Why the need for Reintegration

[jambo101]

As a total newb trying to get a handle on the site and its objectives one thing is confusing me right from the start. this new dietary lifestyle of

 

"Meat, seafood and eggs; vegetables and fruit; and healthy fat sources like coconut, avocado and olive oil are all foods that make you healthier.

Sugar, alcohol, grains, legumes and dairy are all food groups that have significant potential down sides, and may not contribute positively to your health.

The more you eliminate these “less healthy†foods from your everyday diet, the healthier you will be".

 

 

 

seems quite sensible and could be considered good eating habits for a lifetime but for some reason it seems its only a 30 day affair and a reintroduction occurs at the end,, what are you actually reintroducing yourself back into at the end of 30 days,?

[JJB]

Reintro is optional. Many of us do want to continue eating this way most of the time, but it's very hard to follow the rules ALWAYS. So by doing a controlled reintroduction, you can find out exactly how certain foods affect you. Based on those results, you may decide to keep them out of your diet forever (side-effects are not worth it), or they may become an occasional treat or even something you add back in daily (like cream in your coffee, if it doesn't seem to cause any issues). 30 days is recommended because that's what they consider a "reset" for your system. You get those foods out of your body for long enough that any issues they might have been causing you have gone away. Then when you do try them again, hopefully it's more obvious what kind of effects they have.

 

Here's what I have learned through this experience personally:

- If I eat a fair amount of dairy, I feel sleepy. I can have some butter without issues, so I have added that back into my diet but I generally stay away from my old favorites - yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese. None of them tasted quite as good after my W30 anyway.

- Eating wheat causes an odd inflammation reaction the next day, and I crave sweets a junk food for up to a week afterward (no thanks, but still really yummy and hard to stay away from).

- Eating a fair amount of sugar causes me emotional issues for several days (moody, irritable, etc). Also it makes me crave more sweets for up to a week.

 

My reactions have been pretty tame...some people with medical issues or chronic pain/migraines/skin issues/etc will have flare-ups after eating certain foods. Everyone is different. It's a great learning experience and I definitely recommend it.

[MrsStick]

Like JJB, I reintroduced a few things that I reacted to and a few that I don't.

 

Whole 30 taught me that avocados give me a severe stomach ache.

 

Gluten gives me a bad stomach ache, especially if it's paired with sugar (hello, cake!).

 

Corn in its original form (as in kernels) isn't digested by my body at all.

 

Dairy hasn't bothered me at all other than the initial "I ate dairy" throat clearing session for a few minutes. Then nothing. So I have cheese back in my life (hooray! I almost like it more than chocolate!), and my weekend in Greece this last weekend has me seriously crushing on Greek Yogurt (the one place I had it, it was so thick it was served with a paddle. Love! So tart, mixed with fruit...mmm). I don't clarify my butter anymore (which is good because it was hard to get the solids out of my dishcloths).

 

Rice doesn't bother me really, but I don't eat it unless it's in sushi. It just tastes bleh. (Seriously - the same recipe of butter chicken tasted awful on top of white rice, and delightful on mashed sweet potato).

 

I can do gluten-free bread products if I really want to, but my desire for that is diminishing. Usually those come out on special occasions or when we have friends over. Gluten free pizza so I don't have to have my own different thing, gluten free chocolate chip cookies, gluten free frozen waffles (it's more of hubby's thing than mine...I put peanut butter and a tbsp of maple syrup, and hope that the peanut butter helps it last until lunch time), etc. Legumes and potatoes also don't bother me.

 

All that to say, it's up to your priorities to figure out what to reintro and what not to. I live in Europe right now (well, until next month) and there are some things that I would've been hard-pressed to eat without. Potatoes being one of them. Cheese being another.

 

Oh, and hubby found a delightful vegetarian place on our trip to Athens last weekend that was amazing. I mean, I was able to get gluten-free pasta with a mixture of mushrooms, cheese, and olive oil. It was great. So was the almond-flour cake with sheep's milk ice cream. However, I had a feeling I haven't had for a while since I haven't done much pasta lately. The "my body didn't realize how much I'd eaten because pasta tends to expand once you've eaten it" stomach ache. NOT COOL. I was glad when it passed, as was hubby. So most of my pasta eating days (even the GF stuff) are over...veggies are delicious anyways. Except for the occasional GF mac and cheese out of a box (hello emergency/comfort food!).

[scrapstitching]

As a total newb trying to get a handle on the site and its objectives one thing is confusing me right from the start. this new dietary lifestyle of

 

...........................

seems quite sensible and could be considered good eating habits for a lifetime but for some reason it seems its only a 30 day affair and a reintroduction occurs at the end,, what are you actually reintroducing yourself back into at the end of 30 days,?

