These are only some of the signs that your body does not have enough of the right kind of fats. Did you know that women should be 28% made up of fats? Men should be about 18% fat. 60% of our fat needs to be constantly replaced. This is why it is important to have fats in our diets throughout the day, every day.
Eggs are an actual superfood, packed with protein, healthy fat, numerous vitamins, zinc, magnesium and more. Not only are they full of nutrients, these nutrients are also easy to digest. Raw egg yolks in particular are often equated with breastmilk in the ease of nutrient absorption basically without any digestion needing to be done first. For people with digestive issues, a food that needs almost no digestion in order to get the benefits is a huge win!
With talk of viruses so prevalent, many people have been introduced to the concept of zinc deficiency. However, this is not a new thing - in the 1930s zinc was found to be essential for humans. In the 1960s it was found that deficiency of zinc can cause several symptoms. More recently we have been finding more and more symptoms associated with zinc deficiency as the world seems in general very zinc deficient. Some estimates show that zinc is involved in more body functions than any other mineral.
Ever since we first heard about coronavirus, I have been asked my opinion about what it is, how to stay well, and many other specific and general questions. I don’t mind… I love teaching! And various questions would prompt me to look into angles and subjects I would not have otherwise studied. And I have been promising you this article for a couple weeks now… well at least an article!
It’s been a long time since I have written about my “thoughts on the journey” of my own healing. This is primarily because I have arrived at a pretty decent level of healing! While there are still “dusty corners” that need some attending, for the most part my day-to-day operating is what I (and others) would call healthy!
In 2006, a book was published that sought to give the reader a better understanding of where their food comes from. The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan followed three major tracks, or sourcing, of food. The public reaction to this book was significant and varied, and it evoked discussion from vegetarians and meat-lovers alike.
I am a patriot through and through. My favorite place in this entire country is Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. It is a historic town, an exact replica of what it looked like in the 18th century. There you get to walk among the buildings and people that took a stand against tyranny. And if you pay attention, you will feel the profoundness of it all.
These were real people who decided they needed to take action against wrongs. They weighed the cost, asked challenging questions, and decided that they needed to stand for what was right. They did this knowing they may have to sacrifice wealth, families, even their own lives in order to do what is right. Invited in, you can hear their debate and experience what they were fighting against.
You can see what freedom meant to them. The rights of freedom—what we take for granted—that they believed in and fought for. They took a stand and said people should be treated differently than animals because they are made in the image of God. They rebelled against the tradition of title, land, money and power—believing instead that people should be given equal opportunity in a free market to work hard and keep what they work for. They believed in representation—that the people who's everyday lives are affected by the government's rules should have a say in what those rules are. They believed that every person has a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. You may be yawning now. Because you have been living with these rights since the day you were born. But don't make the mistake of thinking that these "normal" rights are commonly accepted everywhere.
Because when you look at the rest of the world, you realize that our experience is unique.
In many other countries you are only protected by your money and power. Here, the poor and weak are protected equally by law.
In many other countries you are told how you can think and believe. Here you can think and believe however you want to.
In many other countries most women and children are abused and dominated over, and the attacker often goes unpunished. Here women's rights are being fought for, and we punish those who harm a woman or a child.
In many other countries, it could mean death to speak out in any way against the government. Here every person has the right to voice their non-violent opinion against anything or anyone.
Here we are safe. Here we are not afraid.
I am thankful to live in this country. Thankful to the men who founded it on Biblical principles, recognizing that humans have rights just by being born. Thankful to every person who sacrificed for my right to disagree... or agree... as I choose. Thankful for those who are still fighting for my freedom.
And Onward!
Every time I learn more about the complex interactions between the human body and different nutrients, bacteria, and dozens of other factors, I am blown away! Not sure what I mean? As an example, this was mentioned in my latest post. A seed has enough intelligence to protect itself from being digested, but then is able to release those protections when the conditions are right to grow! All while it's still a seed! And that complicated process relates only to the seed. We haven’t even begun to explore the combining of that seed with some other food, or in a different form, or after the seed grows up. Not to mention the effect stomach acid levels, digestive enzyme activity, and different gut flora have on that seed. And the list goes on and on. Therefore we see that our bodies, and the processes that happen inside them, are incredibly intricate. And it begs the question:
Eating real food is more than eating food-shaped packages of vitamins, proteins, and fibers. Real food is dynamic, and what you get from a particular food is conditional, and depends on several factors.
Growing Conditions: The actual nutritional value of that particular piece of food depends on the conditions it was grown in, including sun exposure, water quality, and the amount of vitamins, minerals and healthy bacteria in the soil or food the animal was eating.
Preparation Methods: After it is grown, different ways of preparing food will make it more or less digestible; helpful, stressful, or even harmful to the human body.
Individual Body Status: Even if it’s prepared properly, each individual body's environment has a role in determining the amount of benefit or harm that food will have.
