by Dr. John Douillard
FREE VIDEO by Dr. John Douillard:
Weight Loss Starts in the Gut
When the mucus membranes in the gut and sinuses dry out from the dehydrating effect of winter, they produce excess reactive mucus which breeds bacteria. 
Digestive health and cold and flu protection depend on the quality of our intestinal and respiratory mucosa. It is crucial that we understand nature's winter strategy because 70 to 80 percent of our immunity is found in the gut.
The villi and lacteals inside our small intestine play in an essential role in the healthy function of our digestive and immune system. These finger-like villi, when flattened out, are about the size of a tennis court and are the key players for absorbing nutrients, vitamins, minerals and removing toxins. If these are not functioning correctly, nutritional deficiencies - which are a hidden cause of weight gain - will become more prevalent.
Toxins Can Make You Gain Weight and Hold On To It
When the villi and lacteals are compromised, our body can not process fat soluble toxins, which are cancer causing and disease producing. These include heavy metals, pesticides, environmental pollutants, preservatives, plastics, parasites and more. These fat soluble toxins are broken down by the bile and sucked up by the villi and lacteals. The lacteals bring these toxins into the Gut Associated Lymphatic Tissue (GALT) to be broken down further by the white blood cells in the lymph nodes. If this process is congested, the gut will swell and cause bloating and belly fat.
The lymph in the legs, hips and pelvis drain through the GALT. If it is not functioning properly you can experience cellulite, extra weight around the hips, constipation and reproductive issues - to name a few. If these villi and lacteals are compromised the problem just gets worse. The toxins reach the end of the small intestines and are reabsorbed by the liver, along with about 90% of the used bile.
The liver becomes overwhelmed, the bile becomes thick, fats are not broken down, stomach acids are not neutralized by adequate bile flow, and digestive enzymes are unable to support adequate digestion. Bottom line - digestion stalls, the liver starts spilling toxic fats into fat and brain cells and the disease process ensues.
>>> Watch my free video and read the article Detoxing Dangerous Fats where I discuss this process in detail.
Losing Weight Requires Balanced Blood Sugar
The key to any weight loss plan is to be sure that the body has the ability to burn fat. The reason for this is not just so we lose weight. Fat is the most precious source of fuel for the body. Fat is the body's calm, non emergency fuel. It burns slow and steady so it provides energy for many hours straight, unlike sugar which burns quickly. Sugar and carbohydrate fuels provide quick bursts of energy that often crash.
Fat is a fuel that detoxifies us as well as neutralizes excess acids that build up from stress. The problem is that many of us have lost the ability to burn fat effectively and are chronically storing fat and gaining weight.
Why Does Snacking and 'Grazing' Discourage Fat Metabolism?
Our culture is telling us that eating many small meals a day is a better way to stabilize mood and lose weight. This only temporarily covers up symptoms if you are hypoglycemic and have unstable blood sugar. Eating six meals a day can never provide permanent blood sugar stability because the body will become dependent on being fed every 2-3 hours. If a meal is missed, the blood sugar crashes again.
If we want the body to burn fat we must give it a reason. Why would the body burn its stored fat reserves if it is getting fed every 2-3 hours? When we eat this often, the body burns what it has just been fed and has no motivation to burn stored fat.
>>> Watch my free video
How To Burn Fat
Eating breakfast and then nothing until lunch and then nothing until supper and then nothing until breakfast again will provide a natural fast in between meals that will encourage fat metabolism. If you have a healthy snack, like a carrot, in between breakfast and lunch you will burn the carrot but not any stored fat. If you have nothing between breakfast and lunch, your body will be forced to burn stored fat to get you to lunch without a blood sugar crash.
In the old days folks had supper at 5 or 6 pm and then ate nothing until breakfast at around 7am. It was common to go for 13 hours without food and break that fast (and thus reset fat metabolism) everyday with "break-fast". This is the tradition that has been in place for thousands of years around the world. Humans have never been this fat until now.
We have decided to change thousands of years of tradition because eating meals has become inconvenient for us. In the name of trying to stabilize blood sugar levels we have actually made the problem worse. After a few decades of eating six meals a day our blood sugar levels have become more unstable. Yes, at first people feel better but shortly thereafter the blood sugar issues become worse. Now folks are starving after 2-3 hours without food.
If we needed food every 2-3 hours to survive, humans would simply be extinct. This way of eating is just not sustainable.
I did a study based on my book The 3-Season Diet in 2000. We had the group eat 3 meals a day with no snacks and measured weight loss and a host of psychological factors. Within two weeks their depression, anxiety, cravings, sleep, exhaustion after work and fatigue were all significantly improved. And they lost an average of 1.2 pounds per week for the 2 month study.
