health

Here you will find all my posts related to health, disease, and eating well!

10 “Healthy” Mistakes You Might Be Making

| Rachel Boulos

unsplash2Ever hear someone mutter healthy mumbo jumbo and it makes you cringe inside? Welcome to my top 10 pet peeves when it comes to health and nutrition. If you think these are healthy, think again.

Don’t fall for this popular nonsense. Take a look at these 10 misconceptions:

Natural is the same as organic. Not even close. “Natural” can still refer to minimal processed foods. Your “all-natural” blueberry yogurt does not guarantee it will have real blueberries in it. That mysterious “natural flavors” label might as well read “artificial chemicals for your flavor enjoyment”. Companies are getting smarter by using words like “all-natural” and “wholesome” for products that can still contain corn syrup, modified starches, and additives. Organic foods, on the other hand, have legal implications and must follow a set of strict processing, handling, and production standards determined by the USDA. These foods are generally free of pesticides, chemicals, and preservatives.

Rule of thumb: How do I know if the food I’m buying is organic? Look for the seal of approval.

Gluten-free is healthier for me. Only if you have a gluten intolerance. This one drives me nuts. I don’t get it. Unless you have celiac, an intolerance, or have been told by a medical professional to follow a gluten-free diet, don’t put yourself through that. Trust me, most of us who have to be gluten-free would rather eat gluten! Truth is, many gluten-free foods are still highly processed, loaded with starches, and low in nutritious value. Gluten-free foods can wreak just as much havoc on your system as eating gluten in the first place!

Rule of thumb: If you still enjoy the thought of being gluten-free, choose foods that are naturally gluten free (oats, buckwheat, rice, produce, etc.). Browse some gluten-free recipes here. 

Superfood means super healthy. Superfood, shmuperfood. I don’t buy it. Contrary to popular opinion, Continue reading →

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How to be Corn Free and Keep Your Sanity

| Rachel Boulos

how to be corn free

Food sensitivities are no joke. And when you’re faced with the “eliminate them or else” scenario, you do what you must. Last year I sat across from the doctor as he handed me a list. My heart dropped to the floor. 25 foods and counting. And not just any foods. Gluten, dairy, and eggs had made the top of the list. But the biggest granddaddy of them all was corn. I remember feeling completely overwhelmed. What was I supposed to eat?? Recommending that I eliminate all 25 foods from my diet (all at once), Doc gave me a pat and a halfhearted “good luck”.

So I did it. A year ago. I went dairy-free, gluten-free, corn-free, egg-free, and everything else free…all at the same time, for a long time. It wasn’t until I started implementing changes that I realized these four foods are everywhere. They’re practically the foundation for all other foods. As you can imagine, I got a little stressed had a complete meltdown.

If you’re like me, there are times you think you might go crazy. Driving by Starbucks makes me a desperate mess (thank goodness for coconut milk)! But you restrict yourself out of necessity. Because you’re tired of feeling miserable and just want your health back.

Today there are good alternatives for those restricting gluten, dairy, and even eggs. But what about corn? Eliminating corn from your diet is challenging. If you don’t see corn on the ingredient list, look again. Like playing a game of hide and seek, corn is an expert at hiding in words like dextrose, maize, sorbitol, zein, zea mays, “food starch” and “natural flavors”. It’s no surprise that corn (and wheat) are the basis of American agriculture. Visit any of the “flyover states” and you’re bound to see endless ears of…you guessed it…corn! It’s even in your toothpaste, lotions, and car tires!

But what if you’re sensitive or allergic? Can you really be corn free in a corn-saturated country and not lose your mind?

The simple answer is yes. It’s a lot of work, but it’s doable. And to get you started, my cousin and I (she with her allergy and I with my sensitivity) have put our heads together to come up with some simple corn-free alternatives! Looking for corn free recipes? Check them out here. Continue reading →

5 Guidelines to Healthy Eating Habits

| Rachel Boulos

foodtitle3If you’re still buzzing from sugar overload and feeling the irritable effect of one too many Christmas cookies, welcome to the club. Pants a little tight? Tired and fatigued? Headaches and mental fog? General feeling of yuck?

It’s not surprising that the gym is packed by the second day of January. Most of us are coming off a holiday high that has left us feeling miserable and desperate to get healthy. But working out isn’t going to do much good if your eating habits don’t change (more on that later).

