What nourishes can also harm!

One of the most surprising things I have learnt through my interaction with people relative to weight and the eating of food, particularly fresh fruit and vegetables, is how many people are allergic to certain natural fresh fruits and vegetables. Yet I have never encountered a single individual who is allergic to chocolate, soft drinks, pizza (one of my favourites ;o), burgers, rich desserts, ice-cream, sweets, and crisps!

When one of the WhyWeight subscribers joined the Cellulite Attack program, and discovered that she had to eat at least three portions of fruit per day when she reached the second stage of the program, she was completely confounded as to what fruit she could eat, as she is allergic to so many. I struggled to find a list of fruits that wasn’t on her ‘Illegal List’ yet I did manage to. In the following two weeks she responsibly followed the steps of program, adding fresh fruit to her daily eating plan. Then she emailed me in a panic to say that her face and skin had broken out in an ‘allergic’ reaction and that her doctor had suggested that she stop eating so much fruit.

As I am neither medically qualified nor do I have any expertise in nutritional benefits, and all that I know is through hard won and earned experience, I hesitated to add my own wisdom and counsel. After a few hours of thought and reflection, and some research, I discovered that she was eating way in excess of the suggested ‘three’ portions of fruit (a portion being an apple, or a banana or a quarter of a pawpaw). In fact with a fruit smoothie in the morning and afternoon, plus 5 to 6 portions of fresh fruit per day, her fruit intake might just have been a little in excess, only because she had gone from absolutely NO fresh fruit in her diet to this extreme of 6 plus portions per day.

I suggested that she continue eating fresh fruit on a daily basis, just 2 to 3 portions and only have one fruit smoothie every other day, as I strongly believe that the ‘allergic’ break out she was experiencing, was just her body’s way of cleansing and removing the toxins with the help of the new intake of fruit. Fortunately enough, after just another two weeks this proved to be true, and her skin returned to being blemish and pimple free, and was actually younger and fresher looking.

If you seldom eat raw fresh fruit and vegetables, and then you suddenly start, your body is certainly going to react. This reaction might be a breakout of pimples and skin blemishes, yet that is only what you need it to do - cleanse and clear out the build-up of winter toxins. There are a couple of ways you can cleanse and clear your body at a much more acceptable pace, drink plenty of water and ensure that your diet and eating plan is nutritional and balanced.

So ask yourself the following questions as a guideline:

1. Are you eating a wide variety of food, including breads, cereals, rice, pastas, fruits and vegetables?
2. Is your diet and eating plan one you can maintain and live on for life?
3. Does your diet and eating plan include many of the foods you like and enjoy?
4. Does your diet and eating plan allow you to eat out and enjoy yourself without guilt the following day?

On another note, my uncle who ate a grapefruit every single morning, because of it’s nutritional and health benefits, was shocked when his doctor explained that this was way in excess and causing his current illness. Anything in excess will cause you harm, be it fresh fruit or a chocolate bar.

Eating grapefruit is nutritional and beneficial, except when you do it every day for years without any variation or balance. Eating a pawpaw one morning and a grapefruit the next morning, then an apple sliced over cereal or yoghurt, will give you all the nutritional benefits you need and maintain a varied balance!

Nutritional Variation and Maintaining Balance is the key to an interesting, beneficial and a healthy eating plan!

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