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- Do you drag yourself out of bed each morning wondering why you feel so tired, sick, worn out, exhausted, etc?
- Do you find yourself with a daily headache, stomach ache, afternoon crash or other ‘issue’ that you need to pop a pill for?
- Do you find yourself (or your child) experiencing ‘mood’ swings or other similar behavior problems?
- Do you go for days without having a bowel movement and then once you do, you go for days with the ‘opposite’ problem?
- Do you drag your exhausted self to bed each night but can’t fall or asleep or fall asleep only to awaken a few short hours later?
These issues (and more) could all be related to your diet.
Recently I had a conversation with a new friend. She was telling me how awful she feels all of the time. How she wakes up exhausted, is sick each day, has horrible mood swings, needs to take several over-the-counter-medications and goes to bed wiped out each night only to wake up a few hours later.
I tried to (gently) tell her that perhaps taking a look at what she is eating might help with some of her issues. She said “Oh, I know that I eat horribly. But I have no plans to change it”. I thought maybe she misunderstood what I was trying to say so mentioned a mutual friend we have who is a huge proponent of traditional food.
This friend has had excellent results by changing his diet. I suggested maybe she borrow his Nourishing Traditions book (that’s an affiliate link and other affiliate links may be in this post). Her response floored me. She had read something in there that she didn’t agree with (one thing according to her) so she had determined the entire book was flawed and not worth following.
Huh?
I have to admit, I didn’t have a response just then. However, I certainly thought of plenty of things to say on my drive home!
I have read a good many wonderful books that I don’t agree with every word printed. As much as I love Nourishing Traditions, I don’t agree with every single word in there either. But throwing away a book based on sound principles because of not agreeing on one or two points is like throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
Before I go on, I want to make something clear. I am 100% in favor of free will and personal choices.
I want to share what I believe to be the truth without cramming it down someone’s throat. Heck, if I don’t want the government to tell me what foods I can eat, why would I think it is okay for me to tell someone else to the same to someone else? And then there is that denial thing…
If you are sick and tired of being sick and tired but not willing to begin to make changes to feel better, then you certainly might be living in denial.
If the things you have been doing -following the pyramid or new plate, low fat, low carb, vegetarian or even real foods- aren’t working then perhaps you need to re-evaluate.
I would love to tell you that I have been the picture of health since starting this real/whole/traditional foods diet several years ago but that would not be the truth. I am certainly much better than I was but I am not 100%. Years and years of a Standard American Diet (SAD) can take its toll. I’ve mentioned that my family came into this diet not to cure health issues (I didn’t understand then, that food could cure health issues– I thought that was what pills were for :() but because the idea of eating food closer to the way God designed them made sense to us. Discovering that we were feeling better was a bonus!
Now that I better understand the correlation between the gut and our overall health, I’m on a mission to continue to improve not just my health and my families health but also to share this information with the world. 🙂 Yes, there will be people that continue to live in denial and do the same things they have been doing with the same results. That is human nature.
Are you ready to get off of the illness roller coaster and start on a journey toward better health? The Weston A. Price Foundation has these terrific guidelines from their Principles of Healthy Diets. Start with one or two and move on from there.
Dietary Guidelines
- Eat whole, unprocessed foods.
- Eat beef, lamb, game, organ meats, poultry and eggs from pasture-fed animals.
- Eat wild fish (not farm-raised) and shellfish from unpolluted waters.
- Eat full-fat milk products from pasture-fed cows, preferably raw and/or fermented, such as raw milk, whole yogurt, kefir, cultured butter, whole raw cheeses and fresh and sour cream. (Imported cheeses that say “milk” or “fresh milk” on the label are raw.)
- Use animal fats, especially butter, liberally.
- Use traditional vegetable oils only–extra virgin olive oil, expeller-expressed sesame oil, small amounts of expeller-expressed flax oil, and the tropical oils–coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil.
- Take cod liver oil regularly to provide at least 10,000 IU vitamin A and 1,000 IU vitamin D per day.
- Eat fresh fruits and vegetables–preferably organic–in salads and soups, or lightly steamed with butter.