Changing your eating habits can be difficult and frustrating, not to mention confusing. What’s more, each person has a different biochemical make up and what might work for one person may not work for you. For more on that, check out my post on When Healthy Food is Your Enemy.

While eating habits ought to be personally customized, there are still a few general rules you can follow.

But please.

Don’t just try any fad or detox out there.

Don’t just look for the quick fix. Just because it says “diet” does not mean it’s healthy. Not all diets are created equal. And not all of them are good for you. If it offers quick results without all the effort, it’s likely a sham.

Want to eat healthy this year? Not sure how to begin? Here are 5 basic guidelines to get you started on cleansing your cravings. Continue reading →

8 Breakfast Ideas for the Gluten, Dairy, & Egg Free

| Rachel Boulos

8 breakfast ideas for the gluten egg and dairy free

Breakfast is an important meal of the day. It is also my favorite meal. Every morning I look forward to the smell of coffee percolating, the sun rising, and a plate of delicious food.

But if you have food sensitivities, it can put a real damper on your morning. Avoiding gluten, dairy, and egg is hard enough on its own, let alone as a collective group! Combine that with a low-fodmap diet and you start wondering if you’re going to lose your sanity.

I have been there. Being gluten, dairy, AND egg free can be overwhelming. The amount of frustration, stress, anxiety, energy, and the mental capacity that goes into diet restrictions and menu planning can be downright depressing.

I’m writing this post in response to you asking the question: what in the world is there to eat when you’re avoiding gluten, dairy, egg, and fodmaps? When the options look slim and you wonder if you’ll ever enjoy breakfast again, there is hope! Here are a few breakfast ideas (that don’t taste like cardboard): Continue reading →

SIBO, IBS, FODMAP: what’s in a name?

| Rachel Boulos

Maybe you’ve seen these acronyms before. Or maybe like me, they have become a familiar part of your life. But what do they all have in common? How are these related? Here’s everything you wanted to know (or didn’t) about gut acronyms. Let’s start at the beginning…

Continue reading →

When Healthy Food is Your Enemy

| Rachel Boulos

healthy food

I’ll admit it. As soon as I get in sight of the bakery section in the grocery store my heart skips a beat. I might drool a little. Donuts make me want to leap for joy. Why are those darn things so cheap and enticing? Don’t they know I’m trying to be gluten-free? Yet they taunt me from behind the glass all innocent looking with their golden, freshly frosted outside and creamy delightful inside. My arch enemy and guilty pleasure all rolled into one.

But the “eat whatever I want” era came to a screeching halt when I was diagnosed as autoimmune. “Natural” and “healthy” was now the new, or not so new, trend. My body no longer functioned properly and healthy food held the promise of possible recovery. 70-90% of the immune system is located in the gut. Fix the gut and you can fix your immune system. That’s what the research said. The argument that food and nutrition could be a better and safer form of treatment for healing chronic disease was all too convincing.

So I got to work. Out with the processed, packaged, and modified foods. Hello antibiotic-free, grass-fed, organic, clean and friendly foods. Donuts took a back seat to their nutritious counterparts (although I have still been known to sneak one on occasion). My disease changed my outlook on food as I began to slowly replace our “American” diet with foods that were hormone-free, organic, grass-fed, local, and non-GMO. Superfoods like kale, quinoa, avocados, kiefer, and nuts littered my diet. I went vegan. I tried vegetarian. I became Paleo. I experimented with exclusion diets and avoided 25 food sensitivities all at once for a month. I went dairy-free, gluten-free, corn-free, and egg-free…all at the same time, for a long time. I took a regimen of supplements so intense that I had 20 dixie cups all marked by time, an alarm set for each one. I saw a naturopath and drank dirt, or what I affectionately called, “bunny farm” (some of you know what I’m talking about). I made high fiber smoothies that made me gag but I plugged my nose and chugged it down anyway. There were moments I thought I would go crazy. But I was desperate. I did it out of necessity. I wanted my health back.

But after two years of eating better, taking supplements, and making meals from scratch, I was still suffering. My digestive and gastrointestinal system were still dysfunctional and my pain was at an all time high. I felt discouraged and was getting depressed. It didn’t make sense. I was eating “healthy”. I tried all the tricks in the book. I was following all the suggested tips for optimal nutrition but I wasn’t improving…in fact, I was just getting worse. What if I was broken beyond repair? I felt frustrated and confused.

Can healthy and nutritious foods actually do more harm than good?

Continue reading →