What healthy diets work long term?

[simplemom]

Between raw food diet, juice cleansing, Nourishing Traditions, Feingold, Dr. Furhman's nutritarian, green smoothies, GAPS, paleo, Hallelujah diet, holistic chiropractor visits, nutrient supplements, and whatever else anyone can think of...what has truly worked? Our current diet is mostly whole foods (some raw) with a traditional SAD meal outside the home once or twice/week, little dairy and wheat, and a dessert or chips every few days. At home, I use natural sweeteners like raw honey and maple syrup in small amounts. When possible and financial feasible, I buy organic and non-gmo, but don't panic if just regular meat or veggies are bought. We mostly have refined sugar outside the home, usually candy or desserts the kids get at church or extracurricular activities a few times/week. We have green smoothies several times/week plus we are new to juicing (having carrot juice mixed an apple and other veggies a few times/wk). My dh and ds who have the most health issues sees a good chiro as needed, that helps some, but it's not a cure all.

 

I am wondering if doing a strict diet of saying no to ALL foods that aren't good for us would keep us out of the MD office. However, it's an uphill battle to get everyone involved (that's everyone from my husband to the grandmas to Sunday school teachers) to believe that a strict health food diet is necessary to heal the body of inflammation and recurring illness. If it's a difference from saying a firm NO to all junk foods vs. limiting it, I can be the family food Nazi, but is it worth it to create a constant bitterness with other family members and close friends? Others I have known to try a strict diet with kids end up giving up after a few months. Even so, one person might become a vegetarian, another might try paleo, another might given up gluten, another switch to raw milk, another tries juice fasting at intervals, another goes to the chiro weekly, and the list goes on. They are all trying something different, but I don't know which extreme diet change, if any, truly works. On the paleo websites, people say how wonderful that is, but another website says raw foods is the only way to go, that cooked foods are equivalent to poison (exaggerating there). GAPS is way too complicated for me to attempt. There are testimonials and warnings against every healing diet I have researched.

 

For those that have BTDT, what has worked and failed? What can you really stick to as a long term family healthy eating plan? Do I really need to be a food Nazi and tell my children NO, they can't eat cake and candy when they go to Sunday School and Grandma's house and birthday parties if I expect hope in reducing health problems like asthma flare ups? Interested to know others' experiences, TIA.

[milovany]

Intermittent fasting with wise/healthy food choices for the most part.  That's what I'm trying to live now.  Fasting (500 calories a day) for 2-3 days a week -- not in a row -- and when I do eat, eating a better variety of healthful foods (but not feeling horrible if I choose something like ice cream or cheddar cheese popcorn once in awhile).

[bolt.]

I do a thing where I generally follow heathy lines (according to current thought) but I don't sweat it for eating out, and special occasions are often indulgent.

 

What do I consider "heathy lines according to current thought"?

- Lots and lots of fruit and veggies (sometimes organic, but mostly conventional)

- Plenty of meat, some dairy. (I try to get my meat and dairy organic, when affordable.)

- "People accommodate carbs differently" -- I try to eat less than average, and only have those that I truly enjoy, aiming for whole grains

- Nuts are good

- Good oils include olive, grape seed & butter. Bad oils include saturated and trans fats.

- Limit sweets, and work with stevia when possible, avoid most sources refined sugar

- Try to avoid artificial flavour enhancing or shelf-stabilizing ingredients

 

Currently I'm toying with the research around lipids (a hormone) and the receptivity of whatever part of the brain that is supposed to sense them. ((Recommendations there involve good sleep, low stress, fish oil, and avoiding spikes in blood sugars (eat protein, fibre and fats together with carbs or sweets to slow digestion/absorption), and, maybe do some overnight 'pseudo-fasts' with no eating after supper and a breakfast without significant amounts of carbs.))

 

I'm also trying to get myself going on more legumes than are currently within my diet.

[Prairie~Phlox]

Everything in moderation.

[mamaraby]

Lots of fiber, fruits, and vegetables as a base because they're pretty universally important no matter what you choose for the rest. Most importantly, though, something you can stick with for the long term. If you can't see yourself eating that way for the rest of your life then it's best you find something you can stick with.

