For years, our government (FDA and USDA) and many other health sources have recommended not only consumption of grains, but that we increase our intake of grains, vegetables and fruits, and avoid eating saturated fat and cholesterol (that’s another topic entirely). And yet in spite of this “healthy” low-fat diet that we are told to consume, our disease and obesity rates continue to rise.

So what’s the truth? Are grains are okay to consume or not?  Unfortunately, the answer is not a simple yes or no. In this post I’ll explain the reasons grains are harmful to consume, and the conditions under which you could safely consume them.

Why grains make people sick

A lot of people talk about how their bodies are made irritated or diseased by grains. For many years, I was one of these people. I used to consume a lot of grains (wheat in particular), but didn’t understand the connection between just how much these substances caused many of my health issues. When I found out that wheat could be a problem, I eliminated it and immediately started experiencing better health. As time went on, I heard more stories about how others experienced the same issues.

From my research, I discovered that various issues in our food supply are causing these problems: farming methods, pesticides and other chemicals, GMOs, hybridization of grains, and industrial processing by food companies. When I realized I had issues with wheat, I tried substituting properly prepared gluten-free grains to see if I had any improvement. Sometimes I could eat these foods, and sometimes not.  Overall, my conclusion was that I largely needed to avoid gluten-containing AND gluten-free grains as well.

Then I heard that if I detoxed my digestive tract, I could eat grains again. Over the last 7 years, I’ve done various protocols such as a lengthy candida cleanse, detoxes such as liver/gallbladder cleanses, homeopathic detox, and healing strategies like GAPS (which I started in May of 2011 and am still doing) to heal my gut and allow my body able to normally digest food again. For the most part, I’ve avoided “offending” foods: wheat, corn and other grains, soy, refined sugar and carbohydrates. I only occasionally consume fermented soy, real sourdough bread, alcoholic beverages, caffeine, and starches like rice or potatoes.

I keep reading that once I finish GAPS, I’ll be able to consume grains again. Dr. McBride’s book Gut and Psychology Syndrome tells us that the healing period of GAPS can take anywhere from 1-3 years due to the extent of digestive and health damage most people have in their bodies. The reality is, because of our processed diets, most people in the world today living in developed countries have GAPS syndrome. It’s just a fact of modern life.

When you come off GAPS, it is not advised to eat the foods you ate once before since, doing so would inevitably put you back where we were before starting the protocol. This is where foods like whole, sprouted/soaked and fermented grains come in.

Grains, nuts, legumes, and other foods should be properly prepared and dairy should be raw. We should eat as many live foods with real enzymes and bacteria as possible including naturally cultured and fermented foods, and all foods should be unprocessed, just how our ancestors used to eat it. Read about this great online course from Cheeseslave to understand how to get the most nutritional benefit out of the grains you eat, discover how to make all the grain foods you love at home, and avoid the processed grain foods from the store.

Grains contain nutrients like B vitamins and magnesium – important nutrients many people in this country are deficient in due to the over-processing of foods, poor gut health, and also because grains are usually not properly prepared. Like most nutrients, they don’t work in isolation. Taking supplements doesn’t often work well, and to absorb Vitamin D we need magnesium AND calcium (these work together in synergy), and also members of the Vitamin B family. Magnesium and B Vitamins are both found in grains as well as other foods.

Will I eat grains again someday? That all depends on my body. For years I have done better on a low or no-grain diet. But I’ve also been told by my naturopath that if I heal my digestion with healthy foods, mineral supplements, and digestive enzymes, I can then eat clean grains from a non-GMO source that are properly prepared.

Another problem she mentioned is that if a person has weak adrenals and/or blood sugar issues (which I’ve had for years), eating a high-carb diet can cause a great deal of problems. And ironically enough, weak adrenals and blood sugar issues are caused by years of eating processed foods with no nutritional value – including processed grains that come from GMO sources.  So when I resolve these issues, I may be able to eat grains again, in moderation. I can tell you one thing…if I do, it won’t be the way I used to eat them.

Now I’d like to set the record straight about why grains have gotten such a bad reputation and have wreaked so much havoc on our health. Grains are not necessarily “the bad guys” across the board, but here are some significant reasons/conditions which make them harmful to consume.

5 reasons grains are unhealthy to consume:

• People have never, in the history of the world consumed the volume of grains they do now. Up until recently, the FDA Food Pyramid recommended we eat 6-11 servings a day. Consuming that many grains daily led me to a variety of health problems: insulin-resistance, thyroid problems, irregular menstrual cycles, depression, and panic disorder. I ate plenty of commercial breads, bagels, crackers, English Muffins, pancakes, pita bread, muffins, croissants, pasta, rice, and other similar foods.  Although I ate other things, most of the animal products were commercial, lean, or low-fat, and my vegetable intake wasn’t very high.  The Food Pyramid has now become My Plate, but the emphasis continues to be eating more vegetables, fruits, and grains. My Plate entirely omits fats as a category, and uses the term “protein” which can include a variety of unhealthy, processed products which aren’t real, nourishing proteins; two grave nutritional mistakes. The foods recommended to us by the FDA and USDA are not natural, healthy foods. They are commercially processed, full of toxins, pesticides, GMOs, antibiotics, preservatives, fillers, MSG, and other undesirable substances, not soaked, sprouted, nor fermented, and largely devoid of nutrition, including grains. If you follow these recommendations, roughly half of your diet amounts to grains. The result is blood sugar highs and lows, which will negatively impact your weight, energy levels, and cause auto-immune disorders like thyroid and/or low adrenal function.  It’s no wonder the markers of metabolic disorder are so common in our popluation: heart disease, diabetes, hypoglycemia, high blood pressure, obesity, and others are so common.

• The way we process and consume grains is totally changed from how they were traditionally prepared and eaten.  It’s no secret that grains are a cheap, convenient food source.  However, since the Industrial Revolution, food companies and merchants have found ways to mass produce grain products, using the cheapest ingredients and most convenient processing. Grains are ground, extruded (subjected to high temperatures and pushed through holes in machinery which molds the grains into shape, rendering the nutrients in grains damaged and altered), and otherwise highly processed to make most foods found on the consumer market.  Many people don’t realize that throughout time, people have prepared grains properly by soaking, sprouting, and fermenting them to neutralize naturally-occurring phytic acid. Phytic acid is a nutrient inhibitor and not only prevents uptake of minerals zinc, magnesium, calcium, and others in the body, but also leeches many of these same elements from the stores your body keeps.

• Due to hybridization or selective-trait breeding in wheat, there is nearly 75 percent more gluten in wheat today than in the historical past. Although gluten is desirable because of its elasticity for baking, it is also highly indigestible and is responsible for contributing to many health issues in humans including food allergies, celiac, IBS, Crohn’s Disease, diverticulitis and colitis, among others. Like other foods, wheat has been engineered to increase crop yields, “improve” wheat quality, require less pesticides and herbicides (with other issues cropping up such as the creation of pathogenic bacteria in the soil which encourages the growth of disease and pesticide resistant super-weed).  The result has contributed to many health and environmental issues. Last week I talked to a naturopathic doctor who said she didn’t think it was the fact that people were eating grains, she thinks it’s from the fact that many of these grains are from GMOs (genetically modified substances). Although I think this is definitely a factor that affects our health, I don’t think it’s the only reason.

• Over-consumption of grains and gluten in particular, due to the reasons I described above, has caused many people to have compromised digestive tracts.  A person with a sick digestive tract cannot properly digest grains – even properly prepared ones that are soaked and sprouted, and/or fermented – or any other food for that matter. People with compromised digestion often experience a variety of symptoms such as:  gas, bloating, indigestion, diarrhea, constipation, or chronic problems like IBS, Crohn’s Disease, colitis, food allergies, asthma, eczema, physiological disorders, auto-immune problems, and more. The intestinal tract becomes permeable and undigested foods pass through, entering the blood stream causing distress on the whole body.

• If you have a gluten intolerance or celiac disease, it is now possible to buy the same things you once ate in just about every gluten-free variety you can imagine on the consumer market. It’s a big mistake to trade your gluten-consuming habits of 3-4 times a day into gluten-free consuming habits of the same frequency. Most of those products are just as highly processed and cause the same type of gut damage, nutrient loss in the body, weight problems, metabolic syndrome, and auto-immune disorders. Read here about the big gluten-free lie.

