What Really is a Whole Food Diet?
Why is the definition of a healthy diet so controversial?
Everywhere we turn someone is saying carnivore is best, plant based is best, gluten free is best or keto is best. What really is best for our bodies though??
Is the answer tacos? Please say tacos!
The answer is definitely not a restrictive diet. When we restrict foods from our diets we can become sensitive to foods. Have you ever noticed the more you cut out a food, like gluten, the more sensitive you are to it when you do eat it? Restrictive diets also lead dysfunction with our mitochondria (we see this on an Organic Acids test). This leads to more symptoms because it further weakens the body. When I cut out grains and followed the candida diet I found myself with thrush that would not go away, even with the antifungals. It also brought new symptoms like joint pain and fatigue. I didn’t realize I was causing more harm than good. I was further depleting my body of nutrients. We see this in all restrictive diets. Vegans tend to be deficient in vitamin b12 and strict carnivores deficient in vitamin c. Well, most people are deficient in vitamins and minerals anyway due to food and soil quality, but that doesn’t take away from the point of not restricting yourself.
When we go on diets we tell ourselves we want to start eating healthy and maybe the goal is to lose weight or stop our symptoms. So, we reach for more greens and less prepackaged junk food. We might cut out dairy and gluten because it’s messing with our gut or we break out in pimples when we consume it. We look for alternatives to milk, like nut milks to put in our coffee or cereal. Sound familiar? We may think we’re doing ourselves a service, but in reality we are causing more harm. Wait, how?? These are healthy! I stopped eating Doritos! The problem is these foods tend to be extremely high in oxalates. Oxalates are very detrimental to our body. No amount of calcium/raw milk can stop some of them. See the previous blog post on oxalates to learn more.
Also, dairy and gluten themselves are most likely not the issue to your gut health or why you have acne when you consume them. The methods for processing dairy and the poor quality of the animal is causing you issues when you drink milk. The cows are mistreated, overmilked and pumped full of antibiotics and other drugs. Cows naturally produce more milk than their young needs. We have been drinking raw cow, goat, camel and sheep’s milk for thousands of years. Raw milk is full of digestive enzymes and nutrients. This makes it easier for people to digest. Most people find they can consume raw milk with no issues, even if conventional milk gives them issues. It’s a great tool for helping remove oxalates. We can make butter (amazing source of vitamin k) and ice cream with raw cream. Raw ice cream is my favorite super food. Check out realmilk.com to find sources near you. We have been consuming wheat for thousands of years, as well. The problem lies with cross breeding grains, genetically modified wheat and soil depletion. Wheat has been ruined by manufacturing. The best sources are non hybridized and lower in gluten (if you have been having issues with gluten). I love einkorn flour. It tastes fresh and hasn’t been cross bred or genetically modified. Whole Foods and other health food stores sell the Jovial brand.
The key with anything regarding healing is listening to your body and giving it time. It takes time to heal and it may take time to eat certain foods again if they’ve been cut from your diet for a long time.
The goal is to work up to a 90% whole food diet with your individual needs in mind. These foods include meat and raw dairy from farms with amazing husbandry. If you can’t find a farm local to you there are some amazing farms with online stores. Reach out in the Facebook group and I can tell you which ones I’ve used. (Join the Root Cause Facebook group). If you don’t have issues with sulfur/high ammonia, foods like eggs and high sulfur vegetables are great too, especially if you have a sluggish phase 1 liver pathway. You’ll know if you have issues with these foods through genetics testing, an Organic Acids test or if you have sulfur smelling gas after consuming them. Fruit and seeded vegetables (which I guess are technically also fruits) are very healthy, as well. What about grains?? Grains are healthy too! Oats, white jasmine rice and non hybridized wheat are easy to digest and great for our bodies. What about my favorite treats or when I go out to eat!? Yes, please eat tacos and your favorite treats. Part of being on this planet is to enjoy our lives and not obsess over what we are eating.
Other things to keep in mind…
It’s important to eat real foods majority of the time. This includes when we eat sugar. Maple syrup and honey are the best sweeteners, but cane sugar is great for treats. Stevia, xylitol, erythritol and other ‘natural sweeteners’ are not good choices. Since the chemical composition of these does not contain any sugar, but tastes sweet they trick the body into thinking it’s getting sugar. This causes the pancreas to produce insulin. Eventually, over time this leads to insulin resistance because the fake sweetener has cried wolf so many times that the body stops believing it and stops producing insulin when it tastes something sweet. So, when you do eat something with real sugar your blood sugar spikes and your body doesn’t do anything to stop it. These fake sweeteners also cause gut dysbiosis and have recently been linked to heart disease.
A lot of cooking oils are inflammatory including coconut. Safer options are olive and avocado oils.
To recap what you should eat:
Don’t restrict what you eat by cutting out a food group
There is an exception to cutting out food- extremely high oxalate foods need to be avoided and very slowly weaned off of: spinach, nut milks, and eating nuts often, etc. See oxalate article for more information.
Foods that are part of a whole food diet are raw dairy (especially cream, butter and milk)
Local pasteurized dairy is great to cook with
Well sourced meat directly from the farm- poultry, beef (be mindful of your ferritin levels), pork, deer
Well sourced fish- wild caught atlantic salmon is a great choice
All fruits are very healthy
Homemade fresh juice- orange and carrot juice or apple is a great choice for the liver
Seeded vegetables (Which is classified as fruit?)- cucumbers, zucchini, squash, tomatoes, peppers, avocado etc.
Unpasteurized eggs from local farms if you can handle them. It’s important to check gene mutations and ammonia levels
Cruciferous vegetables if you can handle them. It’s important to check gene mutations and ammonia levels
Other vegetables- potatoes, carrots, corn etc. Onion and garlic (if you can handle sulfur foods)
Lower oxalate lettuce- romaine for example
Grains- jasmine rice, oats, sourdough bread and non hybridized wheat (einkorn). Non gmo popcorn topped with raw butter is a great snack
Maple syrup and raw honey
Olive oil and avocado oil
Well sourced unprocessed salt- I love Redmond Real Salt
Your favorite treats- this can be a time you want your favorite processed snacks, coffees, going out to restaurants, non whole food desserts, etc.
Listen to your body! I thrive on carbohydrates for breakfast, so I often will have oats, fruit/fresh squeezed fruit juice, and some times sourdough toast. They give me great energy to start my day.
If you want to learn more about about your body’s individual needs and break free from your symptoms book a 20 minute assessment call: BOOK
Recipes Coming Soon!