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It is time for another post about a recommended read, but this came across my desk today. This is a video clip, but I think the book mentioned will be my recommended read for this month. I know I want to check it out. This is a prime example of my basic philosophy–that processed food is not as nutritious as we are led to believe and it certainly isn’t equal to the unprocessed counterpart.
Check it out.
…of what this blog is all about. We are here to help you bring about change in your life, in your health. Not only for the health of your body, but also your soul and spirit. How do we achieve that change? By taking babysteps.
Paul, in his first letter to the church at Corinth said, “I have fed you with milk and not with meat because you were not able to bear it (I Cor. 3:2).” God knows that as baby Christians we need milk (the first and plainest truths of the gospel) and when we are mature we can progress to meat (deeper spiritual insights) just the same as newborn babies drink milk first and then progress to solids. The term “leap of faith” is a misnomer. I believe that God does not lead people to “leap”, but to take “steps” of faith.
I think this can apply to anything in life. When you are wanting to make a change in your life it is best to do it in babysteps. When you make major changes it is too easy to slip back into your old way of life. When you take babysteps, habits begin to form and it’s not as easy to slip back to the old way of doing things. Of course, if you have an addiction it needs to be cut off cold turkey, but I’m talking about changing habits. Also, if you have major health issues, some major changes may be in order.
Health is a buzz word today. Everyone is aware of healthy eating and most everyone, if asked, would say they make healthy food choices. But I say we all have room for improvement, myself included. No matter what place you are at with your eating habits, if you are taking steps, I say, “Good for you!” If you have just taken the first step and cut one unhealthy thing out of your diet, you are to be commended. The danger comes when you feel you don’t need change. I think that we can all be moving forward and learn new things no matter what place in life we are at. I strive to live a lifestyle of learning and there is something to be learned in every experience, mistake or observance in life.
Another important thing to remember is not to look around you and gauge your success on others. Never look around and condemn yourself because you aren’t meeting the standard of someone else and don’t judge others for not attaining the level that you have achieved. We must not compare ourselves or assume that we are the standard to judge others by. II Cor. 10:12 says, “…comparing themselves among themselves are not wise.” Barnes commentary says that the people of the church at Corinth were making themselves the standard to judge others by and that this is stupid and foolish, this is an indication of pride. Peter and James both tell us that God resists the proud (I Peter 5:5 & James 4:6) and Solomon tells us in Proverbs 16:18 that “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” We must do all things in love, as Paul says in I Cor 13:2 “and though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” We must always walk in love. Please know that as I post new topics here, I bring them up out of love. I do not presume to be better than anyone, nor do I ever feel that I have “arrived”.
I like what Marla Cilley (the Flylady) says about removing clutter from your home. It’s like peeling layers of an onion. Every time you go through that closet you find new things to get rid of. I think it’s the same with changing eating habits. Every so often we cut out another unhealthy thing, peeling back the layers. So no matter what place you are at in life you can change habits by babysteps. Change one thing, make it a habit and then move on to another thing. Someday you will look back and say, “I can’t believe I used to eat (fill in the blank)”. Don’t go through your cupboards and start throwing all your food out and exclusively shopping at Wild Oats. You will quickly fall off the wagon, but find one thing and take a step.
I encourage you to take a step and I encourage you to never stop looking inward to see what may need changing.
This article previously appeared on this blog, July 28, 2007.
I have said it before and I will say it again–most of our health issues are rooted in our diets (and the diets of our mothers and grandmothers, certain things we were born with, were because of their diets, but most can be reversed).
I thought I had found the root of the dermatitis I was experiencing–stress, and I detailed that here. But I removed sources of stress in my life and slowed things down and saw a little recovery, but not full. Anytime something came up, EVEN just having to leave the house(!), I would experience a flare-up. On top of a patch of dermatitis on my hand, I was also experiencing eczema and hives on most of the rest of my body. Not fun!!!
Through all this, I have tried my best to put my trust in the Lord and NOT lean on my own understanding. Sometimes this is difficult for me, since I have studied up on health so much! I just had to get to the point where I turned it TOTALLY over to the Lord and didn’t worry or think about it anymore, including no more research.
