re giving up grains

[Guest guest]

So then, are we all identical in constitution, body type, and therefore dietary needs?To break down some of the most pertinent points from all the links I posted.On evolutionary terms man has only been eating grains for about 200 generations. I can't think of any other species of animals that have evolved their diet to exist on a completely new food almost as exclusively as we currently are. Our bodies are simply not evolved enough to cope with all the problems associated with grains. Constitutions - My understanding of how all the different kinds(ayurveda/TCM?Humoral etc) are still sifting themselves in my brain into an endobiogenic view. I do feel that our constitution is linked to the season, where we were conceived and for that matter, where in the world and in what kind of world our mothers were conceived in because the egg that made us existed in her ovary when she was a 6 week old foetus in our Grandmothers. If we are now understanding that our DNA isn't fixed in function but merely responding in formation and function to the environment it finds itself in. (Biology of Belief Dr Bruce Lipton) So also to the life situation we find ourselves in at any one time. I know when I am healthy I slip easily between yin and yang, vata, pita etc sympathetic and parasympathetic. I only get stuck in one kind of constitution when I am stuck in my life in some way - it is my bodies adaptive default mode, a failsafe preset just like holding down that combinations of buttons on my computer resets it. It is designed to keep me alive no matter what. I even see that in dying patients - their body shifts though many changing patterns to try and keep alive right up until their last breath and the heart finally stops. It will do whatever is necessary to keep my body functioning - it must prioritise as it sees fit. All our bodies prioritise in their own unique ways depending on our DNA but also on our unique brain programming.(going back to the amygdala stuff from before) Anyway I'm deviating off into my mental meanderings now..........If someone doesn't have any obvious symptoms of issues with high carb or gluteny problems and they aren't mainlining them at every meal then I don't bring it up. Trouble is most of my patients are: menopausal and getting fat around the middle, cholesterol, high BP, sleep apnoea, digestive stuff, skin stuff, joint stuff, chronically fatigued...........They are all eating highly refined carb crap, lots of it, or "healthy" cereal bars, rice cakes, oat cakes, bananas, pasta, rice.........every single day.I tell them to ditch grains and eat a nice fatty protein breakfast, a MASSIVE bowl of veg/meat soup every day. 2 bowls if they have to or a mountain of salad with fatty protein on it and a massive pile of vegetables (4-5 kinds)and some fatty protein at dinner. It is much easier than listing a load of different types of acceptable grains and how to prepare them. That can come in time when they are feeling better.The issue with grains is to do with their high carbohydrate release and the immuno - aggravating properties of gluten. Also the anti nutrient properties of phytates.Diets of most of my patients, as Anne Marie says, are drowning in starch. That equals high blood sugar and high insulin levels. Insuliin is anabolic. You get fat. All the associated problems that go with obesity. Glucose is toxic to glomerular cells. Kidneys sluggish. Blah blah - metabolic syndrome etc The more research done on Metabolic syndrome the more medical conditions seem to be linked to it. I thoroughly recommend Fathead the Movie - it has now been formated to European DVD. I have a copy I lend out to patients. It is brilliantly funny. He looses 12 lbs eating fast food for 28 days - only he ditches soda, burger buns and fries and sticks to 100gms carbs a day.Weston Price and Sally Fallon(Nourishing Traditions) does advocate soaking and long, wild fermentation of grains to reduce the impact of phytates and to reduce the gluten content. Nice if you have the time and the know how - it is much easier to add another vegetable to your dinner and isn't that exactly what most people need to do? Anti oxidants by the bucket load. Buckwheat and quinoa - yes Aine Marie - not true grains. I just got used to making meals without them now. Sprouting grains and pulses is another option. I go through phases of being arsed to do it!I do bake a loaf of bread every week - I use spelt flour and it raises and gets knocked back many times. I usually mix up the dough one morning and it gets put in the tins the following morning and then baked when it has risen enough that day.(funny how the speed of rising varies - seems to be moon not temp related)I don't eat it but the kids have 2 soldiers with their boiled eggs - they used to have a whole slice but then I realised they were sneaking half of it out to feed their pet chickens every day!! It is really hard to find the balance with kids and how to educate them to eat healthily - we tell a lot of stories around foods - where they come from, what things do to different parts of the body. Last night was about orange vegetables and how they have stuff to make eyes strong(they both have glasses and squints)and help you to see in the dark. Then we listed all the orange vegetables we could think of and they realised they are mostly available in the winter when it is dark for longer. Ooooh isn't nature clever?! That helped the little one eat her mini pumpkin which was a bit 'stringier' than the usual variety we get. Oh and mini pumpkins come in their own cooking pots with lids - how cool is that? They arrived with modern ideals about "being thin or fat" Now it is about being strong and healthy. Interestingly they have really lost their sweet tooth - the minging iced donut I used bring them on Saturdays from market has been eschewed of late as too sweet and they prefer the less sweet custard tart or the patisserie chefs fruit and custard tart. At home they have a bit of 85% choc for pudding or we make mousse with it and cream. Or hot chocolate with cocoa and full fat milk frothed up and a smidge of honey. We go out for dinner at least once a weekday(a local pub does 2 meals for £10 and kids eat free before 6pm in term time!!!)and we all pretty much binge on heavy carbs and puddings. In the beginning it was really hard. I hid loads of veg in puree sauces and fritters(buckwheat flour) . The size of veg got gradually bigger over time. I can see how parents give in and feed them easy carb meals. We won't know if I've messed them up any more until they are teens. I guess I can always blame their hideous start! They thought I was mean but I kept saying to them that my main concern was that they grew up to be strong, happy and healthy and eating good food was the best way I knew to help them be all of those things. In the beginning the little one(who existed on white bread and nutella and refined carbs before) used to talk about when she left home she would go and eat sugar all the time. I'd tell her that she could do that if she wanted but right now I really loved her and I was caring for her in the best way I knew. Now she says she is only letting her kids have sweets once a week. Although in reality they get choc/cocoa most days. They also help to prepare lots of the meals and I send them out with handfuls of cash at the market to buy all the food and they get to choose the vegetables and we look at it and think about what we can cook with it. I found in the boarding school, that the anorexic girls had huge issues with self esteem and control - it wasn't to do with being thin so much but to do with being better at something than everyone else. "Everyone has to eat and I don't" We had an utterly amazing Human Givens psychotherapist who came in and pretty much sorted them all out in 4-5 individual sessions. The only one who didn't get seen was the daughter of a GP who's parents didn't give permission. She is still struggling. Gone off on a tangent there........Thank you for the links for other recipe sites and books - I will add them to my list.....and for the feed back, what a great resource of support and knowledge this is.Zoe

