The Diet and Lifestyle Foundation

This is the longest page of the plan and it’s loaded with quick wins that can help you feel better.

Consistent with the first R in the Four R Program, the place to begin is with gentle detoxification. The idea is to relieve your body of substances it either wasn’t designed to handle or isn’t tolerating well at the moment.

Specifically, we want to remove:

  • Substances added to food that produce biochemical injury (synthetic chemicals, GMOs, antibiotics, heavy metals).
  • Denatured food (oxidized fat)
  • Gastric irritants (e.g., alcohol, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs)
  • Food allergies, sensitivities, or reactions. I’ll walk you through a standard 30 day elimination diagnostic, to find out which ones effect you.

The Wellness Repair plan begins with a temporary 30 day elimination period to help you identify foods that might be harming gut health, producing inflammation or activating an immune response. When you don’t tolerate a particular food well, that’s called a food sensitivity. Food sensitivities cause gut dysfunction, which typically results in triggering your immune system to kick into overdrive, attacking your own organs in the process.

Some chemical substances are always harmful, so we will eliminate them and encourage you not to add them back. Others, like dairy and gluten, may be reintroduced. And even if you have a reaction at first, it may be possible to get over the sensitivity after time and gut healing.

It’ll seem restrictive, but you always get to eat until you’re full (no portion control needed), it’s a necessary diagnostic and it’s only for 30 days. To borrow a couple lines from the most famous elimination diet, Whole30, “Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Fighting cancer is hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard.

If you can afford the Whole30 book, I recommend you use that program for the 30 day elimination period. Millions have used Whole30, so they have crafted the program using an immense amount of feedback. In my opinion, they excel at helping people succeed.

If you prefer a free option, you can read my elimination diet here.

What kinds of symptoms may go away?

Dr. Sara Gottfried is a Harvard-trained M.D. who has found that gut dysfunction is the #1 problem most of her patients don’t know they have. Why? She says“One reason why it’s tricky is that dysfunction in the gut doesn’t always lead to gut symptoms. For example, more than 30 percent of people with “leaky gut” (i.e. intestinal permeability) do not experience digestive distress. For them, leaky gut manifests in a different way— skin problems, brain fog, anxiety or depression, autoimmune disease, and joint pain are just a few examples.”

In fact, leaky gut is strongly linked to a long list of diseases and conditions:

  • acid reflux
  • anxiety
  • asthma
  • autism
  • autoimmune disease such as rheumatoid arthritis, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, lupus, psoriasis, or celiac disease
  • bad breath and body odor
  • bladder and urinary-tract infections
  • brain fog
  • breast pathologies
  • cancer
  • candida overgrowth
  • chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia
  • colitis
  • constipation
  • depression
  • diabetes
  • diarrhea
  • digestive issues such as gas, bloating, diarrhea or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
  • diverticulitis
  • ear and respiratory infections in children
  • emphysema
  • eye, ear, nose and throat diseases
  • fibroids – uterine and breast
  • food allergies or food intolerances
  • gastritis
  • heart disease
  • hormonal imbalances such as PMS or PCOS
  • liver and gallbladder problems
  • migraine headaches
  • mood and mind issues such as depression, anxiety, ADD or ADHD
  • multiple sclerosis
  • obesity
  • seasonal allergies or asthma
  • sinus problems
  • skin issues such as acne, rosacea, or eczema
  • spastic colon
  • stomach bloating
  • sugar cravings
  • vaginal fungal (yeast gone bad) infections

These are all symptoms of an autoimmune reaction, a condition where your body is attacking itself. The longer it is allowed to continue, the greater the damage.

All of these conditions share the same root cause: inflammation and increased gut permeability (called “leaky gut”). By eliminating triggers of inflammation that harm your gut, you can get rid of many symptoms and diseases.

Diet

Unfortunately, many foods that would typically be thought of as likely to promote health can come with an added payload of substances that cause biochemical injury (toxins). This is especially problematic in the United States, where it’s challenging to find food that doesn’t come with added chemical toxins.

Let’s define food as something that was alive recently and has only one ingredient. As soon as you pair food with factory-produced chemicals, it ceases to be just-food and becomes food-plus-chemicals. Our bodies have wondrous systems to detoxify, but we’re hitting those systems with a tsunami when they were designed to handle a stream.