I was constantly reminded of the verse that says, “God is not the author of confusion,” so anytime a solution came to my mind that brought anxiety, I knew it wasn’t from God. I only followed leadings that brought peace. (For instance, I had thoughts of trying the GAPS diet, where you eliminate all grains, all dairy, and all starchy vegetables and fruit, but that brought me great anxiety. I think GAPS is wonderful, but it wasn’t the answer for me at this time.)
One day, I felt the need to research hives and adrenals glands and low and behold (!), I found information that matched what I had been experiencing, PLUS other issues, like the dizzy spells I detailed here, and low blood sugar issues, mentioned here, hay fever, and quite possible the irregular cycles I’ve always experienced.
So, it seems I WAS correct in saying that our diet is the root of our problems. I was experiencing stress, but that was because my adrenal glands were fatigued and couldn’t handle the stress properly. (When your adrenal glands are tired, everything stresses you out.) I am now focusing on healing the adrenals and am seeing bigger recovery. My hand is almost 100% clear and the rest of the skin issues are greatly diminished as well.
Here are the articles that helped me so much:
Adrenal Fatigue & Your Diet by Dr. Marcelle Pick
This is part of the Real Food Wednesdays Blog Carnival hosted by Cheeseslave and Kelly the Kitchen Kop. This week’s topic is Real Food Testimonials, check out the link to read many more inspiring stories of how diet has changed people’s lives!
At this point in my food journey and health education process I realize that I am at peace. I have perfect peace now with my eating and my food choices. Do I eat perfectly? No! But I am at peace and I think that is what this journey is all about. (Meanwhile still taking my babysteps!) It’s not about keeping ourselves in perfect health, we can never do that of our own accord.
I don’t say this to boast, but rather to encourage you.
That is why a lot of you come here to this site–you are seeking peace in your life by doing all you can to be healthy.
Some of you come here to learn a bit about health, but need peace in other areas. Perhaps it’s finances, marriage, child rearing, government, economy, or even spiritual questions about life after death, destiny, etc. Whatever it is, you are unsettled, seeking something that will give you a sense of peace.
While some others of you come here for some good recipes. You don’t really care much about changing your eating, and that’s okay, too. I would much rather see you put emphasis on your spiritual well-being and then your mental well-being before you tackle the physical, anyway. I named this site All Things Health (as I have said before) to be a constant reminder to keep your “health” priorities in order and to address all things that apply to your health, whether spiritual, mental, or physical.
Whatever the reason you come here, I want to communicate to you that you can have real peace in your life. But I can only pass on so much, you must go through the experiences yourself. I like this quote-
The words printed here are concepts. You must go through the experiences. -Carl Frederick
You CAN experience the abundant life that Jesus promised in John 10:10. I am not talking about finding religion. And this is much more than just a belief in God. I am talking about a relationship with Jesus Christ. This is not about fitting God into a little box, a little portion of your life–Sunday mornings, for example. This is about seeking wholeheartedly to find out what the gospel is about, what God’s character is all about, what His Word has to say about all areas of life, and submitting to serve Him and follow after His will. Seek first His kingdom and everything else falls into place (Matthew 6:33). This is bigger than nutrition.
Who would have thought that I could find answers to my nutrition questions in the Bible? I spent a good deal of my time reading different books about nutrition, but the pieces of the puzzle didn’t come together for me until I went to God’s Word. I didn’t have all the pieces when I started this blog a year and a half ago, but in the last couple months I feel like the last pieces of the puzzle have come together (and I will be writing about that soon, to fill you all in). I’m sure there will be more insight to gain, but this place of peace is wonderful! The peace of God is truly a peace that surpasses understanding! (Philippian 4:7)
I have no more desire to study nutrition (this isn’t to say it’s no longer a passion, it is and, of course, I am still learning in many other areas). That’s how much peace I have. I no longer have that pulling inside me to “find” the answers. I have studied for approximately the last 5 years. All that knowledge doesn’t do me a bit of good without the wisdom to know how to use it and God’s wisdom is the best wisdom of all. God wants to give us all wisdom, we just need only to ask (James 1:5). The Bible will offer you all the answers you are looking for. ONLY God and His Word can bring you true, lasting peace–in ALL areas of your life!
And so I pray today, that you will find the peace of God in your life. I encourage you to read John 10:1-10, especially focusing on verse 9. If you need specific prayer, I would love to hear from you and pray with you. If you want to know HOW to start a relationship with Jesus Christ, please let me know.
