Hidden Weight Gain Factors
March 25, 2017
If you’re frustrated by accumulating weight and pounds not dropping as fast as you’d like, you'll want to listen in as we’re joined by Ann Louise Gittleman, a New York Times best-selling author of over 30 nutrition books. Gittleman is sharing her research of ten different hidden factors that influence why people gain weight and why they struggle to lose it.
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Transcript
DAR: Welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition. I'm Darleen Kvist, certified nutrition specialist and licensed nutritionist and host of Dishing Up Nutrition. It's been 12 years of saying that so I think I finally got it. We are in for a very special treat. I'm so pleased to have a longtime friend, Ann Louise Gittlelman, joining us by phone. Ann Louise is a New York Times bestselling author of over 30 nutrition books. That's a lot. Just think of it. She has actually written over 30 well-known, well-read, and well-respected books about nutrition.
BRENNA: Now, if you have found yourself gaining weight or if you are frustrated because the numbers on the scale are just not dropping like you want them to, then you'll want to stay tuned. Dr. Ann Louise Gittleman is joining us to share her expertise about 10 hidden weight gain factors. Yes, you heard that-- 10.
DAR: And I bet there is more than 10.
BRENNA: There’s probably more than 10 and we don't have time to even go through all 10. So, thank you for the introduction, Dar. I am Brenna Thompson, registered dietitian and co-host of Dishing Up Nutrition today.
This nutrition show is brought to you by Nutritional Weight & Wellness, a company providing life changing nutrition education and life changing nutrition counseling.
DAR: Now listeners, if you have not had the opportunity to read one of Dr. Anne Louise Gittleman's nutrition books, you definitely want to after the show. I know you're going to want to. So, in 2016, Anne Louise was acknowledged by Self magazine as one of the top 10 nutritionist in the United States. But I actually recognized that factor twenty-five years ago when I heard her speak at the national food and nutrition conference. At the very last minute she filled in for Dr. Barry Sears, and I think a lot of people know that he wrote The Zone, and something happened and he was unable to attend so Anne Louise graciously filled in for him and she was just an amazing presenter. The research just flowed out of her mouth and her brain. And I was so impressed at the end, and I’m a little bit of a shy person so I don't usually do this, I kind of jumped up and went up and I thanked her for the presentation, and from that day on we started a long distance friendship and I think it's because we have similar goals. Both of us want to help people feel better through nutrition. And I think when you look at her books you really see that.
BRENNA: Yes. So many of our Nutritional Weight & Wellness clients and our Dishing Up Nutrition listeners want to lose weight, but because of past eating habits or lifestyle habits, weight loss is so slow. And this is where Dr. Anne Louise's research comes in. She has pinpointed 10 different hidden factors of why people gain weight and why they struggle to lose weight.
DAR: So, Anne Louise, welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition today. I remember your first book back in 1988 and it was called Beyond Pritikin. I read that book over and over and over and over so I could really understand it. And in that book, you talked about the importance of fats and fatty acids for metabolism. And, Brenna, you have to agree, we find it's difficult for a lot of our clients to even believe that they need good fats to lose weight. So, Anne Louise, welcome and come and fill us in on why low fat and fat free foods actually slow metabolism.
ANNE LOUISE: Well, good morning to both of you and thank you for that glowing introduction. That feels like yesterday! Well, I think that the message of low and fat free has been one that Americans have really taken to heart because we all got so much fatter on no fat and low fat over the 90s and in the early 2000s. And what we're recognizing now is that you really need healthy fats, what I like to call “smart fats.” So, when you eat more fat you can actually lose more weight, get more healthy, and that's because fat is the most important nutrient for your brain and is the perfect fuel for the body. It actually slows down and is able to level off blood sugar, which is one of the reasons that we get so hungry if your blood sugar goes high or it goes too low, then you feel like eating, but you're tempted to not overeat when you have a meal that has a little bit of fat, whether that's from nuts or seeds or avocado or the right kind of oil dressings like coconut oil, flaxseed oil, olive oil, avocado oil, and all of those types of that are now very much part of the forefront of eating fat losing weight. And I really think that fat is the missing link to sustained weight loss and very vibrant health. Fat has been maligned. It's been misunderstood, and it's finally making a comeback. You see many new books, like my revised and updated New Fat Flush Plan and many others on the market place these days that are telling us to eat fat, get thin, and certainly eat all the smart fat so that you lose more weight and get healthier. And I think it's important that the truth is finally coming to light, that eating the right kind of fats is the best decision you can possibly make for overall health and permanent weight loss.
