Looking for GAPS resources as a way to improve your health?

I started the GAPS diet in May of 2011 as a way to eliminate symptoms of panic, anxiety, and insomnia. I’ve read and heard many, many testimonials from people who have healed on GAPS.

I’ve been health coaching for almost 3 years with an emphasis in GAPS by Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride and related protocols. I have also provided GAPS workshops in my local community and educating people about how beneficial the basic foods that are used in GAPS are for lifetime health.

For these reasons, I thought it would be a good idea to put together a basic reference page for GAPS fundamentals and resources.

It’s been profound to learn about the healing power of traditional foods – the very same foods that Dr. Weston A. Price discovered in his world travels to isolated cultures who were consuming nutrient-rich foods that contained up to TEN times the amount of fat-soluble vitamins that we currently consume in our modern diets – A, D, E, and K2.

My health problems were chronic and spanned for over 2 decades of time. Things only got worse the older I got, with panic and anxiety like symptoms that I was told were connected to gallbladder problems (I had my gallbladder removed in 2001), and also thyroid (hormonal issues).

It wasn’t until I started GAPS that I saw an abrupt ending come to these symptoms I’d suffered through for at least half my life: racing heart, jitteryness, chronic fatigue, digestive problems of varying kinds, general feelings of doom and negativity, muscle weakness, nausea, and general malaise. I also experienced frequent colds and flus – especially in the winter time.

What is the GAPS diet?

Dr. McBride developed the protocol out of a lack of resources and need to resolve her own son’s issues who was diagnosed with autism at the age of three. Through both trial and error and diligent research, she discovered that many diseases including autism happen due to digestive breakdown which leads to nutritional deficiencies throughout the body.

Starches, grains, and sugar all contribute to breaking down lining in the gut and generate pathogenic bacteria. The gut lining becomes permeable due to poor dietary and lifestyle habits – processed foods, stress, use of antibiotics, steroids, NSAIDs, and birth control, lack of adequate rest, exposure to environmental toxins, etc.

When undigested foods and other substances penetrate the intestinal lining and go into the bloodstream. This causes an auto-immune response. Undigested substances that reach the blood-brain barrier cause additional issues:

These deficiencies are responsible for a variety of health issues including autism, hyperactivity, ADD, eczema, depression, dyspraxia, and many others that may be seemingly unrelated.

The common link in all of these disorders is breakdown of the mucosal lining in the intestinal tract from poor lifestyle and dietary choices – stress, environmental toxins, processed foods, and a lack of essential nutrients which are necessary to maintaining overall health and well-being.

Not only do nutritional deficiencies cause a wide array of symptoms which point to various health problems, many of these problems are the same in many people yet manifest themselves in unique ways.

Symptoms include:

• Asthma
• Eczema
• Thyroid and hormonal problems
• Depression
• Schizophrenia
• ADD/ADHD
• Dyspraxia (motor movement issues)
• Autism
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Diabetes and insulin- resistance
• Digestive disorders such a colitis, Crohn’s Disease, IBS
• Chronic diarrhea or constipation (or both)
• Fatigue
• Frequent infections
• Joint stiffness or pain
• Muscle weakness
• Fibromyalgia
• Chemical sensitivities
• Food sensitivities

For example, a child with autism or hyperactivity could have the same basic physiological problems and experience symptoms of autism or hyperactivity, while an adult with similar issues might exhibit symptoms of chronic panic or anxiety. An elderly person could experience symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease – a condition that is linked to the presence of heavy metals in the body and nutritional deficiencies – especially of minerals since heavy metals displace minerals in the body. All conditions are exacerbated by heavy metal toxicity and not enough minerals in the body.

Although GAPS is an extremely beneficial and healing protocol that can help a variety of health issues, it is not a cure-all or guaranteed way to improve your health. If you have tried GAPS and aren’t healing or improving the way you need, check out these resources:

If GAPS hasn’t worked for you or yours, read this – Nourishing Our Children.

The GAP in GAPS? What you need to know – Nourishing Hope, Julie Matthews

General resource links

GAPS is based on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) created by Elaine Gottschall. Here is her book, Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet.

What can I eat on the GAPS diet?  Printable sheet reference guide showing what you can eat on the GAPS diet to hang in your kitchen or keep in a place where you have easy access

FAQ GAPS diet questions - from the Gut and Psychology Syndrome site

GAPS Diet Journey – testimonials, interviews, resources, and links

Gut and Psychology Syndrome/GAPS Diet Facebook page – great resource and forum for those getting started and for those looking for a place to interact and ask questions.

Explanation of GAPS dietary protocol including the Intro stages – additional information to supplement the book, Gut and Psychology Syndrome, for the Intro part of the GAPS diet, 6 stages

5 most common mistakes made on GAPS – Healthy Home Economist

10 reasons GAPS is better than gluten-free – Well Fed Homestead

Pregnancy and breastfeeding

Is GAPS safe during breastfeeding? - Health, Home, Happiness

Recipes

Internal Bliss - GAPS Cookbook

9 reasons to make bone broth  - health benefits and recipe for broth

GAPS-friendly recipes – The Liberated Kitchen

GAPS-friendly recipes – GAPS Diet Journey

GAPS recipes – MyGutsy

Recipes and ideas for what to eat on the GAPS Introduction Diet – Keeper of the Home

GAPS-friendly, grain-free pancakes w/vanilla, cinnamon, and raw honey

Cookbooks, guides, & cooking e-courses

Grain-free meal plans (menu mailers) – Health, Home, Happiness

GAPS Freezer Cooking Guide – Health, Home, Happiness

What Can I Eat Now? 30 Days on the GAPS Diet – Cara Comini, Health, Home, Happiness

Beyond Grain & Dairy Cookbook - Starlene Stewart, GAPS Diet Journey

Go Grain-Free Online Class – Real Food Forager

Guide to Grain-Free, Dairy Free Baking, Sweets and Treats – Nourished Kitchen

Get Cultured Cooking Class – Nourished Kitchen (How to create fermented foods)

Interviews and related

Dr. Mercola interviews Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride

My GAPS experience for panic disorder and GAPS radio interview

My interview on GAPS Diet Journey – Empowered Sustenance

GAPS Diet Journey Radio Interview – Loving Our Guts

Hospital employees and medical workers are being urged by the CDC to take precautions to prevent spreading these bacteria to others in the hospital environment as well as those on the outside.

This bacteria is being referred to by CDC officials as a “nightmare” bacteria that will kill half of all those who are infected.

In the recent past, bacteria such as Clostridium difficile which affects the intestinal tract,  Tuberculosis, and the Staph infection MRSA have been reported as causing serious illness and death.  To date all of these have developed into bacterial strains which are now antibiotic-resistant.

In this case, however, the bacteria seen in these environments apparently are isolated to one specific group of bacteria.  Officials are focused on superbugs originating from a group including Klebsiella pneumoniae, a superbug which was fatal for 7 people in the state of MD, and bacteria made resistant from a gene known as NDM-1 (named for New Dehli).

Five of 70 kinds in this bacteria family are now resistant to antibiotics known as carapenems – a potent antibiotic that is one of the last stands available against superbug bacteria.

Good grief, this sounds pretty serious!  Time to pull out the big guns. Maybe you’re thinking about running to the store and buying all the antibacterial soaps and disinfectants you can to protect yourself and your family.

But, wait.

Before you become hysterical and spend your life savings on Lysol and antibacterial products, there are some things you should know about bacteria…

Resistant bacteria are occurring due to the following:

• Overuse of antibacterial substances in the hospital environment to “eliminate” bacteria
• Over use of antibiotics for illness in humans
• Over use of antibiotics in farming environments on animals and birds

When these substances are over-used, the result is that ALL bacteria are wiped out. But eliminating the good bacteria in our bodies and in our environment has dire consequences. If we don’t have the friendly bacteria that normally occur in our intestinal tracts, and that take up residence in our entire bodies…and which also occur in our farming environments where our food is grown, we become vulnerable to disease and illness.

These bacteria are found often found dwelling in the intestinal tract and can be considered harmless, but are known to develop into urinary tract infections or pneumonia. Those with weakened immune systems are vulnerable to illness, and can easily die if the bacteria is contracted.

In modern day, many people have weakened immune systems due to poor dietary habits that include a lot of processed foods, stressful lifestyles, environmental toxins, and the overuse of powerful antibiotic drugs.

