Crazy Sexy Diet: Eat Your Veggies, Ignite Your Spark, and Live Like You Mean It! (30 page)

You may be wondering
why I put beans in the starch category in the combo basics sidebar. Technically, beans are both a starch and a protein. When you soak your beans overnight, you make them easier to digest. The same holds true for nuts and seeds. Soaking times vary. Usually the more dense the nut, the longer you’ll need to soak it. You can easily find recommended soaking times online. For beans, add a 2-inch piece of kombu (seaweed) to the soaking water and those protein-packed fart generators will be even easier on your belly. Sprouting beans activates their life force, making them more like a nutritious veggie. Since beans are in both categories, you can combine them with starches (example: rice and beans). This goes for tofu and tempeh as well.

When in food-combining doubt, take a good digestive enzyme supplement, especially when consuming flesh. I take enzymes with each meal and have seen a drastic decline in the gas, bloating, and post-chow energy lag. (I’ll talk more about these in
chapter 9
.)

At this very moment
, you’re host to a mindblowing microscopic menagerie of critters in your gut. Trillions of bacteria make up your intestinal flora, living and dying and doing jobs so important that you couldn’t survive without them. There are so many, in fact, that they outnumber the cells of your actual body by ten to one. Among their vital roles: They produce specific hormones, enzymes, and vitamins (like K and certain Bs) that your body needs but wouldn’t get otherwise, they break down fiber and gases, and they produce disease-fighting antibodies and help train the immune system. Clearly, these little dudes are our friends. But as we’ve already discussed, when our intestinal flora is imbalanced, we become more susceptible to a host of problems including digestive issues, asthma, allergies, infections, weight gain, hormonal imbalances, and many other issues in the tissues.

It’s highly competitive in Bowel Town. In fact, you’re host to a constant struggle for supremacy between good and bad, and your diet decides who wins. According to Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN NP and cofounder of womentowomen.com, “Intestinal microbes can die off by the millions with illness, stress, medication use, and poor diet, but what we eat is the most important factor in keeping the gut healthy. Good bacteria feast on fiber. The bad guys love refined sugar and animal fat.”

You’re like a weapons dealer who takes sides with every meal. Your intestinal climate affects virtually every aspect of your health. Whose side are you on?

For many pill-popping, boozing, sugar- and bagelloving gals, yeast overgrowth, also called candida, is an issue. Candida comes in many different forms;
the little yeasties exist in small quantities as part of healthy gut flora. But when this nasty and opportunistic microorganism gets out of hand, it will take over any weak area of the body. Think Gremlins on crack! And guess what? Yeast makes its own poop, too. So not only are you dealing with your own waste, you’re dealing with theirs, in the form of alcohol, formaldehyde, and other toxins.

How does yeast take over? You guessed it: overacidification of your inner landscape. In fact, it’s next to impossible to rid yourself of a candida overgrowth if mercury is found in your system (usually from fish or dental fillings). Yeast have a major crush on mercury. They’re like Edward and Bella from the
Twilight
series—inseparable! If you decide to have your amalgam fillings removed and replaced with nontoxic versions, make sure to find a holistic dentist with experience with this procedure. I did and have seen quite a difference.

Common symptoms of an intestinal yeast overgrowth include gas, bloating, mental fog, fatigue, weight gain, and headaches. Check yourself: White spots on the skin, nail and toe fungus, vaginal infections, or a coated tongue, may be signaling a demonic bakery on the inside! Once you have an overgrowth, it takes time and complete consistency to rebalance.

Vaginal yeast infections—otherwise known as baking bread or making cottage cheese in your bloomers—can be a sign of high blood sugar or diabetes. The yeast thrive on the extra sugar (so do the bacteria that cause bladder infections). Get a medical checkup, especially if you’re overweight or menopausal.

Not to worry, the Crazy Sexy Diet plan is like voodoo for yeast. That’s right, eating more alkaline foods is key. Yeast just love sugar and the acidity it causes, and that’s exactly what they won’t be getting. They don’t get an opportunity to grow, because now you’re eating very little sugar, no refined carbs, and loads of minerals, and you’re focused on maintaining proper alkalinity and eliminating old, oxygen-sucking sludge.

If you suspect an intestinal yeast overgrowth, there are several natural remedies that can help. I use a combination of raw garlic (about one clove per day) and oregano oil capsules while avoiding all fruit, grains, breads, and carbs for a period of time. Candex and Candigone are good products that can be found in most health food stores. For more information, read
The Body Ecology Diet
by Donna Gates with Linda Schatz, a terrific book that can totally transform your terrain. Stick with her vegan suggestions if possible, and say bye-bye bugs, hello health!

The beauty of the CSD
is that after just a short while, you won’t even think about being constipated (and all the negatives that go with it) or bloated. It just doesn’t happen, and if it does, it’s rare and you now know how to deal with it. Power to the pooper, baby! What’s even more exciting for the whole digestive superhighway is the green elixir—juice. We’re getting our juices flowing in the next chapter.