Diet Changes

I’ve made more dietary changes than usual these first months of 2023…challenging myself to eat healthier. I am not entirely settled into my ‘new normal’ and realizing that, now that I’ve have succeeded in a few changes, my confidence for changing more is growing. The overarching theme for the changes is eliminating foods that are heavily processed (ones that include heavy metals or ingredients that seem to cause digestive problems first).

The changes I’ve already made –

I moved from Lactaid milk to soymilk when it seemed that the Lactaid was not completely resolving my lactose intolerance. The soymilk was better, but I still sometimes felt bloated. I discovered that all the soymilks that provide calcium also have gellan gum which can slow digestion in some people. All the soymilks I found that did not include gellan gum, did not have calcium. So – I am back to the ‘no milk’ situation and taking supplements to get enough calcium (since I don’t get enough in my diet).

I was using stevia for sweetening my hot tea when the research about erythritol came out…discovered that the packets I was using had erythritol as the first ingredient! The packets in my pantry were thrown away and I didn’t replace them. Right now, I am using honey if I want my tea sweetened but usually don’t need anything.

I started looked at my supplements and discovered that all the chewables have sugar of some kind (usually sugar alcohol or artificial). I have finished my supply of those supplements and bought capsules or tablets instead. Also – I noticed that chewable calcium supplements not only had sweeteners…the also contained talc (which is not something I want to eat either).

Diet Pepsi has been my soft drink of choice for a long time. I have cut back…sometimes stopped completely…but have always started up again. This time I am more serious about avoiding it completely. Aside from the health benefits, stopping has reducing the volume of our recycling! An element of self-discovery: just stopping is easier than gradually tapering when it comes to habitual food choices.

My 1st breakfast has been dark chocolate for years. The recent story about lead and cadmium in dark chocolate was an unpleasant surprise. My brand of choice was high in cadmium and had enough lead to be problematic for eating on a daily basis. So – I ate what I had and will not buy more. A positive aspect to eliminating this habitual food was that my 1st breakfasts have a bit more variety now…and usually include chia seeds (1 tablespoon in water to make swallowing supplements easier and provide a good amount of omega-3 oil).

Bread in the grocery store often has a lot of ingredients that don’t sound like food at all. Presumably most of them are preservatives. I found an organic brand that had ingredients that I recognize…the same ones I would use at home if I took the time to make bread…and won’t buy anything else from now on!

I’m not sure what the next round of changes will be; my focus is to let these changes become established as my ‘new normal’ as I gradually hone my diet toward healthier choices.