SLOW OXIDIZER DIET

The Slow Oxidizer diet was created to increase your metabolism – the goal of Wendy’s Mineral Power program. By increasing your metabolism, you may lose weight, your brain will work faster and your ability to detox will improve. Your overall health will improve as well.

The closer one follows the diet, the better one feels and the faster one’s health improves.  Change over slowly if you need to, substituting healthier foods for less healthy ones. It takes time to change one’s diet. Do the best you can.

If you have read my site you will see a lot of articles about my Modern Paleo Diet. The Slow Oxidizer is different. Consider it Modern Paleo Level 2 where we remove foods that may seem healthy but are in fact toxic and causing many people health issues. The goal of the Slow Oxidizer diet is to minimize intake of toxins so that we can detox the heavy metals and chemicals you currently have in your body. If you add more toxins, your body will be busy dealing with this rather than eliminating your current toxic body burden.

Please note the Slow Oxidizer Diet is subject to change and updates.

FAQ

Download these Survival Guides!

I created these handy guides so that you can quickly reference and troubleshoot different areas of your diet. These are my Modern Paleo Survival Guides but there is no reason why you can’t use and enjoy them as well on your healing journey! Look for more to come soon!

Modern Paleo Foods

Off-limit Foods

Protein

Fats and Oil

Food Quality

Food Elimination Diet

Diet At a Glance

Vegetables. Most adults need to 6-8 cups of cooked vegetables each day. This means eating at least 2 cups of cooked vegetables at least three times daily. Raw vegetables are fine, but the vast majority of your vegetable intake should be cooked.

Animal protein. Eat high-quality protein 2-3 times daily. Eat .5-1.0 pounds per day (.22-.45 kg) – up to 1.5 lbs (.7kg) if you are a large male. Organic and grassfed/pastured proteins are preferable if you can afford it and it is available in your area. Slow Oxidizers require more protein and less fat in their diets than fast oxidizers.  Animal protein at least twice daily is needed to maintain blood sugar levels and support adequate adrenal and thyroid gland activity.

• Red Meat. Eat 1-3 times per week. Choices include beef, lamb, bison, duck, goose, goat, mutton and pork. Pork can be eaten but it does tend to have parasites even when cooked thoroughly and is best avoided or eaten only occasionally.
• White Meat. White meat includes chicken, turkey, and other birds.
• Fish. Avoid most fish and seafood except small fish like sardines, anchovies, salmon, etc. Most food from the sea is highly contaminated with mercury and other toxic metals.
• Eggs. Eat as many as you like. Pastured eggs are best.

Fats and oils. Fat intake should be low until your oxidation rate improves. Too much fat will slow your metabolism. Use 2-6 tablespoons of fats daily in addition to the fats in animal protein. People with sympathetic dominance, or overactive nervous systems, will need to eat on the higher end of the recommended fat intake.

Non-gluten grains. The less well you feel, the more you need to quit all grain, even non-gluten. If you are very ill, have autoimmune or gut issues I would advise you avoid grains completely. If you tolerate them, grains should make up less than 10% of your diet. Non-gluten grains include rice (brown, white, wild), quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, sorghum, teff, gluten-free oats. Gluten should be avoided on this diet. This can be easily done by avoiding all wheat products. Sprouted grains are best. 

Dairy. I can only recommend raw dairy IF tolerated. Pasteurized milk is a damaged, processed food. If dairy works for your body, though in many cases it may not, you may have up to 12 oz. aged raw hard cheese in a week OR 7 cups of plain unsweetened full fat yogurt in a week. Butter and ghee can be eaten as desired. Dairy includes cow, goat, sheep, milk, cheese, cream, yogurt, kefir, butter, ghee etc. Learn more details about dairy in my article Are You the Half that Should Avoid Dairy?

Legumes. Legumes include beans, soy, lentils, peas, etc. These can be eaten occasionally, though the least problematic legumes to eat are green beans, peas and chickpeas (hummus).  Soy should be completely avoided.

Nuts and Seeds. Nuts and seeds are best soaked. Soaking increases their nutrients levels. Ground nut butters are easier to digest. Raw nut butters are healthiest because roasting can damage their delicate omega-3 fats. Limits nuts to 3 times a week.