DAR: I think, Anne Louise, for you to say it over and over and over, and we say that too, in classes, but it's almost like another expert saying that because people have been hearing this “don't eat fat” for 50 years at least. And so, it takes a while to get that out of people's brains. And we feel like we're saying the same thing over and over, but then we'll have people come to class and say, “Really, I can actually eat avocado?” or “I can eat nuts and it's ok?” Brenna, you have to agree. I mean, we still see that all the time.
BRENNA: Well, and even when they've been going through the class, sometimes class participants will come in for their consultations and they'll say, “I know you're telling me that I can eat these things.” And they just haven't quite embraced it yet. They still have that fat fear going on.
DAR: Another thing we mentioned is the fact that you have written about 30 books, and they're great books, and because we teach a lot of classes, we're teaching hundreds of classes every month, and we refer to your books a lot of times. You have a book that's called, Before the Change. Tell us a little bit about that book.
ANNE LOUISE: It is also going to be updated this year, Dar. So, we've got even more research about it. It's about the change that takes place before menopause. It’s perimenopause, it’s the change before the change. Theoretically and figuratively and literally. And it's all about how the right kind of fats, the right kind of nutrients, the right kind of bioidentical hormones can really help us navigate through this specific change of life. And so, we find that it's not just your ability to lose weight that you benefits from when you eat the right kind of fats, but your hormones get balanced. I mean no more hormone havoc. It's amazing what happens when you eat the right kind of fats and find out that you are no longer irritable, that you're no longer tired, and that your skin hair and nails starts to look vibrant and healthy again. It's a really important message that I look at from many different points of view and is a concurrent and consistent theme through all of my books.
DAR: I agree. And I think that before the change, that perimenopause time, is probably, for a lot of women, the harder times as far as going into menopause. Those are the ones that everybody experiences, those ups and downs, and they need the help, especially using the right kinds of fats to get re-balanced. Totally agree. The other one, I teach a lot of menopause classes, and we use your book Hot Times a lot in that. And maybe you're updating that one too.
ANNE LOUISE: Well, I am eventually. But the reality is that the you're so right, Dar, and I have to say this on air that you are just right on track with all of this and I'm sure that your whole community out there is very grateful that they have your wisdom to learn from. But, the reality is that the most uncomfortable symptoms and changes come right at the beginning of the menopause journey, so we don't even recognize that it could be menopause because sometimes it comes so early.
DAR: It comes in the 30s, doesn't it? For some people.
ANNE LOUISE: Yes, it comes as early as the 30s and you say, “I'm too young for this!” And so, you don't even think about it, and that's why I think a book like this in your classes is so important.
DAR: So, then about 10 years ago you rewrote The Fat Flush Planand then you updated it this past year. And that's the New Fat Flush Plan and Brenna's giving a signal that we have to go to break.
BREAK
DAR: Well, welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. We're discussing the top hidden weight gain factors with Dr. Ann Louise Gittleman. She's the author of the New Fat Flush Plan. 3/4 of the American population are struggling with carrying more weight than what is healthy for them. So, today we're looking at some hidden lifestyle factors that may be affecting your numbers on the scale. Some require simple changes, such as giving up soda. Some require us to no longer eat foods containing trans fats, such as fast foods, muffins, cookies, pizza rolls. And they have to be careful of medications that slow metabolism. So, there's a lot of different factors.
