Oh gosh!! Donuts for my birthday? Well...uhm...ok! Don't have to twist my arm! It has been literally about 7 or 8 years since I've eaten donuts!?! It was not even an option or consideration for my current standard of life. Let me think this thing through...
Years ago, I realized that my body wasn't bouncing back from the daily wear and tear of society like it used to. Once into my 40's, I started getting migraines with intense vomiting. Let me tell you that there is nothing macho, cool or hip to be curled up in the fetal position with eyes and ears covered and a "throw-up" bag next to your face! I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy!
Life wasn't just headaches and pukes, though. I also had every injury I sustained (from years of contact sports like football and martial arts) flare up all at once. Imagine waking up in the morning and your legs aren't working like they should. You walk like an old man for 30-45 minutes until you are "warmed-up". Imagine being fine until you sit down again for any significant time and then try to stand up. Not so easy some days.!
Now, imagine getting out of bed one morning and completely collapsing to the floor! This all was happening while I was working out heavily, eating clean foods, taking supplements, and bearing the major stress of managing a multi-million dollar fitness facility! Why, at only 40 years old, was I the one who'd "fallen and can't get up"? This really frightened my beautiful wife!
After rounds and rounds of specialists and blood work, I was given the clean bill of health! Yippie! Yet...I felt like I was dying. I met a with a friend who knew a chiropractor that did a simple muscle test on me. He told me to hold my arm straight out in front of me and said "don't let me push your arm down." The first time, he couldn't move my arm at all (thanks to all the heavy workouts). Then, he did the unthinkable! He grabbed a piece of bread and had me hold it in my other hand. Then he said again "don't let me push your arm down." I held tight and he easily pushed it down...I bent my knees and braced myself...he pushed it down again... and again... and eventually with just ONE FINGER!!
Ok...What? My body's response completely changed just from holding bread!?! If that's the case...What happens when I EAT IT??? He and other doctors agreed that I have a severe sensitivity to gluten. In fact, you probably do too! It shows up differently in each individual, but one thing is for sure: wheat today is a completely different substance than it was when I was a kid. (More on that at another time!) My beautiful wife, Mie Ling, completely removed gluten from my daily routine and my health has been increasingly better through the years!
WHAT ABOUT THESE DONUTS??? I decided to see if my system had been restored or at least if there was a way of counter-acting the effects of the gluten, since it had been years since I regularly ate it. Well...let me tell you that the day before my birthday, I loaded up on raw, dark, green, leafy vegetables, because they have an abundance of digestive enzymes. This was important to me, since I had learned that today's wheat lacks the enzymes to break it down, thus causing a myriad of issues. Would this work for me? I DID eat the donuts and felt fine. The next day, I had a headache for a few hours, but the migraine never manifested. The greens paved the way for my body to be equipped and empowered to handle gluten! Hallelujah!
Listen! I'm not saying to start eating donuts or to start subscribing to the Standard American Diet of too much of all the wrong things. I'm definitely NOT going to start eating bread again. However, I am saying to start eating more dark, green, leafy vegetables, especially if you plan to continue eating junk food. My two cents. There is power in the greens! Power, I say!! Revelations 22:2 "...and it's leaves will be for the healing of the nations."
Years ago, I realized that my body wasn't bouncing back from the daily wear and tear of society like it used to. Once into my 40's, I started getting migraines with intense vomiting. Let me tell you that there is nothing macho, cool or hip to be curled up in the fetal position with eyes and ears covered and a "throw-up" bag next to your face! I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy!
Life wasn't just headaches and pukes, though. I also had every injury I sustained (from years of contact sports like football and martial arts) flare up all at once. Imagine waking up in the morning and your legs aren't working like they should. You walk like an old man for 30-45 minutes until you are "warmed-up". Imagine being fine until you sit down again for any significant time and then try to stand up. Not so easy some days.!
Now, imagine getting out of bed one morning and completely collapsing to the floor! This all was happening while I was working out heavily, eating clean foods, taking supplements, and bearing the major stress of managing a multi-million dollar fitness facility! Why, at only 40 years old, was I the one who'd "fallen and can't get up"? This really frightened my beautiful wife!
After rounds and rounds of specialists and blood work, I was given the clean bill of health! Yippie! Yet...I felt like I was dying. I met a with a friend who knew a chiropractor that did a simple muscle test on me. He told me to hold my arm straight out in front of me and said "don't let me push your arm down." The first time, he couldn't move my arm at all (thanks to all the heavy workouts). Then, he did the unthinkable! He grabbed a piece of bread and had me hold it in my other hand. Then he said again "don't let me push your arm down." I held tight and he easily pushed it down...I bent my knees and braced myself...he pushed it down again... and again... and eventually with just ONE FINGER!!
Ok...What? My body's response completely changed just from holding bread!?! If that's the case...What happens when I EAT IT??? He and other doctors agreed that I have a severe sensitivity to gluten. In fact, you probably do too! It shows up differently in each individual, but one thing is for sure: wheat today is a completely different substance than it was when I was a kid. (More on that at another time!) My beautiful wife, Mie Ling, completely removed gluten from my daily routine and my health has been increasingly better through the years!
WHAT ABOUT THESE DONUTS??? I decided to see if my system had been restored or at least if there was a way of counter-acting the effects of the gluten, since it had been years since I regularly ate it. Well...let me tell you that the day before my birthday, I loaded up on raw, dark, green, leafy vegetables, because they have an abundance of digestive enzymes. This was important to me, since I had learned that today's wheat lacks the enzymes to break it down, thus causing a myriad of issues. Would this work for me? I DID eat the donuts and felt fine. The next day, I had a headache for a few hours, but the migraine never manifested. The greens paved the way for my body to be equipped and empowered to handle gluten! Hallelujah!
Listen! I'm not saying to start eating donuts or to start subscribing to the Standard American Diet of too much of all the wrong things. I'm definitely NOT going to start eating bread again. However, I am saying to start eating more dark, green, leafy vegetables, especially if you plan to continue eating junk food. My two cents. There is power in the greens! Power, I say!! Revelations 22:2 "...and it's leaves will be for the healing of the nations."