- Use whole grains, legumes and nuts that have been prepared by soaking, sprouting or sour leavening to neutralize phytic acid, enzyme inhibitors and other anti-nutrients.
- Include enzyme-enhanced lacto-fermented vegetables, fruits, beverages and condiments in your diet on a regular basis. (Note from Millie: Consider taking the Lacto-Fermentation eCourse and check out Cultures for Health for cultures and starters)
- Prepare homemade meat stocks from the bones of chicken, beef, lamb and fish and use liberally in soups, stews, gravies and sauces.
- Use filtered water for cooking and drinking.
- Use unrefined salt and a variety of herbs and spices for food interest and appetite stimulation.
- Make your own salad dressing using raw vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and a small amount of expeller-expressed flax oil.
- Use natural sweeteners in moderation, such as raw honey, maple syrup, maple sugar, date sugar, dehydrated cane sugar juice (sold as Rapadura) and stevia powder.
- Use only unpasteurized wine or beer in strict moderation with meals.
- Cook only in stainless steel, cast iron, glass or good quality enamel.
- Use only natural, food-based supplements.
- Get plenty of sleep, exercise and natural light.
- Think positive thoughts and practice forgiveness.
Dietary Dangers
- Do not eat commercially processed foods such as cookies, cakes, crackers, TV dinners, soft drinks, packaged sauce mixes, etc. Read labels!
- Avoid all refined sweeteners such as sugar, dextrose, glucose, high fructose corn syrup and fruit juices.
- Avoid white flour, white flour products and white rice.
- Avoid all hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats and oils.
- Avoid all refined liquid vegetable oils made from soy, corn, safflower, canola or cottonseed.
- Do not use polyunsaturated oils for cooking, sauteing or baking.
- Avoid foods fried in polyunsaturated oils or partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
- Do not practice veganism. Animal products provide vital nutrients not found in plant foods.
- Avoid products containing protein powders as they usually contain carcinogens formed during processing; and consumption of protein without the cofactors occurring in nature can lead to deficiencies, especially of vitamin A.
- Avoid processed, pasteurized milk; do not consume ultrapasteurized milk products, lowfat milk, skim milk, powdered milk or imitation milk products.
- Avoid factory-farmed eggs, meats and fish.
- Avoid highly processed luncheon meats and sausage.
- Avoid rancid and improperly prepared seeds, nuts and grains found in granolas, quick rise breads and extruded breakfast cereals, as they block mineral absorption and cause intestinal distress.
- Avoid canned, sprayed, waxed and irradiated fruits and vegetables. Avoid genetically modified foods (found in most soy, canola and corn products).
- Avoid artificial food additives, especially MSG, hydrolyzed vegetable protein and aspartame, which are neurotoxins. Most soups, sauce and broth mixes and most commercial condiments contain MSG, even if not indicated on the label.
- Individuals sensitive to caffeine and related substances should avoid coffee, tea and chocolate.
- Avoid aluminum-containing foods such as commercial salt, baking powder and antacids. Do not use aluminum cookware or deodorants containing aluminum.
- Do not drink fluoridated water.
- Avoid synthetic vitamins and foods containing them.
- Avoid distilled liquors.
- Do not use a microwave oven.
Re-Evaluate
Earlier I mentioned that if what you are doing isn’t working for you then perhaps it is time to re-evaluate. I mentioned that it’s possible that real food may not be giving you the results you need. If that’s the case maybe it is time to look at something a little more restricted. Perhaps the GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride) diet or something similar might give you the healing that you need.
A few different time I’ve done GAPS. This has been a huge help in giving my system a reset and putting me back on the right path. The truth is, I’d probably benefit from a longer course of full GAPS but perhaps I live in a bit of denial myself…
How good are you at sharing your personal beliefs with others? Do you go out of your way to share or do you stay mum? What do you do when you meet opposition?
I’m a mom
I think the end of this post is a good time to remind you that I am just a mom not a doctor or health care professional. I share this with you for informational purposes only. You should do your own research and come to your own conclusions for your healthcare along with consulting a qualified health care provider. The 5 things I mentioned above could be related to your diet or something else, I’m not a doctor so am not pretending to diagnose. I share from my experience and research only.