So, if:

But wait, maybe you’ve also heard that grains cause health problems. The refined, processed grains surely do – even the whole grains. These cause nutrient deficiencies which bring on a variety of health problems like crooked teeth, allergies, weight gain, cavities, and osteoporosis. That’s because grains are full of phytic acid, a nutrient inhibitor, which prevents the body from uptaking many important nutrients like minerals magnesium, iron, and zinc, fiber, B-complex vitamins and also Vitamin E.

Phytic acid occurs primarily in the seed coats and germ of plant seeds. It forms insoluble or nearly insoluble compounds with minerals including calcium, iron, magnesium and zinc, such that they cannot be effectively absorbed into the blood. Diets high in phytic acid and poor in these minerals produce mineral deficiency symptoms in experimental animals (Gontzea and Sutzescu, 1958, as cited in Chavan and Kadam, 1989).

Most nutrients found in grains are located in the germ, and those are removed when they are not whole. That’s why eating processed grains – which is most of what you’ll find on the market – actually harms your health. Packages might even say “whole grains”, but usually those grains really aren’t whole at all.  That’s why when you eat these products, you can’t actually absorb these important nutrients…even though the “experts” tell us otherwise.

So what can you do? The key is to prepare grains properly through soaking, sprouting, and fermentation.  When we soak or ferment grains, it pre-digests or breaks down the phytic acid in grains, so our bodies can absorb the nutrients.  Our ancestors knew that properly prepared grains were better for human health, and these practices sustained the human race for thousands upon thousands of years. These ideas were abandoned around the time of the Industrial Revolution because of the need for mass production and convenience…so it’s no surprise that many people today hear about these practices and  have no idea where to begin.

With Ann Marie Michael’s (from Cheeseslave) great new online course, Healthy Whole Grains, you’ll discover how to make all the healthy, properly prepared grains as others all over the world have done throughout time…and from the comfort and privacy of your own home. You’ll learn how to easily make delicious recipes and still retain valuable nutritional elements in what you are eating. In no time, you’ll be making your own pizza crusts, crackers, real sourdough bread, chips, and more

Right now I’m on GAPS (I’ve been on it since May of 2011) which means I’ve been avoiding grains until my digestive tract is healed. However, I’m looking forward to being able to eat grains when I’m finished, and you can bet I’ll be preparing mine properly through soaking, sprouting, and fermenting. If I consume grains the way I used to, my health issues will go right back where I started.

If you are someone who has struggled with eating grains during any part of your life, and suspect you might have health issues because of it…it’s time to learn just how easy it is to prepare your own whole grains at home to increase nutrient-content, avoid health issues, and eat all the foods you love.

This class will help you save money on buying your own whole grains and preparing them yourself. Buying processed grains at the store is expensive not only at the checkout, but in what you’ll save on health issues down the road.

Watch this video which talks about what you’ll get out of this great online course:

• 12 weeks of online classes
• 50 video tutorials
• Over 100 recipes

To save money on making you own breads and other grain foods, and also health costs in the future, sign up for Healthy, Whole Grains now.

Healthy, Whole Grains Online Course:

Original class price: $199

Sale price: $149

What you will pay when you use the SPROUT20 coupon: just $129.00 — that’s less than $11.00 per class!

Sign up before February 7th, and use coupon code SPROUT20 to save at checkout and pay just $129 for a $20.00 discount from the sale price.

That’s less than $11 per class! And, you’ll have lifetime access to all the videos, recipes, and class materials. This is the ONLY coupon being made available to the public, and to take advantage of this price, you must sign up ON OR BEFORE February 7th.

Photo credit, Ann Marie Michaels

There really are natural ways to improve your health and well-being with real, traditional foods. You can reverse food allergies, reduce your incidence of colds, flus, infections, asthma, bone and joint pain, headaches, blood sugar issues, weak immunity, weight gain, and digestive problems. And these bloggers will show you how!

Check out the 30% off sale is now extended through Friday, January 6, 2012.   Use the coupon SUPERSALE when checking out to take advantage of these great holiday savings.

This is a fantastic way to choose healthy for the new year, whether you are interested in finding out more about Nourishing Traditions-style cooking and food preparation or want to embark on a healing, health journey to eliminate symptoms or allergies you’ve been dealing with such as Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride’s GAPS protocol (from Gut and Psychology Syndrome) or SCD (Specific Carbohydrate Diet). Save 30% now on courses, meal planners, and books for yourself or someone you love. Giving the gift of health is priceless!

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Did you know feeding kids nutrient-dense foods can prevent the need for braces, as well as increase intellectual capacity and improve their moods? Learn insights about what you need to make healthy choices for your infant. In this online e-book, discover why you have certain cravings during nursing, why you should skip rice cereal and what the latest research says about introducing peanuts, eggs and other “allergenic” foods. Plus, enjoy over thirty nutrient rich recipes that are specifically designed for the little tummies, but also meant for the whole family to share and enjoy!

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Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas holiday and are enjoying time with loved ones this week. Happy New Year, and I wish you all the best in health!

This week Wal-Mart announced that baby formula was being pulled from the shelf  because it was consumed by a newborn infant which developed a fatal infection and died.

When a person dies from eating a commercial product, it’s certainly a terrible tragedy. But especially a child; not only because of the loss, but because the death could have easily been prevented if safe practices were actually used in producing food.

This story should get the attention of all parents. I’m pretty sure many will notice this story, but I don’t know that the majority will realize what’s really going on.

There’s one thing this story should tell everyone loud and clear:

Processed foods are not only unhealthy to consume, but downright deadly.

The FDA should take notice too, but I know for a fact they won’t do the responsible or ethical measure in this instance, which would be to fine and shut down the offending company who produced this product. According to Reuters, ”U.S. health regulators said on Friday they are looking at several types of baby formula that could be linked to the death of an infant, expanding an investigation beyond Mead Johnson’s market-leading Enfamil.” So what actually needs to happen is that multiple companies need to be fined and shut down.

Sadly, what will happen is that this company or companies will likely get a slap on the hand with a fine which they can easily absorb, and be allowed to continue selling products. Because that’s how the FDA rolls: they protect their own. The FDA will make an official statement about the safety of FDA-approved products on their web site and in press releases, saying that this was just a fluke, is being “taken care of”, and that other products are healthy and safe to consume.

For awhile, some parents might avoid the offending company or companies, but will continue to trust other big food companies who produce toxic formulas, and will keep buying them to feed to their babies. Until, that is, the next recall or death comes along.

Folks, this is not the first time this has happened, and I’m sorry to say it isn’t likely to be the last. In 2008, there was an incident in China with tainted baby formula. How many more incidents do we have to have before our government officials, food companies, and general public wake up to this inconvenient fact that processed foods are full of deadly ingredients that make many people sick and sometimes kill them too?  I’m here to tell you that food recall lists are miles and miles long, and they happen all the time. Don’t believe me? See for yourself. Doesn’t this speak volumes about the “safest food system in the world” (quote from the FDA web site)?

If, even after looking at the recall list, you still believe our food system is safe, here’s some startling statistics that will blow your socks off:

Every year there are 76 million cases of foodborne illness in the United States, resulting in 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths. 

So, I ask this important question: are you really able to trust your health with these foods? How about your helpless, newborn baby?

What’s wrong with commercial formulas?

Commercial formulas are highly processed, subjected to high heat temperatures during manufacturing which corrupt fragile proteins, contain oxidized cholesterol and synthetic nutrients produced in a laboratory that your baby’s body cannot properly use, and are most often packed in cans lined in BPA – a known endocrine (hormone) disruptor.

Many so-called “hypoallergenic” formulas are made with processed soy – not traditionally fermented and contain estrogen – which are known endocrine disruptor and goitrogen (meaning it suppresses the thyroid), and contain anti-nutrients known as phytic acid which block mineral uptake and also leach minerals out of the body. Even organic formulas have some of these same issues. There has also been a chemical used to produce rocket fuel (percholate) found in baby formula!

Home made baby formula is nutritionally superior to commercial

Parents, please: if you are unable to breastfeed for any reason, and you want to be certain your infant gets what he or she really needs in the way of nutrients and support to be healthy during growth and development, take the time to make this nutrient-dense, home-made baby formula. It includes nourishing ingredients that are comparable to or superior to breast milk in nutritional value.