[arnold]

Everything in moderation!

[Julie Smith]

For me it's make the things I have a weakness for harder to get.

 

So instead of buying a case of coke at the store. I just pick up one can when I walk to the store. 

[6packofun]

The one you can stick with.  Long term.

[Mnemosyne]

I've eaten Paleo (with occasional dairy and treats on special occasions) for 5 years now.

 

EDIT: FWIW, kids have been Paleo since birth, though we do give them extra carbs and occasional treats. If they complained, I'm sure we'd change it, but they're happy for now! We're not real militant about it, it's just easier to keep us on the same diet as I have to be gluten-free.

[Anne in CA]

Being the food Nazi can really ruin relationships. It might be better for everyone if you make sure that what you eat at home is good, but don't try so hard to control what kids eat at Sunday School or Grandmas. I have known people who have turned their lives around with good nutrition, but they drove people away with their behavior.

 

Ex: A coworker I had for 17 years was fired for arguing with a chef over an issue she was correct on. If being a vegan is your religion, you may be persecuted for it. She is married to a man with Parkinsons Disease. Her nutritional research really made an amazing difference in his life. He is the only person with Parkinsons that I have ever seen start to do that slow shuffle, but later improve and be able to work very well. This woman saved her husband but lost a job she had had for 20 years and many friends by being a food Nazi. But I don't know if she would have gotten her husband on board without her crazy enthusiasm. It is so hard to know. 

 

I have had to learn the hard way that when relationships are damaged, it can be forever. Some asthma flare ups might be worth putting up with if you are genuinely damaging relationships. Being right can be very, very lonely. Needs get met. If someone "needs" their comfort food, they will choose it over a good relationship with someone they view as just trying to control them. 

[Soror]

I think it varies from person to person. I've been Paleo for the better part of 8 years now. It seems to work the best for me although my macros have changed and my compliancy goes up and down. I think if you focus on what makes your body feel good and are as close to real foods  as you can muster then you are on a good path. I think mindset is very important. I don't think of it as I cannot eat xyz but I choose not to because I would rather feel good and be healthy. 

[MelAR05]

Weight watchers worked for me. I reached my goal weight over 2 years ago and have maintained it since then. Within that context, I ate alot of fruits and vegetables and everything else in moderation. I never did sugar-free or low-fat. I made regular dinners for my family and just ate smaller portions. Also, I didn't miss a monthly weigh-in for the first year and half after reaching lifetime. Weigh-ins are free after you reach your goal weight and I need the accountability.

 

For me, I had to chose something I could live with long term or I knew I would just gain it all back.

[simplemom]

Being the food Nazi can really ruin relationships. It might be better for everyone if you make sure that what you eat at home is good, but don't try so hard to control what kids eat at Sunday School or Grandmas. I have known people who have turned their lives around with good nutrition, but they drove people away with their behavior.

 

Ex: A coworker I had for 17 years was fired for arguing with a chef over an issue she was correct on. If being a vegan is your religion, you may be persecuted for it. She is married to a man with Parkinsons Disease. Her nutritional research really made an amazing difference in his life. He is the only person with Parkinsons that I have ever seen start to do that slow shuffle, but later improve and be able to work very well. This woman saved her husband but lost a job she had had for 20 years and many friends by being a food Nazi. But I don't know if she would have gotten her husband on board without her crazy enthusiasm. It is so hard to know.

 

I have had to learn the hard way that when relationships are damaged, it can be forever. Some asthma flare ups might be worth putting up with if you are genuinely damaging relationships. Being right can be very, very lonely. Needs get met. If someone "needs" their comfort food, they will choose it over a good relationship with someone they view as just trying to control them.

This post above is what has kept me from becoming strict! For example: I had a full fight that angered my mom more than I ever saw her because I didn't want my son to eat cake, pop, and junk for breakfast that their cousins (my sister's kids) were eating. My kids ate the cake and pop the night before at a family celebration and I was fine with that. I didn't criticize my sister in any way, but my mom and sister took it as an insult to my sister's parenting just because I gave my son a healthy muffin and fruit instead of letting him eat what their cousins were eating. Before, I had let them feed him junk more often for the occasional day or two with extended family, but at that time my son had just got dx with full blown asthma and was on extra meds to keep the asthma under control. I don't understand why what someone else eats offends others, it makes no sense!