How antibiotics can be harmful

Sometimes we need antibiotics when an illness is serious and all other methods have been exhausted. The trouble is, over the last number of decades, antibiotics have been the first line of defense in treating illness. And because so much good bacteria is destroyed in our bodies due to the emphasis in our culture on killing bacteria – the problem is that even one round of antibiotics can decimate good or beneficial flora in the digestive tract which support the immune system and overall health.

Sometimes the resistance can go on for years in the gut, and cause long-term health effects. Once friendly bacteria are diminished, it becomes easy for opportunistic bacteria to set up house. Most people have had multiple rounds of antibiotics in their lifetime, some dozens. In 2010, a study published in the Journal Microbiology examined long-term effects of antibiotic exposure in human beings, and the results were not favorable. The study determined that even short-term use of antibiotic therapy could have negative long-term effects on beneficial gut bacteria.

So how could it be the case that the very medical establishments which are supposed to protect us from harmful bacteria and sickness have actually been responsible for creating this problem in the first place?

Although there are some great things about our modern medical system – and thank God for that for when you really need it – unfortunately, our it is a system that  is built on the premise of treating symptoms. The actual root cause of a problem is often not identified or remedied because of this focus.

So what can you possibly do to keep from contracting one of these horrible bacteria?

How to avoid superbug bacteria

1. Avoid antibiotics as much as possible.

Use natural remedies instead of toxic drugs and over-the-counter medications.

2. Avoid processed foods, sugar, and anything refined.

Packaged and commercial foods contribute to disease and the growth of harmful bacteria in the body, which leads to chronic health issues or death.

3. Avoid using anti-bacterial soaps, washes, hand sanitizers, and any related products.

These contribute greatly to bacterial resistant strains which can make you sick or cause death.

4.  Wash hands when appropriate (but do not overwash), and use soap and water.

5. Use therapeutic grade probiotic supplements regularly.

Because there are so many chemicals, toxins, and now superbug bacteria in our environment, taking a high-quality therapeutic grade probiotic is something every man, woman, and child should be doing to prevent disease.  See the link above for recommended brands.

6. Eat fermented and cultured foods.

In addition to taking a high-quality, therapeutic grade probiotic, fermented and cultured foods are absolutely vital to supporting the immune and digestive systems. By preparing these at home, you ensure a better proliferation of bacteria and higher numbers since you can culture your foods longer than those bought in the store (which are normally cultured for only 4-8 hours). And with bacteria, the more diverse and higher numbers you can get, the better. Prepare these with safe, organic ingredients sourced from healthy farms (vegetables and dairy foods, etc).

7. Avoid processed foods and refined sugar.

These contribute to a weakened immune system and compromised digestive tract, and a negative effect on overall health.

8. Include plenty of real, whole and traditional foods in your diet.

Grassfed meats, pasture raised poultry and eggs, raw dairy foods including milk, butter, cream, sour cream, yogurt, kefir, olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, seafood from safe sources, organic fruits and vegetables, sprouted nuts and legumes, and use sprouted grain foods sparingly. Avoid anything that has been grown or raised with GMOs (genetically-modified organisms), pesticides/herbicides, hormones, antibiotics, and isn’t produced naturally.

Grains can be inflammatory for various reasons and can contribute to yeast overgrowth, digestive issues, and long-term auto-immune disease. Even sprouted/soaked and fermented grains may not be a good idea. Read more about why grains can be harmful to health: The Truth About Wheat and Grains – Are they Good for Your Health?

Use superfoods to support your immune system:

• Fermented cod liver oil
• Liver and other organ meats from safe, pastured sources
• Egg yolks from pastured hens
• Grassfed meats and poultry
• Bone broths made from the bones of animals and birds on pasture – all full of Omega 3s, CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), and fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K2
• Healthy fats like lard, tallow, schmaltz (chicken) from healthy, pastured sources, olive oil, coconut oil and sustainable-produced palm oil (check with manufacturer)
• Cultured and fermented foods and beverages such a raw dairy foods including milk, butter, and cream and also fermented dairy foods like yogurt and kefir from healthy cows on pasture and organic cultured vegetables, condiments, sauces, and dressings
• Safe-sourced seafood and fish roe (eggs) which contain fat-soluble vitamins A&D, Omega 3s, selenium, iron, zinc, phosphorus, and other important minerals
• Seaweed and kelp (rich in iodine)
• Citrus fruits and for vitamin C

9. If you are stricken by a superbug bacteria and cannot recover despite all your best efforts, there is a procedure that can be done with implanted matter from a donor into the colon where the infection normally originates.

Read more about this procedure here from The Healthy Home Economist.

According to Professor Thomas Borody with the Center for Digestive Diseases in Sydney, AU, “a single infusion of a healthy donor’s fecal material into the infected colon resulted in a cure rate of no less than 97%.” Over 1500 of these have been performed with success.

More information:
All probiotics are NOT created equal!

The importance of dietary fats

The truth about raw milk, Part I and Part II

Is cheap food really cheap? The hidden costs of industrial food

If you are new to fermenting, you’ll discover a bit about the benefits of fermented foods, why you might want to make them yourself rather than buy at the store, and get some inspiration for doing your own preparation.
 

Lacto-Fermentation is a companion ebook to the online Lacto-Fermentation ecourse on her blog GNOWFLGINS. In this book you’ll learn to make sauerkraut, condiments, preserves, relishes, pickles, kvass, kombucha, and much more. 
 

Her other book The Idiot’s Guide to Fermenting Foods is already on my shelf and I am thrilled to have this one in my collection as well.
 

Some years ago when I first started fermenting, I was pretty intimidated.  But as I discovered, the process is not difficult. And once you get going, it’s really fun.   I always feel motivated by the fact that I know the fermented foods I make are not only delicious but also have increased nutrient value over just eating those same foods raw or cooked. Now I can’t imagine my life without these probiotic-rich foods; including them in my daily diet has improved my health in ways I never knew possible.
 
I would have loved to get my hands on a great book like this with which to begin my journey into fermenting. Wardee definitely makes learning how to ferment fun and easy, something any beginner will appreciate.  
 

Wardee’s book Lacto-Fermentation is one of  the many superb offerings in the Extreme Health Digital Library, with 50+ health & wellness titles – e-books, videos, white papers, and more with a value of over $800…available for just $39.97 (each title costs just .75 cents each) all day today, March 7th until midnight at 12 a.m. PST.

What are fermented foods?

I heard recently that “ferment” would be the health buzz word of 2013.
 

The word ferment, when you use it together with food, can be a little scary for some people. The ick factor is high. But the good news is, this is lessening as more and more people become aware of the health benefits of fermented foods and become accustomed to the complex, sweet-sour-salty taste.
 

I’m happy to be a guest here today. Raine’s a good friend and she asked me to talk about the benefits of fermented foods, the advantages of making them yourself, and also give you some encouragement and tips for getting started. So that’s what I’m going to do.
 

First, what’s so great about fermented foods? Get ready! They’re really, really awesome.

Wait: I think I’d better explain what’s happening when a food is fermented. I’m talking about a particular type of fermentation — lacto-fermentation. What’s happening is that beneficial organisms, called lactobacilli, are encouraged to eat the food and proliferate throughout the food (this process is also called culturing). While they’re eating, they’re producing an acid that effectively preserves and protects the food form spoiling. Also they’re making the food better for us.
 

Here’s where the benefits come in.

Fermented foods experience a nutrition boost. Minerals are more readily absorbed, vitamin and enzyme content increases, the beneficial acid (lactic acid) aids in digestion and overall health, beneficial organisms re-populate the gut to increase the health of our immune system and overall health, and foods get pre-digested, making them more digestible for us. It really is a miraculous and highly beneficial process!
 

So, next question. Why would someone (namely, you) want to go to all the trouble of making fermented foods yourself?

Keep in mind, you certainly don’t have to make them yourself to get the benefits. There are merchants making high-quality fermented foods and you can find them in the cooler of your health food store or health food department — Kombucha, kvass, sauerkraut, old-fashioned pickled, cheese… These foods are really delicious and I love supporting these companies when I can’t make something myself.
 
