Recently, two elderly women commented on how good my skin looks. One of them asked me if I’m 22 or 23 (I’m actually 45)! Well, that just made my day! In fact, a couple of college-age colleagues also thought that I look like an early 20-something. One of the elderly ladies asked me if I do facial massage every day. My reply was: “Not at all. I never go to facials and I hardly use any skincare products except for a little bit of argan oil occasionally. My secret is how I eat!”
As within, so without. Many women spend a copious amount of money on skincare products to make their skin look younger, brighter and smoothie. In Asia, edible collagen capsules and potions are extremely popular, besides all kinds of skincare products like skin-whitening lotions. But the truth is, radiant and youthful-looking skin is a product of a healthy internal system. The key is to work from the inside out through a healthy diet, and from the outside in through a toxic-free environment.
Following an individualized diet plan such as the Blood Type Diet, Genotype Diet or SWAMI will prevent the build-up of harmful lectins and other toxins in your body so the daily toxin-elimination tasks will be efficiency performed by the kidneys, bowel and liver instead of being left to the last resort—the skin (the largest elimination organ), resulting in different kinds of skin problems like breakout, acne, rashes and eczema.
One common skin issue that women experience is adult-onset acne, which is caused by hormonal imbalance. Eating according to your body type will help bring your hormones into balance and clear up your skin. I used to have periodic acne in my 20s and 30s—it was not only painful but so serious that I got scars on my face! No amount of astringent or topical cream helped. But after I switched to the Blood Type Diet, my acne problem completely disappeared.
Other skin issues like fine lines, wrinkles and dry skin are the bane of aging. But there are ways to slow down the signs of aging without relying on chemicals or plastic surgery. One way is to avoid sugar in your diet. Sugar attaches itself to protein, generating harmful molecules called “advanced glycation end products,” or “AGE” (uncanny coincidence, eh?). These molecules compromise the effect of elastin and collagen, which help maintain the skin’s youthful appearance.
It’s important to note that refined carbs also have the same effect. So if you want to maintain youthful-looking skin, cut down on refined carbs! Each blood type has different tolerance levels for carbs. Generally speaking, Type As have a higher tolerance for it than Type Os, the opposite of the spectrum. Complex carbs from vegetables and fruits are much healthier than processed or refined ones. Following the food lists in Dr. Peter D’Adamo’s book “Eat Right for Your Type” and the recommended portion size will take the guesswork out and make life much easier.
Exercising, sweating, sauna and lymphatic massage also help remove toxins from the body and clear up the skin.
Avoid the use of petrochemical-based skincare products and make-up. This will prevent the skin from being constantly clogged as well as prevent toxins from being absorbed into the bloodstream, causing further harm to the body.
Perhaps you have heard the saying that you shouldn’t put on your skin what you wouldn’t eat. Well, just as we absorb nutrients through the digestive system, our skin “eats” what’s being applied on it too. So give it the nourishment that is both safe and beneficial for your skin.
My Secrets
Now let me share with you my youthful skin secrets:
Besides eating right according to my body type and applying a bit of argan oil at night, I do use a minimum amount of toxin-free skincare products and makeup.
For makeup, I like to use 100% Pure fruit-pigmented products. They are free from paraben and other harmful petrochemicals and consistently score low in terms of harmful chemicals on Environment Working Group’s Skin Deep database.
Lastly, I want to let you in on a nutritional supplement that I take daily that helps reverse the signs of aging—Trehalose Complex. It slows down the aging process on the cellular level and has helped me, among other things, reduce the pigments in age spots.
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On August 12, 2009, my father passed away from a horrible disease — acute myeloid leukemia. His untimely death at the age of 75 sent a shock wave to my entire being. This probably was the beginning of my “midlife crisis” yet I was unaware of it at the time. It took me well over a decade to fully grieve from losing him. At the same time, a strong desire was born inside me to go on a health journey.
Along the path, I became so passionate about using natural, non-pharmaceutical means to turn around chronic conditions and optimize my health that I became motivated to become a health coach.
I had a calling to help others prevent chronic diseases and live their life to the fullest with the support of optimal health and well-being.
On my father’s death bed, he told me to create something unique bearing my own signature. Well, Dad, I’m not sure if I have succeeded… yet. But I surely am working at it by sharing my knowledge and experience with my audience, and working in greater depths with my private clients.
I made a video to commemorate my father on the 8th anniversary of his death. Please take a moment to watch the short video below, which explains why I do what I do today.
Healing Legacy
In addition to honoring my father, I’d also like to honor my paternal grandmother, who was known as a healer in her village in Indonesia. Even though I had never met her, I believe her gift of healing has been passed onto me, fueling my desire to heal both myself and help others heal.
My grandmother used herbs and plants to make natural medicine for whoever fell ill in her community. She also gave food to those in need. Funny I never saw the connection until I discovered my calling in mid-life.
As I celebrate my father and grandmother’s legacy for me, I appreciate the opportunity to share with you the gift that they have left me.
