If you missed them, here are Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

A few years ago, we changed our eating habits. But with recent happenings, we, or at least I, need to make a few more changes. Here is the current plan, the map on this new adventure, to encourage the natural healing process God has designed in me:

We already (and will continue to):

• Choose mostly sustainably grown or organic grains and produce, large volume and a wide variety
• Choose pastured, non GMO, etc meat and dairy
• Drink low temp pasteurized, non-homogenized milk
• Choose organic or foreign produced dairy if pastured isn’t available
• Choosing mostly real sourdough bread
• Choose organic for the few packaged foods we eat, don’t purchase products with artificial or highly processed ingredients.
• Choose many other natural products for our home – deodorant, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, laundry detergent, air freshener, cleaners (we even make our own of some of these). Most commercially available options of these products are big endocrine offenders!

But, we also (and probably need to stop):

• Choose fellowship and feelings over health – eat bad food to spend time with loved ones
• Eat out a little each week to make it easier on myself with the busyness of our schedules sometimes
• Go a place regularly that burns scented candles so much (another big endocrine offender!), it seems to have permeated the walls. This is a tough one, since we will continue to go there, but hoping maybe a naturally scented candle gift will help some. 🙂
• Probably have a little too much sugar. I was trained on this my entire childhood, a tough monkey to shake

To do: additional diet changes for gut healing

• Cutting wheat & oats, other grains, significantly reducing rice – Due to the return on the blood tests of a wheat allergy and because grains are inflammatory. The hope is that this will heal the gut.
• Significantly reducing sugar, limiting raw honey and 100% maple syrup, as these feed bad guys
• Reducing potatoes, these also feed bad guys
• Significantly reducing high temp pasteurized dairy (our milk is low temp, but yogurt, cheeses, etc. are not), including making our own yogurt again with the low temp milk we drink
• Having bone broth daily
• Eating fermented, cultured foods 2-3 times daily, including yogurt, kombucha and traditionally fermented vegetables
• Adding supplements such as a food based multivitamin, transdermal iodine, fermented cod liver oil, transdermal Mg, desiccated liver (truth be told, I don’t eat much in the way of offal but should), and adaptogens. I have these things, but forget to take them regularly. For reference, most herbs produce a particular action, e.g. calming, but adaptogens are a small group of herbs which produce a balancing effect and work well with the endocrine system.
• Forgoing some meals with family and friends, when it will not be healing, Time together might be without food or I could do the food prep myself
• Eating out A LOT less, out is where the bad food lives 😉
• No more Starbucks, except maybe tea

The necessary changes might be as simple as needing a little more iodine and needing to eat only wheat that has been soaked, sprouted or soured. But at least for the time being (weeks, months, a year, more?), this is the plan. I might need to change “reduce” in the plan to “eliminate” or might add some things back to the above plan if it seems to not have a negative effect, indicating the gut is healed. The goal will be that all seeds, grains, nuts and beans added back will be sprouted, soaked or real sourdough. Some items on the to-do list are permanent, such as adequate cultured foods.

We appreciate those who have tried to learn more about the changes we have made and have even been accommodating and loving to us in that way, as well as those who obviously care deeply and try even if they don’t understand the whats, hows and whys. There will be some people with whom we will not be able to share meals. Not because they don’t care (though some have indicated a lack of support), but in the name of health and honoring God. We hope they understand.

Part 5, the final part, is your invitation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Not that the 3 people who read this will think otherwise, but I feel compelled to say — I’m not a doctor, just a regular old person sharing my experience and opinions based on what I’ve read. If you have health issues, I can’t be your doctor but I can be a friend and share more research (there is A LOT out there) and opinions and encourage you toward healthy choices.