good news for you: even if you can’t tolerate cow’s milk, you might be okay with goat’s and sheep’s milk in Cycle 2. Because the fat globules don’t cluster together
and the protein forms a softer curd, it might be easier for you to digest. Sheep and goats are also more likely to be pasture-fed and drug-free than most commercially raised dairy cows (see the Discontented Cows on pages 100–102).

The best possible way to consume this type of milk is raw and fermented, in the form of kefir or yogurt. This gives you some amazing healthy bacteria, which serve as pre-and probiotics. But you can also have some feta cheese, some goat’s or sheep’s milk cheese and some goat’s or sheep’s milk yogurt, although these products all tend to be sharper and tangier than their cow counterparts.

For now, we’re going to eliminate dairy for 21 days to give your system a chance to calm down. But you can try these dairy products in Cycle 2, when you might discover that you can have a little plain Greek-style yogurt as well.

When I spoke with Michele after her first dairy-free week, she had already noticed an improvement in her skin. By week 2, her acne was almost gone, and by the final week of Cycle 1, her skin was glowing.

“I can’t remember when my skin looked this good,” she told me. “Plus, I feel like I’ve got way more energy, and my head is clearer. I just didn’t realize how much dairy was weighing me down.”

Before I found JJ’s program, I felt like I had a pretty good diet and my body was okay. I’ve certainly slipped a bit in the last few years, but I hadn’t stepped on the scale in a long time and was shocked to see that my weight had climbed to 139. It was the first of many surprises on this program.

I remember saying to JJ, “I think I look pretty good for 48 years old.” And she asked, “Why not just look good, period?” I saw that if I didn’t give her program a try, I’d be settling for second best.

The first 5 days were challenging because of cravings, mostly for dairy and sugar. The rest of the items were easy for me to eliminate. However, I felt cleaner and clearer almost immediately, within a couple days. That helped me keep going.

On JJ’s program, I felt like I was treating my body much better. Previously, I wasn’t making sure that I fed my body high-quality protein every day, and I wasn’t keeping away from sugar and other potential allergens. I was also using food far too much as a comfort mechanism.

One great thing was the weight loss was fast! I love how fast the pounds fell off.

Besides the weight, two things really stick out to me. One is my energy level. I can go all day with no drop in energy and good focus and concentration.

The other big difference is my waistline. Now my stomach is just flat and I can see my ab muscles. I feel very fit, much more than I used to.

Looking toward the future, I believe that I have true control over what I eat, and I can choose to eat a diet that makes me feel great and has food I really enjoy, too! I’m so grateful for this program.

There are two problems with eggs, corn and peanuts. One is that they often provoke a lot of food sensitivities, so they are all three very high-FI foods. The other is that each of them is inflammatory—tending to create inflammation.

I know I’ve thrown a lot of health concepts at you throughout this book, but if you only remember one, inflammation is the one I want you to keep in mind. The reason the Virgin Diet works so quickly and so well is because we pull the foods that are most likely to set off inflammation. Gluten sets off inflammation by triggering leaky gut. Soy worsens inflammation by messing with your hormones and your thyroid. Dairy also messes with your hormones and is highly reactive, setting you up for leaky gut and inflammation as well.

In this chapter, we’ll look at three of the most pro-inflammatory foods I know: eggs, corn and peanuts. We’ll also take a closer look at inflammation itself. The fastest way to lose 7 pounds and look years younger is to pull inflammatory foods out of your diet and load up with healing foods and supplements. You’ve already made a terrific start, now we’re going to take the process one step further.

The types of fats you eat can change the inflammatory response in your body. Raw nuts and seeds are one place to start. They’re full of healthy oils and have lots of other health benefits as well. Eat them in moderation, but enjoy. Your limit is 1 to 3 servings per day, and 1 serving is 5 Brazil or Macadamia nuts; 10 walnuts, almonds or cashews; or a tablespoon of nut butter (not peanut butter).

I love palm fruit oil—it’s one of my favorite superfoods—and when you get to know it, you will love it, too. It is rich in tocotrienols (members of the vitamin E family) and beta-carotene. It is a highly sustainable crop. You can heat it at high temperatures without damaging it. What’s not to love?

I also love coconut oil, another rock star. It is rich in monolaurin (a great immune booster), caprylic acid (a fatty acid that fights candida) and medium-chain triglycerides (fat-burning fatty acids).

Another great choice, if you can find it, is ghee, or clarified butter, ideally from grass-fed cows. Ghee has no milk solids, so it’s okay even for Cycle 1.

You can absolutely use extra-virgin olive oil in your salads and cold foods (with a name like that, how can I forbid it?), but don’t cook with it at medium or high heat because it won’t hold up well. Instead, use regular olive oil, palm fruit oil, coconut oil or sesame oil when you cook. The other oils I like to use in my salads are walnut and almond oil.

