Endoca

April 24, 2016

The Issue With Gluten is this...

Hello again friends!

Before 2012, I had not really heard about gluten, what it was or that it was even in food products. Did you know that gluten is naturally grown in such foods as wheat, barley and rye? If one is not prone to reading food product ingredients, like I was not before 2006, it is highly likely one is not going to know gluten is a main ingredient in many of the foods being sold in grocery stores today.

These are just some of the many foods you might be eating today and would never have known gluten is in them that are causing harm to your gut.

  • Wheat Bran
  • Cracked Wheat
  • Graham Flour
  • Matzo
  • Spelt
  • Soups
  • Cold Cuts
  •  Processed Cheese
  • Salad Dressings
  • Wheatgrass
  • Wine Coolers
  • Syrups





There are many other food products that contain gluten in them that one would never even think gluten was an ingredient. Look friends, our health is all we have. It is time for us to take charge of our own health by going to a health coach, nutritionist or your doctor.

For the most part, people will never hear about gluten or the health issues it causes in the body until a friend brings it up in a conversation and how gluten is causing such health issues as "brain fog". Yes, there is actually a symptom called brain fog and believe me, I have had brain fog when I have eaten gluten in food product I could have sworn was gluten free.
Now, with brain fog, one is sure to feel  such things a memory loss, confusion and attention problems. When such things occur in an individual, usually they will laugh it off and move on to a different topic. Brain fog might also be due to a lack of sleep and even seasonal allergies.

There is an illness that people with gluten intolerance deal with called Celiac disease. Sadly, these individuals feel such symptoms as chronic intolerance, stomach pain, diarrhea, bloating and much more.



When the body hurts, the first thing a person will do is either ignore it, or look for the what is causing them to feel out of sorts. Did you know that gluten intolerance also causes depression? Yes, this is true and can now be dealt with by changing the current diet like removing all carbs, which will include gluten, all the above food products and using essential oils  recommended by Dr. David Hill like Bergamot oil, Lavender oil, Roman Chamomile oil and Ylang Ylang oil.

Now, all the above is great information for those seeking answers to what is ailing them, but I am not going to leave you hanging without some sort of foods you can eat for lunches, dinners or snacks if you work outside the home. This is a very big life changing event, realizing your body is sensitive to gluten products. Being able to find gluten free products has become easier these days with more and more people becoming aware of this health issue in their body.

In fact, many more grocery stores have a Gluten Free section. This is one company I purchase gluten free products from all the time when I am in the grocery store. I will eat them for lunch time at work. There are, of course, other gluten free companies you will find in a grocery store near you. Although, I do not recommend eating these foods all the time.

It is best, again, to take baby steps when changing a diet, like going gluten free. The first thing to do is clean out your food pantry and refrigerator. Then, replace those unkind foods for your body and brain, with organic fruits and vegetables. If at all possible, purchase all your gluten free food products along the walls of the grocery store.

Have a blessed day!

Monica

April 23, 2016

Staying Healthy Begins With You

Hello friends!

Thank you for finding my blog, Naturally Keeping You Healthy.  My goal in creating this blog is to share with you what I am doing to stay healthy whether I eat in or eat out. Not only do I want to share how I am staying healthy, I want to help you reach your goals of naturally keeping you healthy.

These days, with all the fast food restaurants found in the city you live in, it is easy to come home from work and have no energy to make a home cooked meal. Look, I get it, after coming home from a long day at work, or not, the last thing an individual or family want to do is create a home cooked meal that might take 10-15 minutes for prep and 30 minutes to an hour to make.

So, on the off-chance making a home cooked meal seven days a week does not work out for you, let me suggest ways to eat on the healthier side when eating out. Eating out might be at a fast food or nice sit down restaurant. For the most part, when deciding on where to eat, I am guessing you already know what type of foods, i.e. nationality, beef, vegetables or desserts, will be served.

With this out of the way, when looking to take charge of your health, even though it is tempting, not say no to these foods down the road, that will cause more harm than good to your overall being. Temptations are all around us, believe me, it is not easy to find good foods to eat, especially foods with carbs like bread, chips and pasta. These types of foods are, in a way, comfort foods, and are easy to sink your teeth into and fill your stomach and soul with.

As easy as this is to do while eating out, when offered side dishes, or appetizers, ask for fruit or a small salad with a dressing that does not have fillers. Yes, it is true, salad dressing are made with fillers such as Canola Oil and/or Soybean Oil, Xanthan Gum or Food Starch, MSG, Fat-free, Polysorbate 60, Natural & Artificial Favors and the list goes on.

Just when you think you are eating healthy, it is time to think twice before ever ordering that salad dressing you grew up loving and pouring over your salad. That once delicious salad dressing  just might contain the above ingredients which will only slow down your desire to live a healthier life.

If your favorite salad dressing contains this many unhealthy ingredients, just think about what the main meal might include in it. True, there are a lot of sit down chain restaurants today that have a "healthy choices" section, but just how healthy are these choices? Even if you ask the waiter, it is highly unlikely they really know what all the ingredients are in the meal you want to purchase.

Oh my, on your way to eating healthier certainly sounds complicated...but it does not have to be. If you are still thinking about eating out at a sit down restaurant or go through a drive thru, if you do not see a more healthier dish and you know it would be wrong to make that purchase, it is time to leave said restaurant, go to your local grocery store and taking baby steps, purchase vegetables you already like, a beef product you like, hopefully organic, take home and make that home cooked meal.

 Time and money will always play a role in what you want to eat everyday. Making a meal, at home, in under an hour is attainable and eating under $20 at home using foods you actually choose at your local farmer's market or grocery store, even makes the meal more real to you as there is no one standing behind a counter slapping a 'meal' together with gosh only knows what ingredients that were not meant for human consumption.

Indeed, now is time to think before we eat out because our health depends on it as time presses on.

Have a blessed day!

Monica

P.S. taking the right supplements will boost your efforts at regaining your health.