I thought I might share with you a little of the road that we have taken to learn proper care of our bodies. This of course started with the knowledge of PCOS being caused by the foods we eat.
As you may know from earlier posts when I shared our story (read part one here), several years ago I had been diagnosed with PCOS or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. At the time, I had been given only two options to "treat" the problem…
If you want to prevent pregnancy: Birth Control
If you want children: Metformin (a diabetic medication)
A couple of years later I decided to be proactive in finding answers and solutions because we'd wanted children and it hadn't happened. In my Google searching and reading, of which I did A LOT, I found forums and websites that talked about the natural treatment of PCOS. While reading, I began seeing that there was a correlation between type 2 diabetes and PCOS. Still, no one knows exactly what causes it. But these women were seeing results from changing their diets and they were getting pregnant!
The more reading I did on PCOS and eating the more I learned about food in general… Of course, who wouldn't? Anyway, it was truly eye opening. Jason and I, after reading a certain book that I would prefer remained nameless, decided to become vegans. We cleaned out our cabinets of everything processed, meat/animal product, dairy, etc. and went shopping. It was the most I have ever spent on groceries in one sitting!
We had absolutely NO idea what we were doing… We just knew that we were disgusted by the information we had just read and didn't know what foods we could trust anymore. We didn't know what was good for us, what was bad or what you could eat on occasion. Since we didn't know, we cut it all out! We thought we would be vegans for life… Thankfully, that's not the end of the story.
We did see an immediate difference in how we felt, I credit that to the lack of processed foods, pasteurized/homogenized milk, high content of sugar, etc. and the INCREASE in fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes. We were however, far from anything that would get us all the nutrition our bodies really needed.
I became so enthralled with learning about food that I literally could not put the books down. I still to this day don't want to stop learning! As I continued to read I juggled us from one diet to the next… and to be honest, I missed my eggs. We switched to being vegetarians and, just once, I tried to eat some chicken a few months later and my stomach hurt something awful. I determined that I was better off not eating meat at all. Besides, Adam and Eve didn't eat meat in the garden, right?
I kept reading… and reading… and reading… I started losing weight. We felt AMAZING! I started getting a bit frustrated about all the conflicting information out there. It actually can be quite confusing trying to navigate through who has the correct info. The low-carb diet, the low-fat diet, the vegan, the vegetarian, primitive, etc… I finally started praying about what I was eating. I determined that I wanted a diet that was as close to what Jesus would have eaten as I could get. I would work towards this.
I came across a book that sort of introduced me to the Traditional Diet. It's called The Maker's Diet by Jordan Rubin. Honestly, I don't remember all the details of the book, I just remember it being the first time that someone started referencing the foods that would have been eaten in Bible times. It was a bit overwhelming though and seemed an awful lot of work for someone who was kind of tired from the year of constant changes of foods. I put it to the wayside.
After a short break from anything new I began to desire more of the things I had discovered. I learned that raw milk actually has amazing health benefits. Yes, I know there are those out there that disagree and I am not looking to argue. What I know is that in the Bible, in the Old Testament, the Promised Land was "a land flowing with milk and honey" (Exodus 3:8 NKJV). If God was giving His people a certain land and He created the ENTIRE earth and He chose that land to be a land flowing with MILK and HONEY… then why shouldn't I also be eating MILK and HONEY?
The thing is though, these foods need to be in their original form (not processed). I began to wonder how they actually prepared foods in those days, and what about storage? The more I asked questions, the more I found answers. Fermenting foods not only increases storage life it increases the health benefits of the foods. It helps your body digest foods and remove the nutrients needed for health. As Hippocrates said, "All disease begins in the gut". I believe he was on to something.
I, by no means, am an expert on this topic. I am simply a student who is so "hungry" for more information on taking care of my body. I desire to continue to learn. We have decided that the Traditional Diet is one we want to stick with. I realize that you may not agree, but that's up to you. If you want to know more about the details of what we're learning, message me. The book that I have been using and referencing is Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. It is a wealth of information and recipes and it walks you through how to prepare foods the traditional way. It really brings you back to the way food was meant to be... whole and nutritious.
I hope this has been encouraging and not anything else... At the very least maybe it will make us all evaluate what we're putting in our bodies and challenge us to eat less processed foods and more foods that are real, whole and nutritious.
Have a blessed and wonderful day!
Here is another link to a website that has been teaching me an immense amount about the preparation of foods for the proper digestion of the body (i.e. Traditional Diet):
