Right now I wouldn't be as concerned with your diet as I would be your approach towards diet and lifestyle. I'd venture to say that you're fairly stressed out about it? What about stress in general? How about sleep? Exercise? Socializing and living life? Treat all these things as a priority as well, not just diet and lifestyle. That being said, here's my dietary opinion. Don't forget, don't stress!
For the specifics of diet, it's good that you're avoiding major things like processed sugary foods, and crappy industrial oils. For some people they are minor nuances, but for others, avoiding specific antinutrients is key to acheiving clear skin. I'm a pretty big fan of Robb Wolf's autoimmune protocol, since it has worked for quite a few people with much more serious conditions than acne (though they all have an inflammatory component with overlapping metabolic pathways).
Paleo For Autoimmunity
Emerging research has made clear the link between Neolithic foods (grains, legumes and dairy) and autoimmune diseases such as Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis and a host of other less well know conditions. Many people have found significant improvements in autoimmune disease by eliminating the Neolithic foods and building a diet around nutritious Paleo options. If you suffer from an autoimmune disease we highly recommend you start a Paleo diet and let us know what your results are. To give your body its best chance to heal we recommend that you initially limit the following foods:
- Eggs
- Tomatoes & eggplants
- Peppers including bell peppers and hot peppers
- Spices such as curries, paprika, and chili powder.
Some of these otherwise Paleo-friendly foods have been shown to be problematic in individuals with autoimmune issues. We recommend you fully remove not only these foods but also all Neolithic foods (grains, breads, potatoes, beans and dairy) for at least a month to see if they pose a problem for you.
If you're going to have rice, it's my opinion that you should have white rice over brown rice, unless you want to have sprouted brown rice, neither of which are particularly tasty imo. The hull of the rice (the brown part), though containing nutrients, is much like conventional wheat in that it also had the antinutrients there, which may be an issue for particularly sensitive people. The skin of the potatoes are also where the antinutrients are at. These might not be issues in the long run, but something to consider post 30 day elimination. White potatoes actually have pretty good amounts of vitamins and minerals (particularly vitamin C, b vitamins, potassium, magnesium, etc). Sweet potatoes are lower GI, but if you're avoiding proccessed sugars, there's no need to feel bad about white potatoes in the context of a low GL meal and consistent exercise. Squash is awesome too!
Also, seafood like mussels and oysters are fine farmed (though I'd avoid china), and they're great sources of minerals. Even conventional Asian markets around here have the good stuff from New Zealand. Try a farmer's market for food in general.
V8s suck imo, if you can't make your own smoothies or juice, you're better off eating the fruits and veggies whole.
Since you were considering being vegan, I'm guessing you think animal products are bad? This is a whole different issue, but an easy place to start is the documentary Fathead. It does a good job of explaining how saturated fats and essentially foods we evolved eating became villified quite recently.
http://www.hulu.com/...196879/fat-headAfter watching this, hopefully you'll want to get your hands on some grass fed, pastured beef products, butter, etc!
There's tons and tons of internet blogs, I particularly like Mark's Daily Apple recipes, and his books are great too. There's also a recipe thread somewhere here. If you're really determined to eat vegan, you'll have a hard time gaining weight without supplementing. Either way, good fats like extra virgin coconut oil and olive oil are another easy source of calories. Try to get at least half to your whole weight in grams of protein daily to maintain your muscle mass.
Home