I have intended to write an article on the topic of stress for quite some time now. The purpose of this blog is to address ALL things health—
this includes spiritual health, mental health, and physical health. Stress falls into the category of mental health, but it affects our physical health.
This brings me to a key foundational point of my philosophy. I believe that in order for us to walk in physical health, we have to have our spiritual and mental health in order. And I believe this also means that we need to have our priorities in order concerning the three. If we exalt physical health above the other two, they will suffer. If we exalt our mental health above spiritual or physical health, they, too, will suffer. I believe that the proper order of importance is spiritual first, mental second, and physical last. Just because physical health comes in last place doesn’t mean we neglect it. On the contrary, there must be a balance between the three. I really want to emphasize this, because I know on this blog, most of the attention is on physical health. I think this is an area that people have neglected for too long, so I feel the need to spread truth about it. In the process I don’t want you to forget about your mental and spiritual health.
So back to the subject of stress…
Many things can create stress in our lives—relationship issues, finances, raising kids, work pressures, and the day-to-day duties we all have, like keeping on top of the bills, driving our kids around town for activities, etc. I remember reading somewhere that there are different types of stress—on type is from major things in our lives, the death of a loved one, for example, but the other type is from our busy, multi-tasking lives. In the article I read, the latter type was worse than the former, simply because it is there day in and day out and there isn’t a release. We need to be aware that children and teens can feel stress, as well. It is my hope, in the future, to address some of these issues in an effort to help you relieve some stress. We’ll see how that goes—
as much as I think about it, it seems I do get pulled in the direction of writing about physical health more often. J
With Thanksgiving right around the corner and Christmas next month, I felt it was a good time to at least touch on this topic. The holidays seem to bring so much stress for so many. If you are feeling stress over the holidays, it really is best for your overall health that you pull back and take it easy. Do some shopping online; avoid the crowds. Share the burden of preparing the holiday meals with others—
many hands make light work. I had good intentions of sending out Christmas cards this year and even thought of making goody plates for people, but I won’t be doing either of these. Right now, I am learning to say no more (read on). I’m not even making a turkey this year! I bought turkey legs instead and will make a very small version of the holiday meal. Thanksgiving is going to be a nice relaxing time with my family. To see what my menu was last year, click here. It will be pretty close to the same this year.
Stress is a sneaky, subtle thing. I think most of us feel stress and we don’t give it a second thought. We just think that’s life, we’re busy and we just trudge on. Many think that to ask for help is a sign of weakness. We don’t realize that this stress is having an effect on our physical bodies.
I have been dealing with a skin issue since June and I have just learned that it was caused by stress! I had this same issue pop up about 16 years ago when I was under a lot of stress. I just recently connected the dots and could see how that incident was stress related, as well. I always thought I was one that handled stress really well, though. I remember interviewing for a job and telling my future boss that things don’t bother me, things just roll off my back. I have always prided myself on being in control of my emotions. If I’m upset about something one day, I can just sleep it off, and I’
m fine the next day. I can wake up in the morning feeling resolved, without ever really resolving anything. I think the word for that is repression! J I have never been a very outward person; I don’t display a lot of emotion. But I am learning that it has to come out somehow. It was a big shock to find that I was manifesting a display of stress. I wasn’t even feeling stressed! But I do look back now and realize that when this skin issue started I was under a great deal of stress. The stress only lasted for a few weeks, but my skin set into a bad cycle that brought about its own stress. I am happy to say now that I am on the road to recovery, having finally got to the root.
Dr. Mercola has his EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and Dr. Cowan has his patients practice meditation. While neither of these is for me, I can see the effectiveness behind them. Take time to find out what relieves your stress. You may be surprised to find that recreation isn’
t necessarily the answer. I’ve started paying attention to myself, relaxing my shoulders throughout the day and stopping to take a good deep breath and, more importantly, turning down activities and obligations that I know will stress me out.
So take some time this holiday season to relieve your stress. If you are feeling stress in other areas, please address these issues. Get counseling, read books, do what you have to do to get your mental health in order, because your physical health will follow suit.
Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.
P.S. I have found a handy organizational tool. It is www.IwantSandy.com. It works through your email. (I am in my email all day long anyway, might as well make it work for me.) This tool will keep track of phone numbers, appointments, birthdays—all sorts of things. I am loving it! It emails me first thing every morning with my list of to-dos. If I think of something during the day that I need to do that evening or the next day, I just send a quick email to Sandy and the program will send me a reminder (when I designated) to do that item. If you have a calendar, but forget to check it, this program is for you. And, best of all, it’s free!