 

I'm with you for the most part. I've been doing a kind of reintroduction to see how my blood sugar and/or emotional status react. Dairy made me grumpy. So far, legumes have allowed allergies to take control of me again (throughout the W30, I didn't take nor did I need Claritin). I will try grains in two weeks, again to see how my body reacts. The effects of the two foods I've reintroduced are not worth including them in my daily diet. I'm not perfect! I will have Greek yogurt and occasional cheese along the way, but it won't be every day and it will be in smaller amounts, more like a treat. The beans probably are not worth it. I prefer the lower blood sugars for general overall health. 

 

I'm still learning and that's why I'm here, trying to pick up on what others are doing at this point in their healthful journey.

[yuubou]

I actually think that the Reintroduction phase is the most important part of the program.  If eating the Whole 30 way made you feel better then that means that something about the SAD way of eating was making you feel worse.  Reintroduction gives you a chance to figure out which things make you feel worse.

 

I think it is naive to think you can do Whole 30 way of eating the rest of your life, but it is good to know which food items are deal breakers for you and which ones it isn't a big deal if you did eat once in a while.

[scrapstitching]

I think it is naive to think you can do Whole 30 way of eating the rest of your life, but it is good to know which food items are deal breakers for you and which ones it isn't a big deal if you did eat once in a while.

 

I personally will try to stay with Whole30 as closely as possible for the remainder of my life unless I have medical issues as a result. Having said that, I do not rule out occasional cheese or yogurt, nor am I going to avoid chocolate forever. I have one more reintroduction to do next week (grains), but can tell everyone that I feel too good, my diabetes is so much better, and I have other positive effects too powerful to not follow this way of eating. 

 

I guess we agree, huh?

[yuubou]

Yes, that's what I meant   I plan to continue cooking Whole 30 at home, avoiding grains in restaurants, but I don't want to have to tell someone in a restaurant to make sure they don't add soy bean oil or butter to my meal unless I figure out that it will make me direly sick.  So, I want to know which things will make me direly sick!!

Unfortunately, it's looking like ice cream might be on that list, and I'm getting depressed about a life without ice cream!! (T T)

[scrapstitching]

 

Unfortunately, it's looking like ice cream might be on that list, and I'm getting depressed about a life without ice cream!! (T T)

 

I think that's one of those things that I will have once in a blue moon just because. Life is way too short to not have 'scream!

[GoJo09]

There are a few Paleo icecreams out there that you could make if you're contemplating spending a night driving the porcelain bus just to get your fix.

 

This one looks pretty good (and easy): http://paleomg.com/chocolate-peanut-butter-ice-cream-with-chocolate-shell/ (NB: definitely not even remotely Whole30!)

[Kim Christensen]

I never reintroduced anything. It's been six months and I feel too great to want to change. I've had a smattering of soy lecithin BLECH in dark chocolate but only a few times. Aside from that I feel amazing and have no desire to add back in anything.

[scrapstitching]

I love the way I eat. I'm experimenting with the reintroduction to rule out some culprits regarding my diabetes. Definitely legumes are out, not even a small amount. I agree that I feel as good as I've ever felt with a strict W30 way of eating. I'm human and do plan on romancing a cookie again some day, though

[MeadowLily]

I never reintroduced anything. It's been six months and I feel too great to want to change. I've had a smattering of soy lecithin BLECH in dark chocolate but only a few times. Aside from that I feel amazing and have no desire to add back in anything.

There are varying views on going beyond a Whole 45, 60 or 90 days.

 

What do the Whole 30 veterans do?   Has anyone bypassed reintro and continued on for a year?

 

If you have, are you afraid to admit that you didn't  do a reintro?

 

I believe reintro's are very important and a Whole 365 would be quite restrictive.  

 

[Tanya K]

This is exactly what I was going to start a new topic on! There is a point made very clear in the book that many foods we eat cause silent inflammation. So after 30 days and then I decide to reintroduce say cheese. Now maybe cheese will not cause me any harmful effects after a few days, a few weeks it might take months, so how would you know if something is going to cause or initiate a silent inflammation? I understand treat times like say my birthday or that of my children, or Christmas and the odd day! But I think any more is teasing the brain and the body so to speak. If I give it some highly processed high sugar content food at some point will the brain and body wait in hope again for it's next hit?? If at least processed food is eliminated completely and forever surely that is the way to go? I have been paleo form10 weeks and no way would I revert back to old diet. All my pain is gone and I am feeling human again! I just don't want to tempt fate! I did at one week eat an unprocessed oat bar one a day resulting in being bedridden for 3 days!!! I was disgusted when it dawned on me that a seemingly healthy enough treat caused such trauma to the body! Stopped them again and within 2 days was perfect again!!