But when you make them yourself, you’ll save money — all those bottles of Kombucha add up! Also, you can tweak flavors to get unique results and tastes all your own. Or perhaps you’ve just got gobs of garden produce to put up. Well, fermenting is a whole lot easier than canning, because the fermenting organisms do all the “cooking” while you sit back and wait for their work to be done. Plus, fermenting is more nutritious than canning. (You do need cold storage, like a cellar, to keep fermented foods long term. If you don’t have a cellar, certainly consider fermenting on an as-needed basis.)
 

Now let me encourage you to get started.

A lot of people think that if they don’t like sauerkraut, they won’t like other fermented foods. This is simply not true. So many foods can be fermented, and with so many different end flavors, that I’m pretty sure every person can find a fermented food to like. My eBook, Lacto-Fermentation, shares recipes to ferment practically every food group. You’ll create kefir and yogurt and real sour cream, cheese, sourdough bread, probiotic ice cream, pickles, chutneys, relish, salsa, beverages, and even pickled meats.
 
For the person who is particularly wary of sour foods, I’d recommend venturing into the world of fermented foods with one of these more mild ferment recipes (found on my blog): fruit chutney, fermented guacamole (video included), fermented ketchup, or fermented cranberry-apple-orange relish, just to name a few. Each of these recipes uses simple, real and whole food ingredients, and no special equipment other than jars or crocks — and a little time for the organisms to do their thing.
 
Doesn’t sound so hard, does it? And it sounds delicious, right? So get out there and get fermenting!

————————————————————————-

I’d like to thank Wardee for kindly providing a great introduction to fermented foods. Now, aren’t you a little more motivated to learn more about these beneficial foods and get healthier?  :)
 

To purchase this book…

plus, all 50+ great health and wellness titles available in this bundle, click here Extreme Health Library Sale  for more information.
 

Hurry! This is the last day for this amazing sale, which ends tonight, March 7th at midnight PST.

We all know someone in our lives who has had to go through treatment for cancer or some other degenerative disease.

Maybe you have personally had this experience. It’s heart wrenching to say the least, to watch someone close to you go through this situation…especially if you feel hopeless and helpless.

Wouldn’t it be great to know that if you or someone you loved was diagnosed with cancer it didn’t have to be a death sentence? That it was within your control?

For years I bought into fear and scare tactics that conventional medicine gives to patients about cancer. I always believed it was beyond my control, and that if I someday was told I had cancer, I wouldn’t have a choice and no real way of affecting it.

I spent years worrying about getting breast cancer because I had my own scare with this situation.

After a health crisis that began in 2005, learning what causes degenerative disease and how the way we live and what we eat really does have an impact on our bodies, I no longer live in fear and have a lot more faith in my own ability to keep myself well.  I’ve been healthier than ever before in my life at age 43.

Changes you make aren’t going to solve your problems overnight. There’s no magic wand to wave. But if you are persistent, it *will* make an impact.

My friend Dr. Marcia Schaefer, DC provides an incredible testimony that cancer can be dealt with naturally and that we can heal from it without toxic chemotherapy and radiation. Read her story, a living testimonial of a young mother who received a diagnosis and took her health into her own hands, using Gerson Therapy. She’s now here to tell the story, and also has been blessed and given a second chance to be alive to take care of her wonderful family – including her loving husband and son.
 

Her book Cancer Isn’t A Death Sentence is available in the Extreme Health Library Sale bundle, happening now through Thursday, March 7th at midnight EST.

There are 50+other amazing books, videos, and mp3s in this bundle about natural healing and health alternatives for wellness including natural ways to deal with acne, infertility, adrenal fatigue, children’s health issues, depression, aging, stress relief, detox, gluten-free living and cooking/recipes, coconut flour recipes, beans and quinoa, traditional foods such as bone broth and fermented vegetables, herbal and plant wisdom, eating real food on a budget, and so much more.

Here’s Marcia’s story, featured in the Gerson Institute Healing News (from her web site, Spring Creek Chiropractic):
 

Cancer IS Curable

2010 was my year. I had absolutely everything going for me, and felt the top of the world was just within my reach. The year started off with a bang, marrying my best friend on February 19th. I was overjoyed! Next came graduation from Palmer College of Chiropractic. I was a Doctor, something I never thought I would do. I chose that profession because it was the one thing that made sense to me. Heal from above down, inside out. Healing comes from within. The power that made the body is the same power that will heal the body. It all made sense to me. I also know nutrition has the ability to do the same, little did I know how true that would come to be!
 
To add to our already amazing year, we found out we were expecting! On August 25th, our first child, Keegan, joined us. My heart could have literally burst, I was so happy. When I went to the hospital in labor, the nurse was concerned, not because I was 17 days post “due” but because of the size of my thyroid gland. I had noticed it a big large since 2005, but thought nothing of it.
 
Come to think of it, my professor in Physical Diagnosis actually asked me to get it checked out. I had no insurance, so I did nothing about it. I noticed it from time to time, but just let it go. When I got pregnant, my thyroid seemed to take off. It was very large, but I didn’t take notice, because all my labs were completely normal, and I had no symptoms.
 
At my son’s 6 week well baby visit, the midwives wanted to run more tests on me. We did, and they all came back normal. They suggested going to an endocrinologist. I finally made the appointment December 3rd when I could no longer extend my head without swallowing issues. Yes, in hindsight I know that was too late, and I wish I had taken action earlier, but I was a bit busy with a new baby and new life! The endocrinologist got me in very quickly when I explained my situation.
 
They ran tests and did a needle biopsy. As they prepped the slides in the room, I joked with my husband about it, knowing it would be nothing. My son, 3 months old at the time, seemed intrigued by the whole thing. After 4 needle samples, they all left the room and said they would be back with primary test results.
 
The endocrinologist’s face told the story before he said anything. Papillary thyroid cancer. I looked at my husband and son, and just shook my head. “There are support groups, and this is a successfully treated cancer” the endocrinologist said. At that point, I lost it. I was so frustrated – how could my perfect year be ending this way!? I had SO much on my plate, so much to live for – why was this the test I was chosen for?
 
In that same instant, I decided I would kick this cancer out of next year. Had it not been for my mother healing breast cancer and melanoma naturally, and my education in Chiropractic College and Nutrition, I don’t know what I had done. “Papillary Thyroid Cancer, surgery in January” I texted to my mom and sister as I left the hospital.
 
I went into surgery on January 3rd, 2011 determined this was the year this cancer would be found, but leave as quickly as it was found. In surgery, they did a total thyroidectomy and took 30 lymph nodes out of the left side of my neck, and 26 tested positive for cancer. My thyroid was the size of my surgeon’s fist! We were now dealing with metastatic thyroid cancer. We made a follow up appointment for a CT scan in March.
I decided to get a skin checkup, since I had been on yearly skin checks. The dermatologist said she dreaded making the phone call to me on an early morning in February to tell me I tested positive for malignant melanoma. I had surgery for that as well, and was busily researching my options. I already knew the benefits of diet, and had started juicing, but didn’t know how I would get to Mexico.
 
In March, I had a CT of my neck and chest. They found another enlarged lymph node and a mass in my right lung. Surgery happened again, and they took 41 lymph nodes out of the right side of my neck. It was a relief to me in a way, as the scar on my neck is now even! I worked to find humor in my situation, but the truth was, surgery was a lot more painful the second time around, and I was sick of being labeled as “sick”. Of the 41 lymph nodes taken, 4 were positive.
 
Thanks to some of the most giving, selfless people in the entire world, I was able to take the trip to the Gerson Clinic, and my husband, Shawn, and I left on April 19th, 2011. Words can’t describe my experience at the clinic. We were warmly welcomed when we got there, the other people regaining health were open and willing to share their diagnosis and what they had been doing up to this time. The knowledge and peace I received as a patient at the clinic will stay with me my entire life.
 
I fell into a routine. Tuesday and Friday I get 25 pounds of carrots, I cut them and put them in gallon ziplock bags, so they are ready to grab and juice. I prepare vegetables for the green juice and prepare the soup vegetables. I have the Norwalk Juicer and a Citrus Juicer, a distiller, and my NuWave PIC, which I now can’t live without! As the number of enemas I had to do decreased, I found I was able to do more things as well.
 
My blood work has been coming out normal and my chest xrays showed that my lungs are clear. I get regular skin checks and my skin is clear of melanoma. My endocrinologist said that I am cancer free, less than a year after my original diagnosis.
 