Update 11/26/08: I found out that this handy new organizer I Want Sandy is going offline on December 8th. You can read about it here. They recommend four other calendar programs, I’ll have to check them out. I am bummed about this. :(
Dr. Douglass – Nutrition Labels
“A new study out of Britain reveals that nine out of 10 regular food items produced specifically for kids have incredibly poor nutritional content. Here’s the kicker, though – 62 percent of the foods with horrifically bad nutritional quality had the nerve to put a nutritional claim on the front of the package.”
Unfortunately, they (the marketing gurus) are fooling a lot of us. I endorse reading labels, but I don’t endorse reading the front of the package. J That’s just fluff. The food giants pay companies to come up with research that endorses the junk they’re selling. It’s only their bottom line they care about, not our health. Instead, make your decision based on the ingredient listing on the back. Don’t be swayed by anything on the front, you can’t trust it as the above article shows.
Enough said, I will step down now. I don’t have the time today to go on and on. J
I decided to tackle a project this summer. My son’s room hadn’t been painted in almost 9 years. It was in bad need of a new look. He needed a boy room, rather than a baby room. He went away to camp for the first time this year (he loved it), so I thought that would be the perfect time to redecorate.
As I was planning my painting project, I learned that latex paint contains mercury. This freaked me out and for a split second I had hesitation about the painting job. But then I remembered something I read in a fabulous book, Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride. This book is a must-read for anyone dealing with Candida infection, skin disorders (eczema, psoriasis), autism, dyslexia, depression, ADD, ADHD, dyspraxia (extreme clumsiness), allergies of any kind, asthma, bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, OCD, IBS, constipation, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, acne, migraines, PMS, yeast infections, chronic ear or sinus infections, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, fibromialgia, multiple sclerosis, and much more, but these particular items were mentioned in the book. This book is worth tracking down from a library if you don’t want to buy it outright. Check out www.worldcat.org to see if it is available at a library near you and if its not, ask your local librarians if they can borrow books from other libraries.
Dr. Campbell-McBride points out in her book (pg. 201-202) that our bodies are equipped with a detoxification system. She says this is, “a system which until recently we did not know much about. It has got its headquarters in the liver and departments in every cell of the body. The sophistication and complexity of this system is staggering to even the most knowledgeable biochemists and there is a lot we still don’t know about how it works so efficiently.” (Emphasis mine. I personally am not surprised at the complexity and sophistication that God designed!) She goes on to describe in the chapter how this detoxification system works properly when our bodies get the proper nutrients, telling me that it really comes down to how we EAT!
So the lightbulb went on in my head and I began to realize that ALL these things the doctors, media, environmentalists, and even nutritionists are focusing on are PERIPHERALS. They are not at the core; they are not the cause, but rather symptoms. Rather than solve issues from the outside in, we need to first start inside and the outside will take care of itself. The CORE issue here is DIET. You may have heard me say it before, but I will say it again, MOST health issues can be resolved with proper diet. This may sound extreme, but I believe it with all my heart.
As the lightbulb was going on in my head, this scripture came to my mind, II Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” These peripheral things that we hear we should stay away from, just bring fear into our lives. Fear does NOT come from God; we are NOT to be motivated by fear. It is the devil that brings fear and if we give in to this and focus all our time, energy and money on ridding our lives of these PERIPHERAL things, we won’t have time, energy and money left over to do the work of God.
Our PRIMARY purpose in life, as Christians, is to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. If we are isolating ourselves from the toxic, busy world, or trying to build ourselves a little Shangri-La/Utopia within the toxic world, how much time, energy, and money are we putting into furthering the gospel? Probably not much! You may not identify with these types, but I have read of people that pour thousands of dollars into a new home or office to make it so environmentally friendly and therefore much less toxic to the human body, or others that pull away from society and go live a pioneer life in remote places like the mountains of Colorado or Alaska, in the name of purity. When I first read about a certain doctor that is building a new such office, my thought was one of helplessness; I don’t have the money to build a new home! Then thoughts fill my mind of all the toxins that are in my home! Or when I hear of people living in the pure mountain air, drinking pure mountain spring water, far away from the busy city life filled with toxins, I have to say I have a twinge of envy. Then I ask myself, “What is my purpose here?” Those things are not God’s will for me at this time. People that are living the remote pioneer life are at a disadvantage of spreading the gospel. I’m not saying it’s impossible for them, but they are limited. Most of them are not thinking about how they can help others, but rather how they can help themselves or our earth.
