Authors: JJ Virgin
The Virgin Diet (16 page)
Here’s a long list of healing foods and spices. Use them to vary your diet and heal your body at the same time.
Apples:
Apples contain pectin, which helps heal your gut. They’re also rich in fiber.
Artichokes:
Loaded with antioxidants and fiber and rich in the super antioxidant glutathione, this thistle also supports healthy liver function. Because your liver metabolizes fat, you want it in peak condition to facilitate weight loss.
Avocado:
Whether sliced into a salad or mashed up with lime, cilantro and salsa, avocado supports immune function and libido. It’s also a very healthy source of monounsaturated fats.
Beets:
This food is rich in betacyanin, which helps lower homocysteine, an amino acid that increases your risk of heart disease and stroke. Beets also help cleanse your blood and are great for liver health.
Blueberries/berries:
These nutrient-dense fruits are high in fiber and antioxidants, which help heal your digestive tract, keep it functioning in peak condition and help reverse the aging process.
Broccoli:
One of my favorite healing foods, broccoli is high in sulforaphane and rich in antioxidants, which help prevent cancer and is a powerful weapon in the antiaging battle. Broccoli is also high in fiber, which will help you eliminate food and keep your digestive
tract functioning in top condition. Broccoli is a true superfood: eat it on a regular basis.
Cabbage:
Whether eaten raw as slaw or boiled up in fragrant soup, cabbage kills Helicobacter pylori, the bacteria that causes peptic ulcers. Cabbage is also rich in sulfur, which supports Cycle 2 detoxification.
Chia seeds:
These are high in fiber and rich in omega-3s. If you like thicker protein shakes, chia seeds are a great addition.
Cilantro:
This green, leafy plant helps chelate heavy metals; that is, it pulls killer metals, such as lead and mercury from your blood and helps your body flush them out. Without that toxic burden, your immune system heals, and your food intolerance evaporates.
Cinnamon:
This delicious spice is great for balancing blood sugar.
Coconut:
An antiviral food, coconut contains medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), which are good for metabolism and circulation. It’s also thermogenic, which means it stimulates metabolism to promote weight loss. Coconut also helps reduce microbial overgrowth, fungus and intestinal yeast, and it’s a high-antioxidant food.
Curcumin:
This is a major anti-inflammatory supplement as well as a terrific antioxidant and blood sugar balancer. You can take it as a supplement or find it in turmeric, so spice up those curries or sprinkle some on chicken, veggies or quinoa.
Dandelion greens:
Throw some yummy dandelion greens into your salad because they have plenty of the soluble fiber called inulin, which is a great prebiotic; they help feed the probiotic bacteria
in your intestines; and they stimulate bile production, which will help you better emulsify your fats and stay regular. It is also a natural anti-inflammatory.
Extra-virgin olive oil:
This heart-healthy oil supports healthy blood pressure and cholesterol levels. (I like to think they named it after me, but maybe I’m kidding myself?)
Flaxseed meal:
This gut-healing food is both anti-inflammatory and high in fiber. It has lignans, which are great for modulating hormone response. It’s also rich in omega-3 fats.
Garlic:
This pungent herb is a powerful blood thinner, antimicrobial, antifungal and antiviral. It thins and detoxifies your blood while fighting bacteria and fungus. Garlic is great for zapping the bad bacteria while supporting the good, so it helps reduce microbial overgrowth, fungus and intestinal yeast.
Ginger:
Gut-healing, anti-inflammatory and anti-ulcer, ginger is also good for aiding digestion. A delicious substitute for tamari when you’re making fish, it will pleasantly stimulate your taste buds with its spicy flavor. That taste explosion makes spicy foods more filling than bland ones, so if you’re feeling hungry, try a cup of ginger tea.
Green tea:
Drinking green tea supports healthy gut bacteria and boosts metabolism. This wonder beverage contains theanine, which raises GABA, a calming brain chemical that combats depression, promotes good sleep and helps your body overcome food intolerance.
Lentils:
High in fiber and protein, these are one of my favorite carbs because instead of causing your blood sugar to spike and
crash, they release their sugars very slowly. In other words, eat some lentils, and you’ll feel satiated and energetic for a long time after your meal.