[leahcarn]

I know what you mean Tanya, I have been paleo for a year and a half and I have no intentions of going back to my old way of eating BUT! the whole30 is very restrictive, life includes things like going on a girl guiding camp / dinner at my parents / when kind but very confused hubby offers to cook / travelling with no paleo options.

If I specified "No grains, legumes, dairy, alcohol, and no added sugar at all, even the stuff that comes in the tomato pasta sauce, no, that means peas and corn are out, sorry I can't have peanuts...." life would be difficult for me and everyone around me. Though controlled reintroduction I have learnt that a small amount of butter is ok, but pretty much any other dairy is violently rejected by my stomach. Gluten doesn't affect me for the first 24 hours, but I spend the rest of the week wishing I hadn't eaten it. This is important knowledge I can use to choose the "least bad" option when there are no good options available.
Even if you want to do whole365 for the rest of your life, I would say do the reintroductions at least once. Knowledge is power

[ladydeevious]

I haven't been able to fully start a whole30, but living pretty paleo for over a month now and FEEL AWSOME!. I do find the 30 restrictive, just because that sugar is in everything and I've been able to be more careful but to be truly compliant is difficult. In in the past 2-3 weeks been pretty darn close to rules, only that I forget my salad dressing has sugar and I do put coconut sugar in my coffee. And I have had a few alcoholic drinks. I find myself feeling guilty for these things until I remember how well my clothes fit, how well my skin looks and how I feel in general. 

[Tanya K]

When I was just Paleo I felt like bouncy tiger!! Then my daughter and I started the whole 30 together. The work load I find is much much much more!! I feel like I am feeding a new born!! Lol! Feeding, cleaning up after feeds, preparing for next feeds and all the while making sure what is given to her is eaten! It's no easy task is it?? I was more more tired than when I was on paleo. That's gone now. My treat on paleo would be whipped cream and fruit and perhaps a small bar once a week! So I am thinking that even those small treats caused the body to go to detox. But you are right, it's not sustainable 365 not truly. I know for sure I will not be touching bread, did that before whole 30 and my goodness my gut was very unhappy with me! I will def be interested to see what things are like when I have my lovely whipped cream again. I have a funny feeling that my high sugar intake for many many years along with grains have the cause of a lot of my health problems. However, on the cinema day I shall be eating popcorn, on that meal out I shall be having a lovely glass of wine! I think the thing for me me after this is to be very mindful of what I and my daughter eat and observe the reactions afterwards or even over time. I have been ill for so so long that to go back to that state of living and eating feels me with dread!! It's basically going to be for me I think not to eat any one of the 'banned' substances in excess ever again. But only time can tell and I am interested to see what way life goes after this! :-)

[LisaLulu]

Last time reintro kind of set me back. Instead of just continuing on and riding my own bike when something good came up naturally, I felt obligated to test something every 3 days. And when the results were inconclusive I felt the need to test again. And that didn't work either, so I tried bigger, longer doses, and by that point I was in the habit of eating something non compliant almost every single day and pretty off track (PLUS all the natural riding my own bike experiences like parties and bbqs and vacations, which there were a lot of this summer). Anyway, the testing gave me some answers for sure (rice and beans okay, corn, soy and peanuts no) and some maybes (dairy and gluten) so next time I'm just going to test dairy, and just in the form of cheese on my salad so hopefully that won't mess things up too much. The gluten I'll test after another whole 30.

[ladydeevious]

I went on vacation this past week....oh boy did I have a blast but was very conscious of the food and how my reaction to it was...well had some cheese, bubble gut...have some alcohol ok but felt sluggish, had some dessert oh did that ruin my day. I feel bloated uncomfortable. So just being aware has been the most important thing for me

[Tanya K]

I think for too long we have all eaten unconsciously, through the way we were brought up, emotional issues, life stresses etc. I think like all manner of self healing, once we our fully conscious of our decisions, our choices even if they are off track, well I think this is half the battle.

I believe it should be taught to the youngest of our children so that maybe one day we can see a drop in those obesity, diabetes, pulmonary disease %ages. Something has to give, the state and manner in which we feed ourselves and our children as nations is a holy disgrace. I feel good in myself that I have made that decision albeit 41 years too late! But Molls is only 10 and I do so hope that this type of conscious eating habits stand to her and hers in the future.

Food for sure will no longer be the same!