We do NOT live in an ideal world, BUT we do NOT have to live in fear of this world because God made provision in our bodies to filter out the harmful toxins. Our Creator is all knowing. He knows the end from the beginning because He is outside our dimension of time. He actually sees time as one thing, where we see things in a sequence of events. I love this analogy I heard once. Think of yourself watching a parade go by, you see things one at a time, in a linear manner, a float, a marching band, etc. Now imagine you are in a helicopter above the city, looking down on the parade. You see the beginning and the end all as one. This is how it is with God; He sees it all at once. He KNEW, when He created the universe, that we would be living in a world one day that was overloaded with toxins! And so He created our bodies with a detoxification system to handle whatever is thrown at it. Dr. Campbell-McBride spoke recently at a Weston A. Price Foundation Conference and said that if our gut health is in order (this comes from eating right), our detoxification system will even remove heavy metals from our bodies. (Want to know more about how God is outside our dimension of time? I encourage you to check out Cosmic Codes by Dr. Chuck Missler.)
Now you may be saying to yourself, “But I am VERY allergic to mold (or other various things)”. By all means, if you are suffering, you will need to remove certain things from your diet or environment, BUT focus on the inside, healing your body so that your body can do its job. Allergies to things like pollen, dust, toxic mold, wheat and dairy are all symptoms that something is not right inside. I urge you to read Dr. Campbell-McBride’s book and deal with the CORE issue.
For those that don’t suffer from these issues, take your babysteps to remove toxins from your life, BUT don’t live in fear of these toxins and DON’T spend large amounts of money and energy trying to be rid of them. That money and energy would be better spent helping out less fortunate people in our world. Examples of things our society wants us to fear are germs, mold, gases from carpet and padding, mercury in paint, cell phones, computers, anything electromagnetic, pollen, dust, plastics, and personal care products to name just a few. In the coming months I will detail some easy ways to get rid of some of these things from your life, but PLEASE know that they are peripherals.
I promise NEVER to use fear as a motivator in any of my articles! I have seen that from other writers in the health community and it bothers me. I am NOT going to live in fear and worry. I am not going to hide myself away. I am not going to dream of the pioneer days. God has me in this particular time for a specific purpose. I AM going to do what I can do, remove what toxins I can. I WILL focus more energy on eating right. And I DID paint my son’s room (will post pictures soon).
I hope this helps someone. Remember what your purpose is here and don’t let ANYTHING get in the way of fulfilling that purpose!
I think our society thinks that being healthy is a balancing act, that there are a tiny set of scales in the body. They think that you keep these scales balanced by doing and eating healthy things, even though you eat unhealthy things also. Hey, I know none of us eat a perfect diet! If you eat something unhealthy, you just have to do a bit more exercise to burn it off. If you want that dessert, you better have a salad with your meal. If you drink some soda, you should have some water to balance it out. This thinking is wrong and if you stay with me, I will tell you why.
I have to think that this originated, in part, from our parents and grandparents saying, “You have to eat all your dinner if you want dessert!” Also, the exercise era has given people a little latitude with what they can afford to eat and stay trim (and staying trim, in our society, carries the appearance of health; not always true, folks).
The thing that we need to get into our heads is that it’s not all about fat, good or bad, or calories. I said it before and I will say it again, the food we eat affects us on a cellular level. I will show two prime examples here, although there are more. First let’s talk about trans fat, it’s not just a bad fat that will clog your arteries and cause heart problems (if that isn’t bad enough), it will actually become a part of your very cells! Every cell in your body has a cell wall, made primarily of fat. When you ingest trans fatty acids, they become part of that cell wall. For nursing mothers, trans fat replaces some of the healthy, vital fat that your baby needs, so the baby’s cell walls are also being made up of trans fat!
