Nutrition 101
---> April 28th, 2006 by annie
For those of you who just want the rules for eating, plain and simple, The Weston Price Foundation has ‘em fer ya. Here they are, my emphasis added to highlight what most people are ignorant of.
Dietary Guidelines
- 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 the tropical oils—coconut and palm.
- 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 herb teas and coffee substitutes in moderation.
- Use filtered water for cooking and drinking.
- Use unrefined Celtic seasalt and a variety of herbs and spices for food interest and appetite stimulation.
- Make your own salad dressing using raw vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and expeller expressed flax oil.
- Use natural sweeteners in moderation, such as raw honey, maple syrup, dehydrated cane sugar juice and stevia powder.
- Use only unpasteurized wine or beer in strict moderation with meals.
- Cook only in stainless steel, cast iron, glass or good quality enamel.
- Use only natural, food-based supplements.
- Get plenty of sleep, exercise and natural light.
Dietary Dangers
- 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 strict vegetarianism (veganism); animal products provide vital nutrients not found in plant foods.
- Avoid products containing protein powders. [This means “health” powders added to smoothies, etc. . .]
- 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.
- Avoid caffeine-containing beverages such as coffee, tea and soft drinks. Avoid chocolate.
- Avoid aluminum-containing foods such as commercial salt, baking powder and antacids. Do not use aluminum cookware or aluminum-containing deodorants.
- Do not drink fluoridated water [and use fluoridated toothpaste].
- Avoid synthetic vitamins and foods containing them.
- Do not drink distilled liquors.
- Do not use a microwave oven.
What’s Wrong With Politically Correct Nutritional Guidelines?
PC DIETARY GUIDELINES in Italics
“Avoid saturated fats.” Problem - Saturated fats play many important roles in the body. They provide integrity to the cell membrane, enhance the body’s use of essential fatty acids, enhance the immune system, protect the liver and contribute to strong bones. Saturated fats do not cause heart disease. In fact, saturated fats are the preferred food for the heart. Your body makes saturated fats out of carbohydrates.
“Limit cholesterol” Problem - Dietary cholesterol contributes to the strength of the intestinal wall and helps babies and children develop a healthy brain and nervous system. Foods that contain cholesterol also provide many other important nutrients. Only oxidized cholesterol, found in powdered milk and eggs, contributes to heart disease. Powdered milk is added to 1% and 2% milk.
“Use more polyunsaturated oils” – Problem - Polyunsaturates in more than small amounts contribute to cancer, heart disease, autoimmune diseases, learning disabilities, intestinal problems and premature aging. Large amounts of polyunsaturated fats are new to the human diet, due to the modern use of commercial liquid vegetable oils.
“Avoid red meat” Problem - Red meat is a rich source of nutrients that protect the heart and nervous system including vitamins B12 and B6, zinc, phosphorus, carnitine and Coenzyme Q10.
“Cut back on eggs” Problem - Eggs are nature’s perfect food, providing excellent protein, the gamut of nutrients and important fatty acids that contribute to the health of the brain and nervous system. Americans had less heart disease when they ate more eggs. Egg substitutes cause rapid death in test animals.
“Eat lean meat and drink lowfat milk” Problem - Lean meat and lowfat milk lack fat soluble vitamins needed to assimilate protein and minerals in meat and milk. Consumption of low-fat foods can lead to depletion of vitamin A and D reserves.
“Limit fat consumption to 30% of calories” Problem - 30% calories as fat is too low for most people, leading to low blood sugar and fatigue. Traditional diets contained 40% to 80% of calories as healthy fats, mostly of animal origin.
“Eat 6-11 servings of grains per day” Problem - Most grain products are made from white flour, which is devoid of nutrients. Additives in white flour can cause vitamin deficiencies. Whole grain products can cause mineral deficiencies and intestinal problems unless properly prepared.
“Restrict salt” Problem - Salt is crucial to digestion and assimilation. Salt is also necessary for the development and functioning of the nervous system.
“At least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day” Problem - Fruits and vegetables receive an average of 10 applications of pesticides, from seed to storage. Consumers should seek out organic produce. Quality counts!
“Eat more soy foods” Problem - Modern soy foods block mineral absorption, inhibit protein digestion, depress thyroid function and contain potent carcinogens.
Posted in Whole Cooking | 
April 28th, 2006 at 10:53 am
Annie–
What is the definition of a quick rise bread? I make our bread and let it rise for 45 minutes–I’m guessing that would be, eh? It doesn’t seem to give us intestinal problems, though.
It’s just a little frustrating to think about this because I finally felt like I was feeding my family healthily and now I hear that I have to soak and ferment everything for a million hours.
