Food for Thought
Any time I take on a new project or passion, I will research it, feel secure with my plan, and then usually get the rocket off the ground with intense focus. So much so, that my husband often feels left behind a bit in my trail of smoke. Since my last post, I have made our meal plans, researched further into healing autoimmune responses, went on the search for appropriate pantry products, and now have experienced the change within my body for 6 days.
With Ezra's anemia, I have had to spend some time in the medical world. I kind of go a little bonkers looking around and seeing what the mainstream recommendations are for our health and wellness. Even with breastfeeding there is a lot information floating around suggesting the mother's diet does not impact the infants health. I read an article today that stated "research tells us that the quality of a mother’s diet has little influence on her milk. Nature is very forgiving – mother’s milk is designed to provide for and protect baby even in times of hardship and famine." I do feel that has some truth, however to say our dietary choices will not impact the infant seems to be a bit stretched.
I guess that is how we can live in a society where the quality of our food is poor, the labels we read are not transparent, and chemicals are in every nook and cranny. Since moving toward the lectin-free diet this means removing quite a few foods from my diet, it requires finding high quality meat, eggs and dairy products, and eliminating some of the foods that have often been deemed "good" for us. Having a pretty clear list of what is acceptable and what is not is helpful for my mind. Prior to this diet I imagined I was doing a good job with food quality. I was buying and cooking mainly organic food. Little did I know that 100% organic, or free-range, and all of that labeling is actually NOT the highest quality. Those animals are still fed "vegetarian" feed that is full of corn and soy. So inadvertently I was still being subjected to those ingredients through the meat/eggs/dairy that I was consuming. The old saying is "you are what you eat"-- and that includes the entire food chain.
I often reflect on the diet I had as a child. The Standard (or even quite a bit below standard) American Diet of the 80's & 90's. We had a few seasons of fresh fruits and veggies during my childhood, although the majority were canned vegetables. We ate a diet very heavy with meat and potatoes, "country cooking" and the common processed foods/fast foods of the time. In my nearly 40 years of life, I have gradually began to put the pieces together of how the toxic build up could cause some of the heath issues that I carried into adulthood. Finding an answer for infertility (without going the medical route) was where I started learning about endocrine disruptors and the chemical overload we have in our homes. I started removing chemical cleaning products, changing my household items, stopped reaching for OTC solutions for common ailments and really began making the shift. That became quite easy and just a way of life. Dietary changes have been more difficult. It has definitely been one step at a time.
Having Ezra has been my major trigger to fix this piece of the puzzle. I saw him go through so much in the first few days of his life, and now recognizing our food choices have further compromised his health has been a major ah-ha moment. Having an awareness of how my body has reacted to certain foods is making it easier to recognize when the same thing occurs with my children. Parents are truly the first teachers.