Treating cancer is a choice. We all have choices every single day of our life. Every person down in Mexico, and in San Diego gets to see the bright side of that choice. Cancer is absolutely incurable – in the medical world. Never once will poison heal, and I am a living testament of that.
 
2011 is my year. I have defeated cancer, I have opened my practice, and I am living proof a positive attitude, supportive, loving friends and family, and lots of carrot juice can make all the difference in your world. Cancer is ABSOLUTELY curable, and I will not stop my crusade to help others with this fantastic therapy – I will pay it forward to anyone who will listen!
 

To purchase this book…

Plus all 50+ great health and wellness titles available in this bundle, click here Extreme Health Library Sale for more information.
 

Hurry! Sale ends tomorrow, March 7th at midnight PST. 

Do you have gut issues? Have you ever suspected that you might have trouble with gluten?
 
If you are experiencing chronic health problems, maybe it’s time to consider whether gluten or even grains in general are something that might be a culprit in your health issues.
 
A permeable gut lining is characteristic of digestive compromise which is caused in part from eating toxic, processed foods. Scientists have discovered that gluten is difficult to digest. When it enters the digestive tract, undigested proteins in gluten can penetrate the gut lining. When the undigested proteins enter the bloodstream they make their way to the blood-brain barrier. These proteins actually act as an opioid in brain receptors, triggering the release of opiods in the body and causing a “high” feeling similar to when drugs such as opium are used.
 
This can also cause a wide array of symptoms from digestive disorders to eczema, brain fog or inability to concentrate, asthma, frequent infections, auto-immune disease and weight gain,  irritability and depression, mal-absorption of nutrients fatigue and muscle weakness,  joint and bone problems, and others.
 
If you have  had health symptoms you just can’t figure out and have thought about removing gluten from your diet to see if it makes a difference, but aren’t sure where and how to start: here are 6 great resources by authors who have already experienced life before and after consuming gluten and can provide insight, experience, recipes, and hope for those who have suffered with the symptoms created from gluten issues.
 
These books are available in the Extreme Health Library Bundle sale, happening right now through March 7th. You will get these 6 titles, plus over 45 others with a wide range of helpful natural health topics from herbals to alleviating the symptoms of depression and acne to traditional recipes for nutrient-dense foods such as broth and cultured foods, and many more for just $39.97 (over $800 value).
 

Baking With Coconut Flour /  Starlene Stewart.

“Baking With Coconut Flour” is more than a recipe collection — it is an education about baking with coconut flour. If you’ve wondered how a friend’s coconut flour recipe turned out perfectly while yours flopped, you will learn exactly how to trouble-shoot to make sure you never waste another ingredient. This 63-page book spends nearly 24 pages educating the reader about the key tricks to making baking with coconut flour a success, including how to convert your favorite wheat-based recipes. Starlene Stewart has been cooking since the age of 10 and her baking experience shows in this book. She has a fluency in the science of baking that allows her to help the rest of us succeed in our gluten-free coconut cooking endeavors.
 
(63 pages; PDF format; $18.95)
 

7 Habits of a Gluten-Free Warrior / Peter Osborne.

Gluten intolerance can cause hundreds of diseases, symptoms and syndromes. Unfortunately, the medical community is not properly trained to deal with this. This means that a lot of people are on their own, left to navigate the complexities of the gluten free diet and lifestyle without guidance or supervision. If you have gone gluten-free and have not gotten better or got better at first and then began to feel sick again, 7 Habits of a Gluten-Free Warrior is a must-see video.

(90 minutes; MP4 format; $19.95)

Divine Dinners: Gluten-Free, Nourishing, Family-Friendly Meals / Lydia Joy Shatney.

Lydia Joy Shatney offers Divine Dinners: Gluten-Free, Nourishing, Family-Friendly Meals complete with 75 recipes to help you create menus full of wonderful, gluten-free dinners. With meat-based entrees and a collection of side dishes, soups, sauces, dips, and spreads, you will spend weeks cooking through this cookbook.

(104 pages; PDF format; $14.95)

Traditional Soup Workshop with Whole Grain Gluten-Free Muffin Cookbook Bonus / Kimi Harris.

Whether you are gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free or just love great soup and muffins, you will be endeared by Kimi Harris’ video-based soup class, Traditional Soup Workshop, which covers a basic and adaptable beef stew as well as three ethnic soups you will want to add to your repertoire. Learn one new broth you probably are not making now and get a bonus cookbook of gluten-free muffins with options for dairy- and egg-free.
 
(29 pages PDF format; 58 minutes of video MP4 format; $30)
 

Family-Friendly Allergen-Free Menu Planner /KerryAnn Foster.

KerryAnn Foster’s Family-Friendly Allergen-Free is a 4-week menu plan for those on a diet free of gluten, dairy, eggs, and soy with a weekly shopping list for your convenience. Do you need to eliminate just one of these foods? Read KerryAnn’s section on eliminating each ingredient to help you down your own path.
 
(41 pages; PDF format; $16.95)
 

Quinoa Fit / Wendy Polisi.

Wendy Polisi offers Quinoa Fit, a gluten-free book of for the calorie-conscious crowd. If you are on a food plan that requires counting carbs, calories, or even Weight Watchers point, no problem. Wendy includes them with each recipe. Not on a diet? Enjoy this quinoa collection anyway with recipes for breakfasts, salads, burgers, patties, desserts, and a collection of main dishes and sides. Enjoy nine healthy gluten-free dressing recipes to finish all of these great quinoa dishes.
 
(156 pages; $8.99)
 
Click here to buy the Extreme Health Library Bundle, 50+ titles for only $39.97.

You will get these 6 titles, plus over 45 others with a wide range of helpful natural health topics including how to manage other health disorders such as diabetes, depression, fibromayalgia, acne, adrenal fatigue, and infertility, herbal healing wisdom and flower essences, traditional cooking recipes on how to prepare broth and fermented foods like sourdough, vegetables, and beverages, children’s health topics, aging, alternatives to cancer treatment, natural beauty, salves, and skincare products, detox, diet, and exercise, MTHFR, and much more.
 
Sale ends March 7, 2013 at Midnight, ST.

We all need more nutrition in our diets – especially if you eat a lot of processed foods.

Processed foods are full of chemicals, preservatives, dyes, fake fats, and other harmful ingredients. And, packaged foods tend to have less nutrients due to the way they are produced, leaving you feeling hungry and unsatisfied soon afterward. You might even feel stomach cramping, have gas or diarrhea, and just feel rotten.

And guess what? Those are NOT normal!!!

Due to chemicals and engineering, processed foods can also alter your body’s tastes and desires, and make you crave more of what’s bad for you.

So you get stuck in a loop of eating processed foods. You are unmotivated, feel as though you don’t have enough time to cook. Maybe preparing real food from scratch seems too difficult and cost prohibitive.  And yet, the more you eat those foods, the worse you feel and the less energy you have.

Something’s gotta give.
 

Enter real, nutrient-dense foods

When food is grown in nutrient-rich soil and without chemicals, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, and GMOs, which do have a negative impact on our health. Nutrient-content is always higher, and nutrients support health.
 

The result? You have more energy, less health issues, and you just feel better.
 
Here are 10 books that can help you improve the quality of your diet, with information about how to find, prepare, and entice you to improve the way you eat, achieve your goal of getting more nutrition out of your meals – and fit within your budget.
 
These authors have done the research and homework so you don’t have to…it’s easier than you think!
 
All these great books and 40+ others are included in the Extreme Health Library bundle being offered at a great price through MARCH 7th.
 

Thrifty Food Plan Experience / Millie Copper

 
Good health and good-eating can feel expensive but in Thrifty Food Plan Experience Millie Copper provides in-depth support in feeding a family of five on $172 per week, from a Weston A. Price Foundation dietary perspective. She provides 67 pages of thoughts, tips, and ideas plus a 2 week menu plan, over 40 recipes (and links to many more) to help you succeed.
 
(67 pages; PDF format; $8.95)
 

Off The Shelf / Kris Bordessa

Off The Shelf by Kris Bordessa gives you the tools to replace store-bought condiments, toppings, and snacks with healthier homemade alternatives. Complementing our products on giving up processed foods, these simple and beautiful recipes will allow you to say goodbye to food additives forever.
 