According to Tom Valentine, author of Facts on Fats and Oils1, “When this man-made molecule of fatty acid, called trans fatty acid, gets into cell membrane construction our cells cannot function optimally – we cannot ward off viruses as well”, and, “this degeneration of the cell membrane is cumulative as we continue to eat these trans fats every day – it doesn’t improve over time, or simply vanish, it slowly gets worse and worse.”
My second example is sugar – it’s not just extra calories, it will rob your body of minerals, weaken your immune system, put you on the insulin roller coaster (which we talked about before), stress and fatigue your adrenal glands, and feed harmful yeast and bacteria in your digestive system (causing a host of problems that I will talk about later). These are not things you can jog off! This is why you won’t hear me talk about calories here. It is all about WHAT we are eating, not necessarily HOW MUCH.
I was talking to my husband about this the other night and he always comes up with the best analogies. He said, “How does your car do if you add some water in with the gasoline?” We all know, it’s won’t run well at all, even if there is just a LITTLE bit of water added. Our bodies are the same, a little bit of bad is still bad and our bodies won’t run optimally on food that man has adulterated. My point is not to convince you into changing eating habits by making you feel guilty, but rather, I don’t want you to be deceived. I want you to be well informed and make informed choices!
I’m asking you to renew your mind in this area, make a paradigm shift. Just because exercise doesn’t counteract these junk food woes, doesn’t mean we stop exercising. It means we work on cutting out the junk food. Your sole source of trans fats is packaged food. Don’t buy margarine or ANY butter substitute (if it’s not butter, it was made by man), don’t use shortening in your baking, don’t buy pre-made pie crust – make your own with butter. Practically every peanut butter on the store shelf2 contains trans fat; unfortunately you can’t trust the labels to give you full disclosure. Look for PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED OIL on the ingredient listing, if it is there, DON’T buy the item. This is listed on so many foods that most of us don’t realize. When I mention trans fats, most people say, “I don’t use margarine, I only use butter.” That is FANTASTIC, but trans fats are in peanut butter, chips, crackers, graham crackers, pre-made pie crusts, all canned dough, like crescent roll dough and pizza crust; cookies, snack cakes, candy, candy bars, some breads, frozen French fries, fish sticks, pizza, chicken nuggets, burritos, pot pies, cake mixes, Bisquick, canned frosting, and flour tortillas to name a few. This is one of the reasons why these items ended up on the bottom rung above fast food on my ladder.
I think I’ve hammered away at the trans fat issue, let’s get back to sugar. We can drastically limit our sugar intake by cutting out packaged food, also. Trans fat is an item you don’t ever want, but sugar is something I know we will all eat from time to time. A good friend of mine uses a word that fits well here – deliberate. We must be deliberate in everything, raising our children, spending money, even how we eat. I will deliberately eat a dessert now and then, but I try VERY hard NOT to allow sugar into my diet that I don’t deliberately want! The two ways we are deceived into unknowingly eating sugar are through deceptive marketing and ignorance. Many foods are marketed as healthy, but contain lots of sugar, such as breakfast cereals, sweetened yogurt, granola bars, fruit snacks (these are just candy, folks), fruit roll-ups, many juices, smoothies, and vitamin waters. This is where those imaginary tiny scales come in again. I think most people are aware that these foods contain sugar, but they believe the vitamins, whole grain fiber, or beneficial bacteria in that item balance it out. I will say it again – we must shift our thinking away from this balancing act. Remember the car running with water in the tank. Now for ignorance, there are a lot of items that contain sugar as a flavor enhancer, but are not dessert, so we don’t really think we are eating sugar. Things we all use, like ketchup, salad dressing, pickles, dip, Miracle Whip, salsa, and more. This is where label reading will help you out. Sugar is easy to pick out of ingredient listings, but also be aware of sugar’s other names – high fructose corn syrup and anything ending in –ose, dextrose, glucose, sucrose, etc.
So be informed, be deliberate, do what you can do and don’t fool yourself into thinking that you can somehow balance the junk food with something like veggies or exercise. Take you babysteps and move toward the whole food that God created that fuels your body the most effectively!
1 Quoted from Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon
2 You can find natural peanut butter. I buy Smucker’s; it only contains peanuts and salt.
How healthy do you think you are? This isn’t about how trim you are, how much you exercise, or how many fat grams or calories you eat. The food that we eat affects us on a cellular level and we will reap what we sow. Sometimes the reaping doesn’t come for many years. If it’s garbage going in, it will be garbage coming out. This is for every one of us to take a moment and assess where we are at and then form goals to shoot for. This is purely for evaluation purposes; there is no condemnation here.