When using nourishing ingredients such as raw milk, yogurt, or kefir from healthy grassfed cows or foraging goats, fermented cod liver oil, this formula is nutritionally superior to anything you can buy on the market.  Composition of the mother’s diet absolutely has an effect on the nutritional profile of her breastmilk.  So if she is not eating a traditional foods diet replete with healthy fats and proteins, her milk will be nutritionally lacking.

If you want the hard, nutritional facts, here is a side-by-side comparison of nutrient content of the original home-made formula to breast milk, as well as goat’s formula and hypo-allergenic (liver-based) formulas. Foods like raw milk and dairy products such as yogurt, kefir, sour cream, butter, and other dairy foods, grassfed meats and poultry, eggs from hens on pasture, animal fats such as tallow and lard, seafood, organ meats, cod liver oil, and fish roe (eggs) have been traditionally consumed all over the world by many cultures to improve chances of conceiving, maintaining a healthy pregnancy, and during breast-feeding.

The Weston A. Price Foundation offers recommendations on dietary choices for pregnant or nursing mothers. These recommendations are based on the work of Dr. Weston A. Price who traveled the world in the 1930s to learn why his patients were experiencing degenerative disease as well as dental deformations and tooth decay. His findings indicated that those eating the most traditional diets including the foods mentioned above were not only the healthiest populations, but also had the highest fertility and carrying-to-term pregnancy rates.

These diets provided some of the most important nutrients necessary for life and keeping disease away: fat soluble Vitamins A, D, E, and K2, and Omega 3 essential fatty acids. These nutrients are in short supply in their natural, unadulterated forms in our modern food system. For more information, read Nutrition and Physical Degenerationby Dr. Weston A. Price.

“But”, you may protest, “the FDA says home-made formula isn’t safe!” Right, the FDA, who are so trustworthy.

Here’s what the FDA has to say about home made formula: 

Homemade formulas should not be used.” says Nick Duy, assistant to the director in FDA ‘s division of regulatory guidance. ”Homemade formulas based on whole cow’s milk don’t meet all of an infant’s vitamin and mineral needs. In addition, the high protein content of cow’s milk makes it difficult for an infant to digest and may put a strain on the baby’s immature kidneys. Substituting evaporated milk for whole milk may make formula easier to digest, but it is still nutritionally inadequate when compared to commercially prepared formula. Use of soy drinks as an infant formula can actually be life-threatening.”

Here’s the flaw in this argument:  The FDA does not mention the fact that many children are born with inadequate gut flora to properly digest and absorb the foods they eat, nor the fact those children have a dairy intolerance not because milk is inherently harmful, but because of this gut deficiency and also the fact that the majority of milk used is pasteurized and from cows on feedlots eating the worst imaginable diets, and is the most unnatural and unhealthy milk to consume.

So even if those same children consumed the all-safe and nutritious commercial formulas…guess what? They are still going to have problems with digesting those as well because they are not even made with real ingredients, and are loaded with toxic chemicals. When my son was born, he was 9 weeks premature. Back then, I knew almost nothing about nutrition and I had no idea how harmful commercial formula was. My breast milk didn’t come in because of the birth being premature due to a ruptured appendix. I was incredibly sick and resorted to store-bought formula. We went through every brand you could imagine, including soy because my son was always discontent, fussy, and had terrible colic. Looking back, I now know his issues were due to poor gut flora and the fact that he was malnourished.  It wasn’t because he had “colic”, a term frequently used by conventional doctors who usually don’t understand what causes colic in the first place.

Remarks made about evaporated milk and soy milk are true – they are most definitely inadequate nutritionally – but as far as saying they are not as nutritious as commercial formula, they are actually just as bad or worse.

“But”, you may protest yet again, “the FDA says raw milk isn’t safe for babies to consume!”

Here’s the flaw in this argument: there is no basis for this statement. People drank raw milk for thousands upon thousands of years, and fed it to their babies. Raw milk from healthy cows on pasture has always been and still is a life-giving food, and contains many nutrients, probiotics, enzymes, and proteins which prevent disease and illness. These are nutrients and elements which we are sorely lacking in our “safe” commercial and industrial food system. It’s a system which kills nutrients in food by its very practices each and every day due to filthy conditions, the use of antibiotics, high-heat, deodorization, alkalining, sanitizing, irradiation, and many other harsh, chemical, and toxic practices.

Using government statistics which reveal that there is only an average of 42 illnesses per year (not deaths) by those who consume raw milk, you are “about 35,000 times more likely to become ill from other foods than you are from raw milk.”  Once again, remember that statistic I posted earlier:

Every year there are 76 million cases of foodborne illness in the United States, resulting in 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths. 

These and other sicknesses and deaths are not coming from raw milk from healthy cows on pasture. They are from cows on feedlots, and our industrial food system! Don’t believe me? Just reference the food recall list and you’ll find these are from larger, commercial facilities…not small, sustainable, family farms.

What’s the bottom line?

Don’t put your trust in big food companies, and don’t believe the marketing or studies paid for by these companies to say their products are healthy, nor the corrupt medical establishment and government which backs them up.  Cheap, toxic foods are never a good substitute for real, whole foods that deliver nutrition and heal our health, and our children’s future depends on this safe, reliable food system. Buy local, sustainable foods from farmers you trust, and be willing to cook and make meals from scratch.

More information about our food system: 

Food recalls – why they could mean the end of real food as we know it

Is cheap food really cheap? The hidden costs of  industrial food

1 in 4 meat packages tainted with pathogenic bacteria 

If you have been dutifully drinking your 8 eight-ounce glasses of water daily, here’s why you aren’t getting the benefits you believe you are:

Tap water and bottled water are purported to contain some minerals, varying in content from source to source.

However, most bottled water is expensive and may not be any better than tap water, which can have dangerous substances in it such as remnants of pharmaceutical drugs and other chemicals, heavy metals like chromium, lead, and arsenic, plus the added chemicals fluoride and chlorine.

According to this report from ABC News:

“20/20″ took five bottles of national brands of bottled water and a sample of tap water from a drinking fountain in the middle of New York City and sent them to microbiologist Aaron Margolin of the University of New Hampshire to test for bacteria that can make you sick, like e. coli. “There was actually no difference between the New York City tap water and the bottled waters that we evaluated,” he said.

According to Body Ecology:

• Tap water is municipal water that comes out of the faucets and has been treated, processed and disinfected. It is purified with chlorine and generally has added flouride. But one of the byproducts from using chlorine in our drinking water is linked to cancer¹.
• Distilled water can be any kind of water that has been vaporized and collected, leaving behind any solid residues, including minerals. Distilled water has no minerals in it at all.
• Reverse osmosis water has been forced through membranes that remove larger particles, pollutants and minerals. Reverse osmosis water is usually acidic².
• Deionized water has had ionized impurities and minerals removed from it but not bacteria or pathogens.

In general, most of the water available is lacking in essential minerals we need for health. Mineral deficiencies can cause just about every major disease and symptom known to humankind including rapid heartbeat, headaches (including migraines), 

If you are chronically dehydrated, you may be suffering from symptoms of adrenal exhaustion:

• Sugar cravings
• Salt cravings
• Fatigue
• Feeling thirsty or dehydrated, and need to drink a lot of water at one time
• Sleep issues: falling asleep, wake in the night or wake early in the morning
• Tension, nervousness, anxiety or panic

• Drink nettles infusions
• Make and consume bone broths from the bones of pastured animals and birds (cattle, bison, lamb, poultry, etc.)
• Eat foods from pastured animals and birds – meat, eggs, poultry, dairy, raw milk
• Eat cultured foods – yogurt, kefir, sour cream, cultured vegetables made from home
• Use cell salts homeopathic tablets or liquid minerals – add the liquid minerals to your filtered water and stocks and soups you make at home. I have been using Best Process Trace Minerals as recommended by my Naturopath, and I’m noticing a huge difference in the way I feel.
• Drink mineral water or filtered water with added minerals, fresh squeezed lemon or lime juice, or unsweetened cranberry juice

13 more ways to rehydrate and nourish your adrenal glands:

1. Make sure to consume plenty of liquid gradually throughout the day, and  don’t wait until you feel thirsty to drink a large amount.  If you drink too fast, you risk diluting your blood, which may cause faster excretion of water by the kidneys. Everyone needs different amounts of liquid, but a good rule of thumb is to drink half your weight in ounces. If you weigh 150, drink 75 ounces. This can be mineral water or water with minerals added. Fulvic acid is an excellent substance to add to water.
2. During meals, consume 4 ounces of liquid or less. Drinking more than this dilutes the hydrochloric acid and other stomach juuices your body produces to properly digest your food.  Small amounts of warm or hot liquid such as bone broths, or cultured vegetable juices, or other fermented drinks like water kefir or kombucha will help you to digest your food better.
3. Avoid processed, packaged, and junk foods. Make sure you are eating a healthy diet with real food with plenty of healthy fats and proteins.
4. During and after you exercise, make sure you replace lost fluids with water. When we exert ourselves and sweat, our bodies lose salt and minerals, so replacing them is critical.
5. Avoid beverages and chemicals such as alcohol, soda, and coffee. These substances cause mineral depletion.  Coffee, tea, soda, and alcohol are diuretics and cause the body to release liquid and minerals.  The kidneys are triggered to excrete water but  by triggering the kidneys to excrete pure water without releasing toxins stored in the body.
6. Consume kelp, dulse, nori, or other sea vegetables. These foods are a good source of minerals. Kelp flakes are a very good addition to your diet and are extremely versatile for adding to soups, stews, casseroles, and many other meals as they don’t change the taste of your food.
7. Consume safe-source seafood.  As well as being a rich source of Vitamins like A and E and Omega 3 essential fatty acids, these foods are some of the best sources of important minerals available: especially iodine, selenium, and zinc.
8. Consume plenty of proteins and fats from animals and birds on pasture. Grassfed meats and poultry, eggs, raw dairy foods like butter, milk, yogurt, and kefir, pork, lamb, bison, and other meats and animal products from healthy animals raised on pasture or range. These foods are naturally higher in minerals than their conventional counterparts, as well as Omega 3 essential fatty acids, fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, and CLA (conjugated linoleic acid, an important antioxidant).
9. Take a good quality, bioavailable mineral supplement. Dr. Ron Schmid, ND, recommends Cal 1000 – Mag 500 Hydroxapatite Plus. This supplement is made of the bones of grass-fed animals from New Zealand and is one of the most highly-absorbable forms of minerals available. Another good supplement from a plant-derived source is Morningstar Minerals Energy Boost 70 Supplement. Plant sources are another bioavailable source of minerals since we get our minerals directly from plants as well as animals.
10. Use topical magnesium oil, gel, bath flakes, or lotion.  This transdermal oil is a great way to obtain enough magnesium, especially if you have compromised digestion. It bypasses your digestive system by soaking directly into the skin and into the bloodstream, and can help you avoid one of the main side-effects of magnesium supplements – mal-absorption and diarrhea.
11. Use a good water filter.  Avoid distilled as most of the minerals are removed in those processes. If you have a reverse osmosis filter add minerals. Fulvic minerals or liquid ionic minerals are excellent additions.
12. Control blood sugar levels by eating regularly throughout the day. Elevated blood sugar causes osmotic diuresis, where the sugar exits through your kidneys and carries water out with it into the urine. As a result, your kidneys are unable to reabsorb the water. Body Ecology once again provides you with an excellent solution. Fermented foods and beverages that are naturally sour take away cravings for sugars. You’ll find yourself feeling quite satisfied with the natural sugars in foods like carrots and fruit.
13. Manage stress and get to bed at an early hour. Sleep gives your body a chance to repair and is critical for nourishing the adrenal glands and allows for repair and restoration.

Drinking water to support your adrenal glands is only part of the whole equation.  Everyone needs adequate amounts of water to live, and we need healthy adrenals to maintain fluid and mineral balance in our bodies, but a healthy diet and lifestyle are also essential to keeping the mineral levels in your body to help you stay hydrated too. If you are drinking a lot of water and still feeling dehydrated, or if you have symptoms of adrenal exhaustion, replenish your adrenals with these recommendations.

Most people know someone with an eating disorder. In the 1980s we saw an enormous surge of teenage girls described as having bulimia (binging and purging) and anorexia nervosa (starving oneself to death) in order to keep from being overweight.

But, eating disorders are much more common than people think. Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride talks about these issues in her book Gut and Psychology Syndrome, and describes them as being much more than psychological issues (as have been diagnosed and named by the branch of medicine known as psychiatrics) but nutritional deficiencies which affect overall health, including the mental state of the individual.

From her research, she has concluded that the nutritional deficiencies associated with eating disorders have a profoundly negative impact on the ability of the individual to recognize the condition of their impaired state of health.

These extreme eating disorders have had a devastating effect on the whole of our society though, and there are other eating disorders which may masquerade themselves very sneakily – so difficult to detect in fact, that you may not even realize you or someone else you know has it. The whole way our culture has evolved to regard and consume food over the last hundred years or more can indeed be categorized as one enormous eating disorder. Why is this true?

On the go, no time to eat

Consider the way people live in modern life – we are constantly taxed and on the go, doing more things each day than is humanly possible to accomplish. Our jobs are demanding and provide little opportunity for breaks, vacations, or rest.  Because we are so busy, that leaves little time for much of anything – especially preparing a nutritious, home-cooked meal.

Unless we pay attention to what we buy and are mindful of ingredients, even those of us who do prepare “home-cooked” meals can easily end up preparing food that is virtually devoid of nutrients. What we wind up eating most of the time falls into the category of convenience foods – foods that you don’t prepare from scratch and which come out of a package, can, or box.  And these foods are far from natural or nutritious. The convenience foods are a central component of our collective eating disorder. We have come to depend on and accept these foods for so many years, we believe them to be just fine and healthy to consume.

What’s the result of poor eating habits?

• Fatigue
• Depression
• Blood sugar lows
• Weakened immune system and susceptibility to health issues and disease
• Adrenal exhaustion
• Weight gain
• Food allergies
• Malnutrition

That describes our society very well. It goes without saying that when people become tired, they look for something quick and easy to eat – and that’s seldom a home-prepared meal with healthy and organic ingredients from scratch. Most of us reach for something easy to prepare out of a can, package, or box.

What many of us eat are “quick” foods like food bars, crackers, pretzels, cookies, muffins, processed bread which are full neurotoxins like MSG, artificial colors and flavors, preservatives, dough conditioner, high fructose corn syrup, modified corn starch, hydrogenated, rancid vegetable oils, and trans fats, artificially-produced carbohdyrates, denatured and hydrolyzed proteins, pesticides), genetically-modified ingredients (GMOs), and the list goes on.

These foods are highly processed, devoid of nutrients, and if eaten regularly, will cause:

• Weight gain
• Irregular blood sugar (which can lead to diabetes)
• Disturbance in metabolic processes which leads to auto-immune disorders, cardiovascular disease, and cancer
• Other chronic health issues such as osteoporosis, eczema, asthma, migraines, IBS, Crohn’s Disease, and colitis

How have things changed since the last 160 years? Prior to industrialized society (mid 1800s), people generally ate foods off the land. They hunted, gathered, and farmed prepared foods from their own homes and cooked from scratch. Literally everything people ate was from their own regions and made from real foods. There were no supermarkets, fast food restaurants, or processed, packaged foods. There were very little toxins, chemicals, or preservatives applied to foods. You either ate the food now, or it spoiled soon after.

People who lived back then had relatively little incidence of heart disease. It wasn’t until the 1920s that heart disease began to surface as noticeable problem. Right about that time, processed vegetable oils and refined carbohydrates became more prevalent on the American market. Proctor & Gamble developed a substance to replace lard on the consumer market: hydrogenated cottonseed oil.  P&G even gave away free cookbooks with recipes using this “healthy” new fat. It looked just like the natural fat people used in cooking and to bake pies and desserts, but it wasn’t the same at all.

We count on the fact that many of the foods we purchase can sit on the shelf for months or years and we are able to consume it a long time after purchase. But here’s the important question we should all be asking: is this practice a good idea, and is it healthy? This question lends itself to the old saying - just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should do it.

Eating disorders, dissected

When we hear the term eating disorder, we automatically think of a shrinking young girl who has taken to starvation or eating a lot of food and then purging as a way to stay thin.  But the truth is, there are other ways in which eating disorders manifest themselves. We have grown quite accustomed to eating foods that have some element of convenience to them – such as bottled dressings and sauces, packaged side dishes, pasteurized dairy products of all types (cheeses, milk, sauces, butter and “butter” products), bread and grain products, powdered foods that we add to water, soups, broths, juices, and canned fruits and vegetables.