Sorry, I’m not frustrated with you for posting about all this. Much of your research has been so helpful. I guess I just want someone to tell me that my family will be healthy and okay even if I don’t soak everything. I just can’t manage to do it all right now.
April 28th, 2006 at 2:12 pm
wow, annie- this is great! I love that it’s like a check list… I can start at the top and try to tackle them one at a time. I can’t wait to show Nate! I am really looking forward to my NT book coming soon.
How does it feel to look at these guidelines and know you are already implementing them?! Thanks for your dedication and inspiration- I really appreciate you sharing all your research with us
I agree with Tricia though- i think the soaking process seems most daunting at this point. I’ll probably put that one towards the bottom of my “begin-to-learn-how-to-feed-my-family-real-nutrition-to-do-list” hee! hee!
April 28th, 2006 at 2:32 pm
Tricia - I totally sympathize with your frustration! I think I vented about it a few weeks ago. Our society became infatuated with industrialization and lost all the thousands of years of nutritional wisdom. Now we are all sick with degenerative diseases and having to learn it all over again. Our generation is one that is having to do the work of uncovering this wisdom and re-working it into modern industrialized society. We shouldn’t go back to horse carriages or anything, but our technology did go ahead of our wisdom.
If your family doesn’t have intestinal woes or signs of mineral diffeciency, then by all means, put soaking to the back of the list and make the changes you can/want for now. I had to rush into it because one child developed a wheat problem. Otherwise I might not have been so speedy in wildly changing everything.
We do have freedom and grace, so have fun! God won’t let you have an ailment that he doesn’t want to have. We don’t live in a land of pure, mathmatical nutritional karma.
April 28th, 2006 at 3:07 pm
Thanks so much for all your work and research, Annie! I most definitely do not have the time for it, as I am confident God has called me to a different angle of ministry. But you are definitely right where He has you, and for that I am thankful.
These lists seem daunting, in all honesty. Good and honest, and I’m thankful to have a checklist (like Sarah said), but daunting. Can I just hire you as our personal chef and let you do all the hard work?
April 28th, 2006 at 3:10 pm
Something else I’ve been meaning to ask you (which will totally display my ignorance…) - are you able to shop at HEB and the like? Or do exclusively shop at WF, farmer’s markets, your personal garden, etc.? I’d be interested to see your grocery list sometime…
April 28th, 2006 at 4:11 pm
Tricia and Sarah, I hope annie doesn’t mind me jumping in here. When you all get around to testing the soaking methods for your breads…aka 2 step method…there is a great recipe on Sue Gregg’s website. I’m not sure where exactly you find the “talking pages” but it is on one of them. It is not any more difficult than making it the ordinary homemade way, except that you start it one day in advance. It actually cuts up my prep time b/c it is divided into 2 days.
And, yes, annie. Thank you for digging up all this good stuff for us. It is appreciated more than you will ever know or that I could convey.
~Jenny
April 28th, 2006 at 6:35 pm
Annie
What have you found in your research to be a good cooking oil besides olive oil. For different dishes, I don’t want a “tropical” taste of coconut oil or even olive oil or sesame oil. I use canola oil for various dishes. I heard it was the “best of the worst”, I suppose. Is this what you found? What would you recommend?
April 28th, 2006 at 9:20 pm
OK, not to be a nay-sayer… but, this list (and other things you’ve written about nutrition) made me do a little of my own research. Have you read the reviews of NT on Amazon? People against the book had interesting things to say… and it made me think that there are many opinions about what is/what is not the healthiest way to eat. Although I agree with 80% of what you say (whole, unrefined, low-sugar foods are best, etc), I’m not sold on Sally Fallon’s book yet.
Of biggest concern to me is drinking raw milk. I know that this is a concern of yours, Annie as well. I read an interesting article about raw milk… here’s the link:
http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2004/504_milk.html
Besides warning against disease, it informs that the “good enzymes” we are missing out on when drinking pasturized milk are bovine enzyme and are not readliy absorbed by the human gut.
Just food for thought.
April 28th, 2006 at 9:43 pm
Andrea! TRY coconut oil! I use it for eggs and chicken casseroles, etc . . . and someone who *claims* they hate coconut didn’t notice. If you buy the high quality stuff, like what is over at Wilderness Naturals, it might have less taste. If I don’t want to use coconut, then I use butter or olive oil but keep the olive oil heated at medium or below. Too high of heat causes it to oxidize (creates free radicals).