Want to learn more about traditional cooking? Check out the Fundamentals eBook from my affiliate partner Traditional Cooking School!
This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting Homespun Oasis with your purchases. Millie Copper of Homespun Oasis is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking amazon.com.
Photos: Pill Bottle, Cereal, all other photos are mine.
Great article! I’m going to share on facebook & others. Unfortunately I know way too many people in denial. I just keep on trying & hope that one day they will figure it out. Never give up, that’s what I say. I just nudge some of them every now & then & once in awhile I finally get through to one of them & it makes the effort all worth the while. – DJ Katie of Miami 🙂
Hi DJ Katie,
I think never give up is a good thing to say! Thanks for sharing the article 🙂
This is my favorite post I’ve seen on Facebook this year!
Pat
Thanks Pat!
Now that’s a fine post! My ultimate dietary self-care goals delineated.
Thank you!
real food is NOT giving me the results i need. I am not concerned about weight, i have a healthy Body mass index, and do not have drastic weight fluctuations. with that said, I have been following nourishing traditions diet for a few years now, RELIGIOUSLY, and don’t see any other way that could ever be healthier. I live extremely remote off grid, in the tropics, without refrigeration, and currently my diet is dependent on my non-refrigeration bulk food storage, 20 laying hens (for 2 people, myself and my boyfriend), what we hunt (there are invasive pig, goat, and deer here) and a large garden. we have only been out here for 1 year, so we dont have the diversity and abundance we aspire to have in the near future. however, aside from soaked, lactofermented grains, we do have large pots of gently steamed organic heirloom greens every day, with ghee, and we get lots of bananas, guavas, coconuts, chayotes, etc. we have only stainless, cast iron, and enamel ware. we drink ceramic filtered stream water. what am i doing wrong?
my theory- i need goats for milk. I am doing everything else right, yet i am continue to be severely immunocompromised. i dont drink, smoke, etc. i most of the good and NONE of the bad. we only cook with coconut, lard, and ghee, i harvest sea salt from lava rocks, I fish and spear prawns from the cleanest waters in the state. assuming I strive to have the most “traditonal” diet along these guidelines, so i dont just rant here about everything i do: essentially what i want to ask is this:
What could i change to improve my extremely horrible digestion, that would work in remote humid tropics without refrigeration? i have written down what i eat, and how my digestion responds, and i have found NO correlation, sometimes i get flare ups that can floor me for days, unable to do dishes or anything. I have excellent hygene and am not exposing myself to pathogenic vectors. i take a bunch of organic garlic pills whenever this happens and it usually alleviates the symptoms temporarily. You name it, i have that symptom. excruciating kidney pain, whole body inflammation, (esp. in face and stomach), not regular elimination, sharp stabbing stomach pain, bad gas, etc. I guess Im not asking for a diagnosis, just an opinion of what I can do to improve my situation. im very crafty and motivated. thanks!
fire honey,
First I want to say I’m sorry that you are having so many issues. Second, where you live sounds wonderful (I say that as the wind is roaring about 60mph here in Wyoming and it is quite chilly). Kathryn gave you a good suggestion. Another thought, have you looked into Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Natasha Campbell-McBride? It really helped me to alleviate some minor issues I was having even while following an NT style diet. Here is some online info that gives great information on the diet http://gapsdiet.com/Home_Page.html. The book at $30 seemed steep to me but it was very much worth it. The information and details given are incredible. The big difference with GAPS is the elimination of grains. I don’t know how that would work for you with your homesteading but from what you described you do have access to a descent amount of meats and vegetables. We did the GAPS intro (http://gapsdiet.com/INTRODUCTION_DIET.html) and it helped alot. Intro starts with just broth, meats and select vegetables and then additional foods are added one at a time. It really helped me to be able to pay attention to how my body reacted (or not) to foods. And it gave me a new appreciation for many things I had taken for granted. I don’t know that this would be an answer for you, but if it is not something you have tried it is worth considering.
I do hope that you can find relief, it is not fun feeling rotten!