BRENNA: There are a lot of different factors. Anne Louise, I know our listeners are saying, “Stop introducing her already and just let her tell me what I can do to help me lose weight faster!” So, let's talk about hidden factor number one in your book: your tired, toxic liver. So, please tell us more about that.
ANNE LOUISE: Well, interestingly enough, Brenna, your tired and toxic liver can be a very worn out fat-burning machine. And what people don't seem to appreciate or realize is that each day the liver produces about a quart of liquid and it's known as bile and its job is to emulsify and absorb fats in the small intestine. Bile, to me, is the real key to the liver's ability to assimilate and digest fats. And if it's not flowing properly, if it's not trickling out at the right times because you don't have a gallbladder, then fat can't be emulsified and that role that we have at our waistlines that may be the result of the improper fat burning or fat metabolism. So, the liver is a hidden fat burner so to speak. It's an efficient metabolizer if it's working properly, but the problem is it can be so overloaded with everything that Dar spoke about-- the trans fats, even high fructose corn syrup goods-- that it can't do its job efficiently. So, we have to support the liver, clean up the liver, so it can become a fat burning organ the way it was designed to.
DAR: So, I think this may be a totally new concept to a lot of listeners, so let's go back over that just a little bit and think about what're the things that people do that cause the liver to be sluggish or not break down fat or those things, because I think that's new information for people.
ANNE LOUISE: It probably is, and that's where the liver stressors come into play. That's so true. I think that when you talk about liver stressors you'd be very remiss if you didn't talk about caffeine. Caffeine is very stressful for the liver if you're taking more than two cups a day.
DAR: And we know there is a coffee shop on every corner.
ANNE LOUISE: Well, because people are so tired they use it as a drug. I mean, caffeine is no longer just a little pick me up, it's an absolute street drug. It’s sad, but isn't it true?
BRENNA: There's a joke that in D.C. that there's a Starbucks on every corner.
ANNE LOUISE: Oh, it's true. But it’s not just in D.C. I mean, you can come to the Pacific Northwest or even the Southwest where I'm currently stationed and I'll tell you that it's very true here as well, only people use a lot of ice tea and I think it's because of the caffeine in the tea. But then, of course, you've got sugar, and I think this is an important one for people to understand. I think they've finally gotten the message, at least I hope so, that sugar, in some ways, is the new fat. It's what is packing on the pounds because of the insulin connection, which is a fat-promoting hormone. But you've also got the real specter of what is now being recognized as the high fructose corn syrup phenomenon, and the fact that fructose can turn on fat production and fat storage in your liver. So, in reality, sugar is becoming the new fat. And it can really slow down the liver’s metabolism. So, whether that's coming from high fructose corn syrup, which seems to be a very prevalent source, or the white stuff, or even the artificial sweeteners, we know that sugar is a real liver stressor and we've got to make sure that we don't overdo the glucose, the sucrose, the maltose, the lactose, and the fructose. All the over-the-counters, as well as the trans fats that you mentioned. And let's talk about medications for a little bit.
DAR: Well, before you run into medications, I want to take one step back on how people are loading up on fructose, and I don't think people really see that, but when they wander into this coffee shop and they order, I don't even know what some of these coffee drinks are. So, what they're getting, like you said, certainly they're getting caffeine, but what else are they getting in that drink? And some people are drinking two of these a day or possibly even three.
ANNE LOUISE: Well, they're getting sugar, from table sugar to even high fructose corn syrup, because more sugar than we than we realize contains a mixture of both fructose and glucose. They say that table sugar is about 50/50. But if you get really high fructose corn syrup it's about 55/45. And I'm concerned about sugar, I'm concerned about high fructose corn syrup that I think we're becoming more aware of. But I'm also concerned about even the natural sweeteners, like the agave nectar.