When flaxseed oil is exposed to the air, it goes bad, so I am not a big fan of it. I like freshly ground flaxseed meal much better because you can get some gut-healing fiber from it.

If you’re using canola oil, that’s fine. Just make sure that it’s not genetically modified and that it’s been cold-pressed. Do not heat it, no matter
what the manufacturers say. Canola oil has been bred to be rich in omega-3s, which are fragile, and the last thing you want to do is expose them to heat.

Some foods fight inflammation. Some foods create it. Among the top pro-inflammatory culprits are foods high in arachidonic acid, especially corn, corn-fed beef and eggs. (For more about foods that fight inflammation, see the Healing Foods section on pages 178–183.)

Now, don’t worry, I’m not asking you to have zero arachidonic acid or pro-inflammatory fat in your system. In fact, you want a balance of anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory fats. If you have too many anti-inflammatory fats in your system, you will have blood that’s really thin. If you get a cut, you could bleed excessively. But if you have too many pro-inflammatory chemicals in your body, you have thick, sticky blood and are at risk for heart disease.

The Virgin Diet removes the pro-inflammatory foods and adds foods that help reduce inflammation.

As with most things in life, what you want is a nice balance—and the Virgin Diet gives you just that. It removes the more pro-inflammatory foods and adds foods that help reduce inflammation.

Miriam had never had a weight problem until she passed the age of 45. Then, gradually, year by year, she began to look “soft,” as she put it.

“Forget the fact that I was bloated and constipated all the time,” she wrote me later. “I just assumed that this was the way things were going to go for me and that menopause was responsible for my ongoing battle with low energy, intestinal discomfort and that extra weight. I assumed that my body had a mind of its own, that what was happening was out of my control and that I should just accept my new, fluffy stage of life.”

Luckily, Miriam attended one of my lectures and realized that she did not have to accept her symptoms or her weight gain. Much as she hated giving up her favorite foods, she acknowledged that she had to cut at least some of the 7 high-FI foods out of her diet.

“Within a week of eliminating dairy and eggs, I felt mentally sharper and clear-headed,” she wrote me. “Within 2 weeks, the gas and bloating were gone. And in about 3 weeks, I saw my weight
move down.
Within a few months, all the weight had come off. And while 13 pounds may not seem like much to some folks, to me it was huge because not only was my body fat melting, but I also looked younger and sexier. I never expected to ever look that great again!”

Like Miriam, you might not even realize that you’re sensitive to eggs, even though a surprising number of people are. Do you notice gas, bloating and heartburn up to 2 days after eating eggs or foods containing eggs? Eggs have also been linked with eczema and psoriasis.

This makes me sad because eggs are a fabulous source of protein and other nutrients. I used to love them so much that I ate them every day. I think they are one of nature’s perfect foods. So why do so many people have so much trouble with them?

My theory is that it may not be just the eggs themselves. It could also be what the chickens are being fed (GMO corn and soy) and the medications that they are being treated with. Remember, you are what you eat, ate. One of my clients found that she can eat eggs from her farmer’s collective, where the chickens must be fed a nice, healthy diet. But if she eats any other eggs, even organic eggs from the supermarket, she gets sick. In other words, if you’re eating eggs from a chicken who’s fed soy and corn, and you’re sensitive to soy and corn, you are going to have a problem.

Actually, most eggs you can buy come from chickens that were fed corn or soy, which changes their fatty acid profile. When chickens eat corn, their eggs are rich in arachidonic acid, making them more pro-inflammatory (see The Dangers of a Pro-Inflammatory Diet section on page 111).

However, a chicken that is allowed to roam free in the barnyard and eat whatever it chooses will produce an egg with a better balance of polyunsaturated fats. Barnyard eggs have 3 to 6 times the vitamin D as hen-house eggs because of the chickens’ sun exposure. These barnyard eggs have higher omega-3 content as well. Their fatty acid levels also reflect the chickens’ diet.

WHERE EGGS HIDE

Baked goods

Batter mixes

Bavarian cream

Boiled dressing

Bouillon

Breaded foods

Breads

Cake flours

Creamy fillings

Custards

Egg drop soup

Flan

French toast

Fritters

Frosting

Hollandaise sauce

Ice cream

Macaroons

Malted drinks

Marshmallows

Mayonnaise

Meat loaf

Meringues

Noodles

Pancakes

Puddings

Quiche

Salad dressings

Sauces

Sausages

Soufflés

Tartar sauce

Waffles

EGGS MAY BE LISTED ON LABELS AS:

Albumin

Egg protein

Egg white

Egg yolk

Globulin

Livetin

Ovalbumin

Ovomucin

Ovomucoid

Ovovitellin

Powdered egg

Vitellin

Obviously, you can find eggs in omelets, quiches and other breakfast dishes. But remember that eggs are ubiquitous in baked goods, pancakes, breads and salads, including tuna and potato salads. Eggs are also frequently found in meat loaf, crab cakes, soups (think egg drop and matzo ball), crepes, zucchini fritters, stuffing, noodles and meatballs, so you will need to avoid all of these foods. Always read the ingredient lists on
food labels and question your server carefully in restaurants. You’ll be surprised how many foods contain eggs.