We use these items in our kitchen and mistakenly believe we are eating healthy because we are cooking something at home; but what we fail to realize is that we are not really eating healthier than if we were eating at a restaurant or some other place where we don’t know how the food is prepared or where it comes from.

When we eat substances like this, we are effectively eating the same as we would elsewhere because we are using unnatural, convenience foods of all types and harming our health. When we use packaged foods which have become such an integral part of modern life, we are consuming substances of which we don’t know their origin nor understand how they are created.  And many of these same types of foods are the same found in restaurants which serve food that is not typically healthy. This is another component of our collective eating disorder.

Then there are the foods which seem natural and whole, but have a complete constituency of substances in them that are virtually “hidden” to the naked eye which are toxic and harmful to consume – meats, dairy products, grains, and fruits and vegetables. In the average grocery store, these foods are wrought with chemicals, hormones, antibiotics, steroids, pesticides, preservatives, and a number of other undesirable, health-issue-causing additives.

They are also found on recall lists on a regular basis – meats and produce, and many other products because of contamination due to unsafe growing and processing methods.  If you don’t believe me, just do a search online for food, meat, or produce recall and you’ll find dozens, if not hundreds of reports. Here’s the list just from 2011.

Most meat and poultry on the consumer market is grain, corn and soy fed. Cattle are not meant to eat grain, corn, or soy because they are ruminants – with digestive tracts intended to process grass. Eating these feeds alters their digestive tracts, making them acidic and inflammatory.  It’s no wonder there are more allergies to grain, corn and soy than ever before in history. If you go to McDonald’s and order a hamburger, french fries, and a Coke, the majority of your meal comes from corn – and most corn on the market now comes from genetically-modified substances. It’s no different in many cases if you go to a mom and pop establishment and order the same items. You may think the ingredients are different, but the truth is, they are probably pretty close to the same, if not identical.

The food may appear acceptable by appearance, it probably even smells and tastes ”normal” – the meat may look robust and red in the packaging, the fruits and vegetables may seem fresh and colorful – but in reality, a lot of these foods are laden with toxic chemicals and have been altered from their original state intended by nature due to the use of substances which make growing, manufacturing and production of these foods “easier” and “cheaper” for the food corporations that sell them. But at what cost to the consumer and the environment? It is common for many food merchants, businesses and restaurants to use the term “fresh” in their marketing ads for their products. And in some ways, it’s not a lie. Those foods may be “fresh” but they are anything but natural or real. Here we have yet a third component of the complicated eating disorder surrounding diets in developed countries.

The human body needs nutrients, not chemicals and synthetics

Although each person’s body is individualized and has its own physiology, basic tenets of nutrition apply to what everyone needs to be healthy. People need fat, protein, carbohydrates, and other nutrients like amino acids, enzymes, vitamins, and minerals. Many foods available in the modern age are typically less nutrient-dense due to processing and toxin content, and because they are processed have a longer shelf life. In this instance, shelf life equals deterioration of food quality.

Do you know where your food comes from?

Today, we purchase foods from the store that are shipped from all over the country and the world. We literally have no idea how long these foods have been sitting in the store nor where they come from, nor what has been done to them before they are delivered to the store.  Our purchasing and eating habits have so departed from how our ancestors did things, we go through our lives having no clue that much of what we are eating is toxic garbage.

This should be disturbing to the average person, but we have become  conditioned to getting whatever we want whenever we want it, and having it taste just the right way (possible, of course, through the magic of taste engineering done in labs by scientists) – and we place that value far and above anything else when it comes to providing food for ourselves, that we don’t even stop to think about it.

Our focus has become centered upon how much fat and calories we consume, and less about the content of the foods we eat. So if we eat artificially-produced, processed foods, it really doesn’t matter how many calories or fat the food contains. Those nutrients (calories,proteins, carbohydrates, and fats) are empty and not nutritionally-dense. What’s more, those “foods” contain substances that are harmful to our health.

Because they cannot be recognized by the human body as anything real, these synthetic substances become stored as fat in the cells and they also get absorbed into our bloodstream and affect our bodies in a negative way. Then they are able to cause damage in the form of free-radicals in the body.

How we are affected by our environment

As human beings, we desire to feel and look “right” according to the standards set forth by our expectations and culture. We are susceptible to the influence of many factors such as what  Mr. Jones down the road does or says, what the latest ad on television or a magazine tells us, and the rhetoric put forth by health and medical communities.

We are totally unaware that most of what we are told to do by these parties is patently wrong and misleading. We spend money on fad diets, exercise regimens, health club memberships, advice, books, DVDs, treatments, and advice from so-called professionals or experts. Yet, we are some of the most unhealthy people on the planet and our obesity, heart disease, and cancer rates are rising each year.

People seldom stop to consider that all these compulsive things we do have a profoundly negative effect on health. We have been convinced and conditioned by media, experts, even our friends and family, that these are the right things to eat for our health. We don’t acknowledge that all of these things are completely unnatural and have undesirable consequences to our health – until we are forced by some serious illness or disease to do so.

When we are diagnosed with something critical, we take it even one step further and go about treating it in the most unnatural way and the affects on our body can be devastating. We take dangerous drugs or have medical procedures that are costly. What we do to our bodies when they are compromised and sick can actually hinder the healing process completely and cause further complications or death.

The answer to our eating disorder

When I say “our eating disorder”, I’m really referring to the habits we’ve collectively developed as a society. But through awareness, that can change. If you are eating real, whole foods containing fats, protein, and calories produced the way nature intended, your body recognizes these substances and the nutrients are real as well. Further, you don’t have to worry about “counting calories” and fat grams. Because the nutrients are real, your body can use them in a way that is helpful to the body, and is therefore life-giving. You shouldn’t gain weight or have health problems if you eat real food.

In the last few years, awareness has heightened about where our food comes from and the importance of buying real food. Over the past several decades, it became unfashionable to eat real food, and now our stores and grocery centers are filled with a plethora of products to “make our lives better”, “healthier”, and more convenient. Because we have lost touch with where our food comes from and how it is grown and produced, we have in turn lost an important part of ourselves – our health.

The way to disable the eating disorder and get our health back is to start learning about where our food comes from and how the producers produce it. By making blind purchases at the grocery store and believing labels we read and advertisements we see or hear, we are falling victim to the marketing schemes of the modern world. We are allowing ourselves to consume food that is not really food. As a result, our health declines. And low and behold…we find ourselves right in the midst of an eating disorder without even realizing it. Good rules to follow are to read labels and don’t buy anything with more than five ingredients or containing something that you don’t recognize.

When we return to real food, we return to health. Here’s how:

1. Get to know local farmers, food growers, and merchants. Pay a visit to your local farm or farmer’s market.
2. Do some research in your local area to find out where else you can purchase real food. Check the Internet, newspaper, and with people you know.  It may take some adjustment and baby steps, but the more you start to buy your food this way, the more sense it will make, the better your health will be, and you will start to wonder how you ever relied on grocery store shopping in the first place.
3. Stop buying packaged, processed foods, or at the very least, reduce your buying of these items considerably. These foods are full of excitotoxins and neurotoxins like MSG, fillers, preservatives, artificial colors and flavors, and rancid, modern fats that our bodies cannot use and are harmful to our health.
4. If shopping at your local health food store, look for real foods sold there like grassfed meats and poultry, pasture-raised eggs, raw milk and other dairy foods, organic fruits and vegetables, and whole organic grains in bulk.  Be sure to ask questions of store employees about where the foods come from and whether they are what the labels say they are. These foods may cost more up front, but the money you save yourself on health problems later will be noticeable.  Here is a post which provides information on what questions to ask about where your food comes from and how your foods are produced.
5. Educate yourself about how to prepare foods from scratch. There are a wealth of resources available on the web, at the library, and within your local community for free. Check out our recipes on this web site.
6. Commit to yourself and your family to take time for these important activities. They may take extra time and a bit more effort, but the end result is better health and state of mind.
7. If you find that making many changes all at once is overwhelming, select two or three things to change about your lifestyle, approach to eating, and overall health mentality, and build on those choices over time by adding a few more things each week or month as you are able. For some ideas about building your homekeeping skills, read: Embrace and perfect your home-keeping skills.
8. Start to see organic, whole, traditional foods as your body’s friend. They are nutritious, wholesome, and deliver the right health benefits to your body. Avoid old thinking patterns about foods you may have been taught over your lifetime such as fats, cholesterol, and calories are unhealthy. The only fats, cholesterol, and calories that are unhealthy to consume are those that are artificially-produced. Read this post: The importance of dietary fats. For more information about types of foods, read: How well do you know your food? Find out!
9. Avoid foods that claim to be low-fat or non-fat. These labels should be a warning sign and do not contribute to health. We need real, healthy fats to maintain proper weight, mood, and various other aspects of health.
10. Keep in mind that in general, the modern way of life is neither how our bodies were designed to live nor the way we were intended to maintain our environment and nature. Do everything you can to scale back your lifestyle efforts so that you can defeat eating disorders, care for the earth, restore health, and return to a more natural way of existence.