Oregano:
This Italian spice helps reduce microbial overgrowth, fungus and yeast. Plus, it’s high in antioxidants, which will help you reduce your inflammatory load.
Palm fruit oil:
If you need to cook something at high heat, this is the oil to use because even extreme temperatures cannot destroy its beneficial qualities. As we have seen, palm fruit oil contains the perfect balance of saturated and polyunsaturated fats and is rich in carotenoids and tocotrienols, more antiaging chemicals.
Pomegranate:
A great source of ellagic acid, pomegranates are also a terrific way to consume polyphenols, a powerful antioxidant that fights aging and cancer.
Red onions:
Another natural antihistamine, these are also rich in quercetin, a flavonoid that supports your immune system while fighting cancer and heart disease.
Red peppers:
These colorful veggies are rich in vitamin C and are a natural antihistamine. Fighting histamines helps you combat inflammation. Red peppers are also terrific for supporting your adrenal glands. Out-of-balance adrenals might overproduce cortisol, a stress hormone that causes you to store fat.
Rosemary:
Rosemary fights inflammation and is a major antioxidant.
Sauerkraut:
One of the few fermented foods that has no gluten, dairy or yeast, sauerkraut supports healthy gut bacteria.
Sea salt:
Use it sparingly, but do use some because it’s rich in minerals. However, avoid regular table salt like the plague because it will only set you up for high blood pressure, heart disease and kidney problems.
Seafood, especially salmon, sardines, sole and scallops:
These foods are gut healing and full of omega-3s, the healing fats that combat inflammation and support your metabolism.
Sweet potato:
Rich in carotenoids (antioxidants, anticancer) and fiber, this vegetable is a natural way to satisfy your sweet tooth. It’s moderate on the glycemic index, which means it won’t make your blood sugar spike and crash but will help you feel satisfied and full for a while.
Xylitol:
The only therapeutic sweetener in existence, this natural sugar alcohol helps with your acid–alkaline balance (which is good for weight loss) while supporting your bone mineralization (anti-osteoporosis). Unlike other sugars, it doesn’t feed yeast (see
Chapter 3
) and helps prevent dental caries.
Fiber is my favorite health secret. The average American eats 5 to 14 grams of fiber per day, which is not nearly enough. You should have 50 grams of fiber per day. However, I don’t want to take you from 5 to 50 overnight. We want to slowly increase your fiber so your body can adjust to it. Every other day, add another 5 grams of fiber from food or a fiber supplement blend until you’re at 50. As you do so, you
must
follow my water schedule. I can’t tell you how miserable you’re going to feel if you don’t. If at any point along the path of increasing your intake you feel “stuck,” hold off on increasing your fiber intake until that passes (and I mean that literally).
Why do I love fiber so much? Fiber is the ultimate weight-loss tool. It slows down stomach emptying, which suppresses ghrelin, the hormone that sends hunger signals from your stomach to your brain. Fiber also helps stabilize your blood sugar levels, which lowers your insulin levels so you can use stored fat for fuel.
Fiber is the ultimate weight-loss tool.
There are two kinds of fiber: soluble and insoluble. Most high-fiber foods contain a mix of both types. Soluble fiber is found in apples, berries and flaxseed meal. Insoluble fiber is mainly found in whole grains and vegetables.
Soluble fiber is great because it is very soothing to the gut and helps heal it. Soluble fiber particles are like little sponges. They attract water and form a jelly sponge. You want things to go slow in the stomach, and fiber also helps slow things down. It can also raise HDL (the good cholesterol) even while it lowers LDL (the bad cholesterol) by interfering with its absorption. How incredible is that?
Once food hits the intestines, though, especially the large intestine, you don’t want food hanging out. If you made a bowel movement in the toilet, would you leave it sitting there? No, it would stink. You don’t want it sitting in your intestines either. Here’s where insoluble fiber is very useful. Once soluble fiber has given bulk to the stool, insoluble fiber has a laxative effect that speeds up the passage of food and waste through your gut.
