There are reasons…

Some of this was laziness, overwhelmedness and some was an attempt at keeping the food budget in check.  Our children’s health was becoming less than optimal.  In fact, it was horrible.  There was rarely a week that I did not miss a church service due to someone being sick.  After a particularly horrible week, I had enough and decided I had put the cart  before the horse and it was time to change.   Since I couldn’t do it all, I started with what I already knew…the basics.  It’s a good beginning for anyone.

First, I started reading labels and paying attention to the quality of our food.  Just as a side note, did you know that in Europe GMO foods are labeled and in many places are banned? No one really knows the long term effects of the genetic modification of food.  I looked for dyes.  We eat 5 times more dye in our food than we did in 1955.  Five!!! Blue dyes have been linked to kidney tutors and brain tumors.  Red dyes have been linked to cancer, thyroid cancers, hyperactivity and immune tumors. Did you know that red dyes are in the skin of some Florida oranges? And sausage? Yellow dyes have been linked to allergies, hyperactivity, and tumors.

Natural dyes do not have the concentrated color of artificial dye.  Great Britain has asked its food companies to stop using artificial dyes.  They are concerned about the links to hyperactivity and cancer.  Kellogg and Kraft do not use artificial dye in their UK products.  There are multiple studies linking dyes to hyperactivity and even lowered test scores in children to these artificial dyes.  So out they went.

Wheat is another food that has been tampered with today.  Today’s wheat is a monster that has grown out of control.  Even if you are grinding your own wheat to make bread from scratch, the modern dwarf wheat is what is being grown.  Farmers can get more product per acre, but it super concentrates the wheat.  Today’s wheat has three times the gluten of the wheat of the seventies. Three times! Am I the only one who has noticed how many people are gluten intolerant? This “super-gluten” causes inflammation on a exponential scale and can lead to weight gain, diabetes and many other inflammatory processes.  The super gluten also contains high levels of amylopectin.  This much starch can cause  2 slices of whole wheat bread to raise your blood sugar more than 2 tablespoons of sugar. 

The worst effect is that the polypeptides derived from this gluten cross into the brain and bind with opiate receptors.  Not only does this cause mild euphoria, it can cause “drug-like” addiction responses; causing withdrawal symptoms, if you stop eating it and addiction-like cravings.  Cutting out wheat requires extra diligence as it is in everything from soups, to make-up and even drinks, but the benefits are phenomenal.

I am not going into dairy here, as that is a full article in and of itself, except to say that the protein size is similar to wheat and if you have trouble with wheat, you often have trouble with dairy, too.

Most of us know that sugar is a negative nutrient that uses vital supplies of what nutrients you do have.  But knowledge without action is useless.  Sugar is in crackers, pasta, meats, seasonings and not to mention actual sweet things. Sugar is toxic. It is directly linked to obesity and considering the fact that childhood obesity has more than doubled in the last 30 years, it is a great place to tune up your diet.  You may be surprised at all the hidden sugar that sneaks into your meals.

I am a huge supporter of supplements.  With soil depletion, and even some of our hygiene habits which leave our children missing healthy bacteria, I have found supplements massively beneficial.  And since it will be asked, Vitamin C and pure Omega 3 are my top favorites for effectiveness in building immunity.  Just make sure you take pure Omega 3, as it all has trace mercury and that your quantities are enough to be effective.

By paying attention and correcting our eating errors, plus targeted supplements, I found that our children developed outstanding immune responses and I stopped missing church on such a regular basis.  It was worth the extra effort to watch our food, so we could get our necessary spiritual meals, too.