Be aware that most egg replacers do not equal the nutrient quality of real eggs. They only replace the structural quality of eggs, which means there is zero reason to eat them. You have many high-quality protein foods to choose from, such as fish, chicken and grass-fed beef. Liquid egg replacers, such as Egg Beaters, are made of egg whites and therefore should not be used as alternatives to eggs.

Corn is a pro-inflammatory food as well as a high-glycemic one, meaning that it can cause your blood sugar to spike. It’s also one of our most genetically modified foods, and as we’ve seen, there can be a lot of issues with GMOs.

Symptoms of corn sensitivities are similar to other food intolerance reactions, including rashes and hives, migraines, joint pain, mood disorders, temporary depression, insomnia, eczema, fatigue, joint pain, hyperactivity in children, night sweats, dark circles around the eyes, repeated ear infections and urinary tract infections and a constant battle with sinus problems.

Like soy, dairy, gluten and eggs, corn is simply everywhere. Food processors use it in a variety of ways, such as cornstarch, corn syrup and corn oil. And high-fructose corn syrup is a popular sweetener used in just about everything. So you’ll have to become a bit of a corn detective, hunting down corn in its many hiding places. Otherwise you’ll have to stick to fresh, natural and unprocessed foods, which I personally find easier, healthier and more satisfying anyway.

Many people think of corn as a vegetable, but in fact, it’s a grain. It’s one of the worst of all the grains because it tends to be allergenic, is high on the glycemic index and has a pro-inflammatory omega-6 fatty acid profile. As a high-glycemic starch, corn easily breaks down into sugar. In just one ear of corn, you get 15 grams of insulin-spiking, inflammatory sugar.

Yet, corn is the most abundant grain produced in America. That’s because it is cheap feed for animals and an enormously profitable ingredient in high-fructose corn syrup. So what else is wrong with corn?

In just one ear of corn, you get 15 grams of insulin-spiking, inflammatory sugar.

• Almost all U.S. corn is genetically modified.
  If you want to know more about what’s wrong with GMOs, see pages 88–89. If you want to know how to avoid GMOs, see the handbook in the Resources section on my website.
  
• Corn is host to 22 different types of fungi.
  One of the worst is aflatoxin, a deadly and highly carcinogenic toxin that the U.S. Department of Agriculture tests for. This condemned corn supply often ends up in animal feeds, both livestock and pets. I find that frightening, don’t you?
  
• Corn is high in lectins.
  As we’ve seen, they bind to your microvilli, the small fibers that extend from your intestinal walls. As a result, you can’t properly absorb nutrients, your gut flora is altered and you might develop leptin resistance. You might also
  injure your gut lining, which can lead to leaky gut. (For more on what’s wrong with lectins, see page 69.)
  

But probably the very worst thing about corn is its presence in high-fructose corn syrup, which I find so disturbing that I’ve devoted a whole section to it.

Fructose is the type of sugar that is found in fruit. I am not really worried about you eating an apple, though. In fact, I am very pro-apple, pro-berry and for other types of low-and moderate-glycemic fruit.

Those are the natural foods that our bodies were meant to consume. In some processed foods, however, a high-fructose content causes what we eat to bypass our hunger response and keeps us eating even when we’ve had more than enough. This is especially true of foods that contain high-fructose corn syrup, a totally unnatural creation that is completely different from anything that is ideal, normal or healthy for the body.

The fructose in high-fructose corn syrup is metabolized differently than other sugars. It can elevate triglyceride levels. It can raise blood pressure. Unlike glucose, it’s metabolized in the liver, where it helps favor the production of fat. And, unlike glucose, fructose doesn’t stimulate insulin secretion or enhance leptin production. As we saw earlier, insulin helps regulate blood sugar, and leptin regulates appetite by signaling the body when you’re full. Neither of these processes happen when you have insulin and leptin resistance going on.

However, even when you’re healthy, fructose is not part of that self-regulating system. It does not signal your body that you are full, and it’s absorbed far more rapidly than regular sugar. As a result, fructose can easily entice you to overeat.

High-fructose corn syrup is also bad for your intestines. High doses of free fructose can make the intestinal lining more permeable and loosen up the tight junctions that are supposed to keep partially digested food from leaking out into your system. As explained in
Chapter 1
, this creates leaky gut and triggers your immune system, creating new food sensitivities, inflammation and a host of painful symptoms. In other words, you may have a new cycle going on:

Here’s another reason to cut the corn: genetically modified crops are built to withstand large amounts of pesticides. We have 80 million acres of corn in the United States, so that’s a lot of poison going into the ecosystem.