(43 pages; PDF format; $7)
 

100 Days of Real Food Challenge / Lisa Leake

A family with 2 young children in Charlotte, NC took a 100 Days of Real Food pledge. They didn’t eat a single ounce of processed food or refined ingredients for 100 days in the hopes that they would inspire people to follow suit. If you are new to a diet of unprocessed food, prepare to be inspired. Lisa Leake and the team at 100 Days of Real Food offer you meal plans, recipes, and tips to help you in your journey. They provide a quick guide to real food shopping as a bonus in this offer and have extensive free resources on their website for you to explore.
 
(73 pages PDF format; Bonus)

The Savvy Shopper’s Guide to Sustainable Food / Raine Saunders

 
Learn how to source health foods from sustainable sources, whether it is from local farms and farmer’s markets in your area, online merchants, delivery services, local grocery, or health food stores.
 
Learn to read labels, what to look for, what to avoid, and how to select and buy the best foods available for better health. Learn more about why supporting the sustainable food system is so important – and how it really can keep you healthy and feed the world.
(139 pages; PDF format; $24)

Nourishing Our Children

If you’ve heard of the dietary perspective of the Weston Price Foundation and wondered what it is all about, Nourishing Our Children: Timeless Principles For Supporting Learning, Behavior, and Health Through Optimal Nutrition from the San Francisco chapter spells out its philosophy in a beautiful and easy-to-read format.

The e-book provides dietary principles for parents to follow before and after conception, as well as recommendations on how to nourish rather than merely feed their children. It also covers the problems associated with modern processed foods and vital information about water and fluoride, traditional fats and oils, milk, soy, vital nutrients, and healthy meal preparation.

(97 pages; PDF format; $20)
 

Broth: Elixir Of Life / Patricia Lacoss-Arnold.

Our ancestors made use of every part of the animal to nourish them, including the bones. Bones are rich in calcium and other minerals; bones contain collagen which brings elasticity to the skin; bones are rich in gelatin which aids in digestion. Using bones to make broth is a key strategy to extract bone nutrients and add them to your diet.

Patricia Lacoss-Arnold in Broth: Elixir of Life will describe how to make and use broth in your every day cooking. If you have ever wonder how to make broth from beef, chicken, fish or even rabbit bones, you will soon learn about the flavors of these different options.
 
(59 pages; PDF format; $8.99)
 

Eat More Leafy Greens / Cynthia Lair.

How do you choose, chop, and cook your greens? What greens are best in a raw salad? If you are new to greens, Cynthia Lair in Eat More Leafy Greens provides you with an excellent orientation for getting started.
 
How do you know if a particular green is best eat cooked or raw? Check the list of greens in this 20-page guide or use one simple tip that Cynthia will teach you.
 
(20 pages; PDF format; $6.99)
 

Rebuild from Depression: A Nutrient Guide / Amanda Rose, Ph.D. and Annell Mavrantonis, M.D.

 
Rebuild from Depression: A Nutrient Guide, Including Depression in Pregnancy and Postpartum identifies seven nutrients most commonly associated with depression in the medical literature, including Omega 3 in fish oil, B vitamins, vitamin D, iron, magnesium, and zinc. They provide readers with tools to: (1) Identify a nutrient deficiency, (2) Locate the best supplements / vitamins for depression, and (3) Select and prepare foods to maximize those nutrients in their diets.
 
The ebook opens with Rose’s biography of depression and psychosis. She makes a compelling claim: My grandmother died at the age of sixty-one from complications of postpartum depression. Rose argues that her grandmother showed signs of nutrient deficiencies in her twenties, did not correct them, and suffered a life of depression, diabetes, and heart disease, all of which share a common nutrient deficiency: Omega 3 fatty acids.
 
(200 pages; PDF format; $19.97)
 

Divine Dinners: Gluten-Free, Nourishing, Family-Friendly Meals / Lydia Joy Shatney

 
Lydia Joy Shatney offers Divine Dinners: Gluten-Free, Nourishing, Family-Friendly Meals complete with 75 recipes to help you create menus full of wonderful, gluten-free dinners. With meat-based entrees and a collection of side dishes, soups, sauces, dips, and spreads, you will spend weeks cooking through this cookbook.
 
(104 pages; PDF format; $14.95)
 

The Five Flavors of Food /Lisa Mase

Lisa Mase of Harmonized Cookery shares “The Five Flavors of Food: Combining Ingredients Into Harmonious Meals.” To satisfy the whole being, Traditional Chinese Medicine encourages including five flavors in each meal: sweet, sour, salty, pungent, and bitter. The five flavors correspond to the five elements: Earth, Wood, Water, Metal and Fire. Planning menus that incorporate these elements and flavors, we can start to recognize which foods help us harmonize with our environment and the seasons.
 
(4 pages; PDF format; Bonus)
 

To buy these and all the other great health titles in this bundle, click here to visit the Extreme Health Library page for more information.

Ends Thursday March 7th at midnight, PST.
 

These e-books, videos, and others have been carefully selected to appear in this sale by Pat Robinson of Heal Thyself and Amanda Rose of Traditional-Foods.com, who share a similar health philosophy to mine which is that foods have the power to heal and help our bodies overcome not only symptoms but chronic conditions that often take over the lives of many who experience them.
Valued at over $800, this bundle is available for just $39.97 and contains a wealth of health resources for many different uses and needs.

The versatility of herbs for health

Herbs have been used for thousands and thousands of years by the people of the earth, and are foods that can be applied in tinctures, infusions, topical use, cooking, cleaning, aromatherapy, detox, and much, much more. Here are some great resources for getting started in your herbal journey – all these are available in the bundle sale:

Practical Herbs / Henriette Kress.

We once had a bare garden and a mighty craving for garden greens to add to our soup. “I spy some very green lemon balm” and this herb that grows like a weed substituted in a bean soup for kale. Herbs are food but they tend to have such high levels of antioxidants and other nutrients that research continues to find that herbs do help to relieve specific conditions. If you have ever wondered what herbal remedy to use for a flu or cold, to relieve arthritis pain, or to clear your airways, this collection of products is a one-stop shop. You will even learn how to harvest remedies from trees, taking foraging to a whole new level.

Practical Herbs by herbalist Henriette Kress will help you grow herbs in your own garden, harvest them from the wild, and store them after harvest. You will learn the process for brewing herbal teas, vinegars, syrups, and tinctures and using them to relieve common ailments. Learn how to create a uniformly consistent herbal tincture in your own kitchen and how to use “flopped” herbal vinegars to clean a tough spot in your kitchen or bath. (150 pages; $9.50)

Introduction to Tree Medicines / Darcey Blue French.

A perfect complement to any wellness or foraging toolkit. If you are surrounded by pines, cherry, alder, walnut and other trees you will learn a great deal about harvesting leaves, needles, bark, and resins to use to improve respiratory health, digestion, stress and anxiety, and heal wounds. Darcey describes how to harvest and prepare oils, balms, teas and elixirs to integrate into your health regimen. With the perspective that the Earth is a sacred and living being, this 38-page book is a great introduction to trees as medicine. (38 pages; $19.99)

Herbal Remedies for Children During the Cold and Flu Season / Rosalee de la Forêt.

Designed to provide you with expert advice on using herbal remedies to get through the cold and flu season. It includes information on fevers, coughs, sore throats, congestion, teething, and more. When do you use elderberry? What about elderflower? How much do you give your children? You will be walked through options for children of all ages (and even adults) in this 88 page book. (88 pages; $20)

Mother’s Little Herbal Helper And Home Remedies / Natalie Vickery.

A home herbal toolkit for reducing symptoms of many ailments — cold and flu, headaches, fungal infections, allergies, arthritis, bites, stings, burns, coughs, congestion, and more. How many times have you wished you could just make it through allergy season or an arthritis flare up with far less suffering? This is where herbal remedies shine. Natalie will introduce you to the different ways to prepare herbs and the types of herbs you use to remedy common ailments. Read it closely and build the custom herbal toolkit you need for your own household. (116 pages; $12.50)

Of Thorn and Petal: The Remedy in the Rose /  Kiva Rose.

