This is SUCH AN IMPORTANT component of changing how episodes happen (or stop happening) in your house! This is two different book excerpts placed together here to get you thinking. To read more on how to do this, get some balance and improve episodes and life in your family – check out my book here:
From the book…
Importance of Whole Foods
I have separated out macronutrients here to give you foods to to think, but the most important point in all of this nutrition section is this – DO NOT separate out your nutrients or foods. You need WHOLE foods to get the best benefit from them to balance your gut and body. We want to stop eating processed foods. No more packages, boxes and bagged stuff. We want whole foods. This will require some planning and thought.
Your body runs the best and works properly when it has to work to break down the whole food, and extract the nutrients when and how, it needs, at that time. We want to give it that chance.
Problematic Foods & Why
Cereals, snack packs, juices, boxed crackers, cookies, fishes, chips, even things like those neatly packed “lunch” meals and more are problems. Boxed mac and cheese – DO NOT TURN BACK RUN FAST. All of these items contribute to a breakdown in digestion, and an introduction to chemicals and inflammatory agents. If you are thinking to yourself right now about how much breakfast, SNACKS, lunch and dinner you eat of these items and you are starting to sweat – GOOD! Do not go back. Chuck them out and go shopping for some fresh foods.
These packaged products are empty nutrients. They are processed with cheap, rancid oils. These foods have been broken down and stripped of value and then because they have no nutritional value they “fortify” the food to make you believe it is still OK. It is not. Guess what your body doesn’t have to do? Break down a thing – nothing to break down. It’s already been done before it went on to that shelf (6 months to a year ago before you buy it).
These types of foods also lead to digestive inflammation in the intestines, a breakdown in mucosal lining (first defense and protection from your own stomach acid), also gallbladder issues, and even liver toxicity.
More on Food Sourcing
So far we have talked about getting properly raised animals and looking out for packaged and processed foods. What does that all mean? On my blog I have talked about these things quite extensively and I encourage you to stop over to simplymindfulwellness.com/blog and check out information on this. But for now let’s take a glance.
When buying from the grocery store it is important to look for some key things. (And with this new way of eating you will find markets, and local farmers are much easier and the grocery store will be minimized if not eliminated with certain delivery service options available today).
The outer ring of the store is your friend.
If you need to go to the grocery store you want to stay in the fresh section. Produce, meats. Most of your shopping is done here.
You are looking for the same labels of pastured, grass fed and finished, organic and non-GMO. If you are looking at dairy it should be full fat, and as close to raw as you can get. You will need to look at the ingredients of ALL items that are in a package with a label. You will be looking for ingredients you know. If there is something on an ingredient label you do not know, you can look it up – or just skip the item and choose something with ingredients you do know. Or better yet, if you can, make the food at home – yourself.
Cheese is one of the most misleading foods in the store, along with butter, and sometimes milk. You want only the cheese, only the milk, and yogurt, just the live cultures and the milk type it is made from. The same applies for butter. We are never getting margarine or butter substitutes. These are made from poor, or fake, oils all together and are very harmful to our bodies – very inflammatory.
When you are looking for other items off the shelf
This is when we need to focus hard on finding the healthy brands and staying within those limits, and always just doing a quick check on the ingredient list. The first time you shop it will be intense looking for a clean brand. When you find one stick with it. BUT each time you go to buy again just do a quick scan. Sometimes things change and quality changes on products.
To get more specifics on what to avoid, what to keep and make a plan – grab the book! Or better yet – let’s talk – I do free 15 minute consults to help you learn more about what nutritional therapy can do for your family, as well as take a look at your child’s situation to see if it would be a good fit for you!
**Please note I cannot give you a dosage for supplements, nor supplement recommendations for your child in a free consult. I will also not be able to tell you your child’s imbalances, and triggers in a 15 minute call.**