I just read the book Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food by Dr. Cate Shanahan and, wow, even as a very healthy person, I’ve found areas to improve for our food choices.
This is not a long review of the book, though I suggest you read it, but rather an extremely helpful list she included at the back of the book.
I can’t even begin to explain how important nutrition is for our bodies, and it’s vital for our kids. What we feed them now is what their bodies use as building blocks for create new tissue in order to grow. Would you rather them build a body from non-nutritive fast food composed of highly processed fats, sugars, and unnatural chemicals, or from wholesome food, minimally processed and full of everything the body needs to grow strong?
So that would be a loaded question, yes, but seriously, nutrition is something I don’t take lightly, and will never be able to just laugh it off when someone says “I shouldn’t be eating this, but….”. Yeah, just don’t eat it then!
I’m sure this will generate many mixed responses, but please, consider how maybe giving yourself and your kids better food will help your entire family live a happier, more healthful life.
And now on to the list. I credit one of my favorite authors, athlete, and podcaster, Ben Greenfield, for the list he has in his excellent post on Dr. Cate’s book, Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food.
21 Steps for a Better Diet
1. Drink more milk.
Best choice: raw, organic, whole.
Next best: whole, organic.
If lactose intolerant, choose yoghurt. Do not buy low-fat or fat-free dairy.
2. Buy sugar-free peanut and nut butters, the kind with the oil on top (all that oil is typically absorbed by sugar molecules in brand-name peanut butters).
Avoid those that use palm oil, they tend not to taste very good.
3. Buy sprouted grain bread instead of whole wheat or white.
Popular brands are Ezekiel and Alvarado Street Bakery. These are usually sold in the refrigerated or freezer section because they are preservative-free and need to be refrigerated. Many are wheat-free as well.
4. Instead of boxed cereals or instant oatmeal, eat toast with butter, sugar- free peanut butter, or poached eggs for breakfast instead.
5. Use fresh, seasonal vegetables instead of frozen whenever possible.
Season with salt and add generous amounts of butter and your kids will love them. Steam vegetables (like broccoli, asparagus, carrots, and cauli- flower) instead of boiling, which leaches vitamins and minerals.
6. Buy Bubbies or other brand lacto-fermented pickles and sauerkraut and use as condiments/side dishes instead of chips or cookies at lunch.
Save the juice when the jar is empty for salad dressing and to use as a starter for making your own sauerkraut.
7. Never use margarine or low-fat, low-cholesterol “spreads.”
Buy organic butter from pastured animals. Popular brands are Organic Valley and Horizon.
8. Choose healthy oils (see table listing of Good Fats and Bad on page 173 of Deep Nutrition).
9. Make your own salad dressing.
Even easier, pour olive oil then balsamic vinegar over your salad (pouring the oil before the vinegar helps it stick
better). Use a ratio of approximately 2:1 oil to vinegar. For extra flavor fast, add 1 Tbsp of the juice in the Bubbies pickle or sauerkraut jars.
10. Boil a dozen eggs to keep on hand for a quick lunch.
11. Eat large salads three to five times a week.
Don’t bother with iceberg lettuce. For variety, experiment with other greens, including radish leaves, arugula, beet greens, or whatever looks particularly fresh. Add celery, carrots, sprouts, capers, pine nuts, sunflower seeds.
12. Use fresh herbs often.
Add basil to salads with tomatoes; add parsley to hamburger; add garlic to butter for vegetables; rosemary to chicken; mint to beef stews or fatty roasts; ginger to stir-fries.
13. Instead of canned tuna, buy salmon or mackerel with bones in.
Mix with olive-oil based mayonnaise or small amounts of regular mayo and mus- tard to use for lunch as a replacement for nitrate-laden sandwich meats.
14. Eat liver once a week.
15. Eat soups made with bone stock once or twice a week.
16. Use bone stock rather than water as the base for making rice, mashed potatoes, noodle dishes, etc.
17. For variety, substitute beets or turnips for baked potatoes.
18. For light desserts that give a sweet finish to your meal, drink Kombucha or wine.
19. Use bone-in chicken, turkey, and red meats whenever possible.
20. When eating boneless cuts of beef, like fillet, serve with bone-stock gravy (also known as demi-glace).
21. Buy fatty cuts of meat, like New York strip, and sear the fat on the grill before cooking to enhance flavor.
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11 Foods to Stop Eating
1. Vegetable oil
2. Added sugar and honey (to tea, coffee, etc.)
3. Soda
4. Juice, except fresh squeezed. (Why not just eat the fruit? It’s got more fiber and more antioxidants!)
5. Energy bars and “health” bars
6. Boxed cereals
7. Fried fast foods
8. Powdered “proteins,” and powdered milk (note from Ben: I only support organic, cold-processed protein powders. Most protein powder out there is complete crap, so this rules applies about 99% of the time).
9. Salad dressings made with any kind of vegetable oil, including canola
10. Low-fat products, including milk, cheese, salad dressings, cookies, and other baked goods
11. Snacks and desserts – especially if you want to lose weight
Want to know the reasoning behind these recommendations? Check out her book and let me know what you think.
I understand this is a touchy subject, but as some know, I am “deeply” passionate about the food that I put in my body and my family’s. I’ve felt the difference when I changed, and I hope you will do the same. If not for yourself, for your growing kids. I know this girl, as well as all children, deserve it.