Hi, this is Louisa today with a heavy heart. I’m sharing something with you that, it’s a difficult topic, but it is what makes me who I am today. So two days ago, it was the eighth anniversary of my father’s passing away. His death, marked a watershed in my life in that he woke me up to the reality of how our health is so important and how it’s related to our food and our lifestyle, as well as our emotional well-being.
And so this awakening. Initially took the form of me, looking into the possibilities of making sure that I and my other family members were healthy. What happened was that my dad died of leukemia. And shortly after that, I was diagnosed with benign tumors in my uterus, as well as some cysts in my ovaries.
I was beyond shocked because I have seen my dad go through a grueling treatment process at the hospital. I developed a mistrust for the healthcare system based on Western medicine. So to deal with my own health problems, I decided to look at unconventional ways, which led me to reading a ton of books on natural medicine and healthy diets.
Fast-forward without going into too much detail, that led me into a mission of becoming healthy and helping everyone else to be healthy through natural means. So, that’s what made me who I am today. I’m not all that I do, but I do care so much and feel passionate about what I do, which is to help people like you to achieve optimal health with natural means. I’m passionate about holistic health.
So, that’s what I’ve chosen to do. I feel like it’s a calling or perhaps it’s something that has chosen me. Either way, it has been an amazing journey and I just want to thank my father for this special gift. It’s a legacy from him besides his other gifts for me, including, his appreciation and talent for art, which will always be with me.
So, I conclude this video with blessings for my father’s soul. And, I just want to let you know that his soul lives on in me, and it will be a privilege for me to inspire anyone to go on a health journey and to find beauty and healing in their lives. See you next time.
Some of you prefer to listen to podcasts rather than watch videos. If that’s the case for you, please head over to my podcast channel on Soundcloud: http://bit.ly/eatrightchefpodcast4
For those of you who would rather read text, here is a summary of what I mentioned in the video and podcast:
In the beginning, I realized that I had to give up all processed food because they contain ingredients that are toxic for my blood type, which is O. Among them are all the corn-derived products that are so rampant in processed food, disguised in preservatives and flavorings in the names of citric acid, high fructose corn syrup, “natural flavorings” and so on.
Even foods that seemed to be healthy alternatives turned out to be unfriendly to my system. For example, those gluten-free products often contain corn starch, potato starch, tapioca starch, xantham gum, etc, which are all “avoids” for me.
As for restaurant food, most dishes are out of the questions because they contain “avoids” one way or another. One big problem is the choice of oil that they cook the dishes in. Soy oil is most commonly used in restaurants as it is the cheapest type of oil. But soy is an “avoid” for me (and for most other blood types) and most of it is GMO anyway. So it’s really not a good idea to eat out—unless you know the restaurant uses other types of oil that are OK for your type.
As a result, I realized that I have to do all of my cooking at home and even bring food with me when I go out so I don’t have to eat any of the non-compliant or junk foods out there.
This means that I have to spend a lot of time on food preparations, making everything from scratch. But the nice thing is that I have learned to make many healthy and traditional foods such as non-wheat sourdough bread and fermented vegetables.
Over time, I have found a way to grocery shop and do meal preps in a very efficient way so that eating healthy doesn’t have to be a drag. I even figured out a way to prepare dishes for two different blood types in my household (more on that later).
Not being able to eat at most restaurants means that I am sometimes considered anti-social by my friends. But I’ve found a way to work around this issue, which I will talk about in the future.
One more thing: I found a lot of the foods that I grew up eating were actually not good for my body. So I had to give them up and find replacements. But once I realized how those foods were giving me troubles, I was willing to forget about them once and for all.
One example is soy bean products. Growing up in a Chinese household, I ate soy products every single day. Soy sauce was in almost every dish. But since I stopped eating it, I realized that I no longer had the phlegm and mucous that used to be there all the time.
I also gave up eating pork. Pork is the meat that has the highest virus load and causes red blood cells to clump up in all blood types. After a while, I realized that my immune system has improved and I no longer craved for it. In fact, it started to smell awful to me. So it just felt like I had nothing to lose. Instead, I replaced it with grassfed beef and started to appreciate what it does to my body—it healed my acid reflux, gives me steady energy, builds lean muscles and balances my blood sugar. You see, once I have found what is beneficial for my blood type, I naturally don’t miss what I had to give up.
The Blood Type Diet is not only a diet but a lifestyle. If you have any questions regarding the Blood Type Diet, please leave a message in the comment section below.
If you like what you have seen/heard, subscribe to my YouTube and Soundcloud channels where I will be doing more sharing of the blood type diet and how to eat and cook right for your type.
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If you ever have any questions, simply reply to your newsletter or use the contact form on this site to get in touch.
For those of you who would rather read text, here is a summary of what I mentioned in the video and podcast:
As I mentioned in my last video, “First Steps to Take to be Compliant with the Blood Type Diet,” I have made the switch to incorporate high-quality animal protein, lots of vegetables and eliminated a whole bunch of food that’s harmful to me, such as wheat, dairy, soy, corn and sugar.