DAR: Yes, it has become so popular. It's a whopping 90 percent fructose, which is about twice as high as high fructose corn syrup. So, you've got to be careful. I mean all this hype about agave, I think, is really ill begotten because it's such a high source of hidden fructose.
DAR: I think this is totally new information for a lot of listeners. Just go over that one more time because I don't think that people realize this agave syrup is 90 percent fructose.
BRENNA: And people often come into our classes or clients or in the office and they say it's a natural sweetener and I say, “Well, corn syrup is kind of a natural sweetener, too, I mean they're all refined.”
ANNE LOUISE: Well, and then the other thing which is so disconcerting is that agave is considered to be low glycemic on the index because it's largely made of fructose, that natural sugar that we love in fruit. But when fructose comes in fruit, like an apple, or like a pear, or berries, it comes with a host of anti-oxidants and fiber and vitamins. But when it becomes extracted, it becomes very concentrated, and that really upsets the way in which your body metabolizes sugar. It affects fatty deposits in the liver, it's one of the underlying causes of the nonalcoholic fatty liver syndrome. And we just have to remember that agave, of all the natural sweeteners, has the highest fructose content of any commercial sweetener.
DAR: Yes. I think when people are looking at those protein bars out there or these things that you pick up at your local co-op and really look at the ingredients, people will be shocked about some of that. And I know I'm getting the signal from Brenna. It's that time again.
BRENNA: It is. You are listening to Dishing Up Nutrition. Today we are joined by author Dr. Anne Louise Gittleman and we're discussing the top 10 lifestyle nutritional factors that slow weight loss. As I was reading through The New Fat Flush Plan, I discovered that Anne Louise wrote about the fat GLA and the fat-fighting connection that GLA has. So, in our Weight & Wellness series we teach people about GLA, also known as gamma linoleic acid. In the Weight & Wellness series we teach that GLA from borage oil or evening primrose oil helps to stimulate our metabolism and activate the fat known as brown fat. Yes, brown fat is good fat and it helps us to burn off those extra calories and boost our energy.
So, if you've got questions about GLA, or anything that you hear on the radio today, I would be happy to answer questions. You can just give the office a call at 651-699-3438. I won't necessarily be in the office, but I will get back to people. And we'll be back in a minute.
BREAK
DAR: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. Before break we were discussing the benefits of taking GLA, gamma linoleic acid. So, we talked about how GLA, it's a fatty acid, and it turns on the fat-burning ability of your brown fat. And people say, “Well what's brown fat?” Well, brown fat goes around your organs. And where did I learn all this? In Anne Louise's first book. It's pretty great. And it runs up and down your spine, and it helps your metabolism work better. So, we said that to activate brown fat, it supports your metabolism. So, I often recommend about 360 milligrams of GLA from some form daily, and it also really helps other things. It helps to reduce inflammation, especially in the lungs. And it helps with PMS cramps and other things that happen at PMS time. And, the other one is really important. It supports healthy nails, skin, and hair. And that's the one where people will say, “I'll take that!” And so, it helps to hydrate all the tissues in your body. And as women get older, sometimes we need extra hydration of some of these tissues in certain places. And also, it helps keep away wrinkles.
So, where do you get GLA? Well, we talked about borage oil. Anne Louise, you love black current oil, I know, and we've talked about primrose oil and so all those are great sources of GLA. Do you have anything you want to add to that one?
ANNE LOUISE: Well, I think you’ve covered it beautifully. I mean, I think what's important for people to understand is that GLA is this skinny fat. So, you need fat to burn fat. And many years ago, it was considered kind of the new obesity theory that you have this brown fat that was a special form of fat that burns off the extra calories and it's dormant, it's sleeping in overweight people. So, if you can get it to awaken, you can start burning calories effortlessly without even doing anything. You don't even have to exercise, I shouldn't even say that on air, but it's true.