Fruit. Fruit should be limited to low sugar fruit. Fruit is bred to have a lot of sugar, can upset blood sugar, feed parasites and pathogenic bacteria in the intestines. Berries are best, though you can have other fruits on occasion.

Sugar. Avoid all sugars including fruit juices, honey, maple sugar, agave nectar, all sweeteners, and refined grains. Read more about sugar in my article Sugar 101. Avoid all artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, Nutrasweet, Splenda and others. Natural Sweeteners like little stevia, xylitol and Lakanto are good sweeteners.

Processed foods. Avoid all processed foods in boxes and packages. Eat food as close to it’s original form as possible. Avoid all fast food. All chain restaurants, though the food looks healthy, is quite processed and laden with chemicals and artificial flavors.

Beverages. You should mainly drink spring water. Try to drink one vegetable juice daily, including wheat grass juice. 

Diet in Detail

Vegetables

Eat 6-8 cups of cooked vegetables daily. Eat a huge variety of cooked vegetables 2-4 times daily. Fill at least 2/3 of your plate with vegetables.

• Vegetables. Veggies include leafy greens and lettuces, collards, spinach, broccoli, kale, chard, cabbage, onions, mushrooms, cauliflower, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, sauerkraut, artichoke, celery, bok choy, radishes, watercress, turnip, garlic, leek, fennel, shallots, scallions, onion, ginger, jicama, parsley, water chestnuts.
• Root vegetables. Carrots, beets, turnips, parsnips and rutabagas. These have more sugar and should be counted as carbohydrates.
• Nightshade Vegetables. Nightshade vegetables include red and white potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, all peppers and spices made from peppers. It is generally recommended to avoid the nightshade family of vegetables for people with autoimmune or pain conditions as they can contribute to or exacerbate these conditions. Nightshade vegetables are indicated in contributing to pain conditions in 75% of people that have pain. Nightshades contain a poison called saponin that is irritating and somewhat toxic to the body. Potatoes and tomatoes are not as irritating as the other nightshades and can be included in some people’s diet. However, if you are very ill, have autoimmune or a pain condition I recommend you avoid them all. At the very least, try a food elimination diet to see if you are sensitive to nightshades. Get directions on how to do a food elimination diet in my article Food Sensitivities.

Fresh and organic vegetables are best, although frozen vegetables are acceptable, too. Avoid most canned vegetables, canned soups, and vegetables that are not fresh. However, canned vegetables are better than no vegetables at all.

If you don’t like plain vegetables, add toppings for flavor. These can include butter, cream, cheese, salt, garlic, gluten-free soy sauce, salad dressings, almond sauce (almond butter and a little water mixed together), pesto sauce, chili sauce and herbs and spices.

Protein

Protein should be mainly of animal origin. Natural, hormone-free, pastured, grass fed meats are best. Eat .5-1.0 pounds per day (.22-.45 kg) – up to 1.5 lbs (.7 kg) if you are a large male. Have 4-8 ounces of protein twice daily, and less for children depending on their size.

What is the difference between conventional, organic and grass fed meat? Conventional, factory-farmed meats contain hormones, antibiotics, GMO (genetically modified) corn and soy feed, disease, and are treated shockingly inhumanely. Meat should be organic, preferably grass-fed, aka range-fed, grass finished, or pastured. Note the difference between organic, grass-fed, and organic/grass-fed. Grass-fed is not necessarily organic and vice versa. Grass-fed meat has fat that is orange to dark yellow in color, whereas grain-produced meat has fat that appears white. This omega-rich fat tastes ‘gamey’ or almost off tasting, but this is a good sign that you’re eating healthy meat. If you don’t like this taste, marinate the meat overnight. Organic meat will have less inflammatory omega 6’s and more anti-inflammatory omega 3’s, while GMO grain fed beef is just the opposite. Conventional meats are, in fact, chemically different from organic meats.

One of the best online resources for locating healthy, naturally produced, grass-fed meats near you is www.EatWild.com. It is the most comprehensive source for grass-fed meat in the US and Canada. Many can ship their products to you. Give wild meats a try, like buffalo, elk, sage hen, ostrich, or antelope. Look online for mail-order suppliers of game meat.

