One of the things that I know push my initial diagnosis into the stratosphere was wholesome orange juice. When I was getting the diabetic thirst complication I would drink the 2 top brands of apple or orange juice.
It is the reward side of your brain employing you to divulge in the tempting distractions, not your liver, kidneys, pancreas or heart.
I have found it relatively easy to give up all of the stuff that got me ill due to more sports background discipline. Adjuncts to this have been:
- Education. I have researched all of the foods I used to interact with such as pasta, oats, rice, cereal, potatoes sweet fruit, and deduced they are all either man made hyperpaletable garbage or nothing like the original nature provided specimen. I don't trust the drastic changes man-kind has inflicted on food, so pick mine with some knowledge.
- Unknown Impact Assessment. We have no idea what sweetners and the like do, no matter what tests are conducted. My view on this is shaped by the fact that as a species we have been adapted to some meat and some plants / fruits for millennia - multi-generational tests are the real barometer. Look at the 100 year plus debacle with margarine and vegetable oils - we effectively have been experimented on, side affects quietly removed, inflammation proved to increase, whilst still hanging on due to lowering ldl.
- Comparing Ancestral Health. This has been a no brainer for me, all of the usual suspects who don't do what we do with foods, shows me that eating as close to the original as natural as circumstances will permit works best for non-communicable health markers and body composition.
- History. Similar to point 3, cross referencing in each society non-communicable diseases and body composition at stages where more local and whole foods were eaten speaks volumes. The recent and still on iplayer "What we feed our children" illustrated this beautifully in a rural part of Brazil, where health tanked after the trifecta was introduced (items with sugar, vegetable oils and flour).
A couple of weeks ago my wife made some healthy than "normal" scones (regular white flour, with stevia). This did trigger me, as scones were my choice of cakes (along with apple / cherry pies). I made some almond versions to dampen the feeling which worked.
Having watched the evolution of some those in remission, I can see that over time the variety has actually gone down, alongside the treats.