Glyphosate is a great example because it’s used on over 90% of the crops in the world as the primary ingredient in a product you probably know as RoundUp. Glyphosate is a very effective antibiotic and shows up in nearly all processed food. Researchers in Germany found that as little glyphosate as 0.1 parts per billion (ppb) is enough to destroy beneficial gut bacteria.  To put that in perspective, Anresco, a laboratory registered with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), found glyphosate residue in Cheerios at a level of 1,125.3 ppb! I’ve written extensively on the history of glyphosate as well as the legal and political landscape that permits it’s use to continue. Read more here. And it’s the tip of a very large chemical iceberg.

A hundred years ago, almost all food everywhere was just-food. Today, simply locating food without chemical additions requires substantial education. There are major grocery stores and restaurant chains that offer no uncontaminated food whatsoever. Contaminated food is inciting health problems for millions of people without their knowledge. This needs to change and is something I’m passionate about.

Here’s what you need to know to clean up your food.

Fats

Vegetable oils like canola and soy are harmful on multiple levels. They would typically be from GMO crops sprayed with glyphosate and other pesticides. During processing, the standard method of extracting vegetable oils involves the use a chemical solvent like hexane or acetone. Both are toxic, but that’s not even the worst part. The fat also oxidizes.

Fat that has been oxidized by heat causes all the problems you’ve always heard attributed to fat. Vegetable oils like canola and soy are oxidized during manufacturing and are literally more harmful than smoking.

Dr. Cate Shanahan M.D. is the nutritionist for the Los Angeles Lakers and has a book called Deep Nutrition. She points out a 2006 study published in the American Journal of Cardiology. The study found the vegetable oil in ONE serving of french fries obliterated endothelial function (blood flow regulation through artery dilation/constriction) for 24 hours. That means it gave the artery function of an unhealthy 80 year old. By contrast, smoking only obliterates endothelial function for 4 hours! And as a bonus, the vegetable oil hangs on in your body to become free-radical producing (cancer) building blocks for cells. This is backed up by Dr. Steven Gundry, former Professor and Chairman of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Loma Linda University Medical Center. He also served two successive terms as President of the Board of Directors for the American Heart Association. Dr. Gundry also says a single serving of french fries has enough oxidized oil to be worse for you than smoking.

Aim for 5-9 servings of healthy fats daily. Healthy fats include avocados, pastured egg yokes, olive oil (not for cooking), avocado oil, coconut oil, MCT oil, raw macadamias, raw almonds, raw hazelnuts, raw walnuts, grass fed butter, grass-fed red meat and fatty fish like wild-caught salmon. One tablespoon of butter or oil is a serving.

Meat

Full fat butter, whole milk and fatty ground meat are the worst sources of toxins – ESPECIALLY WHEN THE ANIMALS ATE FEED CONTAMINATED BY PESTICIDES. Hear this. The payload of chemicals – not the meat itself – causes contaminated animal meat (especially the fat) to become inflammatory, and therefore a trigger of disease in humans.

By contrast, if the animal is 100% pastured, grass-fed, grass finished or wild-caught, the meat becomes anti-inflammatory. Contamination means inflammation. Pastured meat is least contaminated and least likely to be inflammatory.

When an animal is fed pesticides via genetically engineered soy and corn, the toxins accumulate in animal fat at much higher concentrations than in produce.

I like the saying: “It’s not the cow. It’s the how.” Most beef in the US contains antibiotics, growth hormones, pesticides and herbicides. If it’s processed meat, it can also contain soy, nitrates and chemicals. To avoid the chemicals, I eat grass-fed (also called “pastured”) beef. You can find grass-fed ground beef at Aldi, Earth Fare, Whole Foods, Trader Joes and SAMs Club.

By US federal law, chickens cannot be raised with added hormones. However, they can be given antibiotics and get GMOs, herbicides and pesticides from their feed. For this reason, I recommend only organic chicken. Even better, get to know a farmer that raises pastured chickens and supplements only with non GMO feed. Chicken fat is high in omega 6, so I try to limit to only one or two servings per week.

Farmed fish is often fed GMO feed. To avoid the GMO payload, go with wild-caught fish instead. Keep in mind, the larger the fish, the higher the mercury levels. Mercury buildup looks like many other health problems, including lack of energy and drive. Aim for salmon and smaller.

You don’t need any more than 4-6 servings of protein per day. A serving of protein is usually about the size of the palm of your hand.

