It's time to get serious. About what? My family's diet. We have pockets of healthy eating and pockets of not-so-healthy eating and then pockets of terrible eating (fast food city). It's been a rough 18 months (having a baby and then moving TWICE) but we are almost out of crisis mode now and it's time to shape up.........literally!!! I now have in my hot little hands two books that I hope will be our salvation in the way of eating. The first is "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon and "Eat Fat Lose Fat" by Dr. Mary Enig and Sally Fallon.
We are embarking on a new way of eating and looking at food. It's based on the findings of Dr. Weston Price a dentist who in the 1930's studied the different diets and health of 14 indigenous cultures around the world and compared them with the diets and health of industrialized people groups. What he found was that the indigenous people were very healthy. Being a dentist the first thing he noticed were their teeth, straight and free from cavities or gum disease. Interesting find in people who had never seen a toothbrush or visited a dentist. Dr. Price also found these people were free from chronic disease and mental illness. They were robust and very active. They had low rates of birth defects and were very fertile!
Dr. Price found the diets of the indigenous people had some significant differences in diet from their more industrialized contemporaries and he believed that is why they were so healthy.
"Almost without exception, the groups he studied ate liberally of seafood or other animal proteins and fats in the form of organ meats and dairy products; they valued animal fats as absolutely necessary to good health; and the ate fats, meats, fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds and whole grains in their whole, unrefined state. All primitive diets contained some raw foods, of both animal and vegetable origin." Sally Fallon, Nourishing Traditions.
The main difference between primitive cultures and modern diets and in health of the people was the processing of their food. Even in the 30's food was becoming more and more processed and thus less nutritious! And good health was sacrificed each time people discovered a new way refine food. Fast forward to 2009, modern America is fat and plagued with chronic disease. My husband and I are fat and plagued with health issues that could easily turn into chronic diseases. My oldest, Bear has autism that may have been caused but at the very least exacerbated by a diet lacking in nutrients. My second son, Monkey, struggles with hyperactivity and serious mood swings. So far my daughter seems to be healthy but I assume her health will suffer also if we don't make some changes.
I have been dabbling in this way of eating for months now however, I'm ready to dive in and quickly get us fully on board with the diet commonly called "Traditional Foods". Our diet will be rich in animal fats from pastured animals, vegetables, fruit, raw dairy and sprouted grains. We will also be eating "fermented foods" to help with digestion and the fermentation process actually enhances the nutritional content of foods. There's also a lot of use of coconut oil. According to Fallon, Enig and the Weston A. Price Foundation coconut oil is like liquid gold for our health. In a nutshell what we will be trying to eat is foods as close to nature as we can get them. Foods grown, fed and harvested as God intended. Traditional Foods more sense to me than anything I've ever read on food, diet and nutrition. Also, the only time I was ever successful in losing a large amount of weight (60 lbs) I was eating a diet close to this one. I was eating lots of protein, sprouted grains, very limited sugar and tons of fruits and veges. My personal experience lines up with Traditional Foods as well.
My hopes for this diet are that Husband and I will lose a significant amount of weight. We both have approximately 100 pounds each to lose. I am also hoping my mood swings will even out and my PMS will improve. For Husband I am hoping to greatly improve if not cure his IBS (Irritable Bowl Syndrome). I am expecting both of our bad cholesterol levels to go down and our good cholesterol levels to go up. Yes, we both have high cholesterol already in our 30's!!!!! I want to improve Bear's autistic symptoms, asthma and other environmental allergies he has. I expect Monkey's mood swings will even out and his hyperactivity to improve. For Baby Girl, I just want her to continue growing and thriving.
My concerns for this diet are: First off, I'm a picky eater as is Bear. I am NOT a fan of fermented anything except yogurt. Also, there are a lot of "organ meats" on this diet. Loaded with nutrition but YUCK! I'm hoping there are a lot of ways to consume organ meats in a way that you don't know you are consuming them. Second is cost. The cheapest I've found raw milk is $5.00 for a HALF gallon. Yep, I said 5 bucks for just a HALF gallon! Grass fed beef and free-range chicken is also extremely costly. However, I hope that not spending as much on crackers, chips, ice cream and other nutritionally void foods will balance it out a bit. We have saved money to purchase a deep freezer and I'm in the process of purchasing a 1/2 a hog. If we buy meat in large quantities it is easier on the wallet. However, bottom line if we want to eat this way we will have to make some sacrifices in our budget. Finally, I'm worried that I won't follow through with this. The only thing consistent about me is the fact that I'm inconsistent. This diet will take a lot of time and energy and I'm afraid I will get easily distracted and we will be back to hot dogs and chicken nuggets because it's easy and convenient. It will help that Husband LOVES the principals of Traditional Foods and is fully supportive of this change in our lives.
To begin our full transition I'm reading the books mentioned above. Nourishing Traditions is really a cookbook with a long intro. The educational portion is only 70 pages so I should be able to whip through it. Eat Fat Lose Fat is also short, about 150 pages of info with 100+ pages of recipes. In the meantime Husband and I will complete a 5 day fast (partial fast for me as I'm still breastfeeding) beginning in the next couple of days. We are waiting to start the fast on supplements to arrive by mail. This fasting program is one we've completed before from
Blessed Herbs and it was a good experience. We felt great once we were done. We want to "clean our bodies out" and get ready for good health!
Wish us luck in making this transition quickly! I plan to blog about our progress with Traditional Foods on Tuesdays. Including recipes we fall in love with!