We can’t take our babysteps unless we know where we are headed. This list will help you see where you are at and help you make both short-term and long-term goals. If you are near the bottom of the ladder, DON’T make a short-term goal of making it to the top of the ladder! Set your sights on a step above. Choose one thing at a time to cut out or substitute or change.
I’m sure that none of us fit neatly into one of these categories, we are all a mixture, but it’s good to identify which area you most fit into. I would suggest printing this out and circling or highlighting the items that you buy/eat to see which category you most fit into. Now this is a little different, but I’m going to ask that you read the next portions upside down. By this I mean, start at the bottom of the ladder and read each section, going up the page. If you print it out, start at the bottom level and read each level, moving up the page. If you read it online, right now you can scroll all the way to the bottom and read each section moving up the page.
Whole Foods Plus – not only do you want only foods that God created and man hasn’t adulterated, but that are also ALIVE and FULL of nutrients! These include local organic fruit and veggies, local grass-fed meat and local free-range poultry, local true free-range eggs, soaked or sprouted whole organic grains and grain products, such as sourdough bread, sprouted grain bread, tortillas, hamburger buns, etc.; raw dairy products from grass-fed cows and goats, fermented dairy products, such as yogurt, kefir and raw cheese; butter, cream, lard, animal fat, extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil; soaked beans/legumes, nuts and seeds, homemade bone broths, unrefined sea salt, raw vinegar, fish from deep sea waters, lacto-fermented beverages, kombucha, naturally fermented vegetables, like pickles and sauerkraut, you make your own ketchup, mayonnaise, salad dressings, dips and ice cream; and use only whole sweeteners like raw honey, Rapadura, Sucanat, maple syrup, and date sugar. Way to go, you are truly a nourished person!
Whole Foods – at this point you are looking only for foods that are unadulterated. You buy organic fruit and veggies, fresh and frozen; grass-fed meat, free-range chicken, wild fish, all whole grains, you make your own bread, buy organic, hormone-free, pasteurized milk, pasteurized cheeses, commercial yogurt, butter, cream, organic, dried beans; sea salt, and you make your own broths. Excellent, keep reading!
Mildly Processed – if you fit into this category, you care about your health and that of your family and are trying to make the best choices you can. Now you just need a bit more education, way to go! You are making most of you meals and buying these type of foods – Fresh and frozen fruit and veggies from the local grocery; canned tomato products, dried fruit, wheat bran, oat bran, wheat germ, whole grains, like brown rice, wheat, rye, etc.; whole grain products, like pasta, hamburger buns, and sandwich bread; unbleached white flour, organic, hormone-free, pasteurized milk, pasteurized cheeses, commercial yogurt, fats that have been processed by man, but are fairly stable, like peanut oil; butter, commercial meat from local grocery store, additive-free sausage and bacon; regular or cage-free eggs from local grocery, canned legumes/beans, farina, rolled oats, grits, commercial salt, pasteurized vinegar, commercial condiments, like ketchup and mayonnaise; pasteurized pickles and sauerkraut; seasoning packets.
Processed Ingredients – this is a step up, at least you are preparing most of your meals and hopefully eating whole fruit and veggies. You buy commercial meat from the grocery store along with deli meat, bacon, and sausage; highly processed fats, such as vegetable oils, margarine, spreads, shortening, and fat substitutes; pasteurized, homogenized milk and milk products; bleached and fortified white flour products – hamburger buns, tortillas, bread, pasta, etc.; all kinds of refined sugar, including white sugar and brown sugar; canned fruit and veggies, fruit juice, rice milk, chips and crackers (even whole grain), canned broth, prepared sauces, like marinara, alfredo, and pesto; soy milk, tofu, veggie burgers, soy cheese, soy hot dogs, and Miracle Whip.
