In order to improve my health and the health of my husband we have made many changes in our diet over the last two years. I would like to share some of those with all of you. I advocate making as many changes as you feel comforatable making. Take it slow. Make more changes when you are comfortable and want to see more improvements. I am not going to include links for all the information I wish to share. Please use a good search engine to find more info. I suggest signing up for the newsletters from Naturalnews.com and Mercola.com and searching their sites for more information on healthy eating and living.
1. I use only purified water for drinking and cooking. Not distilled, distilled water and reverse osmosis water are devoid of minerals and we need minerals in our water. Add a little Himalayan salt if you use distilled or reverse osmosis. Fresh spring water would be best, but I have no source for that. We use a Berkey gravity water filter at our house. The added advantage is it uses no electricity and is portable should we need to use it somewhere other than our home for any reason, and if there is a power outage we are not affected.
2. Absolutely no GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms)of any kind. This means we eat ONLY organically raised produce and meats. We buy from local farmers and ranchers as much as possible. Not everything is certified organic, but I know the produce growers and know the ones I buy from use no pesticides and only heirloom seeds and the livestock are raised free-range and grass-only for the beef and lamb. Did you know conventionally raised livestock get pesticides with their grain of course and that concentrates down into the meat? (Read more on Mercola.com) The factory farmed meats are actually 5 times higher in pesticides than non-organically grown produce! Not to mention they are eating GMO grains and their meat will also have GMO in it. Grass-fed only beef is high in vitamin e and beta carotenes as well as CLA which is a cancer fighting property. Check out http://eatwild.com/ for more info on grass-fed and free-range organically raised meats, eggs, and milk.
3. We drink raw milk, make our own butter, and raw milk yogurts. Raw is best! My husband is "lactose intolerant" for processed milk, but he can drink raw milk with no problem at all. It still has the active enzymes that help us digest it when it is raw, plus gut-friendly bacteria. I don't pasteurize it when I make yogurt either. Our gut flora is very happy! This aids in digestion and strengthens the immune system. Please read more about raw milk on naturalnews.com and mercola.com.
4. The hardest change for us was going gluten-free. We did it first as an experiment and after 6 months realized so many benefits we have stayed gluten-free. All our arthritis symptoms are gone, and the joint aches and pains are all gone. Gluten stays in the system for 6 months so you really can't cheat. I suffered for weeks after I gave beer a try again. I won't do that again! If you want to try going gluten free please commit to a 6 month trial and DON'T CHEAT! That is the only way you will know if it works for you.
5. We use only Himalayan pink sea salt in our house. No other salts of any kind. This is the most complete salt with the best crystal structure to aid the body in utilizing every healthy mineral in it. There are over 84+ minerals in the exact proportion as your own blood. You are helping your body when you eat this salt, not harming it. Read more at Mercola.com.
6. Absolutely no soy of any kind. I use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce and it is wonderful! Soy crops are 98% GMO today so I don't use it at all in my diet. Corn crops are 95% GMO as well so I avoid corn as well. The only exception I make is certified organic blue corn chips. If I want chips, that is what I choose.
7. No canned foods. The canned foods today are found to have BPA which is a hormone and endocrine disruptor which also gives you a chemical estrogen. I buy only jarred foods if I need something that is "canned". I make my own soups, sauces, dressings, etc. so I don't buy anything canned with the exception of tomatoes for my spaghetti sauce. I buy that in glass jars and re-use the jars for other things. I make large batches and freeze. My next goal is to learn to can things myself.
8. No processed foods of any kind, and I don't eat out at restaurants unless it is a certified organic restaurant. I am lucky to have some of those available. Restaurants use CAFO meat (Confined Animal Feeding Operations) and soy products and pesticide laden produce as well as canned foods; all the things I have removed from my diet. I really don't miss it. I save a lot of money too! I always bring my own lunch and snacks to work so I am not caught in a position where I am hungry and there is nothing I want to eat available. It's not that I CAN'T eat those things; I choose NOT to eat them. There's a difference.
9. I drink only purified water, freshly juiced organic fruits and vegetables, green teas, and organic expresso for my coffee. I buy no juices or bottled water or sodas. I use steel water bottles, no plastics.
10. We grow as much produce as we can in raised beds. We use organic methods of course and heirloom seeds. Gardening is so fun and rewarding!
11. I buy only natural household products for all my cleaners and personal products. There are carcinogens in most makeup, deoderants, toothpastes, shampoos, soaps and cleaners. I carefully researched products I can trust made from ingredients I can actually eat. If it goes on your skin, it goes into your body to some degree!
12. I use only raw virgin coconut oil for any heated cooking. Other vegetable oils, including olive oil, create free radical when heated to a high temperature. If I want an olive oil flavor on sauteed vegetables I add it after removing it from the heat, and I sautee in the coconut oil. Our body does actually need saturated fats to be at optimal health and coconut oil is the ideal fat. It does not go rancid and does not create free radicals at high temps. It is also wonderful for your skin and can help heal rashes and dry skin issues. I only use olive oil for cold dressings or for making my own mayonnaise or to flavor things after they have been cooked. Read more about the benefits of raw virgin coconut oil on naturalnews.com and mercola.com.
There are many other things I could say I avoid, such as High Frustose Corn Syrup, processed white sugar and white flour, but really, avoiding all processed foods covers that. I recommend you read Kevin Trudeau's book "Weight Loss Secrets They Don't want you to Know About". He really makes the reasons for these changes very clear. I didn't go so far as to do the HCG diet he suggests, but making the other changes has helped me lose 75 pounds rather easily. It is appalling to me what we eat in the Standard American Diet (SAD) and what I used to eat when I was uninformed. No wonder I got fat and sick! I regret not making these changes when I was raising my children, but hope my grand-children will be raised on a much healthier diet than I gave them. All I can do is point the way.
I hope you have success making healthy changes yourselves! Any changes you make will bring improvements in your health. When it comes to money I would rather spend more money on food that keeps me healthy than less money on food that destroys my health. Medicine and doctors are far more expensive than healthy food! And remember, don't diet! A DIET is something you do temporarily and then go back to the unheathy ways after the diet is over. Make dietary and lifestyle CHANGES instead that are permanent and your health WILL improve!
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Healthy happy living and eating to all of you!
Grow Foods Market
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