  • Beef, Bison, Lamb – Pastured (100% grass fed and grass finished) and never administered antibiotics or growth hormones.
  • Poultry – Pastured, free range, never exposed to GMO feed. Chicken fat is high in omega 6, so best to limit to only one or two servings per week.
  • Eggs – Same as poultry. You want pastured eggs. It’s easy to tell by looking at the yoke color. Pastured chickens that ate bugs and worms produce eggs with deep orange yokes.
  • Fish – Wild caught (Farmed fish are generally fed GMO feed.)
  • If tolerant after the elimination period, grass-fed and cold pressed organic whey
  • 1-2 cups of homemade bone broth each day

Produce

Fruits and vegetables are packed with critical nutrients and fiber, but are typically permeated with pesticides and herbicides. You can’t wash the toxins off either, because they are present in every cell of the produce. I recommend USDA Organic fruit and vegetables because the USDA Organic seal means it was grown without GMOs or synthetic herbicides and pesticides. Better yet, get to know a farmer that grows food with organic practices, even if it’s not certified USDA Organic.

Veggies are vital and should take up about 3/4 of your plate. Try for 6-11 servings daily. Organic produce is best when you can. Be sure to eat veggies with healthy fat because many of the vitamins must have fat present to be absorbed.

Also important, are enzyme-rich lacto-fermented vegetables, fruits, beverages and condiments (probiotics). Sauerkraut and kimchi are fantastic sources that are inexpensive, but be aware that heating kills the good bacteria. The probiotic that will work best for you is highly personalized. Pay attention to how you feel after you take them. Be prepared to adjust occasionally as the populations in your gut change. Also, be aware that many people with symptoms like diarrhea or constipation may in fact be better off trimming the bacteria population and actually avoiding probiotics for awhile.

Eat a serving of fruit (berries are best) or starch (like sweet potato) only at dinner. The goal is to limit fructose until you are no longer insulin resistant. If you are already lean and athletic, more fructose from fruit is fine.

Water

Water often contains fluoride, antibiotics, pesticides, herbicides and BPA’s from plastic storage containers. I recommend a Berkey water filtration system with the additional fluoride filters. Despite the initial expense, this ends up being about the most cost effective way to get toxin-free water. Store water in glass containers.

Processed food

One of the most damaging things you can put in your mouth is processed food, because it can be a conglomeration of many toxins including oxidized (rancid) fat, gamma radiated wheat (nearly all modern wheat has been modified by radiation), GMO soy, GMO sugar, chemical additives, nitrates, pesticides and herbicides. Dr. Mark Hyman calls these substances frankenfood. I recommend never eating processed food. Not ever. It initiates a major withdrawal from your health bank account.

Cut chemicals not calories

Think of calories like the markings on a measuring cup. Let’s say I hand you two measuring cups. One contains exactly 1 cup of water and the other contains exactly 1 cup of gasoline. Is the 1 cup marking the most relevant factor for your health? Obviously, the chemical substance in the cup matters far more because it gives instructions to your body.

If you need to reduce fat storage, aim to reduce high glycemic load carbs. Glycemic load is how LONG a food raises blood sugar. That matters because elevated blood sugar triggers insulin to be released. Insulin instructs fat cells to store fat as a way to normalize blood sugar.

Veggies, protein and fats have a low glycemic load. They don’t make you produce very much insulin or store fat for very long. On the other hand, only a little bread or sugar will raise blood sugar for hours. Simply cutting or eliminating the highest glycemic load foods (breads, cereals, starchy grains and sugar) can mean something like NINE HOURS less fat storage per day!

Fruit is a middle ground that needs to be reduced by some, but not by others. A lean athlete may not need to pay much attention to fruit intake whereas someone trying to reverse insulin resistance would want to limit fruit to one serving per day, preferably with dinner.

For more on calories read: Why You Should Forget Counting Calories

Chemical exposure directly instructs hormones also.

When you are exposed to a chemical, your liver goes into action immediately. The liver needs energy for this work, so stores of glycogen (the body’s first-stop energy source) are used up and no longer available for your brain. When glycogen is no longer available, your brain pulls the alarm to tell you you’re starving. So instead of getting five hours of stable energy from a meal, you might feel ravenous again in only a couple hours. Chemicals from an air freshener, dryer sheets or perfume can result in making you hungry faster!