Prepared foods – ready to eat; requires only opening a package and/or heating it up, sometimes adding an ingredient or two. These items are totally adulterated by man, stripped of nutrition, loaded with toxins, artificial flavors, additives, colors, artificial sweeteners, damaged oils, hydrolyzed protein and protein isolates, etc. Frozen pizzas, fish sticks, tater tots, chicken strips and nuggets; frozen burritos, French fries, pizza rolls, lasagnas, pot pies, frozen pies, cookie dough, canned biscuits, canned rolls, cinnamon rolls, snack cakes, breakfast cereals (even whole grain), breakfast bars, granola bars, frozen meals – Lean Cuisines meals, Healthy Choice meals, etc.; TV dinners, boxed macaroni and cheese, Hamburger Helper, Cheetos, flavored chips, like Doritos, snack mixes, pretzels, flavored yogurts, processed cheese, Cool Whip, ice cream, soda pop, energy drinks, vitamin waters, protein bars, protein powder drink mixes, canned soup, fruit snacks, fruit rollups, instant oatmeal, boxed cake, brownie, muffin, and cookie mixes; canned frosting, canned pie filled, prepared pie crusts, pudding mixes (instant and non), and Jell-O. I’m sure there are more, but you get the idea. Some of these seem healthy, some are bought at the health food store, but if they require little to no preparation then they have been very, VERY processed and offer very little health value.
FAST FOOD – no health value hereL
I am thinking back now to the last eight months of blogging. Wow! I really had intended on posting my favorite passages from all the various books I have read, just a way of passing on information to my friends, but this has turned into more than that. I didn’t think I would actually be thinking of my own articles and researching information and following an outline. This process of writing has really helped me form some philosophies and gel some things together in my mind. Lately I’ve been asking myself what exactly is my purpose with this blog. Why do I take my time with this? Is it because I think everyone should eat the way I do? Do I think I am the enlightened one and must tell everyone to change his or her ways?
As I have been thinking of this, a scripture came to my mind. III John 2 says, “I pray that you will prosper in ALL things and be in HEALTH, just as your soul prospers.” This answers my questions; this is where my purpose lies. First, I want to educate you on how to have a prosperous soul/spirit, and second, I want to educate you on how to have physical prosperity and health. Your eternal destiny is far more important than your bodily health, but you also can’t fully do the work of the Lord unless you walk in physical health. Do you know where you are spending eternity? Do you know what God is calling you to do? I want to help you realize the answers to these questions. For me, this is the big picture and I’m really glad I took some time to think about it. I truly believe that I am held accountable to God for the influence I have on others, so I want to make sure I am using that influence properly.
Above all, I want this blog to bring you freedom! Freedom from being a slave to sickness, disease, disorders, aches, and pains. I want to meet you where you’re at and help you along the way to make changes in the right direction. I look around me and try to learn from other’s mistakes. I see people in the health community taking sides against one another on health issues and bringing condemnation, or telling people that they have to change X, Y, and Z in order to be healthy. I am not here to bring division and condemnation and it is certainly NOT my place to tell you what you need to change. It is your job to pray and seek God. Ask Him what He wants you to apply to your life. To obey is better than sacrifice (I Sam. 15:22). You can sacrifice everything in your life, but unless you are obeying what God specifically has for you, you won’t have peace. None of us need to get caught in the comparison trap, myself included (II Cor. 10:12). All of us are at different places in our growth, have different motives, different goals, and will reach a different place. Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” If you are listening to the Spirit of God and letting Him lead you in your decisions, rather than listening to the flesh, then there is no condemnation. If God is leading me to implement something in my diet, but He is not leading you to it, I cannot condemn you. If you never switched to a complete diet of whole foods, 100% of the time, you would not disappoint me; I only want you to do what God is calling you to do!
Now don’t use this as a cop-out. “Shannon said I didn’t have to change!” That is not what I am saying here. I am saying that you should seek God and His will for you in ALL areas of your life, diet included. I can think of some examples where it would be practically impossible to eat well. The most important thing is, are you fulfilling God’s purpose for your life? He will provide the way for you to have physical health. I hope you get the point. Please don’t slip into making excuses, if you feel that God is leading you to make changes, ask Him which changes you need to make and ask Him to provide! He will! Trust in Him and do NOT lean on your own understanding. (Prov. 3:5). If I present information on here that overwhelms you, put it on the back shelf of your mind, maybe it’s not God’s timing yet or maybe it’s just not something that He wants you to change.
So thank you for continuing to read my humble blog, I pray that you will all prosper and live in HEALTH (III John 2), that you experience the peace that surpasses understanding (Phil. 4:7), and that your life will be filled with the joy of the Lord (Neh. 8:10)!
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