As a result of adjusting my diet to what my body truly needs and can assimilate, I experienced a series of amazing health benefits:
I wake up feeling truly refreshed. No more brain fog. No more need to drink coffee to wake up. No more midday drowsiness.
I used to have mucous, cold sores and sore throat regularly. And every day, after breakfast, which consisted of wheat bread, cheese and a cup of coffee with milk and sugar, I would always have diarrhea. Not anymore!
Acid reflux, stomach aches or constipation were “normal occurrences.” Not anymore! No even farting–the foul-smelling type!
No more “random” vomits and passing out at restaurants because I know I can’t eat cheese or other dairy products while pairing them with white wine or beer. These are all “avoids” for my type.
No more frequent headaches and migraines.
My skin clears up. I seldom get breakouts. When they do appear, I would be able to trace back to what I have eaten.
No more cold hands and feet, because my thyroid has become healthier.
No more allergy. That’s a big one. I used to have such bad seasonal allergies that I wasn’t able to function normally for at least two months out of the year.
I have much fewer colds and flus.
I thought switching to beef would be difficult but actually my body started craving for it and other types of red meat. The fact is that I didn’t like beef because I was eating conventionally raised, feed-lot beef, which has an awful taste and smell. Grassfed beef turns out to be a totally different animal!
And that leads to another pleasant surprise! I realized that eating grassfed beef actually helps me to lose weight. I have been able to burn fat effortlessly and maintain a healthy weight thanks to that. If you want to know more about how that is even possible, check out my Open Box video on Butcher Box.
There were some surprises about the food that I ate a lot during my raw vegan period. I learned that certain foods that are considered “super foods” by the healthy eating community are actually “avoids” for most other blood types. They include avocados, coconut oil, cashews and Brazil nuts.
The most pleasant surprise of all is that, for a sweet tooth like me, I can still have some wonderful desserts without gaining weight, such as a little bit of dark chocolate and some other gluten-free and dairy-free desserts, provided they are made with ingredients that are beneficial for my type. But since I have started to eat more meat and vegetables, I actually have less craving for sweet and starchy food.
Another pleasant surprise is, I used to think that alcohol and I just don’t belong to each other because, like most Asian people, my liver doesn’t have the enzyme to process it–or so I thought. However, it turns out that red wine is neutral for me. And after following the Blood Type Diet for a while, my liver got cleaned up and I started to be able to drink a small glass of red wine without feeling any discomfort, even though I still have a bit of that Asian flush.
These are some of the most prominent changes that I have noticed in my physical health. But eating right has also improved my mental and emotional well-being. I find that my mood is much more stable than before. In the past, I got cranky very easily as soon as I got hungry and my blood sugar level dropped quickly. I would feed myself with cookies, biscuits or cakes, which in turn spiked my blood sugar and gave me a sugar crash quickly afterwards. When I fill my plate with beneficial meat, fish and vegetables instead, my blood sugar level evens out, and I feel satiated for a much longer time. That way, I don’t have those sugar crashes and so I don’t get cranky so easily.
Of course, there are many things that contribute to emotional health, but those are beyond the scope of this video. I will talk more about them in the future.
Have you tried the Blood Type Diet? What are some of the health benefits you have experienced? I’d love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below.
Next time, I’ll talk about the obstacles I had to overcome in order to be compliant to my diet. Stay tuned.
If you like what you have seen/heard, subscribe to my YouTube and Soundcloud channels where I will be doing more sharing of the blood type diet and how to eat and cook right for your type.
To get updates on my blog posts like this and healthy recipes, please subscribe to my newsletter by filling out the form below:
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Success! Thank you for subscribing to my newsletter! You should be receiving my welcome email shortly.
If you don’t see an email from me after a while, please check your spam folder and add admin@eatrightwithlouisa.com to your email contacts.
I am so excited to get to know you and be a part of your personal health journey.
If you ever have any questions, simply reply to your newsletter or use the contact form on this site to get in touch.
My favorite book of all times is “Eat Right 4 Your Type” by Dr. Peter D’Adamo. It has turned my health around 180 degrees. In fact, it has done the same for thousands and thousands of people around the world. To find out what this book has done for me and for so many other people, check out this video that I have made for you:
Some of you prefer to listen to podcasts rather than watch videos. If that’s the case for you, please head over to my podcast channel on Soundcloud:
If you like what you have seen/heard, subscribe to my YouTube and Soundcloud channels where I will be doing more sharing of the blood type diet and how to eat and cook right for your type.
To get updates on my blog posts like this and healthy recipes, please subscribe to my newsletter at: eatrightwithlouisa.com/subscribe/
If you are interested in purchasing the book, click here (Free shipping on my store with any order of above $59). Alternately, you can get an electronic copy on your Kindle by clicking here.
Recently, two elderly women commented on how good my skin looks. One of them asked me if I’m 22 or 23 (I’m actually 45)! Well, that just made my day! In fact, a couple of college-age colleagues also thought that I look like an early 20-something. One of the elderly ladies asked me if I do facial massage every day. My reply was: “Not at all. I never go to facials and I hardly use any skincare products except for a little bit of argan oil occasionally. My secret is how I eat!”
