Can There Be Healing Through Traditional & Sustainable Foods? - A Guest Post

Below is an amazing story of how learning to eat naturally, and prepare foods traditionally changed one woman's life.  I was SO excited when DaNelle said she would write a guest post for this series.  Since discovering her blog I have REALLY enjoyed her informative and humurous writing.  She is obviously passionate about living naturally and sharing that passion with others.  Here is a little bit of her story, but her sure to head over to Weed 'Em & Reap so you can read things like The Most Hilarious Goat Birth Ever!

:)

TRADITIONAL & sustainable FOODS HEAL – MODERN & unnatural FOODS KILL
by DaNelle

I knew this was the solution to regain my health. Would I have heartache & trials? Would I struggle? Yes. This life is not perfect & people are not perfect. But our purpose in this life is to learn, to overcome, to grow and progress. And call me crazy, but I believe God did provide a way for us to maintain our health in the best way possible during our time here. He placed an incredible variety of plants AND animals on this earth. And he placed them here for our nourishment. 

What do you think of when I say real food? I think of things like whole milk, butter, cream, farm fresh eggs, warm bread, fresh garden vegetables, whole cuts of meat like steak, lamb chops or bacon & hearty soups make with real homemade broth. If you thought of those same foods too, you are right! Traditional food has nourished people literally for thousands of years, and is something your ancestors would recognize. A typical grocery store carries only 10% real food and most in the produce department. The rest is highly processed and shouldn’t even be considered “food”. I am amazed at what is called “food” in our grocery stores today. Yogurt in a tube, cookies in a tub, protein in a powder, & 100 calorie packs of whatever – what would your great-grandma think?

I dug deeper in my research than I probably have ever done, because I needed to know which foods were good for my body and which were not. I studied history and how our ancestors ate. I studied the scriptures. I also studied life BEFORE the Industrialization of Food, before we all became so confused as to what our bodies really need. I was so so very tired of all the rules thrown at me about food every time I turned on the TV, or read a magazine, or talked to my neighbor, or scrolled Facebook.

I looked at each food group God placed on the earth (meat & seafood, fruits & vegetables, dairy, or grains) and thought:

Is this whole & natural?

Would/could a traditional society (meaning my ancestors) eat it?

Is this the way I believe God intended me to eat it?

Could I produce this myself without any machines?

How much of this could I grow/provide to my family if I couldn't buy it at the store?

I eat all food groups & simply try to obtain the best quality of each one.

TRADITIONAL, REAL FOOD CHANGED MY LIFE! It helped me lose 35 lbs. & helped reversed my chronic disease in the process. 

In a nutshell, eating a traditional diet means you are brave enough to turn away from all the nonsense of food rules thrown at us today and willing to embrace REAL FOOD. In it's whole, unprocessed form. And become NOURISHED.

 DaNelle writes at Weed 'Em & Reap.  She lives on an urban farm with her husband Kevin and two children, and has a great collection of hilarious stories from their life there.  She loves to share real recipes  and information on living a more natural lifestyle.   

I'm sure you'll benefit from reading her blog as I have!