Winter is here, and if you get sick a lot this time of year, there are many natural ways you can improve your body’s ability to stay healthy – especially with the foods you eat and lifestyle you maintain.

Many people believe that hand-washing is one of the best ways to keep illnesses away. In the last two decades we’ve seen a huge increase of the use of anti-bacterial substances which are supposed to keep our bodies healthier. But actually, these substances are toxic and don’t help our bodies to maintain health. They wipe out all bacteria, and our bodies need good bacteria to function optimally.

There are also many other factors which come into play toward keeping healthy. If your body doesn’t have the right nutrients every day – especially during times of stress, when you consume processed foods and especially those with sugar, exposure to illness from others, and days where sunlight is in short supply – your body will weaken and succumb to sickness and disease.

Whether you are a person who tends to catch every cold or flu that comes along or you just get sick once in awhile, here are some tips that really work for keeping away bacteria, illnesses, and viruses:

• Avoid eating processed foods and refined sugars   Fall and winter months are times when people tend to eat more sugary and processed foods due to holiday activities and gatherings. Sugar is a poison to your body and lowers immune system function. This includes foods such as crackers, chips, most breads, bagels, pastas, cookies, desserts, candy, juice, soda pop, and other related items. All of these items contribute to lowered immune system function and poor health. A good rule of thumb to follow – if it is not a whole food, avoid eating it regularly. Load up on real, raw, whole foods for snacks and meals alike.
• Consume plenty of healthy oils and fats   Real, organic butter (grass-fed and raw is a plus), ghee, extra-virgin, cold-pressed olive oils, coconut oils, sustainably-produced palm oil, and healthy animal fats from organic, grass-fed sources such as lard, tallow, and drippings from those same types of animal meats.
• Be certain to obtain essential fatty acids and CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) in your diet Take fish oil daily (good source of Vitamin D), eat grass-fed meats, pasture-raised eggs, raw dairy, and safe-source fish. Green Pasture Products sells the only fermented cod liver oil in the world and is the best source for fish oil nutrients like Omega 3s, Vitamins A & D, and other trace nutrients. Good sources of other EFAs include healthy oils like cold-pressed organic flax seed oil and coconut oil. A good brand is Udo’s Organic 3-6-9.  Read this FAQ about why people need good essential fatty acid support.
• Continue to eat plenty of organic, pesticide-free fresh fruits and vegetables   Especially those in season in your local area. Vegetables and fruits are high in nutrients and antioxidants which help thwart the development of disease and illness when properly prepared such as cultured or eaten with healthy fats like butter, lard, tallow, coconut oil, or olive oil.
• Drink plenty of mineral water, or add liquid minerals or fulvic acid   There is some controversy about whether filtered water with added minerals is actually healthy for us to drink because it’s not much different than a lot of processed foods which have been stripped of nutrients and have synthetic added back in. Keep a glass container with you throughout the day and sip frequently rather than trying to gulp down many ounces at a time spread farther apart. Avoid plastic containers, tap water, and bottled water. Tap water contains toxins and plastic contains pthalates – both of which supress immune system and health.
• Drink bone broths and incorporate them into your meals as well    Bone broths made from the bones of healthy animals and birds on pasture are full of easily-digested and essential nutrients which can help your body stay healthy such as magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, zinc, amino acids, and glucosamine (for bone health), and gelatin (muscles, metabolism, weight, skin, digestion, hair, fingernails, joint health). Read this post for more information on health benefits and recipes for making your own bone broths at home.
• Eat real, fermented foods like home-made yogurt, kefir, and sauerkraut Making your own at home is best for optimal preservation of nutrients and beneficial bacteria, as well as immune supporting and digestive enhancing. Commercial yogurts, sour cream, kefir, sauerkraut, pickles, and other foods do not have the health benefits or probiotic activity of home-made cultured foods. See this post for more information.
• Be certain to take a good probiotic each day – especially if you are lacking fermented foods Good brands include Biotics Research, Nature’s Life liquid probiotics (great for kids), Bio Kult, and Prescript-Assist for especially low immune function. Also, try the great recommendations by Rockwell Nutrition including a great line of HLC Probiotics by Pharmax.
• Use digestive enyzmes If you have maintained the Standard American Diet at any time in your life, your digestion is likely compromised.  Altered digestive function is one of the cornerstones of disease and illness. Digestive enzymes can help you to digest foods – proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. Try Dr. Ron Schmid’s Pancreatic enzymes.
• Watch intake of alcoholic beverages, which tend to increase during holiday months     Drinking excess alcohol can have adverse affects on appetite, blood sugar, blood pressure and cardiovascular function, metabolic processes, and weight. If you are a binge drinker during special occasions, cut yourself off after two drinks and make certain you are eating healthy foods and drinking plenty of water at the same time. Consider unpasteurized beer and wine.
• Make sure you are getting adequate rest and not overextending yourself    If necessary, say no to extra tasks that you know you really won’t have time or energy to accomplish. Stay home on a night where you might normally go out and rest, relax, catch up, and go to bed early. Go to bed by 10 p.m.
• Set aside time for some regular exercise, preferably outdoors   In the colder months people tend to go to health clubs more. Many more germs and toxins lurk indoors during colder months, so bundle up and go for a walk, hike, or bike ride. You’ll be pleased with how exhilarated you feel afterward. If you are a winter sport enthusiast, get out on the slopes and go skiing, snowshoeing, or snowboarding. If you are an equine enthusiast, make time to get out on your horse or a friend’s mount during weather that is not icy.
• Set aside time for contemplation, stress reduction, and relaxation   Whether that is a hot bath, a massage, tai chi, yoga, stretching, meditation or some other method you prefer, make sure you give yourself this time to recharge.
• If you do get sick, load up on probiotics, foods with healthy fats, and everything else mentioned above   Take time to pamper yourself (but not with toxic products that contain harmful chemicals – remember -read labels and if you cannot pronounce something or don’t know what it is, avoid!), rest, and put off things that aren’t necessary so you can get back to a state of health quicker and easier.  Read this informative post about my home medicine cabinet and things you can do to remedy illness and other health issues.
• Avoid taking pharmaceutical drugs and antibiotics   These substances rarely help your body to heal sooner, are over-prescribed, and actually cause nutrient depletion and lowered immune system function by wiping out friendly bacteria that is vital to health. For information on nutrient depletion caused by drugs, read Supplement Your Prescription: What Your Doctor Doesn’t Know About Nutrition by Dr. Hyla Cass, M.D.
• If you cannot shake a cold, flu, or illness, consider visiting an alternative health care practitioner such as  a chiropractor, naturopathic physician, or other qualified individual   These practitioners are often very successful in alleviating health issues and perform treatment based on the cause of the problem rather than just treating symptoms.

If you maintain a good schedule of eating healthy, avoiding processed foods and beverages, take proper supplementation, obtain moderate activity, exercise, rest, and relaxation, you will notice an enormous improvement in the way your health responds. You will have more energy, feel more productive, and avoid catching flus and colds.

This post is part of Real Food Forager’s Fat Tuesday blog hop.

In modern society, one of the things we don’t do much of is eat real cultured and fermented foods. These foods have been staples of the human diet all over the world for thousands of years. Since the Industrial Revolution, the advent of packaging, processing, and convenience foods have seen the disappearance of these highly beneficial, nutrient-dense foods.

