Our Backyard Homestead

The Unhealthy Truth

My goal this week is to write about some of the books and documentaries that have changed the way I think about food.  Most of them have made such a big impact, that I haven't been sure how to concentrate my words into a focused review.  I have decided it is time that I must share my favorite resources beyond my circle of Facebook friends that likely have me set to ignore after all of my food related posting!

The week we embarked upon our elimination diet, we ran to the library with 15 minutes to spare before closing and my daughter and I scooped every elimination diet book off the shelf.  One of the books looked very interesting, but I didn't have time to read it.  As I was returning books, I was about to drop The Unhealthy Truth by Robyn O'Brien into the slot, but had this overwhelming feeling that I needed to hang onto it and read it.  I came home that evening and read it nearly cover to cover. 

Finally, I had possible answers and evidence for the conclusions that I had already drawn based on the positive results of our elimination diet.  I had read Michael Pollan, Barbara Kingsolver, as well as a few others.  I had watched numerous food documentaries including Food, Inc. which still ranks as one of the best places to start if you are new to the world of questioning the wisdom of the Standard American Diet.  The Unhealthy Truth rocked my world!  There was so much information in that book, and finally, I had answers for why my kids were struggling to eat what I thought were the same foods that I ate as a child.  Except there is one problem, the foods we are eating today look nothing like the food we grew up on.  There are additives, preservatives, sugars and genetically modified foods that have never been proven safe for humans.

While the book is aimed at parents, I suggest that every person that eats should read this book.  I could go on and on with a detailed review of the book, but there are many, much more able than I, that have posted informative reviews on Amazon (linked above).  In my opinion, the very best way to interest you in the book is to let the author speak for herself.  Take the 20 minutes and watch her speech; your health is at stake!

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

I give full credit to Michael Pollan for today's title and for changing the way our family shops and eats.  After reading In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto we began to take bigger baby steps in changing our diet.  Previously, I had attempted to eliminate high fructose corn syrup from our diet, but I didn't really know why other than it seemed like a good idea.  Reading Pollan's books armed me with the why's and gave me all the more inspiration to continue liberating our family from our highly processed diet that I thought was a pretty healthy one!

Last spring, we picked up a copy of Food Rules also by Michael Pollan.  I wondered if it was worth buying since we had read In Defense of Food, but the Amazon reviews convinced me I wasn't wasting $5 on it.  And the reviews were correct.  This tiny gem of a book is now what I recommend anyone interested in making change to their diet read as their first primer on the topic.  It is an extremely quick read, yet filled with helpful insight.  We felt that this book was so valuable that Matt actually ordered enough copies so that every exam room in their large clinic would have a copy for patients to glance through should they choose.

Until our recent starvation (elimination) diet as I have jokingly been calling it, I must confess that I was not doing all that great with the "Mostly Plants" part of the equation.  Yes, my kids ate plenty of fruits and veggies, but especially for meals, it was more of an obligation than a true hunger to eat mostly plants.  Since eliminating dairy/corn/soy/wheat/gluten/chicken and initially beef we have been learning to thrive on mostly plants.   It has been almost three weeks of eating a nearly vegan diet and I must say that I am not sure I want to go back to the old ways. 

We do have a freezer full of grass finished beef, so we did add that back, in small quantities, first.  Everyone seems to tolerate it with no problems.  The second challenge to try after two weeks of elimination diet also seemed obvious.  Seven chickens providing nearly seven eggs a day times 14 days left us with a large stockpile of eggs.  I had prayed that God would make it obvious as to what the problem foods are that need to stay out of our diets for the time being.  I am thankful for a very clear answer to prayer, but sad to report that eggs will remain out.  With two egg exposures, The Tornado began clawing at his arms and cheeks, the very places that have been covered in eczema for years.  By the third day of having a small amount of eggs back in the diet, the bumpy skin that had nearly cleared was returning to the sandpaper look he has sported for so long.

For now we are on hold of introducing any other foods back into the diet.  I want him to recover from the egg exposure before we complicate the introduction of any other foods.  Yet, the longer we go, the more I find I am truly enjoying our new eating habits.  Cravings are going away and I am finding that I am not nearly as hungry between meals.  Last night for dinner we had roasted broccoli and asparagus, grilled sweet potatoes, caramelized onions and one pound of steak for the five of us.  There was left over steak but not so much on the veggies.

I am currently reading The China Study that was recommended to Matt by one of his patients.  I appears that the final outcome of the book may be along the lines considerable evidence showing that "mostly plants" is the way to go.  At the snails pace I am reading, I hope to have more of a review on the book in a few months!