2. Dairy
The quality of dairy ingredients you consume is crucial. Ideally, they come from an animal raised in a pasture finished and ethically treated for disease. When I was in vet school I learned that 99 percent of milk-producing animals are treated on a regular basis with hormone protocols. (This was my thesis topic.) Antibiotics, dewormers and other medications are used to treat the effects of unbalanced nutrition. Commonly, the majority of animals used for milk are in a state called subclinical acidosis due to the grain diet they are fed to increase milk production, whereas in nature, they would consume mostly grass. Since the unnatural grain diet provokes various health issues in these animals, it affects the milk they produce. It means we are typically drinking milk and consuming other milk-derived products from sub-clinically sick cows in a state of acidosis. In addition, dairy products increase your body’s production of mucus, which can aggravate symptoms of allergies, sinusitis, bloating, excessive mucus, skin issues and other conditions.
3. Gluten
Consider that a significant proportion of grains nowadays are genetically modified, so our body can tend to overreact to these altered wheat components once they are in our gut. Many people won´t have troublesome symptoms. However, if you suffer from depression, anxiety, brain fog, joint pain, bloating, fatigue, headaches, I encourage you to look into the possibility of a gluten-related cause and do some research. Remember, our gut is our second brain, and if it overreacts to certain foods, the chemical response will affect our mood and other organs in our body.
4. Aspartame
This artificial sweetener (also known as “non-nutritive sweetener,” with no calories) has been associated with increases in weight and waist circumference, and higher incidence of obesity, hypertension, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular illness. My challenge for you this month: If you ever experience any of the symptoms mentioned here, read the ingredient labels for products you are consuming and look for these four ingredients.
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