Throughout time, cultures all over the world have created cultured foods and beverages out of necessity. When a dairy cow produced a surplus of milk and all of it could not be consumed at once before spoilage, fermentation was born. Fermentation allowed the food to be preserved so it could be consumed later, and it was done simply by using the naturally-occurring healthy bacteria in the food.

Because this process improves nutrient content and increases the beneficial bacteria of the food, it is not only healthier but also made easier to digest. Other foods were produced in a similar manner such as kombucha (a feremented tea generated from a scoby or mushroom) or kvass using cultures, bread, and water. Kvass can also be made using vegetables such as beets. It was also customary to culture and ferment many of the vegetables people ate through lact0-fermentation with whey from dairy products or salt.

Today on the consumer market, you will find many foods and beverages which are labeled as healthy and full of nutrients. Because the bottom line in the consumer market is profit, over time the integrity of many of these traditional foods and drinks has been lost.

Even though the label claims otherwise, you will not in fact find dense, probiotic activity in a cup of commercial yogurt or non-dairy cultured foods like sauerkraut because of two main reasons:

1. Commercial dairy is subject to pasteurization, which destroys and denatures probiotics, fats, proteins, enzymes, and other elements critical to creating a real probiotic food.
2. Even though commercial companies add back in cultures to the food after pasteurization, the culturing process simply isn’t long enough to generate the diversity and numbers of beneficial bacteria which our bodies need for health.

Many other products are subjected to high-heat temperatures or pasteurization. By the time you open the bottle, package, or container, you are essentially eating a dead product with no live foundational enzymes, nutrients, or bacteria.

Sports and energy drinks like Gatorade, Vitamin Water, Red Bull, and Rockstar rely on caffeine, sugar, chemicals, artificial colors and flavorings to sell their product and make it “taste” appealing. Even higher-priced “professional” grade products such as Heed or Accelerade which contain synthetic vitamins and minerals or herbal ingredients are inferior because they lack the real nutrition found in long-fermented foods and beverages.

Most probiotic supplements on the market except for an exclusive small percentage do not contain the bacterial count listed on the label, and also have other undesirable ingredients which can be harmful to health.

Fermentation of real food uses either whey from dairy foods like milk, yogurt, or sour cream to produce a lacto-fermented food, a scoby culture or mushroom as when making kombucha, or preparing a brine with salt, or wine for culturing vegetables.

Here are just some of the many benefits of preparing and consuming cultured and fermented foods and beverages:

• Improves or eliminates gastrointestinal issues such as heartburn, bloating, gas, abdominal cramping, diarrhea, and constipation by eating a small serving with each meal.  Your overall diet, should of course exclude processed foods and incorporate real, whole foods with healthy fats and proteins, organic fruits, grains, legumes, and vegetables. Processed foods eaten on a regular greatly contribute to digestive problems and other health issues.

• Deepens and broadens vitamins and nutrients like magnesium, calcium, zinc, iron, B Vitamins, fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K2, K1, and beta carotene. Fermented dairy imparts increased amounts of folic acid, pyroxidine, B vitamins, riboflavin and biotin, depending upon existing bacterial strains.

• Raw fermented vegetables are useful in reducing inflammation and lowering the risk of degenerative disease like cancer.

• Strengthens immune system function to stay healthy and avoid flu and colds.

• Promotes weight loss.  In a study from 2008 at Stanford University, Dr. John Morton, M.D., associate professor of surgery at the medical school, showed that “patients who take probiotics after the gastric-bypass procedure tend to shed more pounds than those who don’t take the supplements.” Since supplements are usually much lower in bacterial counts than live cultured and fermented foods, it would be easy to conclude that higher bacterial counts would promote weight loss and the ability of the body to balance your normal weight.

• Provides probiotic support to the digestive system. 85 percent of our immune system is located in the digestive tract, and having a proliferation and diversity of friendly bacteria is critical to immune health.

• Reduces the proliferation of harmful bacteria such as salmonella, E.coli, salmonella, and yeast or candida overgrowth

• Fermenting sulphur-rich foods such as sauerkraut produces antioxidants like glutathione and superoxide dismustase, which remove free radical activity

• Assists in breaking down difficult to digest lactose from dairy foods to create lactic acid, which is easier to digest

• Although lactic acid fermentation does not necessarily raise mineral content, it lowers the effects of phytic acid found in grains, legumes, and vegetables. Phytic acid is a nutrient inhibitor which prevents absorption of minerals in the body. This process allows the body to absorb more minerals from grains, vegetables, and legumes.

• Helps to pre-digest and allow for better absorption of nutrients

Cultured dairy foods:

These foods are in no way, shape, or form like what you will buy in the store.  With few exceptions, most commercial products are pasteurized which destroys enzymes, proteins, fats, and probiotics. These foods are also not cultured long enough to produce high numbers and diversity of necessary beneficial bacteria.

Cultured dairy foods you make at home from raw milk that comes from healthy cows on pasture are superior in every way in terms of quality and amount of diverse bacteria produced which our bodies need to support digestive, immune, and total health.

Iodine deficiency is a common problem in the U.S., even though all refined table salt has iodine added to it. This is because fortified, white table salt is highly refined and contains mostly sodium chloride with most of the trace minerals removed and synthetic iodine added back in, and our bodies have a difficult time absorbing it. Although a lot of real food folks are switching to sea salt, which does contain a great deal of trace minerals we are missing in our diets, there isn’t enough iodine in sea salt to provide what humans need.

Other reasons for iodine deficiency are due to the high consumption of processed foods in the U.S.  As well as being deficient in nutrients, these foods actually block the uptake of iodine in our bodies when we eat them.  These foods are goitrogens, which means they block the uptake of iodine in the body.

Soy, found in proliferation in our industrial food supply in many, many products like cereals, crackers, chips, bread, cookies, breads, baby formula, sauces, dressings, marinades, and even canned soups. It is also fed to livestock animals and birds slaughtered for meat on the commercial market – cattle, poultry, and pigs.  When you go out to just about any restaurant, the oil used to cook your food and to pour over your salad is soybean oil.

Water supply and many food products also contain halogens such as chlorine, fluoride, bromine and perchlorate (rocket fuel). Most commercial beverages like soft drinks, energy drinks, coffee and some dairy beverages contain at least one of these halides.  If you eat a diet heavy in processed foods from the commercial market, the chances of you consuming a lot of substances that are completely deficient in iodine and also blocks the uptake of iodine is quite high.

Natural goitrogens such as cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, and others may inhibit the uptake of thyroid if auto-immune diseases are present. But these foods are fine to consume and won’t interfere with iodine absorption if fermented or cooked and eaten with healthy fats such as butter, ghee, lard, tallow, olive oil, or coconut oil.

Why we need iodine for health

When iodine is combined with the amino acid tyrosine, it produces important thyroid hormones that control the synthesis of enzyme and proteins in our bodies, regulate metabolism, and are critical for developing nervous and skeletal systems of growing fetuses. Because unborn children are so dependent on this mineral for growth and development, pregnant mothers especially need regular intake of iodine. Miscarriage is another common side-effect of iodine deficiency.

Iodine regulates our thyroid and other hormonal function. Without it, low thyroid function will occur. It is necessary for the activation of thyroid hormones T3 and T4.

Iodine deficiency can cause weight gain, fatigue, low energy, and depression.  Low iodine stores in the body are also connected with arrested mental development (mental retardation), and neurodevelopment disorders in children, fibrocystic breast disease and fibroids, enlargment of the thyroid gland, increase in the incidence of thyroid cancer, and mental and physical compromise in adults.

Real food sources of iodine

Even though this important mineral is no longer found in our soil in abundance, there are still real food sources where we can get iodine such as animal products that come from healthy animals on pasture, especially in areas where commercial farming has not taken over, and also in seafood. Our bodies can’t produce iodine by themselves, so we must obtain this nutrient regularly, but in moderation, from our diet:

• Seafood such as fish like herring, whiting, haddock, and mollusks like clams, mussels, oysters, snails, octopus, squid
• Butter, milk, and other dairy products  (raw is best) from cows on pasture eating grass from iodine-rich soil – especially near the sea
• Fruits and Vegetables grown by the sea, including coconut products
• Blackstrap molasses
• Sea vegetables such as dulse, nori, kelp, wakame, and dried kelp
• Eggs
• Fermented or cultured vegetables (see video recipes below)

Iodine supplementation

Obtaining iodine from real foods such as those listed above is much safer than taking iodine supplements. This can be especially dangerous for pregnant women and can trigger allergic responses in the body. Taking inorganic iodine can cause toxicity (especially heavy metal) since iodine is prone to combining with pro­tein, which is how it destroys bacteria (also a protein).

