A Reader’s Question: Do You Believe in Super Foods?

 

Leah Answers Questions super foods A Reader's Question: Do You Believe in Super Foods? Reader QuestionsHere is a question I received recently:
“Do you believe in “super foods” and if so, what do you consider a “super food”?”

Answer:  

Yes and no.  I do not believe there is a silver bullet of nutrition that meets all the needs of every human for long term. While it has been studied that blue green algae, such as chlorella or spirulina, might be used in space for long term travel, I believe we are meant to eat a wide variety of whole, unprocessed foods, like our healthy ancestors did.  

There are a lot of wonderful foods that are very nutrient-dense such as liver, eggs and raw butter, which are pretty super in their own rights. But do I believe there are some exotic foods from remote places that are super? Maybe. For example, medicinal mushrooms, such as Agarigus Blazei, are pretty amazing and I have had spectacular personal results with them.  

People’s food today is so lacking in nutrition that the addition of nutrient-dense super food really seems to make a big difference for them. In my book, Freedom from Fibromyalgia: 7 Steps to Complete Recovery, I list “The Freedom from Fibromyalgia Superfoods,” which are the 11 foods that are so powerful they are like supplements and should be eaten daily (see the list at the end of this article).  [Note:  this list does not contain supplements, such as cod liver oil, probiotics or other amazing food-based supplementation, just actual powerful whole foods.]

My suggestions is to try out various foods and see how they work for you.  However, in the end, a diet of traditionally-prepared whole foods is what has been healing and healthy for thousands of years.

If you would like more information on an Agarigus Blazeii mushroom extract  (buy before December 31, 2016 and save $5.00) and a fermented spirulina-based probiotic that I personally take to maintain my health, go to Ripples’ Health Shop.

If you would like to submit a Reader Question, just email Leah@TheFibroLady, subject, Reader Question.

List of Potential Super Foods

  1.  Bone broths
  2.  Liver/organ meats
  3.  Poultry eggs
  4.  Raw/fermented dairy
  5.  Sauerkraut/fermented vegetables
  6.  Beet kvass
  7.  Coconut oil
  8.  Lard
  9.  Apple cider vinegar
  10. Unrefined sea salt
  11. Mineral water

Healing Lunches to Go

How to Prepare Lunch to Go with Ease

Finding decent food away from home can be difficult and expensive.  It might surprise you but I pack a meal with me quite often.  It’s healthier, tastier and a lot of times, just more convenient.  I have a “formula” for my lunches so I am sure to include all of the food groups that are important to me:

Protein (sliced cold cuts, hard boiled eggs, leftover chicken, canned tuna)

Fat (cheese, sour cream)

Ferment (raw sauerkraut, beet kvass)

Soup/Stew/Broth (chicken soup, chili)

If you are making a bag for your husband or child, add the following for more carbohydrates:

Fresh fruit and/or veggies with dipping options of sour cream, yogurt or peanut butter (apples and peanut butter, strawberries and whipped cream, blueberries and yogurt, celery and cream cheese)

Milk (whole, unpasteurized and not homogenized)

As long as you have all those components showing up you are guaranteed a healing and fulfilling meal.  This is a typical example of what you might take in an insulated lunch bag:

Meat “Salad” – this combines protein, fat and ferment

Hunk of raw cheddar cheese (fat)

Thermos of broth (see Raise the Dead Chicken Broth Recipe)

Cucumber slices and sour cream (veggie, fat and ferment)

Mineral water to drink

To keep soup hot, fill a small thermos with boiling water and let it sit for 5 minutes.  While that’s going, heat up the soup or stew on the stove top; pour the water out of the thermos and immediately put my soup in.  It will keep warm for several hours and the warm liquid really helps me to feel full.

To keep milk or other beverages cold, fill a drink thermos bottle with ice water, (this one is really great for kids because they can open it themselves), let sit for five minutes, pour out the ice water and immediately pour in the milk.

Put milk and other foods in an insulated lunch bag with a reusable frozen cold pack.  Pack whatever eating utensils you will need, plus a napkin.  Thicker glass containers are great for anything cold that might leak, such as the Meat “Salad.”  This is all pretty easy to set up and almost everything can be put in the dishwasher for cleaning.

