Educate Yourself About Food

How we think about food and the words and emotions we attach to them can alter our perspective on food. This is something we can use to our benefit when we're looking for a change.

Words are Powerful:

I ran across a great quote recently, from Mark Hyman, M.D. He was speaking about how the current government diet recommendations have led to skyrocketing disease.

Here's the quote:

"Stuff at the bottom of the Food Pyramid (processed sugars and refined carbs) should be treated like recreational drugs and only taken occasionally."

Wow! That clearly puts that kind of food into perspective. It makes it quite clear that these processed sugars and carbs are not something that should be eaten by anyone, even in small doses. It makes a clear distinction that these so called foods are only for those that take big risks, and come with no health benefits, and guaranteed risks and damage.

If we took to calling these things recreational drugs, it also puts the onus on the person eating it. It makes it clear that we are the ones that suffer the consequences.

Because, really, if we're waiting for the Big Food industry to clean up their act, we're going to be sadly disappointed.

Learn About Conflicting Health Info:

If we want to be healthy, it's 100% up to each of us. No one else is going to make you well. The disasterous food guidelines that governments have put into place are an example of how someone else cannot make you well, and will very likely make you sick, very, very sick.

We also need to be vigilant that we don't only hunt for the info we want to hear. If we like potatoes, for example, we'll find info reinforcing that. But it's wise to hunt out info on why they aren't good. It gives us different perspectives. It also forces us to actually think about it.

We also need to not treat every nutritional guru as the final word on diet and health. We would be wise to be open to hearing from a variety of perspectives. Some of them may be offering some good advice, based on their knowledge, but may be off base in some other advice. When we stay open to listening to differing perspectives, we have a greater possibility of being able to get more truthful info, and being able to see where some advice actually isn't true.

When we actually start to understand why things are good and bad for us, we can make informed decisions.

We'll run across conflicting information. This can be uncomfortable if it's not something we're used to. When we do, if we really want to understand what's true, we have to watch out for just looking for more info that confirms what we want to believe. We'll need to learn some new skills, that will help us root out the fake info from the real info.

What Learning Skills Are Useful:

These new skills may be things like learning to read research studies. Then learning how to critique them, and be able to spot some flaws and shortcomings in the studies.

We may need to read the laws and regulations regarding related topics. Such as what the actual rules and processes are of the FDA, EPA, FTC, etc.

We may need to follow some of the politics of big food, big agra and big pharma. We may need to follow the reports on the loopholes in the so called system that we're told are there to protect us, but really aren't.

When I first started digging around in all this, in the 1990's, I was overwhelmed. Eventually I started getting a basic handle on this learning process I was going through.

It's so much easier now 20+ years later to find information. There are more real people who've experimented and are able to tell their stories, their failures and successes.

Learn from Podcasts, Videos and Books:

The Functional Medicine field is also growing and getting more knowledgeable. These types of practitioners look at the whole person, rather than just a specific medical condition.

If you have some health conditions, then try and find some podcasts or videos or books from real people with the same conditions, who've managed to improve their health, as well as some of the Functional Medicine practitioners who've been having good success with your specific condition. Set aside some time each week to read, watch or listen. You'll begin to get some ideas you can try. You'll begin to learn things you didn't know before that you can use to heal and improve your health.

There are a number of leaders in the field of Celiac Disease, Autoimmunity, Thyroid Disease and Gut Health. I've put together a summary of 4 of them - Leaders in the Autoimmune, Celiac and Gut Health Community. I've also prepared a more detailed article on each one of them. If any of these conditions affect you, these are an excellent place to start.

• Dr. Tom O'Bryan - World renowned expert on why autoimmune disease happens and what it really is. He has a deep knowledge of Celiac Disease and how gluten affects the body, and stays up to date on all the latest research, and is generous sharing his knowledge with the public.
• Dr. Izabella Wentz - An internationally acclaimed thyroid specialist. Dr. Wentz is a clinical pharmacist, who was herself diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis in 2009. She was quite sick, and had the desire and passion to get well again. She's the New York Times best selling author of "Hashimoto's Protocol: A 90-Day Plan for Reversing Thyroid Symptoms and Getting Your Life Back."
• Tom Malterre - A Certified Nutritionist with a deep knowledge of how food and the substances that come along with it can have a deep impact on our health. He developed a program and book called "The Elimination Diet," that's very useful when you're having a hard time recovering from a variety of autoimmune conditions.
• Summer Bock - A Gut Microbiologist and Master Fermentationist. Summer is on a mission to help people achieve good digestion naturally using fermented foods, herbs, and food. She developed a terrific "Gut Rebuilding Program" that is invaluable for healing a damaged gut.

Check out these various Leaders, and start learning so you can maintain or regain your health.

Let me know in the comments below what other people you've ran across that have been able to give you good advice, and helped you on your healing journey.

Listen, read, eat and enjoy!

Thora Toft