Placing any iodine supplement in your mouth causes it to mix with the protein found there, in your esophagus, stomach, and all throughout the body. The result is irritation, allergies, and other issues. Those with a normal thyroid can experience a reduction in the synthesis of thyroid hormones T3 and T4 when taking large, sud­den doses of iodine.

It is important to exercise extreme caution when using iodine supplements. Many women with unknown thyroid issues have Hashimoto’s, an auto-immune disorder. Iodine can turn any auto-immune disease into hyperthyroid quickly.  Iodine supplementation can also significantly increase heavy metal toxicity in those who have mercury issues.

Kombu recipe

Here is a recipe for traditional Japanese Kombu, a variety of kelp. It is one of the most abundant sources of iodine. Eat it as a side dish or condiment with foods or add to soups, stocks, casseroles, or other one-pot meals.  Add this food to a pot of cooking beans to make them more digestible.

Ingredients:

Directions:

I received this message in my e-mail box today from The Center for Food Safety, and I wanted to share it with my readers. Holiday time means people are buying more food and other products than any other time of year.

This year, I want to challenge my readers to commit to going GMO-free for the holidays (next step, make it a part of your regular habits after the holidays too). Please read this valuable information from CFS and my commentary in italics.  

Then, please take a few minutes and watch me being interviewed by my friend Leslie Stoddard who co-founded GMO-free Idaho with Jenny Easley. I am so excited about the important work these two women are doing, and I’ll do everything I can to support their efforts and work alongside them. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, and may it be filled with blessings, health, real food, and lots of time with friends and family.
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Thanksgiving is the time of year when we gather with friends and family and reflect upon all the things we are thankful for in our lives. Of course, no good celebration is complete without sharing it over a good meal. But many popular Thanksgiving dishes may use ingredients that have been genetically engineered. Here are 5 simple tips to try to avoid these unlabeled, unwanted guests:

1. If you’re eating turkey, try to buy it organic so it hasn’t been given genetically engineered feed. For you Tofurky fans, Tofurky sources non-GMO ingredients.
    
   Go one step further and buy your turkey locally from a sustainable farmer that pasture-raises their turkeys and if they supplement, make sure the feed is non-GMO and soy and corn-free. Soy and corn in feed can diminish the nutritional value of poultry meat, and cause food allergies, organic or not, and interfere with hormones in those who eat the meat. See the section below on soy. Tofurky is not real food, its an engineered product that the body doesn’t know how to absorb – organic or not. AVOID at all costs. Real meat and fat is important for health.
2. Look out for the Big 5. These are the ingredients most likely to be genetically-engineered. You’ll find them primarily in prepared, packaged and canned foods like stuffing mix, oils, prepared desserts, and canned cranberry sauces.

   Corn

   • Corn flour, meal, oil, starch, gluten, and syrup
   • Sweeteners such as fructose, dextrose, and glucose
   • Modified food starch

   Soy

   • Soy flour, lecithin, protein, isolate, and isoflavone
   • Vegetable oil and vegetable protein
   From a real food standpoint, soy is unhealthy to consume unless traditionally prepared through fermentation. So I avoid soy as much as possible unless it’s naturally fermented soy sauce or miso soup. I don’t care for tofu, so I don’t ever buy it. I might eat it if I know it’s been properly fermented, but I avoid all products with soy in them like the plague, and especially since it is hormone altering (thyroid, thymus, hypothalamus), contains phytic acid which inhibits the uptake of various nutrients including minerals, and contains phytoestrogens which also alter our hormonal state. 

   Canola

   • Canola oil (also called rapeseed oil)

   Cotton
   Cottonseed oil

   There is never any reason to consume vegetable oil, organic or not. These are modern oils our body cannot process. They are created by the food industry, are fragile and become denatured during the cooking process, and even before they are stocked on the grocery store shelf, they have been deodorized and subjected to high-heat temperatures. Read this post about how cottonseed oil was originally created, and just how pervasive it is in our food supply. These oils also contain Omega 6s, one of the elements our Standard American Diet is too plentiful in, and which contribute to inflammation and disease in the body (i.e., heart disease, cancer, and obesity). 

   Sugar

   • Unless 100% cane sugar or evaporated cane sugar, sugar may be produced from sugar beets which may be genetically engineered.
   Instead of sugar, opt for healthy, unrefined sweeteners such as Rapadura, sucanat, coconut date sugar, maple sugar, real maple syrup – B grade, real Stevia (the green variety, not white powdered), and raw honey.  These sweeteners, especially if organic, are non-GMO and contain important trace nutrients and minerals, left intact due to their low-processed state. 
3. Look for products labeled “USDA Organic,” or labeled as “Non-GMO.” Certified organic products are not allowed to be produced using GMOs.

   Go one step further and buy as much as you can from local, sustainable farmers. Here’s a post about what types of questions to ask your farmer when buying food. USDA organic labels are not always reliable, and because of labeling laws becoming less stringent more “fuzzy”, you may end up buying something containing something you don’t want that’s not even showing on the label. 

4. Look for dairy products (milk, cream, butter) labeled “rbGH-free,” “rbST-free” or “USDA Organic,” as they are not produced with genetically-engineered, artificial growth hormones.
    
   Go several steps further and buy local, sustainable milk – raw is best because it retains all the important beneficial bacteria (probiotics), enzymes, and nutritional value since the milk is not heated – from healthy cows on pasture. Many commercial milks, even organic, still come from cows in confinement and from animals fed a large majority of their diets in soy, corn, and grain. Cattle are ruminants and are meant to consume grass as they have long digestive tracts designed to process grass. When they are fed other substances like corn, soy, and grain, the result is an acidic digestive tract and overall health. They become sick and then farmers administer antibiotics and other harmful drugs which alter their health and the quality of the milk. 
5. Look for products in our True Food Shoppers Guide. You can download a .pdf for free, or as a free app for your iPhone or Android mobile phone.

Other action steps to take: 

1. Tell FDA to label GE foods! The Center for Food Safety recently filed a formal legal petition with FDA demanding that the agency require the labeling of genetically engineered foods. Now, we are spearheading a drive with over 350 other organizations and businesses in the Just Label It! Campaign, to direct one million comments to the FDA in support of our petition.
    
   An ABC News poll found that 93 percent of the American public wants the federal government to require mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods. As ABC News stated, “Such near-unanimity in public opinion is rare.” Yet the United States is one of the only countries in the world that doesn’t require labeling of GE food!

   In my opinion, mandatory labeling doesn’t solve the inherent problem of GMOs polluting our earth, but it gets consumer awareness up. We need this because currently, most people I have talked to about GMOs either have no idea or don’t think it’s an issue. This is scary. Once mandatory labeling becomes a law, we can work toward the next goal which is banning GMOs from our food supply all together – what many European countries have already done and what we should have done years ago. 

   In the U.S., we pride ourselves on having choices and making informed decisions. Under current FDA regulations, we don’t have that choice when it comes to GE ingredients in the foods we purchase and feed our families. Send your comment to FDA demanding mandatory labeling of GE foods today!

2. If you are fortunate enough to be able to share the holiday abundance, please consider donating to a local Food bank, or volunteering some time on Thanksgiving to help those less fortunate. If you don’t know where your local food bank or soup kitchen program is check Volunteer Match by typing in your zip code and “Thanksgiving” for a list of Thanksgiving volunteer opportunities near you.

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Here’s the video interview with Leslie Stoddard of GMO-free Idaho. The purpose of this interview was to spread the news about GMOs to our community and beyond, and to help people understand that avoiding GMOs is not only possible but critical to our health and the environment, and the success of the sustainable food community – an effort that may well be one of the most important things you’ll ever do. Here’s Part I and Part II:

GMO-Free Idaho Interview Part 1

GMO-Free Idaho Interview Part 2

Busting myths about GMOs
Stop the use of GMOs in our food supply
The Institute for Responsible Technology – providing research and education to consumers who want to make educated decisions about what they eat