DAR: It’s like you can lose weight while you sleep. That's what we all say if you sleep better.
ANNE LOUISE: It's true. If you follow some of the other suggestions in The New Fat Flush Plan, you're going to even sleep better. But, we really need to bring back these good omega 6s. There's so much discussion about the 3s that we’ve forgotten that there's another essential fatty acid in town which is known as gamma linoleic acid. And you're so right, you get it in the evening primrose and the black current seed oil on the borage. And one of the real claims to fame, besides the GLA fat-fighting connection is that GLA and omega 6s are very good for the skin. So, if you want to look good as you get older without any wrinkles or any brown spots then think of GLA. It is a woman’s guardian angel.
DAR: I take it every day, three a day, for sure. And I bet you do too.
BRENNA: So, before break we had been talking about sugar, high fructose corn syrup, a little about agave. Anne Louise, can you tell us more about how high-sugar foods, some of these other sugars that we were talking about, affect triglycerides and our liver.
ANNE LOUISE: Well, very simply, your liver goes into overdrive to convert the sugar into fats and then it can make more triglycerides. And so that's what we don't want. We don't want to feed the triglycerides. So, in order to do that, because we see that women, particularly, that have high triglycerides, have a higher incidence of heart disease. So, we've got to reduce the sugar or anything that metabolizes quickly into sugar. And that's where all those OSC foods come into play, the glucose, the sucrose, the maltose, the fructose. So, sugar is a real liver stressor, as you know. And, in addition to all those trans fats that we're getting from some of those processed foods, as well as the caffeine, we have a number of these stressors in the environment that you have to be so much more conscious of because it will slow down the liver.
BRENNA: I think that is a good transition into maybe talking more about that other factor there, the trans fats. Can you tell us more of where we would find trans fats? Especially in the last couple years, they've been talking about moving them out of the food supply, but they're probably not replacing them with anything much better.
ANNE LOUISE: Well, they're not. And they're created when vegetable oils are hydrogenated and this process produces solid or even semi-solid fats that are used all over the place in baked goods and processed foods and certainly in fast food restaurants. So, you're getting this altered, fake fat that really impedes the liver's ability to burn fat. It really affects one of the detox phases of the liver and then it can increase fatty deposits within the liver itself. It thickens up the bile and it reads the bile flow through the bile ducts. And you find trans fats in some margarine. I don't know if we still have trans fats in margarine these days.
DAR: I think there are some. Yes, for sure.
ANNE LOUISE: There still are. And you can get margarines with zero trans fats which are still with the processed chemicals vegetable oils. But you find them in margarines, hydrogenated and partially-hydrogenated vegetable oils, shortening, and all the processed foods that many of us still love. So, as a general rule, the softer and more fluid the oil, the fewer trans fats it contains. You get a semi-solid kind of fat, a plastic fat if you will, with trans fats. And that's why I say bring back butter. Get rid of your margarine and bring back butter, which is a healthy saturated fat that has now been vindicated completely from being a causative factor in heart disease.
DAR: And when we started talking about this, 25-30 years ago, Anne Louise, I think people thought, well I know that I was referred to as the crazy aunt at a few of the holiday parties with my family. They thought, because we've had a lot of heart disease in my family, and of course, they were given the message that they should eat margarine and not butter and I kept saying, “No, no, we should be eating butter.” And I'm sure you heard the same thing, Anne Louise.
ANNE LOUISE: Oh, I remember many years ago I was at an event for my mother and I could hear a pin drop when I said you've got to get rid of your margarine. And it was amazing and everybody kind of looked at me with their mouths open and jaws dropped. And I explained why and this was even back in the 80s. But the message is really kind of mainstream in this day and time. We've got to get the margarine out and move back to butter. As well as coconut oil, which is a healthy saturated fat from the vegetable family, that we're finding has many redeeming qualities. Vegetable fats, like coconut oil, are making a comeback because they're so stable and so antibacterial and antifungal. So, I say bring back the coconut and then boost your metabolism, in doing so.