50 pages of monographs, recipes, case studies etc., focused around Rosa spp. Kiva explains the healing properties of the rose. The anti-inflammatory benefits of wild rose have been forgotten by our Western minds. However, traditional herbalists know that wild rose can soothe burns, infections, and pain quickly. Kiva teaches how to use roses, from petals to leaves to rose hips. For instance, rose hips, rich with phytonutrients and anti-oxidants, are a tonic for weak kidneys and adrenals. Kiva’s book covers a myriad of digestive disorders which can be supported with traditional rose medicines. Oils, vinegars, and poultices of rose and their uses are explained. Meet the rose, which brings calm and balance, through recipes, instructions and photos. (50 pages; $9.99)

Listen to the Ancient Mother Wisdom by Kimberly Crail.

Wise Woman herbalist and educator, Kimberly Cedar Cat, shares Listen to the Ancient Mother Wisdom – Universal Healthcare Brought To You By … The Universe! Learn the language of plants, healing with the “Green Elixir Sisters”, and advice for cold & flu prevention. Cedar Cat’s book teaches you the 5 herbs that can revitalize your life when used on a daily basis and can resolve most health problems You will be empowered to use herbal allies which are not complicated or expensive.

(23 pages; $10)

Numen: The Healing Power of Plants / A Resource Guide

Have you wanted to learn to make your own herbal medicines? Numen: The Healing Power of Plants – A Resource Guide was contributed by community herbalists to promote the amazing power of plants to heal. This 37-page ebook covers harvesting herbs to medicine-making, and suggests remedies to have on hand. Fevers, digestion, anxiety, depression, and creating an herbal first aid kit are discussed. How to make medicinal teas, tinctures, infused oils, and salves are explained. Dosing charts, recommended books, gardening resources, and bulk suppliers are included in this information-packed introduction to the documentary film Numen.

(37 pages; $12)
 

Click here for more information about the Extreme Health Library Sale, 10 days, 50+titles about healing and natural health and wellness.

Ends Thursday, March 7th at midnight PST.

for just $39.97

Featuring my new book – The Savvy Shopper’s Guide to Sustainable Food.

I am excited to be an affiliate partner for this great sales event, happening for  10 DAYS ONLY, and to be able to offer you such a great value.

For this special sale, all 50+ products can be purchased for only $39.97 – an incredible opportunity!

This sale is hosted by Pat Robinson of Heal Thyself and Amanda Love of Traditional-Foods and ends Thursday MARCH 7, 2013, midnight, PST.

Here’s a sample of what you’ll get in this bundle:

Adrenal Fatigue Solutions / Pat Robinson

An eCourse which presents a nine-week plan of actions, nutrients, foods, herbs, and removing toxins for adrenal stress relief. It is followed by three weeks of support and review tools to strengthen your adrenal function. This resource provides practical, simple, and doable suggestions for exhausted, stressed, and sleep-deprived moms.

Baby steps are the goal. It teaches tools for increasing self-care, sleep routines, stress relief, toxin relief, nourishing foods, connecting with nature, recognizing depression, finding calm, balance, and energy while creating boundaries for yourself. Recipes for power-foods for energy and herbal adaptogen alternatives are provided along with resources for ongoing support.

(127 pages, $59)

Rebuild from Depression: A Nutrient Guide,  Including Depression in Pregnancy and Postpartum / Amanda Rose, Ph.D. and Annell Mavrantonis, M.D.

Identifies seven nutrients most commonly associated with depression in the medical literature, including Omega 3 in fish oil, B vitamins, vitamin D, iron, magnesium, and zinc. They provide readers with tools to: (1) Identify a nutrient deficiency, (2) Locate the best supplements / vitamins for depression, and (3) Select and prepare foods to maximize those nutrients in their diets. The book opens with Rose’s biography of depression and psychosis. She makes a compelling claim: My grandmother died at the age of sixty-one from complications of postpartum depression. Rose argues that her grandmother showed signs of nutrient deficiencies in her twenties, did not correct them, and suffered a life of depression, diabetes, and heart disease, all of which share a common nutrient deficiency: Omega 3 fatty acids.

(200 pages; $19.97)

The Savvy Shopper’s Guide to Sustainable Food / Raine Saunders

You’ll discover how to source health foods from sustainable sources, whether it is from local farms and farmer’s markets in your area, online merchants, delivery services, local grocery, or health food stores. Learn to read labels, what to look for, what to avoid, and how to select and buy the best foods available for better health. Learn more about why supporting the sustainable food system is so important – and how it really can keep you healthy and feed the world.

“Chronic disease rates and illness are on the rise – heart disease, diabetes, obesity, food allergies, auto-immune disease such as diabetes, hormonal and reproductive disorders, children’s health issues like autism and behavior disorders, and cancer.

If you have experienced any of these issues or others, or perhaps you just don’t always feel your best…and you’ve wanted to make changes to improve your health, maybe it’s time to look at whether the food you eat could be a possible solution.”

(139 pages; $24)

Mother’s Little Herbal Helper And Home Remedies / Natalie Vickery

By herbalist Natalie Vickery is a home herbal toolkit for reducing symptoms of many ailments — cold and flu, headaches, fungal infections, allergies, arthritis, bites, stings, burns, coughs, congestion, and more. How many times have you wished you could just make it through allergy season or an arthritis flare up with far less suffering? This is where herbal remedies shine. Natalie will introduce you to the different ways to prepare herbs and the types of herbs you use to remedy common ailments. Read it closely and build the custom herbal toolkit you need for your own household.

(116 pages; $12.50)

A Fibromyalgia Recovery Story: Eating Outside The Box  / Christy Pooschke

At 25 years old, Christy lived with extreme fatigue, muscle weakness, and so much pain that she could not be physically touched. She was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Conventional medical treatment offered no hope but changing her diet changed her life. Be inspired by Christy’s recovery in this 3-part video seriesEating Outside The Box, created specifically for this special sale. Get a preview of foods and food additives that could be destroying your health.

(50 minutes; $14.95).

Common Sense Health: Detox, Diet and Physical Activities / Laurie Neverman

It is a personal health blueprint laid out by homesteading blogger Laurie Neverman that includes a no-nonsense, practical guide to healthy living. Complete with recipes for natural pest control, personal care, and cleaning products, Laurie also offers an introduction to simple therapies that may surprise you — oil pulling, skin brushing, and barefoot therapy.

“I firmly believe that our bodies are designed to heal themselves, if we just give them the tools to do it. Our modern medical system is amazing for repairing trauma and many other health issues, but we’ve lost track of many “back to basics” things we can do to improve our health.”

(40 pages; $8.99)

Broth: Elixir Of Life / Patricia Lacoss-Arnold

Our ancestors made use of every part of the animal to nourish them, including the bones. Bones are rich in calcium and other minerals; bones contain collagen which brings elasticity to the skin; bones are rich in gelatin which aids in digestion. Using bones to make broth is a key strategy to extract bone nutrients and add them to your diet. Patricia Lacoss-Arnold in Broth: Elixir of Life will describe how to make and use broth in your every day cooking. If you have ever wonder how to make broth from beef, chicken, fish or even rabbit bones, you will soon learn about the flavors of these different options.

(59 pages; $8.99)

Lacto-Fermentation / Wardee Harmon

Lacto-Fermentation is a 155-page, 23-lesson digital book with detailed instruction on fermenting fruits, vegetables, beans, meats, dairy, and grains. The book will expose you to a variety of fermentation methods — using salt, whey, or other starter cultures. Recipes go beyond fermentation methodology and include spices and seasonings to improve the flavor of the final product.

“Fermented foods are foods that have been cultured by beneficial organisms. In the right conditions, beneficial organisms feast on the food, producing beneficial acids, and transforming the food into something better. This culturing develops complex flavors and pleasing textures, while the food becomes more nutritious than it was before. And the acids preserve and protect the food from spoiling. It is really a miraculous process.”

(155 pages; $20)

and others from bloggers, herbalists, & practitioners, featuring a variety of health topics…

What are the advantages of owning all the books in this bundle?

• Reap the benefit from those who have already done the research and compiled extensive information on ways to experience vibrant health, naturally

• The bundle price is a great deal, so even if you are only interested in a few titles, depending on which ones you like you’ll still likely pay less than what you would if you bought them separately. Give some to friends or family who are interested in health and wellness (great gift ideas!).

• Learn alternatives for dealing with and managing stress, depression, adrenal exhaustion, acne, and diabetes – conditions that plague many  people in the modern world

• Discover ways to eat healthier, on a budget, and how to find the most nutritious foods available in your own community

• Try new, delicious recipes that can help set you free from food intolerances and unpleasant symptoms

Sale ends Thursday March 7th at midnight, PST.

