Monday, February 9, 2009

Teleion Holon - Manchester, VT

I've been feeling a little unhealthy lately, as though my body is fighting too many things, or I've not been treating it well enough to let it fight off simple things. Anyway I was talking to The Logger's mother and she was kind of feeling the same way, and had decided to stop eating gluten after she had read something online. She said that after only a few days of this she had begun to feel much better and some of her health problems had cleared right up, so I thought I would give it a shot. I stopped eating dairy a few days ago as well, because I finally got sick of it. I eat so little to begin with that it's not really a challenge. Lately, cheese has been leaving a gross taste in my mouth anyway.

There seems to be a fair amount of information out there about boosting your immune system by eating only whole foods and I used to eat a raw diet once a week, but recently stopped. I looked forward to those Mondays because I always felt light and full of energy, however I found it difficult to eat that way all the time due to time restraints, and also budget. Eating nothing but whole, live foods can be expensive and when you don't know what you're doing, you end up buying a lot of food out of season. I'm thinking that once the season starts up again and there's an abundance of fruits and veggies, I can go back to a mandatory once a week raw diet, and also incorporating this into my daily food as well.

The gluten thing won't last forever, but I'd like to stop it completely now and then maybe allow myself to have small amounts later, after I've adjusted to a new diet. I have decided to allow myself oats, as the amount of gluten in them is debated and probably small, or zero. I'm not having any kind of obvious physical reaction to gluten, so I'm not going to drive myself crazy keeping it out of my diet, but I will do the best I can. I think even reducing it drastically will make a difference.

All of this attention to my diet has got me thinking about where I eventually want to be with my eating habits. Ideally I'd like to have a diet that consists almost entirely of whole foods, and limited amounts of eggs and dairy, which would come from my own animals. I feel very strongly about vegan diets, and I agree that they can be much healthier than the diet of a meat and dairy eater. However, if I had my own animals, I could look after their well being and my own. I don't think dairy is good for a person, but neither do I think soy is healthy. I think both of these things in moderation can be ok, just like eating a cookie or two every now and again. I think the most important part is to cause no harm with your diet. That is my ultimate goal: to cause no harm to others, and to do the most good for my health.

When I talked to my mother about all this her reaction was, "So you're not eating anything." Which is kind of the reaction most people have. However, I find that since giving up meat years ago, I've actually begun to eat more foods and pay much closer attention to my diet. When I started eating more raw foods it opened me up to even more variety. Ever heard of a sunchoke? I hadn't, but I freaking love them now. Kasha and Quinioa are both fairly new to me. So by cutting out just a few foods (and yes, the list is very short), I've opened up my diet to many many more, which are much healthier.

1 comment:

  1. this is AWESOME. this is how i try to eat but often fail because i am weak willed and have a job where people bring crap all the time, but we have three kids and eat largely organic whole foods. my daughter is having stomach problems so we decided to try gluten and dairy free for two weeks and see if that helps, because it did with my son when he was younger. so glad i found your fascinting blog.

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