DAR: And I think that as people are listening, and they are saying, well, I'm not using margarine, I'm using butter. But they're still getting a lot of bad fats, these refined oils and trans fats. And they don't realize that when they slide into the fast food lane that that's probably almost 100 percent of what they're eating in those foods, is some type of partially hydrogenated fat. But, even more surprising is when they slide in and when they are getting their coffee, they're getting a muffin. And how do they make these commercial muffins now?
BRENNA: Oh, well, they're not using butter or coconut oil. They're going to be using a vegetable oil like corn or soybean or cotton seed oils. And they wreck our hormones.
DAR: And why would they be doing that?
BRENNA: Because it's cheap!
DAR: OK. All right. Well that's some of the things. When we're doing the show, we try to help people think about, “Oh, this is what I'm doing and this is why my triglycerides are too high or that's why I've got a nonalcoholic fatty liver or oh that's what's going on.”
BRENNA: Yes. Making that food body connection.
DAR: Yes. So, I know we have to take another quick break, but when we come back, let's talk about medications that people have no idea are affecting their liver.
BRENNA: Sounds great. You are listening to Dishing Up Nutrition. If you are like most Americans, you eat only about 10 to maybe 20 grams of fiber a day. But really 30 to 35 grams of fiber is recommended for long term health. When you take the Nutrition 4 Weight Loss 12 class series you will learn how to eat to achieve 30 grams of fiber from variety of vegetables and fruits. Without adequate fiber, your cholesterol might go up, and your liver gets taxed, and you will experience less fat burning and less lower metabolism. As your mother told you when you were a kid, “Eat your vegetables!” Think “Fiber. Fiber. Fiber. Veggie. Veggie. Veggie.” If you are looking for support and a behavior-change-type nutrition class, sign up for our Nutrition 4 Weight Loss program. You can take the class either in person or online. Just go to weightandwellness.com or call our office at 651-699-3438 for details. We'll be right back.
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DAR: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. At Nutritional Weight & Wellness we have a saying to live by. It is “To know is to do.” And my team at Nutritional Weight & Wellness specialize in presenting classes and teaching you to know, and then we help you to be able to do. We will help you change your nutrition to help you feel better. Anne Louise Gittleman specializes in writing life-changing nutrition books that help each reader to know the information that they need to feel their best. And we want to both credit Dr. Hazel Parcells for helping us be able to connect. She was such a forward thinker and she had so much knowledge and she was willing to share it with Anne Louise and Ann Louise was willing to share it with me. And I really want to thank her and Anne Louise for all that you’ve done, and all through the 10 years or 15 or 20 how many years has it been?
ANNE LOUISE: Who's counting? We may be going on 20 years, my dear.
DAR: I think we are. Anne Louise, really, thank you so much for being a guest on Dishing Up Nutrition this morning.
BRENNA: Anne Louise, how can people learn more about you or how can they contact you after the show today?
ANNE LOUISE: Well, the book is available on Amazon. I don't know if you're selling the book or if people can perhaps get it through you in your classes, but if not, they can certainly go to Amazon and annelouise.com is my web site. But even more importantly is to find us on Facebook. We have a group called the Fat Flush Nation, which is very active. And if you're interested in joining just drop us a quick note on Facebook and I think that might be the best bet. We've got a very supportive group because we find, as I'm sure with your wonderful classes, that support is really key in terms of keeping people on track.
DAR: It is for sure. Exactly.
ANNE LOUISE: And being surrounded by like-minded people, so we have a lot of virtual friends online. And it's been a wonderful experience and it allows us to reach out to just such a wide group of people all over the world. So, it's The Fat Flush Nation on Facebook or the dot com or Amazon for The New Fat Flush Plan.
BRENNA: Sounds great. Fantastic.
DAR: So, we were coming back and we were going to talk about what, Brenna?