Red meat. Red meat includes beef, lamb, bison, duck, goose, goat, mutton and pork. Have it twice weekly. Pork can be eaten but it does tend to have parasites even when cooked thoroughly and is best avoided or eaten only occasionally. Wild game contains more omega-3 fats. Red meat contains large amounts of iron, creatine, minerals such as zinc and phosphorus, and B-vitamins niacin, vitamin B12, thiamin and riboflavin. Red meat is the richest source of lipoic acid, a powerful antioxidant. Iron, B12 and zinc is found primarily in red meat, which is why it critical to eat to obtain these nutrients. Learn more in my article Red Meat does not cause Disease and Is Red Meat a Superfood?

Poultry. Eat naturally-raised or pastured chicken, turkey and duck. Free-range, organic chickens are better than factory-farmed caged chickens because they’re not as fat. A pastured chicken’s natural foraging diet of insects, worms, and plants guarantees a healthful ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 fatty acids. Factory-farmed chickens are disease ridden, fed GMO feed, pumped with antibiotics, full of inflammatory omega 6 fats, and fed arsenic to make them grow twice as fast.

Bone broth. Make this by cooking or simmering bones with vegetables in water. It is an excellent source of fats, minerals, collagen and L-glutemine, the main amino acid used to heal the gut. See Wendy’s Organic Chicken Bone Broth.

Eggs. Eat up to about 8 pastured eggs per week. Even more may be fine for some people. Pastured or grass fed means the chickens foraged in grass for bugs and worms and were not fed grains. This is not the same as free range, which means nothing. Vegetarian fed means the hens were fed grains, corn and soy, which is exactly what you don’t want as this increases inflammatory omega-6 fats. Ideally, cook eggs lightly so the yolks are runny, which retains the yolk’s nutrients. Soft boiled, poached, or lightly fried is the best ways to cook eggs.

If you cannot find grass fed or pastured eggs at your local farmer’s market or health food store, get organic omega 3-enriched eggs. Even eggs that are organic, though the chickens are not given antibiotics or GMO feed, can still be produced on factory farms and can be very unhealthy. And don’t even bother with eggs that only say ‘free range’ on the package. This means nothing, as the FDA does not regulate this phrase. To see how your eggs rate, see the Cornucopia Institute’s Egg Scorecard.

Fish and seafood. Most fish and seafood are generally not recommended. Fish and seafood, especially shellfish, are contaminated with heavy metals, particularly mercury, and industrial wastes like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and pesticides such as DDT. No matter how pristine a fish’s environment, industrial waste spews into clouds, which take it to the most remote corners of the earth. Heavy metals and fat-soluble pesticides become concentrated in older fish, large, predatory fish, and in fatty species of fish.

Shellfish and seafood such as shrimp, crab, lobster, scallops, oysters, octopus, calamari, eel and others are contaminated with toxic metals and should only be eaten occasionally if not completely avoided. Shellfish are too high in toxic metals in almost all areas of the world as they are caught close to shore and absorb the polluted, toxic runoff from the land. When I do eat shellfish, which is rarely, I am sure to ONLY eat shellfish that has been harvested from very pristine, remote areas.

Sardines are the best fish to eat on the planet! They are a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, calcium, RNA and DANA, and the nerves, and skin are helpful for most people. Also, they are so small that mercury does not accumulate in them to any great extent. Some cannot tolerate sardines with bones and skin and do better with the boneless and skinless varieties. If one eats 3 or 4 cans of sardines (or other fish) weekly, omega-3 fatty acids do not need to be supplemented. My favorite sardines are Conservas de Cambodas. They are delicious small sardines that taste exactly like tuna. However, any brand is fine.

Other small fish that are highly recommended include anchovies, herring, Atlantic mackerel, sole, and smelt. Wild caught may be more healthful, but not necessarily. Fish that are considered a little safer include trout (farmed), catfish (farmed), flounder, croaker and haddock.

Salmon is okay once or twice a month. Be sure it’s wild salmon, as farm raised salmon is not nearly as healthy as wild caught. Some farmed salmon is even dyed pink!

Learn more about fish and seafood in my Seafood Survival Guide.