>>> Read the Study.
Losing Weight CANNOT Be a Struggle
The more you strain and starve yourself, the more the body perceives the weight loss program as a fat storing emergency. To get the body to burn fat naturally you have to convince it the war is over. We do that by encouraging the body to burn fat naturally and effortlessly.
Follow these 4 simple steps to permanent weight loss:
Step One
Eat 3 good, healthy and relaxed meals each day - with no snacks.
Start with 4 meals a day if you need to, but work down to 3.
Note: If you cannot shift from 4 meals a day to 3 meals a day, you may have a more serious blood sugar imbalance. Please look into an herbal formula called Sugar Destroyer, get your blood sugar checked by you primary care physician, or set up an in-person or phone consult with me so I can custom tailor a plan for you.
Graduate to Step 2 only when Step 1 is effortless.
Step Two
Make supper smaller - such as a soup or salad.
Graduate to Step 3 only when Step 2 is effortless.
Step Three
Make supper earlier. Eat before 6 PM
Graduate to Step 4 only when Step 3 is effortless.
Step Four
Skip supper 3-7 nights per week.
Drink copious amounts of warm water between meals.
Enjoy one cup of herbal tea with raw honey before bed.
| Self-Quizzes: What Is Keeping Your Weight On? |
Do You Have Stubborn Weight Loss?
Clearly some of the factors mentioned above could be contributing to your stubborn weight loss. Below is a list of symptoms and therapies that have been proven effective for digestive health and weight loss.
Digestive Issues around Weight Gain
If you answer yes to any of the following questions this could indicate that the villi, lacteals, lymph or liver are not working correctly and could be a cause of stubborn weight gain.
QUESTIONS Regarding Villi and Lacteal Health (Inner wall of small intestine):
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Do you have mucus in your stools?
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Do you have constipation?
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Do you have looser stools?
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Do you have alternating loose or constipated stools?
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Do you have acid reflux or heart burn?
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Do you have any kind of indigestion? Such as gas or bloating?
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Do you avoid certain foods to digest well? Such as gluten, dairy, sugar, etc?
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Do you eat more veggies or fiber to aid digestion?
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Solutions: To heal the inside wall of the small intestine, consider these solutions:
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Turmeric Plus and fenugreek tea clean excess mucus off the gut wall. To make fenugreek tea simmer a small amount of fenugreek for 20 minutes and strain. Experiment with your taste preference - try 2 tsp in 2 cups of water the first time.
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Loose Stools: Elim II is an herbal formula that heals intestinal mucosa if there is so much excess reactive mucus exists that stools are loose.
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Mucus in stools, heart burn and/or intestinal inflammation: Study Amalaki.
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Eat a diet rich in greens.
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Probiotics are also good for the gut, but only if your digestion is balanced.
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Avoid rich foods - like baked goods, wheat, dairy and spicy food - to help heal the intestinal villi, and lose the extra weight. Slowly re-introduce these somewhat harder to digest foods.
QUESTIONS About Lymphatic Health (Lymph outside the gut wall):
- Do you hold on to excess water?
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Do your breasts swell or hurt during menstruation?
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Do your joints ache and does the pain move?
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Do you have any skin rashes or itching?
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Do you have any cramps?
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Do you have any swollen glands, sore throats or headaches?
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Do you have recent moles, freckles or skin tags?
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Do you have uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts or breast lumps?
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Do you have chronic allergies?
Solutions:
- Manjistha is an herb that is best for general lymph congestion.
- Red Root helps with swollen lymph glands.
- Of course the inside of the small intestine needs to be rejuvenated as well. Do my 4-Day Short Home Cleanse seasonally.
- Eat a mainly alkaline diet of about 70% alkaline and 30% acid.
- Powerful lymphatic cleansing also occurs when sipping hot water every 10-15 minutes each day for 2 weeks, daily skin brushing or garshana, and daily self massage with Lymphatic Massage oil.
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QUESTIONS Regarding Bile Flow and Liver Function:
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Do you ever get nauseous after a meal?
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Do you ever feel heavy after a high fat or greasy meal?
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Do you ever feel heart burn about an hour after the meal?
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Do you avoid fatty foods and generally eat a low fat diet?
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Do you have bowel movements that keep changing?
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Do you ever have green or greasy stools?
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Do you have a history of any gall bladder problems?
Solutions:
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Also, read my handout on Gall Bladder health which lists foods to eat more of, foods to avoid, and two tonic recipes to eat every day for a few weeks.
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