Hello,

Swami tells me white or brown sugar is an avoid, does that mean I can't have any food that's got sugar in it?
That would mean absolutely no processed food....

Thanks.

Yup, that's what it means. Ideally, you're not supposed to have any sugar whatsoever, or any foods cooked with sugar as an ingredient. Cutting out processed food is a good idea anyway- besides the sugar, you'll be avoiding all kinds of questionable additives.

Realistically, if you're not ready for this step, then make changes more slowly, or don't follow SWAMI 100%. SWAMI is a tool to help you maximize your health. It's up to you how you use that tool.

Quoted Text

absolutely no processed food

bingo!

learn to read and decipher ingredients .....there are some tricky food businesses out there!

I think they are avoids for all of them, all genotypes.

No processed foods may sound alarming at first, but there are a great percentage of us around here who have not eaten any processed foods for years.  (and not missing it one bit! )  

What about dark chocolate? Maybe it's the same for you, Cecile, but I have chocolate as a neutral on my Swami, so does that mean commercial 70 or 80% chocolate is ok, or should we read 'chocolate' as pure cacao?

Thanks  

I think the chocolate on SWAMi is pure cocoa, especially since it is listed in the "Spices" section.  As with any other "composite food", you need to evaluate individual ingredients for compliance of the composite product.

Thank you ABJoe - that makes sense. I'd never thought about the fact it's listed as a spice as being relevant!  

I do well on rice syrup. Little fructose.

Stevia is a good substitute for sugar and for me personally, 100% pure maple syrup in moderation. And yeah, you want to try to get back to eating whole foods.

stevia is a no-go on my lists ...

Yes, I know stevia isn't for everybody...

Hello all!

Thank you for your replies.

This is what I feared.... and Ruby I had the same question, thanks for asking it  
I guess I'll have to bake my own cakes to satisfy my sweet tooth...

And about bread? What type of bread are you eating? I couldn't find any Essene or Manna bread here in the UK...

You can get 'essene' bread in Holland and Barrett, Cecile. I can't quite remember the make and name of it though and I don't have any in the house to check. I think it's this: http://www.goodnessdirect.co.u.....heat_Bread_400g.html

I buy unsweetened baking chocolate. Sometimes I melt it, stir in molasses, and then let it harden. Other times I just eat it as is, bitter and strong, and a very small amount satisfies. I also use cocoa powder in my yerba mate.

Hi Ruby!

I've been in H&B twice and couldn't find any. Maybe I need to check again.

Thanks.

Actually, Cecile, looking at my Explorer food lists again this morning, I think I might have got something wrong.

Some while ago I read on this forum that essene bread was basically sprouted grains, whizzed up and made into a dough and baked. I read that if it was made with wheat it was ok because the gluten (and lectins?) in wheat are destroyed in the sprouting process. So I happily enjoyed the sprouted wheat bread I linked to above.

However ... this morning I noticed that while 'essene bread' is beneficial for me, 'sprouted wheat' is an avoid! Given you're an explorer too, it might be the same for you, so I thought I should let you know. I guess that I need to find an essene bread without sprouted wheat  

If sprouted wheat is ok for you, next time you go into H&B ask them specifically for sprouted wheat bread - it's a very small, very dense loaf - they should know what you mean. You should find it near rice cakes and that sort of thing. Good luck!  

Oh, erm, at least I thought you were an explorer! Can't find the relevant info now. Sorry if I got that wrong!  

Lol, I am an Explorer. I haven't found out how to change my avatar...

You're right about the Essene bread issue, although for me sprouted wheat is a dotted avoid.
Funny, because Essene bread is in my superfoods....

Cecile,
When I first did my swami I came out an Explorer. My superfoods under condiments were honey, agave, maple syrup, molasses and rice syrup.
As a Teacher, Honey and barley malt are my supers with agave, maple and molasses as neutrals.
I use honey the most, maple syrup and molasses next. I never use the others.
If I could get used to no sugar, anyone can! It wasn't hard at all to just sub honey.

How can you change Genotype though, I thought it was like your blood type, you can't change, can you?

When you run a SWAMI, it computes your genotype for you. Sometimes SWAMI will compute something different than what you measured for by looking in the chart at the back of the book. Also, many people will re-run SWAMI several times with slightly different information: new lab results, health issues that crop up (or remove health issues that healed) or updating their measurements if they realize they'd mis-measured in the past.

Sometimes, when SWAMI is re-run, the genotype will change. Usually, the food list changes in only subtle ways even when the genotype "label" changes.

Quoted from Cecile

How can you change Genotype though, I thought it was like your blood type, you can't change, can you?

Fo the general GT diet the GT will not change. It changes in SWAMI as factors change.

The GT diet is based on epigenetics (as welll as other factors). To the extent that gene expression is modified by diet, it is possible that one might change genotypes from diet alone.

A change in health history can change a GT because the underlying diet needs might change with the reported change in health.

On the general GT diets there will be no change per se because the inputs that calculate the GT are fixed. SWAMI makes more use of other fluctuating factors and adapts, so there the label is less important than the diet.

Lloyd and Ruthie explained it exactly.

My first run came out 39% Explorer. I was a little surprised due to what I knew were hallmarks of a teacher (ex: sinewy tendons ).
I checked over all of my measurements, realized I put in the wrong leg type and had also lost some weight. I made the adjustments and re-ran my swami. The result was 41% Teacher.
If I run it again with changing only my leg type...I return to Explorer!

They are correct about the swami diet, too. Either genotype for me has a very similar diet/list of supers and avoids. Again, it is all about individuality.

Once you run a Swami the Genotype stops being a "location" and turns into a direction of approach.

A spreadable chocolate option is mixing pure cocoa, ghee and agave syrup.  There is at least one recipe for this somewhere.  All the taste - none of the avoid ingredients.

Just don't be expecting to be bathing your morining waffles in it ,,,,,