Protein Foods to Limit or Avoid:

1. All large fish. Fish such as tuna, shark, ahi, mahi mahi, halibut, game fish, etc are too high in mercury to be eaten.
2. Most processed meats. These include most hot dogs, bologna, salami and sausages. Most contain toxic chemical additives and are often not very fresh. 100% natural, organic grass fed processed meats with no additives are okay.
3. Protein powders and drinks. These are not recommended! Whole protein foods are preferable to powders and liquids. The reasons are that the powders and smoothies generally contain much less nutrition than the whole food, and not chewed thoroughly for proper absorption.
4. Soy. I recommend avoiding all soy foods. These are low quality proteins and almost all soy is genetically modified today. Avoid soy milk, soy protein powders, Hamburger Helper, “textured vegetable protein” or TVP, tofu, etc. Many processed foods contain soy. Learn more in my article Little Known Dangers of Soy. Fermented soy like miso, natto, gluten-free soy sauce and tempeh, however, are ok on occasion.
5. Peanuts and peanut butter. Even natural peanut butter may contain some aflatoxin, and for this reason peanut products are not recommended. Aflatoxin is an extremely potent liver toxin found in most peanuts. The problem is when peanuts have been stored. Up to 26 different molds have been found on peanuts, including aflatoxin. Fresh peanuts, however are okay.

Note: If you have cancer or severe liver or kidney issues you will need to eat avoid animal protein until your health issue heals. Sometimes if you’re having a large toxin dump it may be wise to avoid meat to reduce burden on the liver until the detox is over.

Fats And Oils

Eat about 2-6 tablespoons of quality fat or oil daily. Those with sympathetic dominance pattern need a little more fat. Generally, the fewer carbs you eat the more fat you will need to eat.

Healthy fats include:

• Butter
• Ghee, clarified butter
• Olive oil
• Avocado oil
• Coconut Oil
• Palm Oil
• Sesame oil
• Macadamia nut oil
• Walnut oil
• Flaxseed oil (very limited)
• Hemp Oil
• Nut butters
• Tallow (beef fat)
• Duck fat
• Schmaltz (chicken fat) Full-fat dairy

Fats to Avoid:

High cholesterol: Cholesterol will normalize on a Mineral Power program in almost all cases without the need for dietary restriction. If you are fearful of increasing your cholesterol levels, begin with less meat, eggs and butter. Learn more about cholesterol on this podcast: Cholesterol Clarity. Read Dr. Lawrence Wilson’s article on Cholesterol.

Grains

The less well you feel, the more you need to quit all grain, even non-gluten. If you are very ill, have autoimmune or gut issues I would advise you avoid grains completely until you get better. If you tolerate them, grains should make up a very small portion of your diet. Non-gluten grains include corn, rice (brown, white, wild), quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, sorghum, kamut, teff, gluten-free oats. Pasta or noodles can be eaten that are made from rice, corn or quinoa. Millet is one of the most goitrogenic foods and can block thyroid activity so it is best avoided.

When non-gluten grains are processed for human consumption (e.g., milling whole oats and preparing rice for packaging), their physical structure changes, and this increases the risk of an inflammatory reaction. For this reason, we limit these foods.

Gluten should be avoided on this diet. Gluten grains to avoid include wheat, rye, barley, spelt and oats that are not certified gluten-free. Although oats do not naturally contain gluten, they are frequently contaminated with gluten because they are processed at mills that also handle wheat. Avoid them unless they come with a guarantee that they are gluten-free.

Avoiding gluten is easily done by avoiding all wheat products. You want to avoid organic whole wheat, sprouted wheat, wheat flour products and all prepared foods made with wheat. Wheat is too hybridized today and not a quality food any more. It is irritating to the intestines and has a lower protein content and a high content of glutamic acid, which is irritating. Read more about why you want to avoid gluten on my blog post Gluten Sensitivity Affects 1 in 3.

Try incorporating whole organic blue corn chips and blue corn tortillas into your diet. They are very high in selenium and other nutrients. You may have two 7-10 ounce bags of blue corn chips weekly or a few organic blue corn tortillas several times a week. Some yellow corn is also good, but not nearly as nutritious as blue corn. Most brands of blue corn chips contain oils that I recommend avoiding, like safflower oil. A small amount is okay. The benefits of the blue corn chips outweigh the effect of the oils. Do not eat corn if you are sensitive to it or if it causes weight gain.

