Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Healthy Eating 101

These guidelines for healthy eating will help you and your family to enjoy better health.  If there is any subject you would like me to share more on after you read this, please leave me a comment below about what you'd like to know!

Some Things About Healthy Foods

Organic
Buy organic whenever possible, but if you cannot buy everything organic, the most important things to get are animal products, especially meat.  However it is very expensive, so if you can't get meat organic, at least get your meat from a health foods store.  I think their meat is at least better than Walmart's.  Sometimes health foods stores put their organic meats on sale, so watch for that.

A Cow Stands in a Field of Green Grass and Purple Heather
A Cow Stands in a...


After animal products, there are certain fruits and veggies you should always try to buy organic.  Some are very high in pesticides.  Here is a list of the worst and the best for pesticides.  View a full list of fruits and vegetables here.

*Dirty Dozen*
~Buy these organic
1 Apples
2 Celery
3 Strawberries
4 Peaches
5 Spinach
6 Nectarines – imported
7 Grapes – imported
8 Sweet bell peppers
9 Potatoes
10 Blueberries – domestic
11 Lettuce
12 Kale/collard greens

*Clean 15*
~Lowest in Pesticide
1 Onions
2 Sweet Corn
3 Pineapples
4 Avocado
5 Asparagus
6 Sweet peas
7 Mangoes
8 Eggplant
9 Cantaloupe - domestic
10 Kiwi
11 Cabbage
12 Watermelon
13 Sweet potatoes
14 Grapefruit
15 Mushrooms

Sharing
Sharing


Cheese
The really only healthy cheese to eat is raw milk cheese.  It will say "raw milk cheese" on it and is available in health foods stores.  The same thing goes for milk.  Drinking pasteurized milk is really not good for you.

Salt
Did you know salt is good for you?  Yes, it is!  Just not the stuff you normally see on the store shelves (table salt).  At most health food stores, you can find salt called Celtic Sea Salt that comes in plastic bags.  The salt is light grey and moist and is loaded with minerals!  The best one to get is the coarse light grey, not the fine ground, but the find ground will do if that's what you can find.

Fats
It is really healthy to eat fats.  Your body needs them.  Good fats to eat are butter (organic is best), virgin coconut oil, olive oil (if you're not cooking with it), and the fats on meat.  Stay away from all vegetable oils, including canola and corn oil.  Margerine is like plastic and should not be eaten.

Woman Churning Butter
Woman Churning...


Grains
White breads should be avoided.  Grains should actually be soaked or sprouted before eating--it makes it so your body can properlydigest them.

Sugars
White sugar should be avoided.  Artificial sweeteners are like poisons to the body.  Some safe to use (in moderation) sweeteners are sucanat, pure maple syrup, stevia, and raw honey. Stevia should be the green powdered kind, and not white

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8 comments:

  1. i have something for you http://www.agodlyhomemaker.com/2012/01/thank-you.html

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank-you so much for this. It definitely helps!
    Linda

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  3. Hello,
    I was wondering if you could offer some advice? We are currently waiting on blood work to see if my daughter has Celiac. So I know their is a chance we are going to be making a big change in our eating habits. However, I really would like to make lots of changes other and just gluten but I really don't know where to begin. Our diet is pretty SAD. Do you have any other resources you would suggest?

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    Replies
    1. If your on the SAD, switching to a traditional diet where you soak or sprout all your grains could help a lot. Going "gluten free" is very, very trendy right now, but will only help with some of the products. Many of the foods labeled "gluten free" are nothing more than glorified processed junk foods.

      If your daughter really does have food allergies and intolerances, they can be healed. You should look into the GAPS diet, which heals and seals the gut lining. You can read about it here http://www.gapsdiet.com/Getting_Started.html

      I also did a post on it here http://www.blessedhomemaking.com/2011/09/when-healthy-isnt-healthy-enough.html and plan to make another one soon. There is a lot of help for the GAPS diet online, and I sure recommend it if your daughter is having these kinds of problems! It is the best solution I have seen for health problems.

      I hope this helps and God bless you.

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    2. The first paragraph was supposed to say "problems" not "products" :)

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  4. Ashley,

    I would agree that much that is labeled gluten free is "junk". I have 3 family members that are celiacs. Being a celiac is much different than being gluten intolerant. Celiacs can really never tolerate gluten. They have to grow their villi back and in oreder to do this, they must refrain from all gluten. In my family member's case, this process will take 5 years. My family member was playing with Pla-do (flour in it) and reached for a food item. Later in the day, she was quite sick. Her doctor determined that she had been contaminated with flour from the Play-do and ingested that along with the food item. Her numbers are very good now, but when she visits our home for a meal, she brings all of the food, and the pans to cook it in. I spray down all counters and get out new washclothes. That being said, the family has adjuted well. It least you know what you can eat. One book that I think is excellant is Whole Life Nutrition. Best Wishes on your journey towards health.

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    Replies
    1. Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride has determined that the food intolerances we are seeing are caused by a leaky gut and imbalance of the body flora. GAPS could very well help your family members as well so things aren't so hard.

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