The dog walker asked for advice through the kitchen window of one of the celebrity clients for whom I cook regularly. She said she was having an awful time losing weight. My first question, as always, was, “What is your diet like now?’ She ran down the healthy-ish sounding list of foods that included protein bars and a lot of grains.
The first thing I suggested she cut out were the protein bars. I call them glorified candy bars. They are usually full of calories, sugar and soy. I suggested she stick to whole foods like fresh vegetables, minimal fruit and proteins from sustainably farmed chicken, fish, beef and turkey. She thanked me for the advice and went to it.
As the weeks passed, she trimmed down by sticking to meats and vegetables but she could not seem to get her acne to clear up. She did some research and suspected that soy lecithin may have been the culprit. She began to understand how many things had this popular ingredient in them as she read labels. Still, she was determined to try eliminating it.
When she effectively cut out soy lecithin, her acne began to clear up and the puffiness she experienced all over, began to decrease. Soy lecithin was causing the inflammation in her body as well as the acne on her face.
For many years, she was under the impression that she was allergic to chocolate. She always broke out with acne on her face when she ate the stuff. As it turns out, nearly every single chocolate out there has soy lecithin in it . . . except for the high quality, high end bars. She experimented with good chocolate and had no outbreaks of acne. Imagine her joy when she found out it wasn’t chocolate after all. That made for one happy woman!
For many years, I have heard the stories of the food allergic with a myriad of reactions ranging from skin rashes to tumors and anaphylaxis. Could the symptoms that you are experiencing be caused by an ingredient in the foods you’re eating? Perhaps I can help you out with that. Contact me at meg@deliciousandhealthy.com with your questions.
Dr. Meg Haworth is a Private Chef to the Stars in Hollywood and author of “Done with Dairy. Giving up Gluten; 14 days to a Delicious and Healthy You.” To learn more about her cookbook and guide, please see, www.14daycookbook.com