Dairy

The less well you feel, the more you need to quit dairy. If dairy works for your body, though in many cases it may not, you may have up to 12 oz. aged raw hard cheese in a week OR 7 cups of plain unsweetened full fat yogurt in a week. Butter and ghee can be eaten as desired. Dairy includes cow, goat, sheep, milk, cheese, cream, yogurt, kefir, butter, ghee etc. Learn more details about dairy in my article Are You the Half that Should Avoid Dairy?

Fermented and cultured raw dairy products like butter, sour cream, yogurt, and kefir are best, as the lactose proteins have been broken down making them easier to digest. Some who cannot eat milk can eat fermented dairy.

I can only recommend raw dairy. Pasteurized milk is a damaged, processed food. Raw milk can be usually be tolerated by people who cannot tolerate pasteurized milk. Raw yogurt, kefir, sour cream, milk, and butter are high in enzymes and vitamins destroyed by pasteurization. Raw dairy, especially raw butter, contains essential fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, most of which are destroyed during pasteurization. These are necessary to absorb vitamins and minerals from vegetables. I put raw butter on all my food. You won’t find raw dairy products in major stores, but at farmer’s markets, your local dairy farm, or small natural health food stores. For a list of organic raw dairy farmers, see www.westonprice.org and www.realmilk.com. Salmonella, E. coli and many other bacteria cannot survive in raw milk; beneficial bacteria, enzymes, and immune complexes naturally present in raw milk destroy them. If these pathogenic microbes get into pasteurized milk, however, they thrive because the enzymes and beneficial bacteria have been destroyed by pasteurization. If you’re still worried about bacteria, you can kill it with a few drops of 35% food grade hydrogen peroxide. Pasteurization and homogenization deforms the fats in milk, making them very unhealthy, unrecognizable to the body and difficult to digest.

Legumes

Legumes include pintos, black beans, peas, black-eyed peas, kidney beans, lentils, etc. These can be eaten a couple times a week, but may be best avoided due plants toxins and being very starchy. Legumes ideally should be cooked for very long periods to reduce their toxin levels as much as possible. Beans can be very problematic for some people. The least problematic legumes to eat are green beans, peas and chickpeas (hummus). Lentils are the most nutritious legumes.

Soy. The first troubling group of anti-nutrients in soy are called phytates. Phytates bind to minerals like zinc, calcium, magnesium, iron and copper, and strip them from the body, resulting in mineral deficiencies.

The most serious problem with soy is the phytoestrogens. They are similar enough to estrogens to cause significant endocrine disruption in the body. Phytoestrogens lock onto receptor sites for real hormones that the human body needs, like testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone. Soy protein contains a type of phytoestrogens called isoflavones. Isoflavones interfere with estrogen receptor sites causing premature periods in girls and promoting cancer (many cancers grow when there is an abundance of estrogen or estrogenic-mimicking substances).

Many suggest that fermented soy is okay to eat. Long, slow fermentation (as in the traditional production of miso, tempeh and soy sauce) gets rid of the phytic acid and other digestive inhibitors but not the phytoestrogens in soy. Learn more about the Little Known Dangers of Soy.

Nuts and Seeds

Nuts and seeds are best soaked. Soaking increases their nutrients levels. Ground nut butters are easier to digest. Raw nut butters are healthiest because roasting can damage their delicate omega-3 fats.

Fruit

Most clients feel much better avoiding all fruit. You may have a few berries or other fruit occasionally, but they are best avoided especially if you have gut dysbiosis. The sugar in fruit feeds pathogenic bacteria in the gut. Fruit may need to be completely eliminated if you have a pain syndrome, leaky gut or gut dysbiosis as the sugar in fruit feeds pathogenic bacteria.

Fruit should be limited to low sugar fruits like berries. Fruit is bred to have a lot of sugar, can upset blood sugar, feed parasites and pathogenic bacteria in the intestines. Berries are best, though you can have other fruits on occasion. Be extra cautious of high sugar fruits such as dried fruit, figs, dates, melons, apricots, prunes, apples and the tropical fruits like bananas, mangos, papaya, prunes, and pineapple.