There’s more. If your toxic burden is already high, your liver won’t be able to process the chemicals out of your body quickly enough. Rather brilliantly, your body senses this liver overload and stores the chemical toxins away in fat cells to deal with later. One reason it can be so uncomfortable to begin losing weight is because fat cells release stored chemical toxins back into the blood. This is partially why it’s wise to eliminate all added sugar for the first month of weight loss. Eliminating fructose frees up your liver to deal with chemical toxins being released from emptying fat cells.

Lifestyle

Personal Care Products

Much of what you apply to your skin is absorbed into your bloodstream more effectively than what you put in your mouth. Yet a typical consumer uses an average of nine personal care products containing 126 separate ingredients every day. At least one-third of these ingredients have been identified as causing cancer or other serious health conditions.

The quick way to advise on personal care products would be, if you wouldn’t lick it, don’t stick it! Here’s my research to back up what I’m saying and help guide you through making the changes.

Sleep

Robb Wolf is a former research biochemist that specialized in cancer and autoimmunity research.  He is also a New York Times best selling author and does presentations on nutrition to organizations like NASA, Naval Special Warfare and the United States Marine Corps. In the forward to Dr. Kirk Parsley‘s book called Optimal Sleep, Robb says, “Let me be clear about what happens with inadequate sleep.  You will get sick, fat and weak.  You will age dramatically faster than normal. You will increase your likelihood of cancer, diabetes and neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.”

Sleep is a pillar of health. Click here for my list of ways to upgrade your sleep.

Stress Management

Stress management is also a pillar of health. Stress causes hormonal imbalances, makes you feel anxious and blocks your ability to lose weight. It also weakens your immune, adrenal and nervous systems.

Reducing stress is necessary for neurogenesis (growing new neurons) Yes, you can grow new neurons and increase cognitive ability at any age.

We’ve all heard it’s good to reduce stress, but generally the advice points to tips and techniques and falls short of life transformation. Exercises to reduce stress are helpful and necessary, but I don’t want us to miss the bigger picture, which is…

God is the source of joy and peace. One does not arrive at true, lasting, deep, genuine, full joy and peace apart from abiding in the presence of he who is pure love, unchanging, unshakable, infinitely merciful, all powerful, all knowing, all wise, sovereign, everlasting and creator of all that is. I want you to see him. Consider him. Realize his love for you. Understand that he is in control of all so you can rest in him.

Once the larger view is grasped, we can then appreciate the fact that God has provided side benefits of obedience.

Via brain scans, scientists have learned one of the most effective practices to reduce stress is… prayer with thanksgiving. You’ll often hear it called “meditation with gratitude”. I looked up meditation in the Bible and found the first mention in .

From a neuroscience perspective alone, meditation as a physical exercise, can be thought of as “attention training.” Prayer accomplishes the same biological benefit, only prayer is simultaneously going into the presence of our Creator.

Gratitude activates the brain’s reward centers with a release of dopamine and serotonin, the feel-good hormones. The attention training practice is to focus attention on something you feel gratitude for. Your mind will eventually wander. When it does, gently return attention to what you feel gratitude for. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Teaching yourself to catch your mind wandering is the point of attention training.

Doing this for something like 5-20 minutes per day transforms many people’s ability to handle stress. But doing it “without ceasing” is what God commands.

The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasinggive thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 

Paul emphasized the same message in Philippians 4:4-7. “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Science is on a long road of discovering how our bodies work. Each new discovery reveals a tiny bit more of God’s design. But don’t exchange talking to the omnipotent God of the universe for mere “attention training”.

Light

Light is medicine. There’s a great deal of emerging research on how various frequencies of light effect mitochondria, the energy factories of our cells. I’ll add more on this in coming days, but a quick summary would be:

  • Sun, incandescent and halogen = good. Get as much sun as you possibly can. Seriously.
  • Fluorescent and LED = bad (the junk food of lighting). Energy efficiency isn’t the issue here. How the frequencies of light negatively impact human biology and performance is the issue. Looking at an LED computer screen can be very harmful.

For a deep dive explanation, listen to this podcast with neurosurgeon, cardiologist and quantum mechanics expert, Dr. Jack Kruse.

Move

Take a walk, preferably in the sun. If you train, do High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) for your brain and lift heavy stuff to get stronger.

EMF

This is another topic I will post much more on in the future. For now, Dirty electricity and RF (radio frequency) emissions from phones (5G especially) and wifi harm mitochondria.

Read this  and this. Listen to this.

Mold Exposure

Watch this documentary.