I have used this system for several years now and it really works!  How do you eat healthy while you are out and about?  What tips have you found that really work for you?

 

Partners in Healing

Healthy Eating  organic food in usa Partners in Healing Me and Joel Salatin

Recently I was at The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund Food Freedom Fest and Business Summit hosted by the Nutritional Therapy Association in the Shenandoah Mountains of Virginia.  A spectacular setting for a fantastic event!!  I got to meet healing professionals from all over the country and I even got to meet a personal hero of mine, Joel Salatin, The Christian-libertarian-environmentalist-capitalist-lunatic-Farmer from Polyface Farm (sorry for the poor quality picture).  There is grass fed beef and other pasture-raised products available in the US mainly due to the efforts of Joel Salatin and people like him.  When farmers raise food that is nourishing, people are able to heal quicker and more completely.

In my book Freedom from Fibromyalgia: 7 Steps to Complete Recovery, one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle I discuss is healing nutrition.  When one is recovering from fibromyalgia, good food is a necessity, but often difficult to acquire, much less prepare.  Now there is a short-cut: Paleo on the Go.  I met the owner of Paleo on the Go, Dave Rohdi, at this same conference.  He takes the high quality food made by farmers that are like-minded with Joel Salatin and makes them into ready-to-eat meals that can be shipped anywhere in the country.

If you are too sick to cook, too busy to cook, or you just don’t want to cook, but you want the highest quality, nourishing food like I make, I think Paleo on the Go is a great option.  While the way I eat is not strictly Paleo, the Paleo Diet is actually fairly close to what I do.  Dave sent me some delicious samples of his food and I was very impressed.  The quality and ingredients were outstanding, they were easy to heat up, and the portion sizes were perfect, just right!

My favorite was the Decadent Fudge, made with just dates, organic raw cacao powder, coconut oil and honey.  No refined sweeteners!  There was enough in the pack I could share with my son and husband too.  My second favorite item was the Elk Burger with Wild Mushrooms.  I was shocked by how tender the meat was.  When I reorder the next thing I want to try is the Thai Chicken Soup-Tom Kha Gai.

Paleo on the Go has a wide variety of foods, even those without nightshades in the Auto Immune Protocol Section (no nuts, seeds, nightshades or eggs).  They also have BROTH!  Real, honest to goodness broth that I am excited to tell you about.  I think the prices are also really fair, about the price you would pay for an entrée at a chain restaurant, but gourmet-quality food.

So here is a great deal if you want to give it a try, use coupon code FIBROLADY at www.PaleoOnTheGo.com for $20 off your first order of $150 or more.  I would love to hear about what you ordered and what you thought of it!

The #1 Food for Energy

What is the best food to increase energy?

Recover from Fibromyalgia and improve reproductive health  The #1 Food for Energy Leah and new babyDo you need more energy? Besides pain, the main symptom of fibromyalgia that I found life-wrecking was the severe fatigue.

After I recovered, I felt like I had a “normal” amount of energy, but that I could do better. After having my baby, and then running around after a toddler, I needed more energy in order to fulfill the desires of living my dream life. I found it with the number one food for energy…liver.

you can run a marathon  The #1 Food for Energy anything is possibleMy results? I literally went from the couch to the finish line! In just 3 days of consuming liver I felt a major difference in my energy and mood levels. This gave me the extra oomph I needed to start to exercise. I went on to train and complete The Air Force Half Marathon in 2014. Here’s a picture of me at the finish line.

I believe these results were so quick in part because I had already detoxed and healed my gut, the first part of my recovery.

In my book, I talk in-depth about how liver is so nutritious and 3 painless and easy ways to get it into your diet. One is by eating it with a mixture of spices and other meat, such as in my recipe Energizing Chili,

The way that I had the best results was by making my own liver “pills,” but that is not always feasible, especially when I travel. The least painless and easiest way to incorporate liver into your diet is with Desiccated Liver Capsules, and I have found a brand that uses grass-fed beef and is not defatted. This is the brand I use and recommend.

Yours in Joyful Health,

Leah

From now until August 31st you can get the Desiccated Liver for a special price of only $14.95 a bottle with coupon code JULY15. You can order as many bottles as you like! Each product from Ripples’ Health Shop, LLC comes with further detailed instructions for using them.