Sugar

Avoid all foods in which one of the first four ingredients is sugar, honey, dextrose, glucose, fructose, corn syrup, rice bran syrup, honey, agave nectar, maple syrup, maltose chocolate or malt sweetener. Also avoid candy, cookies, cakes, pastries, ice cream, soda pop and other sweet prepared foods. These cause wide fluctuations in blood sugar and insulin levels.

Artificial sweeteners. Try not to substitute NutraSweet, aspartame, Equal, Splenda, saccharin or other artificial or non-caloric sweeteners. Learn more about why you want to avoid these sweeteners by reading my blog post Deadly Artificial Sweeteners. If you must use a sweetener, use a very small amount of stevia. Learn more on my blog post Safe Natural Sweeteners.

Dark chocolate that’s at least 70 percent or more cocoa is okay occasionally. Cocoa is incredibly nutritious.

Processed Food

The most common of these are white flour products such as breads, pastries, donuts, bagels, pretzels, cup cakes, cakes, ice creams (unless very simple with very little sugar or chemicals), other baked goods, soda pop, sports drinks like Gatorade, candy bars, health food bars, candy and any food in a package or box.

Condiments

• Condiments: You can go wild here as long as you watch labels. Kiss ketchup and chutney goodbye but enjoy mustard, horseradish, tapenade, and salsa if they are free of gluten, wheat, soy, and sugar. 
• Sea Salt. Sea salt contains over 100 minerals very similar to our body chemistry and is necessary for health. Colored sea salt is best. Some of the cheaper white sea salts have been bleached, though the label will not indicate this. Avoid table salt, which is horrible for your body and causes health issues as it is a single mineral product. It is toxic, often contains aluminum, and can raise blood pressure. 
• Herbs and spices. Excellent spices include parsley, rosemary, basil, cilantro, thyme, marjoram, ginger, mustard, turmeric and garlic. Herbs, fresh or dried, are very nutrient dense and should be liberally added to your food. Avoid table pepper, which is often rancid and can cause joint problems in some people.

Beverages

Adults need to drink about 3 quarts of spring water daily. I prefer spring waters from remote locations around the world like New Zealand, Canada (Ice Age brand), or Hawaii. For more on water, read What Kind of Water Should I Drink?  You can opt to buy bottles of spring water a the store, have spring water delivered to your home in recycled plastic containers or find a spring nearby where you can fill up your own containers, usually at no charge. Go to Findaspring.com to locate a healthful spring or other water source near your home. A second-best option is carbon-only filtered tap water. Do not buy fancy water filters containing KDF media and others. These damage the water. Only use carbon filtration, even though it does not remove most toxic substances from the water.

Avoid reverse osmosis water. This is extremely important. Problems with reverse osmosis water are 1) it does not seem to hydrate the body well enough for some reason, 2) it is very low in minerals, which are vital today, 3) it is too yin in Chinese medical terms, and 4) it always seems to pick up some plastic residue from the plastic membrane the water is forced through to make it. It is much worse than drinking water from plastic jugs or bottles. Well water and plain tap water are often contaminated with various chemicals, although in some few areas it is okay.

Avoid alkaline waters. Most alkaline water is made with reverse osmosis water. Also avoid most “designer” waters, which are not worth the money and are often made with reverse osmosis water or other types that we don’t find are good for the body. Read more in Why You should Avoid Alkaline Water.

Vegetable Juice. Have 10-12 ounces daily, preferably freshly made, but bottled is okay. Ten to twelve ounces of vegetable juice, including carrot juice, or 1-2 ounces of wheat grass juice are recommended daily. Carrot can be high in sugar, but the benefits outweigh the sugar. Carrot juice is very high in bioavailable calcium.

Do not use a Vita-Mix or other blender, however, as this does not extract the juice, but merely blends the vegetables. The point of juice is to extract the nutrients and minerals from a large amount of vegetables that would be difficult to eat. Avoid all fruit juices as they are high in sugar. Read more in my article The Juice on Juicing.

Alcohol. Red wine may be enjoyed on occasion, but all alcohol prevents detox while it is dealing with the alcohol. It is best avoided while on your detox and healing program.

