Back to Home
Back to Therapies

Nutrition

Resources:

Recipes

Nutrition Handouts:

Fats and Oils

Reading Ingredient Lists

Nutrition Books:

Nourishing Traditions
by Sally Fallon

The Schwarzbein Principle
by Diane Schwarzbein, MD

Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Natasha Campbell-McBride

Nutrition Web Sites:

Weston A. Price Foundation

Real Milk Sources


 Guidelines to a Healthy Diet

The foundation to any health care plan is nutrition. 

If you don't have the nutrients your body needs, it will not perform well and you get sick.  Much of what we do with our patients is educate and recommend diets.

There are so many conflicting theories on nutrition that it can make your head spin.  A few of the common diets out there are:
  • USDA Food Pyramid (high-carb, low-fat, grain-based)
  • Atkins (low-carb, mostly meat and fat)
  • South Beach (low-carb)
  • Vegan (no animal products)
  • Lacto-ovo vegetarian (includes dairy and eggs)
  • Paleolithic diet (should eat like a cave man-few grains, lots of meat and vegetables)
  • Blood-type diet (should eat different foods based on blood type)
A quick look at these diets shows that there are striking differences.  All of them, of course, claim to be the ideal diet.  All of them site scientific research backing up their theories.  What is the truth?  What should we eat?

This question is the subject of the highly popular book, The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan.  I highly recommend reading this excellent book.  In it, Pollan discusses this "dilemma" facing us; we no longer know what to eat.  We are the only animal on this planet that does not know what to eat.  Baby deer know what to eat, but highly-educated humans do not.  Some of us switch from one diet to another looking for the perfect one for us.  Others follow exactly what the USDA says we should eat.  It seems the majority have given up and eat whatever they want: typically the cheapest food available (soda has become the number one calorie source in the United States). 

This decision of what we should eat has typically been answered for us in the past.  People ate what was available or what their culture recommended.  In the past century, the industrialization of our food and the constant barrage of information from "experts" like myself have led to a society eating nutrient-poor, even toxic, food.  We are also suffering from chronic disease at epidemic proportions and it is not getting better.

Our solution:

Look back at what traditional people have eaten for thousands of years before we had our modern diseases.  This is not very easy to do as most people in the world no longer purely eat their traditional foods. 

So we look back to the research of Weston A. Price, a dentist in the 1930's who decided to record the diets of many traditional people all over the world.  He also recorded their dental and general health.  He noted that they did not suffer the dental problems that we do today.  They suffered little from acute or chronic diseases until Western foods arrived (white flour, sugar, and refined oils).  You can read his research in the book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration.

Guidelines for a Healthy Diet

Introduction

Diet is extremely important in maintaining health as well as preventing disease. Almost any disease can be linked to diet in some way. Some conditions such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease are very obviously linked to diet. Other conditions such as allergies, fatigue, insomnia, indigestion, constipation, headaches, and skin problems can also be related to diet. When making dietary changes, keep an open mind, be patient, and seek support when you need it. Changing your diet can be one of the most difficult yet rewarding experiences you will ever have.

Guiding Principles

  • Eat as our ancestors ate. Prepare your own foods from scratch and you know exactly what is in it.
  • Eat traditional foods such as fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, properly raised and prepared meat, eggs, and dairy.
  • Avoid factory-prepared and processed foods.
  • Eat local, organic food as much as possible.
  • Cook using low heat methods such as steaming, boiling, stewing, light sautéing, and baking.
  • Use nontoxic cookware such as stainless steel, cast iron, glass, and quality enamel.

Foods to Include

  • Eat whole, natural foods.
  • Eat only foods that will spoil, but eat them before they do.
  • Eat naturally-raised meat including fish, seafood, poultry, beef, lamb, game, organ meats and eggs.
  • Eat whole, naturally-produced milk products from pasture-fed cows, preferably raw and/or fermented, such as whole yogurt, cultured butter, whole cheeses and fresh and sour cream.
  • Use only traditional fats and oils including butter and other animal fats, extra virgin olive oil, expeller expressed sesame and flax oil, and coconut oil.
  • Eat fresh fruits and vegetables, preferably organic, in salads and soups, or lightly steamed.
  • Use whole grains and nuts that have been prepared by soaking, sprouting or sour leavening to neutralize phytic acid and other anti-nutrients.
  • Include enzyme-enhanced lacto-fermented vegetables, fruits, beverages and condiments in your diet on a regular basis.
  • Prepare homemade meat stocks from the bones of chicken, beef, lamb or fish and use liberally in soups and sauces.
  • Use herbal teas liberally.
  • Use filtered water for cooking and drinking.
  • Use unrefined seasalt and a variety of herbs and spices for food interest and appetite stimulation.
  • Make your own salad dressing using raw vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.
  • Use natural sweeteners in moderation, such as raw honey, maple syrup, dehydrated cane sugar juice and stevia powder.

Foods to Avoid

  • Don't eat commercially processed foods such as cookies, cakes, crackers, TV dinners, soft drinks, packaged sauce mixes, etc.
  • Avoid all refined sweeteners such as sugar, dextrose, glucose and high fructose corn syrup.
  • Avoid white flour, white flour products and white rice.
  • Avoid all hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats and oils.
  • Avoid all vegetable oils made from soy, corn, safflower, canola or cottonseed.
  • Do not use polyunsaturated oils for cooking, sauteing or baking.
  • Avoid fried foods.
  • Do not practice veganism; animal products provide vital nutrients not found in plant foods. This is great for cleansing and have great benefits but have problems in the long term.
  • Avoid products containing protein powders.
  • Avoid pasteurized milk; do not consume lowfat milk, skim milk, powdered milk or imitation milk products.
  • Avoid battery-produced eggs and factory-farmed meats.
  • Avoid highly processed luncheon meats and sausage containing MSG and other additives.
  • Avoid rancid and improperly prepared seeds, nuts and grains found in granolas, quick rise breads and extruded breakfast cereals, as they block mineral absorption and cause intestinal distress.
  • Avoid canned, sprayed, waxed, bioengineered or irradiated fruits and vegetables.
  • Avoid artificial food additives, especially MSG, hydrolyzed vegetable protein and aspartame, which are neurotoxins. Most soups, sauce and broth mixes and commercial condiments contain MSG, even if not so labeled.
  • Use caffeine-containing beverages such as coffee, tea, soft drinks, and chocolate in moderation.
  • Avoid aluminum-containing foods such as commercial salt, baking powder and antacids. Do not use aluminum cookware or aluminum-containing deodorants.

Learning to Cook Healthfully

  • Some of the books that are recommended can be intimidating to those not used to doing a lot of food preparation and especially to those with busy lives. Start small and easy. Find one thing you can change and make that change. Make that change a habit and then choose something else to change.
  • Learning to cook healthfully involves creating habits and planning so you always have food that is ready to go. There are many resources available especially at the Weston A Price Foundation web site and in the book Nourishing Traditions.
  • There is also a recipe section on this web site.
  • Take cooking classes and utilize your local resources.
  • Have friends over and cook together. Share recipes, secrets, and tricks. The kitchen has always been a central part of community. Let’s make that kitchen a healthy one.

A Word of Caution

  • This site gives general recommendations about diet and nutrition. It does not take into account any health conditions you may have. Please talk to your naturopathic doctor about specific diet recommendations.


Back to Therapies