Fire Honey,
The one thing I would wonder is, what type of grains are you eating? If you are gluten sensitive or celiac, all of your symptoms could be related. Soaking/fermenting grains does make them easier to digest but if you have sensitivity to gluten, no amount of soaking or fermenting will prevent the reaction to them. Would it be possible to go a few weeks without your grains then see how you feel? One more thing, can I come to visit you? Your surroundings/home sound wonderful. 🙂
Fire honey, Have you tried taking several tablespoons (2 T, 3 X per day) of raw organic coconut oil per day? It has been miraculous for my longstanding issues.
@fire honey Wild guess… Have you ever chelated (WITH toxin binding/elimination protocol) for heavy metal? No joy in a perfect diet if that’s a problem. Near as I can tell, the gut will be under constant attack as your good diet prevents Candida from doing the necessary work of sequestering mercury. No mercury, no Candida, no leaky gut. Like I said, wild (but much researched) guess… Fighting this battle myself now with whole foods. Seaweed chelates mercury (in combination with cilantro and chlorella, or so I’ve read) but without bentonite clay, zeolites, or some such to bind and carry the mobilized mercury out it’s just redeposited someplace worse than where it was dislodged from! Not saying this is the answer, but it’s something to mull over.
yes i have considered it. well, more than considered, i would like to do it. being poor, and a beginning homesteader, you can imagine all the money goes into food production (not for sale) for our sustenance, so we can get off the system as soon as possible, so expensive therapies like chelation and amalgam filling removal have been pushed by the wayside. I dont know how much longer I can wait, and dont have funds to do so. drives me nuts being only 26 with all these health problems. Im inclined to travel to mexico, where I have experienced more advanced dentistry than anywhere in the US. I feel like i need to go to get bloodwork done, testing ,etc, but really, my gut feeling is (no pun intended), drastically increase my probiotic intake (read: get a goat for milk), culture more veggies, and have chelation, and filling removal.
@fire honey LOL! Trade? I live in a rented room and I’m getting tired of ground turkey. 🙂
@millie: thanks a lot for that info. I am interested in the gaps info, but i really wanted to hear someone tell me what book was good for them, because I am just leery of buying books that tout cures, (i do my book shopping online) and then they might not work for me. I can do broth, meat, veggies, and i appreciate the links. i should have noted that before i moved to this remote location 1 year ago, i had a more well rounded diet, which included lots of squash, sweet potatoes, potatoes, root veggies galore, which i am not getting enough of right now. my entire life I have never really craved carbs/grain. but i LOVE sweet potatoes and taro and breadfruit and cooking bananas and cassava (tapioca) and thats what i have growing! I just have to wait it out.. you are right, its not fun feeling rotten! especially when I am trying to create my dream homestead and need a heckuva lot of energy to do so! good thing my fiance grew up with mexicans and works harder than anybody twice as strong as he is, all day every day, growning rare heirloom flowers with his mother, so he is compassionate about my issues and can compensate when I am lacking 🙂 thanks for the advice
Fire Honey – It sounds like you’re living in paradise, but I know that is small consolation due your ailments. I hope you find relief soon! You’re too young to suffer like this.
Millie, thanks for the post as always! Here’s the Facebook thread I mentioned the other day, resulting from me posting it to my wall. What troubles me is the first comment by Paul – I know it’s intimidating for people to start this path when they’re so used to eating whatever is easy. It all seems to impossibly out there. I think your approach of helping people gradually turn around is so important.
I’m including the whole thread just so you can see what people were saying:
——
Paul: If this is all true, then eating healthy is way more difficult than I thought.
Aaron: one would think a proper nutrition class would be required in our educational institutions.
Mjit: Sorry, but some of that I want to throw out the window as blatant bullsh*t. Just read an article the other day about how raw milk is responsible for twice as many milk-related bacterial infections than pastuerized.
Erin Darling: How many was “twice as many?” Where was the milk coming from? We’ve been on raw milk from two local places for two years now, and have never had so much as a passing intestinal twitch from it. As with any food, care is required in the handling from udder to end user. I know of one raw milk illness in the last several years in Michigan – Q Fever – which ended up being maybe a dozen people being mildly ill.
If you eat chicken from a factory farm, your chances of food-borne pathogens is higher than from raw milk for a number of reasons.