Fiber is also detoxifying, and it feeds good gut bacteria. I’m telling you, if this were a drug, everyone would be taking it. This is one
of those secrets that only nutritionists tend to know. Let’s not keep it a secret anymore.
SLEEP WELL, DESTRESS…AND LOSE WEIGHT!
Getting a good night’s sleep and letting go of stress are actually crucial to weight loss. I go into more detail about how to add some stress busters to your life when we get to Cycle 3, but if you’re eager to get started on that part of the Virgin Diet now, check out the helpful tools I recommend for stress and sleep in the Resources section at www.thevirgindiet.com/resources.
My favorite way to run a weight-loss program is with a forum. During the first 3 to 4 days, people absolutely whine and cry. They miss their food. They really crave their problem foods. And that may well happen to you.
Your body is telling you that you have a serious problem.
But remember, those foods are holding your health hostage. I always tell clients in the forum, “That’s fantastic,” when I hear about their cravings—because that means that these were reactive foods for them, and cravings mean that the program is working. So, in those first few days, I want you to reframe your experience. When you feel like you’re dying for a sweet dessert or might kill for some macaroni and cheese, imagine that I’m telling you (or tell yourself), “That’s fantastic.” Those
feelings should tell you all you need to know. Your body is telling you that you have a serious problem, and it’s up to you to pay attention.
I’ve had people tell me, “I gave up the soy and the gluten, but I couldn’t give up my cheese.”
I say, “Honey, that’s the one you have to give up. You have to stop the cheese.”
By the end of the first week, the cravings will be gone, and so will the bloat.
I think that’s what you’ll see, too. Those foods that you just can’t go without are the ones that are causing all of your problems. They are your weight-loss culprits. They are the reason your IgG antibodies are just crying out for you to eat some more so your immune system can zap them—and then start the inflammatory process all over again. Remember, it’s only 21 days!
So, yes. The first couple of days you will think,
Oh my gosh. It’s killing me to go without my cheese (or soy or whatever).
That’s great. Each day will get easier. You will get past that third, fourth or fifth day, and then you will never want to go back. I see it all the time. When people get to the end of the first week, they are so thrilled. They are so happy. They are so excited.
If you make it through the “tearing out your hair” phase, by the end of the first week, the cravings will be gone, and so will the bloat. Your energy levels will be amazing. You will say, “Wow,” and you will keep on saying it until 21 days have passed and you are 10 pounds lighter and look 10 years younger. Keep your eye on
that
prize and prevail.
Now, here’s how we know that this diet plan is about nutrition and chemistry and not about calories. You might easily be tempted to steal a bite
of someone’s dessert, use a spoonful of Caesar dressing or order the soy-marinated duck at your favorite restaurant. In terms of calories, these tiny amounts of forbidden foods might seem negligible, and on a traditional diet based on the archaic bank account model of “calories in, calories out,” that might be true.
However, that’s why traditional diets don’t work. If you’ve got weight that won’t come off, it’s almost certainly because your system is out of whack, and if that is the case, even tiny amounts of dairy, egg, gluten or soy can keep the weight on and hold your symptoms in place. You wouldn’t give a heroin addict just a tiny bit of the drug, would you? You would understand that in order to heal, the person’s body has to become completely free of the problem substance.
Traditional diets don’t work.
You’re in the same position. If you want your body to heal, you can’t be 99 percent free of the top 7 high-FI foods. You have to achieve 100 percent for 21 days. That’s not me talking, it’s biology. I don’t make the rules—I just enforce them!
WHAT TO DO IF A LITTLE HIGH-FI SNEAKS IN…
Now, this is
not
a license to sneak in tiny bits of forbidden food. Even the smallest bite of baked goods or the tiniest spoonful of dairy can sabotage all your good, healing efforts.
However, if you make a mistake and don’t discover it until later, you might not have to start the Virgin Diet all over again. In Cycle 2, when you challenge the potentially healthy 4 high-FI foods, just make sure you wait 21 days before you challenge the food you inadvertently ate. For instance, if you ate soy on
day 7 by accident, wait until at least day 28 before testing soy. You want 21 free days before testing any particular food.