BRENNA: We were going to talk about medications and how medications might be slowing a person's metabolism, making it hard for them to lose weight.
ANNE LOUISE: Yeah, it's so interesting because medications have to be processed by the liver, and some drugs make the liver work much harder. Hormone replacement therapy is one of those medications. The synthetic hormone replacement therapy that so many women took years ago.
DAR: Well and then if you think about that, you're even talking about the typical birth control pill. Right?
ANNE LOUISE: Yeah, and they don't talk about that anymore. But, that still puts the liver on high alert and then the liver has to work harder to metabolize and break down the estrogens. And beyond that, we now have so many people that are taking antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs. The antidepressants really have that metabolic lowering effect. So, if we think about that, if we think about the cholesterol-lowering drugs, the anti-diabetic drugs, it all just adds up. But then you can even consider the over-the-counter drugs because some of them really accumulate in the liver and can cause liver failure, believe it or not.
DAR: So, what are we talking about when you say over-the-counter? People are saying “What is she talking about?”
ANNE LOUISE: Tylenol is what I'm talking about and that's been well-documented. I mean there were studies by researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and they found that almost 40 percent of more than 300 cases of liver failure were due to excessive buildup of a particular active ingredient in the popular pain reliever Tylenol. So, I mean this is real in terms of what these things do to the liver. Your body knows best. Your body doesn't forget. And the body has to metabolize every food, every additive, every pesticide, everything that you're breathing, eating, or thinking, and a lot of it goes through that liver, so cleansing it and supporting it is so important. This is liver season, because we're in the springtime, which is which is considered to be liver season, this is the time to really clean up your act. So, I'm hoping that you'll have lots and lots of people coming to your classes, reading this book, and truly cleansing and detoxing, because this is the time that Mother Nature declares that you've got to take your body to the cleaners.
BRENNA: So, besides giving up processed sugar and trans fats and working on our pain levels and our moods, what is one thing that somebody could eat to help them support their liver?
ANNE MARIE: One of the easiest things they can do is just take lemon and water first thing in the morning rather than a cup of coffee or tea. I think the juice of half a lemon in eight ounces of warm water is very detoxifying for the liver and the kidneys that kind of will start the day off right.
DAR: And you're not saying you should you should add sugar to that.
BRENNA: No, we're not having warm lemonade.
DAR: So, one of the other things that you talked about in your book is food sensitivities and we talk about that a lot and how that affects the liver and also slows metabolism. So, can we just have a little discussion about that?
ANNE LOUISE: Yeah, we can. I mean, food sensitivities are huge because what we do on a day to day basis is eat food, so we're coming in contact with a possible toxin or poison on a daily basis. Morning, noon, and night, so to speak. So, I think food sensitivities are really a big deal. And if you can understand that there are certain foods that are commonly reactive, wheat is one of them, sugar is another, dairy products may be number three, number four is yeast-type foods, what we find is that when these foods respond negatively in your system, they create an inflammatory response. And your body, in its infinite wisdom, tries to put out this inflammation by creating more fluid. So, you get much more fluid retention. And one of the ways that you can lose your bloat and water retention is by doing an elimination diet that eliminates those foods and I try to do that in The Fat Flush Group. So, it's quite a biggie. You'd be so surprised at what so many people are allergic to in this day and age. We're finding that black pepper is a high allergy as well as sugar.
BRENNA: That is really interesting. We do have to wrap up our show today, unfortunately.
DAR: Anne Louise, thank you so much. We could talk for hours. I think you've got a lot of good hints in your book. So, you people may not read it cover to cover but they can go and research a little topic and say, “OK, so what should I do to help my liver function better?”
So, at Nutritional Weight & Wellness, our goal is to help each and every person experience better health through eating real food. It's really a simple message, but it's a powerful message. Eating real food is life changing.
And thank you, Anne Louise. Thank you, Brenna. Thank you, listeners. Have a great day.