Erin Darling: My apologies – it wasn’t “maybe a dozen people;” it was three, one of whom wound up fairly seriously ill:
http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2011/06/raw_milk_threat_announced_in_m.html
This was going on when we switched herd shares, and I spoke to several folks, including the family running the operation who sold the milk and some of their customers. Most customers stuck with that farm, realizing it was a fluke.
Jason: You would think that but they might actually have to follow the guidelines for their lunches then. I mean Pizza is a vegetable remember. =)
Erin Darling: Don’t forget ketchup! A prime, nutritious, healthy veggie.
Jason: Oh I completely forgot. The sugar filled tomatoey like substance. Thank you for refreshing my memory.
Chris: IT’S GOT ELECTROLYTES.
Mjit: Okay, let me rephrase: something in my internal logic circuits flat-out balks at believing there’s a significant difference between raw and pasteurized milk. If I recall the numbers breakdown, it was: 1200 milk drinkers. 1200 ppl drink milk, <10% drink raw; 9 ppl sick, 6 from raw. Not a big enough pool for a real study, but enough to make one suspicious.
Erin Darling: There is a significant difference! There are a variety of healthy bacteria, proteins, fats and enzymes in raw milk which our GI tracts use. This is not a completely unbiased site, but it is fully-cited: http://www.raw-milk-facts.com/raw_milk_health_benefits.html
Plus, it just tastes so. Darned. Good! When I was drinking milk from the store, it was "ok," in my view. It was what it was. But when we switched to the real deal, my body, my brain and my taste buds lit up completely – it knew what to do with it. That's the best way I can describe the feeling.
As for the stats, I don't disagree there are risks and illnesses – but they are usually from improperly-handled product, just like food-borne illnesses in other foods. Still, trust your gut – if you think it's not for you, that's cool.
A Brief Overview Of The Health Benefits Of Raw Milk
http://www.raw-milk-facts.com
Aaron: Raw milk isn't any more dangerous than any other food when properly handled. Pasteurization of milk (and wine! don't get me started on dangers of alcohol) was used to prolong shelf life for transportation of mass produced milk.
Sh*t, I assume opponents of raw milk drive cars. Completely safe legal travel, right? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate
Here have some legal "safe" fish: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugu Careful now, someone should regulate your choices as you clearly aren't able to think critically about how dangerous one action is compared to other socially accepted actions.
Hi Erin,
I think that many people believe the way Paul does, that changing their diet is difficult. And in some ways it is. The first difficulty is evidenced in the rest of the thread. We are conditioned (dare I say brainwashed?) to believe certain things. Eat the pyramid, pasteurized for safety, no meat, butter, etc because of cholesterol. Oh you have high cholesterol? Here take this pill. Oh that pill is now causing this problem? Here is a pill for that… And so it goes. Overcoming that conditioning is the first step. The rest is just the doing.
Hi Millie, great post. Reminds me of coworkers at my job who cannot fathom changing their diet. Of course then I had to go and have my adrenals crash after 18 months on GAPS so I know they are all thinking “Oh boy, good thing I didn’t try THAT diet!” It wasn’t GAPS! I was going through chronic stress and had been experiencing adrenal fatigue and thyroid dysfunction for years, maybe even a couple of decades and never did much about it. Starting GAPS was the best thing I’ve ever done for myself. Also, @firehoney I am wondering if you have ever heard of Dr. Jack Kruse’s Leptin Reset? That might be the ticket to help you in your health journey. http://jackkruse.com/my-leptin-prescription/ and http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum/thread32345.html are good places to start. It’s a journey and we are going to discover things along the way. I am writing about my healing journey at my blog and I keep discovering more tweaks. Like you I can’t afford to get amalgams removed (I have 11). Also, I’d like to say, if you do get a goat for milk, I would suggest Nigerian Dwarves because they are small and easier to handle. And please get at least two goats as they really need a buddy. You can get one milker and a neutered male (called a wether). We had Nubians for quite a few years and we finally had to get rid of them because no one could drink their milk (gut issues). It was so so hard to get rid of our herd because I felt like their milk was white gold but we were spending too much money bringing in hay (we live in the desert and have to haul our own water so growing our own was out of the question) and I was just too tired to have to keep wrangling them every day, milking, trimming hooves. We did have one Nigerian Dwarf and he was easy for me to handle. Anyway, it sounds like you are doing right what you can, and you have a strong healthy guy on your side and that always helps. I wish you the best of luck on your journey.