A Word on Carbohydrates

The normal human body needs about 600 calories a day of carbohydrates for basic bodily functions. Carbs include grains, starches like potatoes, beans, legumes, sugary root vegetables (beets, carrots, etc), fruit and sugar.  The less well you feel, the more you need to quit all grain, even non-gluten.  You will need to get your carbs from the other sources listed.

You must eat some carbohydrates for healthy thyroid function. This is why Atkins or Low Carb, High fat diets are not ideal for a healthy thyroid or increasing our metabolism. Though people do lose weight on these diets, in the long run it is better to have a bit less fat in the diet and some carbohydrate.

Some people are quite sensitive to carbohydrates and need to reduce them significantly. You must listen to your body and experiment to find the amount that works for you individually. The less carbs you eat, the more fat you will need to eat.

HOW TO EAT

Meal planning. Eat at least 2-3 times daily, do not skip meals, and keep the meals simple. Skipping meals is hard on the adrenals. Organically grown, high quality and preferably fresh food is best.

1. Cook most vegetables. When vegetables are cooked, you are able to absorb more minerals from your food. The plant cell wall, called cellulose, must be broken down by heat so that you may obtain the minerals and nutrients inside the cell wall. Raw foods are more cleansing for this reason as they provide fiber, but not as much nourishment. Of course some vegetables can only be eaten raw like salad greens, radishes, cucumbers, etc. These are the exception. Be sure to eat the majority of your vegetables cooked.

2. Eat slowly, chew thoroughly and always have sit-down, relaxed meals. Do not eat on the run, in your car, standing up or while working. This impairs digestion.

3. Keep it simple. If you have impaired digestion, it may be better for you to keep meals simple by eating one protein and one vegetables per meal. There is no scientific basis for food combining. You can learn more about this subject in this podcast Ask the RD.

4. Eat whole foods. The basis of any diet should be focused on whole foods, eaten as close to their original whole form as possible. Avoid most processed foods in boxes and packages. Definitely avoid ALL fast foods.

5. Avoid or limit powders or meal replacement shakes. Smoothies and powders are too yin and not as nutritious as real whole foods. All protein powders and meal replacement shakes are processed foods. Even if they are of very high quality (i.e. grass fed organic whey), they are still a processed food and should generally be avoided. I prefer that you eat whole foods, though you can enjoy a smoothie once a week.

OTHER ASPECTS OF THE DIET

Cooking Utensils and Methods

For cooking use glass, enamel, stainless steel, non-stick or coated aluminum. Frying and barbequing are okay ocassionally, but not good due to the high heat and production of harmful chemicals. Avoid exposed aluminum cookware and microwave ovens. Microwave ovens seem to damage the food more than standard cooking methods.

Eating Habits

Eat regular, relaxed, sit-down meals. Eat slowly and consciously, and chew thoroughly. Chewing each mouthful at least 15-20 times will assure better digestion. Stop eating when you’re 80% full. Also, sit for at least ten minutes after you finish eating, or if possible, take a short nap or siesta after eating. Avoid eating in the car, while standing up, while on the phone or while rushing around. These habits impair digestion and reduce the nutrition you absorb from food.

Snacks

If your blood sugar is unstable, have a snack or preferably a small meal in between your main meals that contains some fat and a little protein. Examples are a soft-boiled egg or two, some raw goat cheese, or a little roasted almond butter on a few rice crackers. If blood sugar is very unstable, you may need five or six small meals per day for a few months or so, until your health improves.

Eating Out

Eating in restaurants is not ideal, but a treat once in a while is fine. If you don’t cook be sure to go to quality restaurants where they do not use industrial seed oils, table salt, MSG and other chemicals and serve lots of vegetable and high quality proteins.

Common problems with eating out are:

• limited food choices
• cleanliness and food safety problems
• low food quality
• hidden chemical additives
• noisy or distracting environments that are not ideal for digestion

Avoid fast-food restaurants and chain restaurants. The food is actually cooked and packaged in plants and then ‘assembled’ at the restaurant. Chain restaurant food is full of inflammatory industrial seed oils, trans fats, MSG, artificial flavors and chemicals.