Robin - I am sure Sally Fallon is wrong about something. Everyone save Jesus is! lol! Watch out though, you are reading a government document! Everyone has a bias, and the government is bought and sold everyday in some way. And everyone in this litigation crazed culture has to cover their tails, making pasturization an immediately safe thing to supports, because yes, raw milk can have bad stuff. I am extremely careful where I get it from and if we moved, would probably go back to “normal” as needed until I was able to build trust up again.
And Fallon isn’t a Christian and has her own biases, and same with the Weston Price foundation. For example, I don’t think that ALL grains have to be fermented, but most Americans are so overdosed on ill-prepared grains that many many peoples guts need a break.
Honestly, the diversity of opinion is really driving me to look at the Bible, even though I know it isn’t a document given as a nutrition handbook, still God did strangely put alot in there about diet, eating habits, etc. . . . when everyone else and scientific evidence keeps changing, where else can we go?
Maker’s Diet disagrees with Fallon about shellfish and pork. I still need to look into all of it more but SOOOOOOOO many people have developed milk allergies that just didn’t exist before pasturization. And it does make the proteins harder to digest. So to me the other option is to really minimalize milk completely. (i was vegan for over a year for this reason . . .
enough blabbing. Keep me in line Robin! I need you and love it!
April 28th, 2006 at 10:43 pm
One more thing Robin! Some of what they said just doesn’t make sense. I haven’t read any scientific studies that say enzymes aren’t destroyed by pasturization. Everything I have read says they are lost at 115-140 degrees. Pasturization is much hotter than that. Also, because the proteins are bovine, we need bovine enzymes to digest them. Just a few more thoughts I had. I also don’t like that the article just made assertions without having to site a single specific study, because, well, he is “director of the Food and Drug Administration’s Division of Dairy and Egg Safety.”
Those reviews at amazon are great. It really helps highlight the issues involved. I agree that Fallon can be somewhat sloppy and biased on a few points, but overall it is an amazing book that really sets forth basic nutrition. I had to laugh about the part where she tried not to make enemies by saying that vegetarians (a diet which she heartily disagrees with) must just be more spiritual people longing for the day when we will return to pure spirit (or something to that effect.) hee hee!
April 28th, 2006 at 11:32 pm
Thanks for letting me be frustrated for the moment and for your good responses and suggestions.
I here you about being driven to the Bible by all the diversity in the opinions. At least we know that our God who is sovereign and truthful, and that is so freeing and comforting when seeing all the disagreement out there.
You said that you didn’t think that ALL grains had to be fermented–which ones don’t need to be, in your opinion?
Thanks again.
April 28th, 2006 at 11:36 pm
Tricia - Rant here anytime! Keeps me from being boring.
Well . . . so many people have wheat allergies, so I would first be careful about wheat! Then wheat’s relatives like rye, spelt, kamut, barley. Buckwheat is a different family, so it is more mild on phytates. Oats seem to bother people less . . . but once you get used to soaking your flour, it is SO easy. It is just making a new habit. and like Jenny said, I now prefer breaking up the preparation time. It is almost prayerful and liesurely to set out the oats or flour for pancakes in some yogurt at night before I go to bed.
April 29th, 2006 at 9:42 am
Annie,
Thanks so much for posting these. We go through spurts of eating very healthy, and then fall back into too much ice cream.
I am going to print out this list and put it on my refrigerator!
April 29th, 2006 at 11:27 am
Thanks, Annie for your responses to my response. How did you originally hear about the Weston Price foundation and the book, Nourishing traditions?
I guess I’ll have to buy NT and read it for my self to see if I buy into it… have you heard of The China Study? Claims to be the most comprehensive study of food/health ever done… it’s new (endorses vegetarianism, I think) but says alot of things contrary to Fallon… how do you decide what is right/best in regards to nutrition when there are so many ideas of what is best out there… hmmm.
Do you have the book Whole Foods for the Whole Family? What are your thoughts on it?
April 30th, 2006 at 3:32 pm
Annie,
Do you have any thoughts on the use of whole wheat pastry flour for use in things where whole wheat just doesn’t work? (ie, cookies, cakes, etc.) I know that it is made from soft red wheat as opposed to hard red wheat and is better than white flour, but I haven’t been able to determine the exact nutritional composition of it.
I use half white and half whole wheat in some things, but there are times when I just want that “white” look and taste!
I’ve had good results using it, but of course if it’s not that much better for you that it’s probably not worth the money. Just curious if you’ve done any research on it.
April 30th, 2006 at 9:08 pm
I agree, Annie, once you get into the soaking, it isn’t that big of a deal. It just means you need to think the night before to do it.
I like having things sitting on my counter…soaking away. It makes me feel like a pioneer, or something.