Hi Starlene!
Thanks for the leptin link. I’ve been seeing referances to leptin in places but hadn’t taken the time to follow up on it.
ooOOooh I have so much new info i want to read and look up now! im very excited about all of this, because it FEELS right, it feels like what I enjoy eating most. we have a super teeny solar setup and i have drained the battery! i cant leave a long response now, but i am very excited to “dork out” more on the computer about all of this. thank you so much for the leptin and the GAPS info- its very helpful since I have to wait months to get books I have ordered in the mail, having website online that break it down for me helps me fastrack it. one good thing is that my boyfriend just left for 2 months (well Ill miss him a lot) but he eats like a man 3x his size, and its extremely hard to eat my little “birdfood” diet as he calls it, when he can eat 16 eggs a day and a bunch of meat and grains and greens! believe it or not, he is only 155-160lbs, 5’10, so very lean build but man he needs like 5000 calories a day and I probably need 1500-2000 is my guess. so now the cooking pressure is off me, and I can just have the kitchen the way i want it for the next few months.
ps- the facebook thread comments are ridiculous! why cant people see that they are just being brainwashed? “just like a snake that cannot shed its skin, a mind that cannot change, must die” . i am planning on getting 2 goats, i want them to be happy and have friends 🙂 its crazy, we have to bring it by boat from maui, goats on a boat! then a year later we’ll get a buck to breed them, but I only have one source so i am stuck with the breeds they have, which are a blend of three breeds. thats okay though because it seems like a really awesome farm and they do all the milking by hand and its all natural happy goats: surfinggoatdairy.com
Great Article! I actually lost a friend (crazy huh?) because she thinks I’m “strange” for eating real foods now and making my own things like cleaners. She thinks I am unclean beacause I don’t use bleach and other toxic cleaners in my home. Oh well! I used to eat the typical american diet. I made a lot of meals but I also bought snacks and things that were unhealthy. I was depressed miserable and tired all the time for about 2 years. Then one night in August I woke up out of a deep sleep with my heart racing so fast. I went the dr the next morning and underwent lots of blood work and test….I found out I had high blood pressure (I was only 27!!) and a temporary thyoid issue. The next day I immediately changed my diet and lifestyle and I’ve never felt better. I eat about 80% organic and I make all my bread, snacks and meals. It really is true that eating healthly real foods can make you feel better.
Wonderful to hear how much better you feel! Sad about your friend. I too have friends who think I’m a weirdo for the choices we make. I’m okay with that.
Love this post! One thing I will say however, and I really hope you read this 🙂 There are people that are deathly allergic to MSG, as such anything MSG is in is labeled. At least as far as I know. My reasoning for this isn’t that I think Big Business is worried about us (ROFL) it is that the lawsuits are insane for that kind of thing. If I am incorrect in this and you know for sure please let me know! I’m working overtime to protect my family from that exact thing. And please don’t take this as a negative post, I really am curious. 🙂
Hi Jess,
MSG is a bad deal. And you would think that the labeling would have to be completely clear. However, it may not be… Here is an interesting article on the Hidden Sources of MSG http://truthinlabeling.org/hiddensources.html. MSG goes by many names. And here is an article about how MSG does get hidden. http://truthinlabeling.org/Here'sHowTheyHideMSG.html
I don’t take your question as negative at all. I appreciate your question!
Oh wow! Thanks for the info, I had no idea!
If you live in the modern world. Work all day, keep a house barely clean, do the laundry, half of which is sent out, move 2 very active children to their activities. How can you eat that way?
Yes, I have a daily reoccurring headache…actually I have a headache that started over 10 years ago and has never gone away. Yes, I have pain under my right rib cage, for 13 years that has gone un-diagnosed. Yes, Yes, Yes Yes…I eat healthy, we eat organic, I don’t eat red meat. How do you do all this other, and love a crazy busy life. I even got the “Squid’s” mean plan thinking that would help, but she wants you to make cheese. REALLY?