Due to the insistence of conventional health communities that fats and cholesterol should be avoided, high-protein diets have been all the rage for a number of years.

The Atkins Diet was popular for many years and received much press and attention since it came out in the late 1950s. Many people claimed to lose a lot of weight on this diet. Depending on who you asked, this diet was heralded by some as a low-fat diet, high-protein diet and by others as a high fat diet.

This quote by Dr. Atkins himself describes the diet:

“Those of you who read my first book, Dr. Atkins’ Diet Revolution, know what diet to follow — there was only one. Millions of dieters simply called it the Atkins Diet. It was a very low carbohydrate reducing diet (not a high-fat diet, as many of my nonreading critics asserted).”

The South Beach Diet came out during the 2000s and it affected more dieters than just about any diet during that decade. The major flaw with most of these types of diets was they didn’t emphasize something of great importance: healthy fats – which are so critical for health. As a result, many people who followed the Atkins Diet gained the weight back after losing it.

It may seem counter-intuitive that eating fat and cholesterol can be good for health, but this myth about fat and cholesterol being bad for us has no grounded science behind it.

You can see clear evidence of bad science being used everywhere. A good example is the USDA Dietary Guideline recommendations such as MyPlate, featuring a diagram of 5 food groups: fruits, vegetables, grains, protein, and dairy. But fat is nowhere to be found.

And yet, fat is one of the most critical foods we could eat for health since it’s one of our best sources of Vitamins A, D, E, and K2 – essential fat soluble vitamins, Omega 3s, CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), and other important nutrients like folate, B12, iron, and zinc.

Fat and cholesterol are essential for a wide range of bodily functions:

• Necessary for the production of hormones in the body.
• Brain and nervous system function (a majority of our brains are composed of fat)
• The foundation of cell integrity
• Digestion and normalization of blood sugar levels
• Regulation of body temperature
• Protecting internal organs from damage
• Providing energy
• Maintaining proper weight and metabolism levels

Dr. Weston A. Price learned in his world travels by visiting 14 various countries that all healthy populations who were free of disease consumed much more of these nutrients from animal foods – sometimes up to TEN times the amount we currently consume in our modern culture.

Truth be told, avoiding fat and cholesterol is disastrous for health.  A number of medical doctors are now admitting this openly to the public.

When you stop and think about our modern health guidelines which recommend avoiding fat – have these really helped our population become healthier or lose weight? Not at all. According to recent reports, in fact, we are continuing to get fatter and sicker with each passing year.

What’s wrong with lean meats?

Lean meats are very hard-to-digest. Since they lack fat-soluble vitamins such as A and D, they end up becoming putrified in our digestive systems and cause chronic pathogenic bacteria in our guts which spreads to all parts of our bodies. This leads to many other health issues including weight problems, auto-immune disease, food allergies, bone and joint issues, and others.

Even a lot of grassfed meats tend to be short on fat.  If you are coming off a low-fat diet you will probably need some help getting your digestion back in order to be able to handle fats. Starting out slowly with well-cooked meats, poultry, fish, and other animal fats in broths and soups, with vegetables and plenty of healthy fats like butter or ghee, lard, or tallow. These are very healing and can help you to be able to to properly digest your food.

So eat your meats with plenty of fat:

• olive oil
• butter
• ghee
• coconut oil
• fat drippings from lard (pork fat), schmaltz (chicken fat) or tallow (beef fat or suet)

and also with gelatin-rich broths or cooked in broth made from the bones of animals and birds on pasture.

The GAPS protocol by Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride may be a good healing and detox if you have digestive issues and want to heal so you can properly digest foods again. You may also need digestive enzymes or hydrochloric acid. The best brand of enzymes I’ve found is Enzyme Formulations, and you need a practitioner to obtain them. Houston Enzymes are also a quality product that I’ve heard many good things about from clients and others. They have customer support to help you determine which are right for you.

What’s wrong with protein powders?

Protein powders are a popular food product that many people buy because they don’t have time to prepare something real. Slick marketing and labeling has convinced consumers these are healthy products to consume. But, these powders are processed through high heat temperatures which denatures the protein. Processing actually turns those substances into something harmful – a free-glutamate (think MSG).

Plus, protein powders almost always contain a bunch of synthetic nutrients, stabilizers, preservatives, and other things you can’t even pronounce or comprehend what they are. Even the supposedly high-quality whey protein powders that are healthy, containing organic grassfed whey from healthy cows, like this one – Whole Whey Natural from Metaorganics. 

• Whey protein concentrate from grassfed cows’ raw milk (pesticide free, no added hormones)
• Fibersol (what?)
• Arabinogalactin extract (what?)
• Nonfat milk powder (no thanks, I’ll take real full fats that aren’t oxidized)
• Lecithin (soy, no thanks)
• Medium chain triglycerides (which you can get from real coconut oil)
• Natural flavors (MSG)
• Guar gum (MSG)
• Lohan (what the heck is that?)

Okay, whole whey protein from grass fed cows’ milk, that’s the only thing I’d even consider consuming on this list.    But I could get that from having a smoothie with yogurt and kefir in it, or drinking a glass of milk, or eating some cheese.

Even if you knew what the other ingredients were, do you need to be consuming them? Probably not. So everything else? I’d avoid like the plague and just eat real food.

This product is a great example of how just because something is labeled organic or even grassfed, does not make it healthy to consume.

But aren’t plant protein powders better?

There are other protein powder products not sourced from animals using proteins from plants, grains, and seeds. No matter how the labels might describe them as being low-temperature processed or non-denatured, these products are still as unnatural as can be, and we should not rely on grains or plants in those amounts as a good source of protein. Our ancestors never did this. Again, there is no fat present in these products as the proteins are isolated and compounded many times above what would occur in nature.

Vegetables, grains, seeds, and legumes contain phytic acid – an anti-nutrient that can leach minerals from the stores in your body – usually the bones. To neutralize these components, sprouting/soaking, fermentation, cooking, and serving with healthy fats is required. When those techniques are applied, your body can use the nutrients in those foods. But eating in raw form, or in the case of grains simply cooked, or highly processed and compounded many times as protein powders is not a smart way to consume these foods.

You’re better off eating a nice pile of chopped up broccoli and carrots, cooked in a pan with butter, salt, garlic, and some seasoning than you are to consume plant protein powders. You’ll absorb the nutrients in the plants better since you’ll be eating it with a wonderful, healthy fat with fat-soluble vitamins (A&D), and it will actually taste good.

Protein and fat work together

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with protein – provided it’s a natural source of protein and it’s also accompanied by some type of natural fat such as in meats or animal products. Even some other foods such as grains, vegetables, legumes, and nuts contain a small amount of protein (although not much except for in the case of nuts). But the point is, those foods with small amounts of protein don’t have much naturally-occurring fat.

That’s why it’s important to traditionally prepare grains, seeds, legumes, and vegetables – either through fermentation or soaking/sprouting and/or cooking to neutralize phytic acid, and eat with healthy animal fats. Those fat-soluble nutrients help us to absorb the nutrients in those foods.

The lack of fat in high-protein foods like industrially-produced lean meats and processed foods like protein powders is a problem because they lack vital, fat-soluble nutrients. In this case, Vitamin A.  The body stores Vitamin A in the liver. If you keep eating high-protein foods with no fat, you will soon deplete Vitamin A stores in the body.  This leads to many chronic issues including:

• bone issues and osteoporosis from loss of calcium
• Heart or kidney disease
• Thyroid and hormonal imbalances
• Auto-immune disease such as fibroymyalgia (chronic fatigue) or more serious issues including diabetes

All of these issues sum up much of what is wrong with our population’s modern health profile – some of the most common diseases people have, and they are on the increase. As a coincidence, many people avoid fat, count calories, and cling to nutrient-deficient diets.  Quite an interesting connection, isn’t it?

What’s wrong with modern diets?

The Standard American Diet is sorely depleted of nutrient-dense foods. Besides chemicals and toxins in our diets from processed foods that make up so much of what we eat, three ingredients that have remained a constant in our everyday eating habits are white flour, sugar, and vegetable oils.

Dr. Weston A. Price discovered that fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K2 were present in the diets of healthy populations he studied all over the world. Modern diets are lacking in these nutrients, including Vitamin A, a nutrient we can get from foods such as cod liver oil, liver, butter, cream, fish, and fish eggs.

