What is the healthiest way to eat?

[RainbowSprinkles]

Let me start by saying, food is not my area. I grew up on junk and I wasn't taught how to do anything in the kitchen.

 

There is so much different information out here on different diets. I'm not talking about the kind that will help me lose a bunch of weight. I'm talking about lifestyle changes for the whole family.

 

We already eat lots of veggies and fruits. The kids occasionally drink milk which I think really isn't good for you?? My dh will not give up his whole milk. We try to buy organic foods when we can and cook things with fresh ingredients. We eat a lot of protein and my kids and dh eat way too many carbs. I limit sugar. My kids don't get sodas and just an occasional piece of candy.

 

I want to move toward a natural wholesome diet for all of us. I'm not sure where to start. I've heard of the book "Nourishing Traditions". I've heard of Paleo, GAPS, going gluten-free and others. I just don't really know where to start.

 

What do you do? Where do you think I should start? Any recommendations for books? Or websites?

[happypamama]

Personally, I think the most important thing is to eat real food, whether that means vegetarian or paleo. If it's been modified heavily, it's not real food. So, eat real olive oil and/or butter (and real lard if you like) but not Crisco. If you eat animal products, try to get ones that have been allowed to roam and eat their natural diets.

 

Refined to Real is a good book; it's not too overwhelming.

 

There's also Nina Planck's Real Food and Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions and a whole host of others, but I would start with Refined to Real.

[AdventureMoms]

I think the real answer to the question is that no one really knows. Also, it probably varies from person to person.

 

Generally, I think that whole foods are good, processed foods are bad. Foods that humans have been eating for forever are better than newer foods. Foods containing a lot of sugar are not good. Extremely low fat is not good. Foods modified to be artificially lower in fat by adding a lot of sugar and other chemicals are really, really not good.

 

For me and my family, we are finding Paleo/Primal to be ideal for us. I can't say that it is perfect for everyone though. Even coming from a paleo perspective (which emphasizes meat), I'd bet that someone eating an unprocessed vegan diet will be healthier than someone eating a heavily processed diet of any kind.

[ssavings]

If you're eating real (as opposed to processed) foods, then I think that moderation is key.

[Mommee & Baba]

I agree that it depends on the person.

 

But I'm biased. We are gluten and dairy free and all 5 of us have never felt better than we do now without all that in our diets. We've been eating smaller portions because we are eating foods that have the vitamins and nutrients that are for our body and not filler foods!

 

Going gluten free was amazing with results in how much better we all feel. However it was a must for myself and my dd7 since we both suffer from celiacs disease and just found out this last December.

 

Going dairy free has doubled the cherry on top of now amazing we were all already feeling with the gluten out of our diets! Not only did our digestive systems fix themselves...but dh & I both lost weight! Dairy is so grossly filled with fat...hidden fats! Dh lost 15lbs and I lost 10lbs and we aren't heavy people to begin with. He's 145lbs now and I'm 127lbs now! Where we should be! We were not even trying to lose weight. This weight loss came with the exclusion of dairy all by itself. Our replacements now cost more but shockingly enough we use 1/4 of what we did prior to dairy free. Dairy had to go because dd7 suffers from dairy allergy and dh as well, all in which we found out in February.

 

We don't feel draggy, bogged down, tired or dumpy and full. The food you eat should do you good, not bad!

 

Our favorite snacks now are fruit with cashew or almond butter, a handful of dried fruit or nuts, and veggies with hummus. I also juice once a day now.

 

99% of our foods are bought as fresh as we can locally get them and are prepared at home. No freezer, canned, or boxed meals whatsoever! My motto when planning our menus is if we can't grow it or harvest it on a farm, we dont buy it or eat it! As for meat we still eat it but cut out all meats with any BHT & BHA preservatives. We don't eat any meats with artificial flavorings or any meats that have modified food starch (unless it states it's corn). All our foods we eat don't have those 2 gross preservatives in them. We eat brown rice and no white rice. We eat spinach, romaine, kale, & cabbage in our salads and no iceberg lettuce (since its filler only and has 0% nutritional value).

Edited April 6, 2012 by mamaofblessings

[milovany]

I lean mostly toward the Nourishing Traditions style -- real, fresh foods including raw dairy and cheeses, healthy non-industrial meats and broths made from those meats and their bones, fermented foods, sourdough breads, gmo- and spray- free veggies and fruits.

[Excelsior! Academy]

Variety and moderation. As close as God created. Not that cooked foods are bad, but genetically modified ones can't be as good as the originals.