 

The testimony in the above post of the woman whose strict diet helped her husband's Parkinson's is why I want to push for a strict diet. Parkinson's and other autoimmune issues run deep in dh's family. My dh has had health issues his entire life, and my son has had symptoms that have led the MD to run tests to rule out autoimmune conditions. It's not fun wait on lab tests to wonder what test results will say, and thankfully those tests have been negative so far. If it's true a certain diet can help, I want to know about it.

[Anne in CA]

I could not say for certain that a strict diet will help every case, but my coworker spent months researching and put her husband on a plan that helped him tremendously. I have never seen someone with Parkinson's get better before, and I have known other people with Parkinson's. That said, possibly he was willing because he was already very sick. He was shuffling along like an elderly person. It was not pretty. The change in diet did not heal him, but he was able to pick up his feet and walk and keep his job. It was impressive. But he wanted to get better. Some people will pick being sick over changing their diet. Sad but true. Sometimes you have to love people where they are at to keep a relationship. By all means, eat well, but please remember to love the one you are with.

 

In the case of your mom and sister, that is nuts. Are you bad because you home school and your sister sends her kids to ps? How far does that go? My MIL did not like many of my parenting choices because she felt they reflected that her parenting choices were wrong. My MIL backed off a lot as she got older, though. 

[simplemom]

 

 

In the case of your mom and sister, that is nuts. Are you bad because you home school and your sister sends her kids to ps? How far does that go? My MIL did not like many of my parenting choices because she felt they reflected that her parenting choices were wrong. My MIL backed off a lot as she got older, though.

Amazingly, my mom was supportive of homeschooling, but only after she saw positive experiences in a neighbor's child a few years before I decided to homeschool. When I mentioned it in the kid's infant years, my mom thought homeschooling was nuts. My sister is a teacher's aide and has seen that our 7 yo reads better than most middle schoolers. So she doesn't criticize on that. But sadly, her response to my homeschooling was, "I couldn't stand to be with my kids all day!" Honestly, I couldn't stand to be around my kids all day either if they had cake and pop for breakfast all the time, lol. I do LOVE being with my kids all day, just couldn't resist poking fun at the diet situation.

[joannqn]

For health issues, you might find Dr. Terry Wahl's TED talk interesting.  She reversed the progression of her MS through diet.

[Camelfeet]

I've eaten Paleo (with occasional dairy and treats on special occasions) for 5 years now.

 

EDIT: FWIW, kids have been Paleo since birth, though we do give them extra carbs and occasional treats. If they complained, I'm sure we'd change it, but they're happy for now! We're not real militant about it, it's just easier to keep us on the same diet as I have to be gluten-free.

 

My SIL has also been paleo for about that long.  She's had a lot of success with it.  She cheats occasionally but for the most part follows it.  I like the diet and I think I could probably have been on it if it weren't for the fact that I have ethical issues with that much meat consumption.

[Isabella]

Grain free, dairy free, sugar free, no hydrogenated oils, very little processed food.

 

Majority of clean, whole foods, including: Lots of veges - at least half of them raw, moderate varied protein, good quantity of good fats, lots of water, lots of sleep, minimize stress, moderate and regular exercise, trying to have a positive outlook on life, people and situations.

 

The eating part of it is pretty much Paleo, I guess.  It's all the things that make sense to me, and that I feel promote a healthy body, mind and spirit, therefore giving us the best chance we have of escaping illness.

 

 

[Liz CA]

Finding out on what kind of food your body thrives. Period. Next step would be IMHO to learn how to prepare those foods properly. In my case, I needed to soak grains but had never heard of this method. There has been a lot of learning and reading since 2007 and it continues. Also, I almost switched us completely to organic food - at least for me. DH is not quite as adamant about what he eats.

[Joyofsixreboot]

I believe not one single way of eating will be right for every person. There's a certain amount of trial and error. I tend to follow Michael Pollan's advice for my family. I try not to make food such a giant " cause" in our household though because I think people's slavish following of a certain " diet" is a food disorder itself.