So what are you eating? My top five foods to avoid

Food contains the information our body needs to heal and follow healthy physiological pathways. Food can also harm and promote disease. For this reason one should always look at your plate of food and ask yourself, is this food that will heal or food that will harm? The food that we eat can either act as medicine, or it can promote illness, for this reason, there are specific foods, known to cause disease that I eliminate from my diet.

Here are my top 5 foods to avoid:

1. Gluten and gluten containing food. Gluten is know to feed the bad bacteria in the gut that is responsible for destroying the tight junctions that is responsible for the integrity of the gut lining. So in short, gluten promotes leaky gut which causes inflammation which is associated with chronic disease.

2. Dairy. Dairy contains the protein casein that has been associated with leaky gut (cassein molecular structure is similar to that of gluten and can cause gut dysbiosis similar to gluten, especially in individuals with an already existing gluten sensitivity). Conventionally reared livestock is also routinely treated with growth promoters and antibiotics which can be found in the animal products we ingest such as milk, cheese, butter and yoghurt.

3. Sugar, sugar substitutes and artificial sweeteners. Sugar and sugar alternatives is detrimental to a healthy gut microbiome. Considering almost 70% of the immune system is found in the mucosal layers of the gut, it is of great importance to avoid sugar for a healthy gut and a healthy functioning immune system.

4. Processed foods. Processed foods contain additives, preservatives, thickeners and fillers which research suggests negatively affects the gut and also causes systemic inflammation. My rule of thumb, if it is made in a plant, don't eat it; if it comes from a plant, eat it.

5. Conventionally reared animal protein. I only use free range meat and chicken that have been reared on a grass fed diet. Animals reared on routine antibiotics, growth promotors and a grain fed diet will produce food that ipro-inflammatory that will negatively affect your hormones, gut health and your over all health.

The food that you eat matters!