Medical HerbalistMNIMH CPP Dip. Phyt. Buteyko Breathing Practitoner"Wild Drugs" 'A Foragers Guide to Healing Plants' Gaia 2010Bath01761 439920

So then, are we all identical in constitution, body type, and

therefore dietary needs?

Jules MNIMH

[Guest guest]

Hi Zoe

This is most especially to you, but wanted to send it to the whole list. It is by way of an apology and explanation - having just read your most recent post to the list on this thread and then re-read my comments about anorexia/labelling food groups as good and bad. My post wasn't intended to in any way criticise you, Zoe and I do apologise if it came over in that way. I just wanted to add my musings to the discussion - and to comment on the confused relationship that so many young people that I know, have with food. I didn't mean to suggest that you were going to cause problems down the road with your girls - I am sorry if that's how it came across.

Learning a lot from this thread.

Yes, what a wonderful resource this list is!

Best wishes

Sue

[Guest guest]

Dear Sue,It wasn't taken as a criticism at all - it is something I too muse over constantly. I was posting what I am doing with the girls because I am fascinated with how I can give these children a solid base and be educated about how to keep themselves happy, hearty and well. What a world they are going to grow up in! I welcome feedback - I get bugger all decent advice from social services! I had body and self esteem image issues as a teen and definately went through a phase of not eating well. I was reared eating a "healthy" vegetarian diet with almost no sweets except from visits to my granny and most particularly at Christmas when I used to hoover up all the quality streets strewn about in dishes at my Aunts house. My Dad used to constantly harp on about me getting fat like my obese Aunt and pinch my skinny sides and say "pinch an inch" Silly sod.Zoex

Medical HerbalistMNIMH CPP Dip. Phyt. Buteyko Breathing Practitoner"Wild Drugs" 'A Foragers Guide to Healing Plants' Gaia 2010Bath01761 439920

Hi Zoe

This is most especially to you, but wanted to send it to the whole list. It is by way of an apology and explanation - having just read your most recent post to the list on this thread and then re-read my comments about anorexia/labelling food groups as good and bad. My post wasn't intended to in any way criticise you, Zoe and I do apologise if it came over in that way. I just wanted to add my musings to the discussion - and to comment on the confused relationship that so many young people that I know, have with food. I didn't mean to suggest that you were going to cause problems down the road with your girls - I am sorry if that's how it came across.

Learning a lot from this thread.

Yes, what a wonderful resource this list is!

Best wishes

Sue