I recently watched the classic heartwarming movie “Swiss Family Robinson” about a family shipwrecked on a Polynesian island. Beyond battling with pirates and wild animals, they make a home and thrive on the abundant foods found on the island. There are no foods in bags or boxes…no food labels…nothing is processed. If we are careful and discriminating, we can also eat only the foods they found on the island.

Unfortunately, in today’s world, we are inundated by foods that make us sick. Unhealthy foods are so abundant, that a healthy diet is more challenging than ever. Are toxic foods a fact of modern life or can we avoid them?

By knowing the range of toxic foods, we can eliminate most of them. If we keep the damage to a minimum, our resilient bodies will do the rest.

What are these damaging foods? From my research, the categories seem to be increasing and competing for which are the most harmful.

Sugar and carbs. About 80% of Americans have metabolic dysfunction,¹ also known as insulin resistance, from excess sugar and refined carbohydrates. Since all carbohydrates become sugar in the body, we overwhelm our ability to turn sugar into energy unless we are a marathon runner or engage in extreme forms of exercise. The sugar and carbs we do not burn for energy turn into fat through insulin. Excess fat then triggers inflammation and increases the risk for cardiovascular disease and cognitive decline. To lose body fat we must become ketogenic from a very low carb diet and intermittent fasting.

Grains and dairy. Foods that contain inflammatory proteins are another major category of toxic nutrients. Our ancestral diet did not contain grains such as seeds of grasses, or dairy. These contain proteins like gluten which can disrupt the microbiome in our gut causing “leaky gut” and leading to numerous diseases and chronic inflammation.

Packaged and processed. Recently I reviewed the book Ultraprocessed People by Chris Van Tulleken, MD. Ultraprocessed foods are factory made and contain numerous ingredients you would not find in a household kitchen. When we eat such foods, we have an inflammatory reaction resulting in a wide range of problems such as brain fog and irritable bowel disease.

Food companies make their products so sweet that the taste can lead to food addiction. Rather than add sugar, most processed foods will have high fructose corn syrup. This common sweetener is foreign to our digestion and leads to fatty liver and chronic inflammation.

Processed foods use vegetable or seed oils that are highly inflammatory. Catherine Shanahan, MD goes into detail in her new book Dark Calories about how these processed vegetable oils are toxic to our bodies in many ways.

It is easy to see how most Americans regularly consume a variety of toxic foods. This affects individual health. I wonder how the ingestion of such harmful foods may influence the anger, intolerance and polarization we see all around us today.

As a primary care physician, I often find myself on the other end of this lifetime consumption. The good news is that – at any age – change can result in enhanced health and longevity. It’s never too late, and awareness is a good place to start.

Dr. Scherger is founder of Restore Health Disease Reversal in Indian Wells, a clinic dedicated to weight loss and reversing chronic medical conditions. To schedule a consultation, call (760) 898.9663 or visit www.restorehealth.me.

Reference: 1) https://www.unc.edu/posts/2018/11/28/only-12-percent-of-american-adults-are-metabolically-healthy-carolina-study-finds/