In fact, a food's helpfulness to an individual body is dependent on the season, metabolic needs, current hormone state, and a myriad of other factors that are going on in the body at that moment. So what's helpful to your body in the summer may be harmful in winter. Or what's beneficial to eat at noon may weigh your body down at dinnertime. Every minute your metabolic needs may be different.
This is why "eating healthy" cannot be reduced to fortifying processed foods with vitamins, or taking the "perfect" supplement mix. It is so, so much more! Now that you know all this, eating healthy may sound like an unattainable goal. And in some ways it is. Even if we are extremely in tune with our bodies, it is unlikely that we will think “I need 5.78 mcg of calcium and 4.24 mg of vitamin D at 2:57pm”… and so on. And this is my first point.
Even if the advertised effects are real, it doesn’t mean that it will work for you! Your body may need something else entirely. If anyone tells you that they have the one product that will fix all your ills, run the other way! On the other hand, the innateintelligence inside our bodies does know what it needs, and how to get it. We can work on listening to what our bodies are telling us. I call this becoming an expert detective (for more, see chapter 7 of Notes From A GAPS Practitioner).
As we renew the partnership with our body, we will begin to understand its signals about what foods will best support our bodies at that moment. Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride talks about this in a wonderful article, One Man’s Meat is Another Man’s Poison. In it she shares how important it is to listen to your body telling you what food to eat at the moment, and how much of it to eat. Becoming an expert detective does not happen overnight. It is a commitment to observe, experiment, create theories, and modify them as needed. It will get easier with time and experience, and every time you learn something, your health will benefit. And you will have taken one more step in your journey toward better health.
Onward!
Disclosure: Contains an affiliate link, which helps support my blogging. Your trust is important to me, and I only recommend resources I trust.
Ever wondered about recommendations like "soaking," "sprouting," "fermenting," or "properly preparing" your nuts or grains? Ever wondered what that meant, or why it's better? I did! In fact, when I first heard about "sprouted bread," I thought it was made-up. But there are real reasons why eating properly prepared seeds is better for your body. Check out the video below to find out why.
Did that make sense?
This is just one example of why food preparation matters. And while food preparation techniques used to be passed on from generation to generation, our modern western culture has largely lost that heritage. But some do remember. And some do research. And some teach. And some write it down for us. That is the entire reason behind the cookbook, Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon. Traditional ways to prepare foods in traditional recipes are recorded in this helpful resource. If we want to return to health, we need to start understanding these principles. Our health depends on it! Still have questions? Have another food preparation question? Ask it in the comments below.
Disclosure: The link in this post is an affiliate link. Links like this help support my blogging. Your trust is important to me, and I only recommend resources I trust.
I was asked to write a guest blog post sharing my story of healing. It published today, and I wanted to share it with you all here.
I had two main purposes for writing this story.
The first was to provide an honest view into what a typical up-and-down healing journey looks like, both physically and emotionally.
The second was to offer encouragement or hope for your own journey.
You can read my post on the Living Well Nutrition blog, HERE.
And if my story gives you hope or inspires you to share something about your own journey, share it with us in a comment below!
Last week I shared some of my thoughts about an inspiring quote. You can read it here. Today, let’s talk about some practicals. How does fear really affect us? Can we really overcome it? What does it have to do with health, or GAPS, or healing ?The principle of “action conquers fear” can be applied in every area of our lives.
Like in the things you put off…
Why don't you try a new recipe? Why don't you take that next step in bettering your health? Why don't you stop something you hate, or start something you love. If you follow it to the root, you will probably find that some form of "Iam afraid" is somewhere in your reasoning.
You are not alone. The culture around us loves to manipulate us through fear. Insurance, vaccines, "a blizzard is coming," home security systems and more all play on our fear. Media is excellent at invoking a fear response in us. The next time you turn on the news, ask yourself what they want you to hear in this story? Then pay attention to what you find yourself thinking.
So what is your action step? What can you do against the noise and pressure around you? Is there anything you can do? Start with this simple step...
No one needs help being afraid--we do it pretty well by ourselves. So stop letting other people make you more afraid. Quiet their voices or limit your time around them. Get angry at them if you need to. But stop listening! Turn the news off. Steer your conversations (on-line and off-line) to encouraging topics.
And don’t forget the voices inside your head! When negative self-talk, or someone's disapproving words are etched in your memories, they affect you. Instead of the negative, make the goodt hings others have said about you your primary voices. Our minds and bodies are both part of us, so taking care of our emotional and spiritual health are also important. I talk more about this in another post.
On a physical note, many toxins and imbalances can enhance our fear, or inhibit our hopefulness. While it is possible to defeat our fears and choose hope, despite our bodies, things like sleeping enough, eating the right food, and managing our stress can make the fight easier. You can read more about it in this post.
So do it. Take action. And go,Onward!