We have an abundance of lean protein foods in our diets because conventional medical information tells us to eliminate fat and cholesterol. Lean meats are NOT natural in any sense of the word, and the majority of them are produced on CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations) where animals do not receive a natural diet nor live in a natural environment. This makes the meat and fat content of these foods off-balance and not healthy for our bodies. For example, due to the way they are produced, CAFO meats are too high in Omega 6s, and the ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3s is about 15:1 or wider. Grassfed meats are the correct balance at approximately 3:1.

For thousands and thousands of years, healthy meat and poultry was eaten by people around the world with fat, skin, bones, and everything else that goes with animal foods. Those were not separated out, they were considered essential and necessary for maintaining good health.

Instead of processed foods or protein powders that have isolated, high amounts of denatured protein and lack other important co-factors and nutrients, eat healthy foods with saturated fats and real nutrients like egg yolks from pastured hens, raw yogurt, milk, or other dairy food, coconut oil, mashed up avocadoes to soups, broths, stews, and or smoothies. Eat fatty cuts of grassfed meats, pork, lamb, poultry and game meats with plenty of butter, olive oil, or other animal fat and with or cooked in bone broths. Cook your vegetables and braise your meats in butter, lard, tallow, or ghee. For desert, have a big bowl of home-made full-fat raw yogurt with fruit, nuts, and cinnamon.

Here’s a recipe for home-made whey on the Radiant Life site, which is an excellent natural source of real protein. You can also easily make a home-made protein powder such as the recipe featured in Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon.

These foods are delicious and good for you, and will bring back flavor to the bland, boring processed foods you’ve been eating that aren’t healthy. Instead of high-protein and low-fat, make your meals high-protein and high fat too.

Want more information?

The importance of dietary fats

What’s the real scoop on red meat and higher mortality rates?

Which is better for your health – polyunsaturated or saturated fats?

Dr. Sinatra and others speaking out – cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease

According to the The National Center for Health Statistics, 5% of American 12- to 19-year-old adolescents have been prescribed some type of antidepressant.  In the same age group, an additional 6% of the same age group use meds for ADD and ADHD. That’s about 4 million teens.  About 6% of adults aged 18 to 39 are taking some type of antidepressant.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 62% of Americans from ages 12 and up who are taking antidepressants have done so for 2 or more years; and 14% of those have taken them for 10 years or more.  And these are just the numbers that are reported.

Shootings and other violent events

With all tragic occurrences comes widespread reaction suggesting that the way to resolve something is to remove the most obvious source of trigger to a problem. In December in Newtown, CT, 25+ people lost their lives to a deranged gunman – many children and some adults – and this quiet, little unassuming town will never be the same.

As with many similar events, the main action being discussed to prevent something like this from happening again is the banning of assault weapons.  Although I can’t disagree that assault weapons are not safe, I’m just not convinced this will get to the heart of the problem. What is causing these people to act out? Is the fact that they have access to weapons…or something else? And, if assault weapons are banned, will this solve the problem? I think we really need to ask these important questions to find out what’s wrong!

In contrast, much less discussion or credence is given to examining the very real effects powerful anti-depressant drugs may have on the behavior of the perpetrators of these crimes. Not only does this important topic warrant serious discussion, but we also need to look at the underlying causes of violent behavior, depression, and other mood disorders that are causing people to act out and kill or hurt other human beings.

A better mental health care system?

The other big discussion that’s happening is that there is an urgent need to ramp up our mental health care system for better access to mental health treatment.  Currently, the U.S. spends $113 billion annually on mental health. Most dollars spent on mental health are for prescription drugs and outpatient treatment. This graph shows data from mental health spending in 1986 and 2005, and reflects a significant reduction in keeping patients for inpatient treatment.  (The Fiscal Times, Kaiser Family Foundation):

There are side-effects and also damaging, long term effects from using psychotropic drugs, as confirmed by various experts in the mental health field:

• Dr. Mercola
• Harvard Medical School
• Washington Post
• National Institutes of Health
• National Institutes of Health

Anti-depressants are also strongly linked to violent and suicidal behavior and can impair brain function and development:

• Citizens’ Commission on Human Rights International
• Dr. Peter Breggin, M.D.
• British Medical Journal
• Science
• National Institutes of Health

These drugs are associated with inducing distortions of reality, violence to self and others, and are most often treated with yet more pharmaceutical drugs. Prescribing of these drugs is widespread and becoming more and more common. Many people repeatedly report loved ones in a state of constant irritability, chronic  depression, suicidal thoughts, delusional behavior, and exhibiting out-of-control rages and violence.

After looking at this graph and supporting data, is it really safe to assume that spending more money on the current paradigm in mental health care is the answer? We are spending billions upon billions of dollars each year for dangerous pharmaceutical drugs and other treatments, but is the answer to this problem?

What medical and health professionals are saying

Watch this video of medical professionals and patients talking about the very real damages these drugs are doing to those who take them.

Dr. Mary Ann Block, “At best, it will cover up symptoms. At worst, it might kill you.” Dr. James O’Donnell, Assoc. Professor of Pharmacology at Rush University states that there are numerous reports of signifcant violent acts, not just suicide, but significant violent acts of murder in patients who were being prescribed anti-depressants for relatively mild conditions, who just “snapped”.

In reviewing the FDA’s Adverse Reporting System data by Thomas Moore, Joseph Glenmullen and Curt Furberg revealed that there is a causal link between antidepressants and other psychotropic drugs and what is termed as “adverse events.”

For a list of school shootings, mass attempted murders and spree killings, and other violent behaviors matched up with the pharmaceutical antidepressant used by the perpetrator, see SSRI Stories.

An article published in the peer-reviewed journal PloS Medicine discusses a list of violent crime medico-legal cases where anti-depressant use was involved.

Author of Primal Body Primal Mind, Nora Gedgaudas has written literature and spoken at health conferences about the effects these drugs have on human health. She says the effectiveness rate of antidepressants is only about 13%. For the small minority who are able to see some success with pharmaceuticals, 1/3 of them won’t see long-term improvement.

She also believes that getting your diet in order can go a long way toward preventing depression and related mood disorders. This includes eating a real, whole foods diet and  eliminating sugar, carbs, and processed foods, and making sure you have enough healthy fats and proteins in your daily meals. When you balance our your blood sugar with healthy fats, depression, mood swings, and many other health issues are much less likely to occur including weight gain, diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic illness. Read about the importance of dietary fats here.

Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride. M.D. has devoted much of her life’s work to showing the link between a lack of nutritional support and the integrity of brain and neurological functions. In her book Gut and Psychology Syndrome, she discusses the critical importance of eating a healthy diet complete with healthy fats (which means fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K2 and various minerals) from animal foods such as bone broths, whole dairy foods, meats, poultry, fish, cod liver oil, organ meats, and egg yolks.  When these elements are absent, the result is mental and neurological dysfunctions including ADD, ADHD, hyperactivity, dyspraxia, depression, and even schizophrenia. Vitamin B deficiencies are also closely linked with neurological issues including seizures.

When these essential nutrients are absent, and coupled with a diet replete in junk and processed foods containing toxins and substances that act like drugs in the body (such as gluten and casein from wheat and dairy), this sets the stage for nutritional deficiencies and opportunistic pathogenic bacteria are then able to take over and cause damage. The result is chronic mental and physical illnesses. Contrary to allopathic or conventional medical rhetoric, the two are very much tied to each other.

Pam Killeen is a nutritional consultant who helps people get their health back on track. Unlike medical doctors who follow a model of managing sickness and continuing to go back over and over again, Pam gives her clients the information and tools to get well and stay well.

Her philosophy is that you will see her for a period of time to unravel your health issues, but then as you will gain knowledge you need to keep yourself well for life which include lifestyle changes and dietary implementations. And, you shouldn’t  have to keep returning for treatment in the future. Unlike the sick-care model used by many conventional medical practitioners, you will be able to heal rather than returning again and again for a treatment or drug regimen that doesn’t allow you to get well.

Watch this informative interview with Pam Killeen where she talks with Garth Riley (in 5 parts) about why our health care system currently isn’t addressing the mental health issues that are affecting our population and how we can do this effectively without drugs and other medications:

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Part V