Call me crazy

I'm a lucky girl.  I really am.  Not only do I have a wonderful family who loves me unconditionally, but I also have great friends.  I mean that.  Friends who accept me, quirks and all.  So, yeah, maybe I'm a tad bit over the top when it comes to my nutritional views.  Call me crazy if you wish.

I do bring my own pizza and cupcakes to birthday parties. I do buy my meat (only organic and pastured) from local farms. I do forbid my children from consuming red dye in any form (you should hear the comments, "Like one lollipop is really going to hurt them, sheesh.").  I do get more than a little giddy over a good farmer's market. My kids can rattle off five different kinds of milk (coconut, almond, rice, cow and goat).  And this one really gets people: my kids don't drink juice. Gasp!  We don't buy or drink juiceboxes ever (with the rare exception of being at a birthday party and having no other options). So what?  We're a little strange by most people's standards. I won't deny it.

This way of life works for us.  Since going gluten free (I am actually about 90% grain-free these days), I am no longer riddled with back, knee, and joint pain.  I have more energy and clarity.  My moods are better.  For my five year-old son, it has been different.  Since going strictly gluten-free, we have noticed that he has less behavior problems, more patience, and fewer meltdowns.  My mother now comments on the positive changes she's noticed in him. Believe it or not, the diet has even helped to completely eliminate my son's night bed-wetting (who knew?).  Even my husband has seen the benefits of the diet. Last year, he was diagnosed with Lyme disease and going gluten free helped alleviate some of his symptoms. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the gluten free diet is a widely prescribed treatment for Lyme patients today.

If you think the gluten free diet is just for celiacs and nutrition extremists, think again.  Statistics show that up to 1% of the total population has gluten intolerance aka celiac disease (that's about 3 MILLION people), and sadly most people who have celiac are walking around undiagnosed. Many doctors also believe that there are MANY other people living with a gluten sensitivity, who would benefit greatly from eliminating it from their diets. The list of gluten intolerance/sensitivity symptoms is almost comically vast, and it includes everything from arthritis to fatigue to infertility.

And to be perfectly honest, based on all of the research I've done on ancestral and traditional diets (popularly known today as paleo diets) and the works of Dr. Weston Price, it has become rather clear to me that the Standard American Diet (SAD) is so foreign from the diets of early humans, that it really is no wonder that, as a society, we are sick, debilitated, and exhausted.

One of my favorite bloggers, the Food Renegade, speculates on the reasons behind the increase in gluten intolerance today. She asserts that many people today live with majorly damaged gut flora, which makes digesting gluten nearly impossible. When these undigested gluten proteins linger in the intestines, they are often attacked by the immune system as foreign invaders. This sets up a vicious cycle of malabsorption and gut dysbiosis.

So why are so many of us plagued with damaged guts? Well, there are many plausible reasons. For one, antibiotic overuse is rampant in our society today. It is a well-understood fact that antibiotic use destroys the beneficial bacteria in the gut that help to keep it well-balanced. Also excessive sugar and alcohol consumption can disrupt a healthy gut, often leading to candida overgrowth. Everything from ubiquitous environmental toxins to our propensity to introduce grains to our early infants, can lead to damaged gut flora, which in turn can contribute to gluten sensitivity and intolerance.

We are a very sick society, and despite the medical world's best attempts at cures and prevention, we continue to get sicker and sicker. This is the norm in America today. Chances are you or someone you know intimately is suffering from cancer, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, or some other chronic illness. I just read a stat that said the average American takes over eleven prescription meds everyday. Please tell me I am not the only one out there that is shocked and appalled by this!

And here are some other stats with which you may or may not be familiar.  By the CDC's own admission (probably a gross underestimation in my opinion), one out of three adults in America is obese (that's a BMI higher than 30) and one out of every five CHILDREN is obese!  There's more.  One out of three adults reports no leisure-time physical activity (AT ALL!).  And only one out of four adults, and one out of five kids, are getting five servings of fruits and veggies a day.  As an aside, my students used to laugh at me because I would FREAK when they would tell me that the only "veggies" they ate all week were french fries and ketchup.  REALLY?!!  Really? 

This is the norm in America today, folks.  When considering the alternative, I think I'll stick with being a little crazy.

This is what happens to children who are raised by "crazy" moms like me:)